“After my mentor, who named the planet after herself.”
I smiled at how much I loved that—and didn’t want to dwell too long on that word, onlove, not now. “I’m glad I met you, Sian Alakor. I hope I see you again. I know that makes me naive—”
He grabbed the back of my head urgently and pulled me close. “It makes you brave, Starlight.” Then he kissed me, desperate and crushing. In all the serials I’d read, whenever the author said that a kiss tasted like goodbye, I rolled my eyes, because what did goodbye even taste like? But now I understood. It tasted like salt. It tasted like tears. It tasted tinny with fear.
I decidedly hated the taste.
We broke apart and descended the tower together.
CHAPTER THIRTY
The Arrival
Sian tookStarstalland left.
There were no long goodbyes. No more heated kisses. I simply went through the preflight check for him, made sure he had enough fuel to go somewhere far, far away from here, and let him go. Mom always said if you held something too tightly, it’d disintegrate in your arms, but if you let it go? If it was meant to be, it would come back.
I didn’t fool myself into thinking Sian would ever come back.
WhenStarstallwas a far-off glint in the sky, I sat down on a boulder outside of the facility and watched it disappear. I wasn’t sure how I was going to explain the missing lander to Dad, but I hoped once I told him the story, he’d understand.
IfI ever got to tell him the story.
“Do you think Lady Sosha got our message?” I askedthe droids, who were sitting in the dust, picking up their sabacc game again.
“I hope so,” Veebee replied. Entoohadreattached her other arm, and probably did it a lot better than I could have. “I think you’re cheating.”
Entoo gave a warble of admonishment.
“Yes, IknowI’m losing, but I do think you’re cheating. The odds of me losing this many times are abysmally low.”
In reply, Entoo gave another smart beep.
Veebee was quiet for a moment and then set her hand down. “You’re right, the odds aren’t zero.”
I closed my eyes and breathed in the cool night air, listening to the quiet of the planet. The crackle of the fire Veebee had started. The buzz of the cards as she shuffled them between her fingers. The gentle chirp of bugs, the rustle of wind through the vines, billowing dust up. I was sure by the time the ship arrived, I’d be dusted over.
That gave me an idea.
If I already knew what to expect, maybe I could plan a little in advance. I couldn’t control what Val would do or what would happen once theStarfarerlanded, but I could guide a little. Ever since Val had come onto the ship, he’d done nothing but lie to me, and I was sick of it. It wastime to even the playing field—and maybe if I did, I’d find my brother somewhere underneath it.
“Vee, what do you think about experimenting while we wait?” I asked, plucking a bud from a vine and twirling it in my hand.
She looked up at me, intrigued. “What kind of experiment?”
“Remember how you made that fine powder from the starblossom?” I asked, and she nodded. “Do you think you can do that with these flowers?”
“I did not actually use the starblossom itself, but its roots,” replied the droid.
“That’s perfect, actually,” I replied. “Do you think you could?”
She looked around at what little Sian had left us with—some rations in a crate and a communicator. “With a will and a dream, I can do anything. And some rocks. I can use rocks. And Entoo’s blowtorch.”
Excitedly, the astromech popped out their blowtorch.“Bloop!”
“But why?” Veebee asked. “Care to fill us in? I can see the cogs in your head turning, and that is never a good sign.”
“If Val wants the lightsaber, he’s going to tell me why—whether he likes it or not.”
