Star Storm

Chapter Thirty-Seven (Part Two)

A Promise

Leaving the confined space of her room, Nona trailed the Rapid's empty corridors until she found her brother. He sat alone where Amara promised he would be, tucked in a window bay with a book balanced on his knees. The pages were covered in ink, but Kael's attention was focused on darkness at the other side of the window's glass rather than his reading materials.

"Reading," Nona scoffed. Arching her neck, she read the title from the battered volume and shook her head. "Ship engineering. When will you learn there are people who do these things for us?"

"When will you learn mother hates it when you show your knees." Kael closed the book and sat back. The edges of his lips tugged upward.

For a moment Nona let herself pretend they were in one of the royal cruisers, hiding from the guards and Telion as they had done as children. The thought was short lived. It scattered from her mind as she rested on a heap of empty boxes. They were not children anymore, and there would be no hiding from the palace guards or their mother when they reached Uterca.

"How are you feeling?" he asked gently.

"Would it be wrong if I said, 'dead inside?'" Nona snorted at her own distaste. As she turned to Kael, she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the glass. Her curls drawn back into a bun and wearing a simple dress she had found in the cargo hold, she looked like a shadow of her former self.

"I need some earrings," she said. "Earrings and good bath."

Kael laughed. "I don't think we'll have time for that. Mother will want us to address the assembly as soon as we land. From what Cyre picked up during her radio call with the palace, the Assembly has remained on Uterca. They will want a full report of what happened with Lezorith. And they deserve to know about the storms."

"Will you tell them it was technically your invention – the star thrower?"

With a shrug, he pursed his lips and nodded to something out the window. "There. The planet Arisa. Also known as the 'middle world.'"

"I'm sure is beautiful." Nona waved a hand at the passing blur of colour.

"I won't mention the station was my design." Kael's eyes met hers. "If they figure it out for themselves, I won't deny anything, though. But I don't think they need to be made aware. If any of the other cities fancy a weapon of mass destruction, I would rather they didn't look to me for ideas."

"Telion will have your book destroyed. No trace of your little childhood master creation will be left once she's done with it."

"I can't say I will miss it."

"The Sorii will need help getting back on their feet. From the state of Sorium, it looks like Lezorith was running the place dry to pay for his construction work."

"Possibly," Kael mussed. "I have been thinking about that. When Lezorith was paying Hu Waan, he had plenty of credits to go about. Too many, it seemed."

Nona felt her insides turned cold. "You think there is something more to all this?"

"I'm probably wrong." He raised his brows at her startled expression. "I've been wrong about many things. Amara has made that clear, and so has Lezorith in many ways."

"You're still the smartest idiot I know."

A strange sound erupted from him. Kael swatted her arm playfully. "You remain the boldest idiot I know."

"So," she said. "We can agree the storms are over?"

"Oh, absolutely. Let's hope we never see something so unnatural again."

They shared a moment of quiet as a large beast passed by the Rapid. Kael started to tell Nona all about the creature, but she quickly told him she was not interested in random trivia. She had to keep her thoughts clear. There was no benefit to her getting distracted before she spoke to the Assembly.

His head resting against the window, Kael sucked in a deep breath. "Mother, I fear, will not provide a warm welcome. For us, Amara, and the others, or for Traen. She, erm, did her best to make sure no one would come after you. I believe it was for diplomatic reasons-"

"I know." Nona wrinkled her nose as Kael's eyes widened. "I know what she did. I refuse to dwell on it." She patted his knee. Ignoring his complaints, she forced him to shift on the window bay so they could sit side by side. "Tell me of everything you've done," she said. "And then I shall tell you of my own little adventure – which, believe me, was much more exciting."

"Out of the two of us, who ended up with Amara Lee?" Kael's smile spread across his face. He placed his book aside and settled back, a strand of fair hair falling across his brow. "Alright, I'll start when I bumped into Ry. He was quiet the saviour of the whole mission."

Grinning, Nona leaned back with him. She closedher eyes, letting the cold air of the Rapid's ventilation systemcareless her cheeks while her brother's words filled her head.