"What? It is true."
"You're really not supposed to say things like that to princesses," Veta said.
"You do not seem to mind," Wrathin whispered, a little bit louder than he should have. From his expression, Eleanor thought he meant to do that.
"I'm not a princess," Veta said. "Remember?"
What were they saying, as delegates from the Terran Empire? That Terran girls were starved for male attention? Perhaps feeding this attraction to Jedriek was a mistake. Maybe he would only bring her difficulty in the future. She was so tormented by this. What was it that Jedriek brought to her? Beyond showing her what it meant to be made love to correctly? Treated so intensely.
And passionately.
As though she mattered beyond being a pawn in a larger game.
Why would she want to give any of that up?
Why would she have to? Really?
They reached the main doors, and when they entered, it was a sonic cleanser. The intense waves ran over her and the others. Eleanor didn't realize how dirty and gross she felt until the sonics started washing everything away.
"Not one at a time, today?" Bianca asked Harbin.
He whispered something to her, and Eleanor looked away. From Bianca’s expression, it was a very personal thing and Eleanor didn’t want to know what it was about.
She fluffed her hair as the sonics decontaminated her and removed all the debris and dust. She felt the hairpin in her hair and stroked the metal. Made from her sister's necklace, she had forgotten she had it in her hair.
She could only imagine what a mess her hair was at this point. Locked into place with a pin that probably only made her hair look even stranger. Hopefully, there are some combs in their apartments.
"I didn't realize how much I needed this," Eleanor said.
Veta smirked. "This is nothing. Wait until you use the actual showers they have in our suites."
"I cannot wait," Eleanor said.
"I can help you with that," Jedriek said, his eyes sort of glowing as he looked at her. Kind of the same way he'd looked at her when they had been alone together.
And it embarrassed her again.
"I can work a shower, I'm sure."
"I meant--"
"It is fine," Eleanor said as soon as she realized that she'd upset him. Or made him sad, or something. The expression on his face was almost heartbroken. He'd promised before that he would always be there for her, but she'd not taken it seriously. Not really. Because all sorts of humanoids made those kinds of promises and never followed through. It was hard to believe that someone would. "After I see Freya, you can take me around to show me all of the features."
They needed to talk, anyway. Her father certainly would disapprove of a relationship with Jedriek.
That thought rang out in her mind like a bell, echoing over and over. And it broke her heart to think that she'd have to give up this short but intense relationship because of her father.
She brushed off the thoughts. Jumping to conclusions would not help her right now. She needed to see Freya, to find out where Caoimhe was, and take a nap. Preferably in that order.
Focus, she told herself. So she started taking in their surroundings. The walls were clean and sterile feeling. The whole place had a sterile feeling compared to the soot in the air outside. As they walked past a window, she could see the ash that lingered outside, adding a gray haze to the window.
They weaved through the hallways, and Harbin took Bianca down another corridor, he said, toward a medical facility to assess her damages.
Eleanor watched her--still in Harbin's arms--head away. "After we get to the suites, I want to go down and see what the medical people say about Bianca."
"As you like," Jedriek said.
They reached the suites, and they entered the common room outside the suite doors.
