Brynna points to a distant tower, the one where I first tasted her and the one where I hurt her. “That looks familiar.”
When we step inside the formal dining hall, a cameradrone hovers in front of us, announcing our arrival to everyone watching the race on the holofeed.
“You kept the mating mark?” I ask her.
“DIA says it is to stay until we are official.”
“Ah. Well, you are stunning in that dress.” I tug at the collar of my armor, feeling a bit stifled in such regal attire. It isn’tme. “It is hard to look at you and not catch fire.”
Brynna smiles to herself. “You look damn good yourself. Is that Drathious royal armor?”
“DIA says it’s from my colony, Drathis.”
We find a table by windows that overlook the back of the complex. Fieri takes up a guard post near a pillar between the tables.
We order from the digital menu at the table, and I can’t shake the feeling that everyone is looking at us.
“Your wings are sure shiny,” Brynna remarks, touching a pink crystal on the table with a little flame dancing from a wick in the center. She runs her finger through the fire, back and forth as we wait for our food, like it doesn’t burn her at all.
“Bryn?”
She looks up at me, briefly. “Seems it’s already working.”
I get the sense she’s sad and reach across the table to take her hands. She gives me one of them while she continues to play with the flame.
After a deep breath, she says, “I don’t want to change anything. But do you ever feel like the life you’re destined for doesn’t seem like the one you’d pick for yourself?”
I hang my head, fearing she’s unhappy, and it’s my fault. “I do. All the time.”
“How do you live with it?”
“One day at a time.”
Fieri shifts behind me.
She tilts her head and holds her finger in the fire, still not pulling it out. The firelight reflects in her eyes, and it’s addicting to look at.
“I thought I was leaving my farming life behind me. I thought… I’d meet some alien prince with money and power, and he’d just keep me safe, lock me away in his tower, and all I’d have to do is make a few kidlets and spend the rest of my days just loving my family.”
So I’m not what she hoped for, or what she expected. “I’m…”
She points at me. “I swear to god if you say you’re sorry one more time for things just being the way they are, I’m going to…”
Brynna looks away. “I don’t know. That was an empty threat. I just hate that you have to feel bad about what’s out of your control. That we’re still stuck in this damned war with no escape. And that…”
“You don’t get to have your rich prince?” I ask.
“I don’t actually care about that. That’s what my sister wanted. It seems like a great idea, but I think I’ve over-romanticized it in my mind because it’s too easy. And that’s not what I want. I need to know that what I do matters. And if I’m honest with myself, that’s staying in the game.”
“The race?”
“No.” She winces. “The war. I have always played defense, tried to avoid detection by enemy forces, just slip in, do my sales drop, and get out. Many out there still need my help. But I really just needed a team…a family with me. I needed a personal reason to fight.”
She looks up at me with confidence now, and I’m certain her eyes are glowing. “And if they’re coming for our friends, Sky and Corzin and Hatchet and Quinn, then I want to be there, fighting for their homeworlds.”
I draw her hand to my mouth, kiss the backs of her fingers, and thank the stars I found her.
“This isn’t just a coincidence,” she says. “DIA made that clear. I just wasn’t sure until I was alone on my ship again, and all the emptiness came rushing back to me. Being with you, and your team…” Brynna throws Fieri a look. “That’s what I needed. And not just anyone, but others who understand what it’s like to work your life away under the control of someone who thinks they know better just because they consider themselves superior. But that doesn’t mean they are.”
