Sol felt his own smile disappear with hers.
“We should be making plans while we have the time to do so,” she said.
Sol shook his head. “We can’t discuss it here,” he whispered, glancing around the room to make sure no one had entered unnoticed. “Your talking is good. It makes us look real.”
Her face brightened.
Chapter 18
“Don’t wake me up tonight,” Sol whispered to Meena as he latched the door closed behind him.
“Who is going to be doing most of the work once we reach Falqri?” Meena asked.
“What do you mean?” Sol responded.
“Who is going to be skipping sleep, sneaking around the city at night and constantly watching our backs to keep us safe?” Meena knew Sol could not see the hands she had on her hips, but she hoped the hissing in her whisper properly conveyed how seriously she wanted to be taken.
“I assume you are speaking of me?” he responded.
Meena kept her mouth closed, for once choosing to let her facial expression convey what she wanted to say.
Then she remembered Sol couldn’t see her face.
“Obviously.” The snide comment had less of an impact after the awkward pause, though. “Sol, you are the central piece of this mission. Please sleep on the bed. All night. And then neither of us will lose sleep.”
“I don’t think I’m going to sleep much either way.”
“Because you will be constantly alert against an attack?” Meena said. “I see the way you look at every space we enter, how you are always aware of who else is in the room. Let me guard the door tonight. We won’t have much time for sleeping in Falqri.”
“You are a rather heavy sleeper,” Sol said slowly. “Thank you for offering the bed, but I don’t think even a storm could wake you.”
“I’m already lying down.” Meena dropped quickly to the ground in front of the door as she spoke. “Did you know I can sleep anywhere?”
“I’ve noticed.” Sol must have sat back on the thin pallet as Meena heard it creak.
She smiled. Winning felt good. “Do you think all married couples argue about their sleeping arrangements?”
“I’m sleeping,” Sol replied.
“It probably helps prove we have a real marriage if any of the sailors can hear us through the walls,” Meena said.
“If they were listening, you just gave it away.”
“Right. Sorry.”
“Goodnight, Meena,” Sol whispered.
Meena could feel the end of the conversation in his voice, but she settled comfortably against the hard floor. “Goodnight, Sol.”
Meena fell asleep quickly. Spending the day wandering the deck of the ship in the warmth of the sun was both exhilarating and exhausting. She’d enjoyed watching the green forests and rolling hills of the Iseldis coastline as they sailed south toward their destination. But her eyes begged for a rest.
She slept soundly, until she found herself in the middle of a dream about the ship sinking. In the dream, she stood on the deck, watching someone climb the roped rigging as a storm raged around them. Lightning struck. The ship pitched. And the person in the rigging lost their grip and fell through the air toward her.
Meena woke up screaming. The body had hit her. Something was on top of her.
Sol leaped off her. “Meena, it’s me. I fell off the bed, did I hurt you?”
Meena stopped screaming, drawing in huge gulps of air as she sat up. Her body was overheated with sweat. “I don’t feel any pain.”
