The Two Sides of a Sword

Chapter Seventeen

"—be able to get at it until tomorrow."

Rocki's eyes shot open as she bolted into a straighter sitting-up position. A man with wings glanced at her from the front of the cockpit. It took a half moment for her to recognize valicaran wings and pale skin—not Kofi's though. He was standing off to the side, watching as the other male inspected his ship.

Kofi grinned at her. "I thought about scaring you awake but figured that probably wasn't healthy for you." His gaze briefly dropped somewhere down her body but snapped back up in a moment.

Not healthy for the baby he means. Wait, he doesn't know about the baby. No one knows except Whilin and she promised not to say a word. He must have been exaggerating. She stared at him for a long moment, so he started speaking again.

"This is Durck. He going to fix the ship. Eventually." His eyes narrowed a little at the other valicaran, who raised his hands helplessly.

"The sun is going down, and this is going to take a few hours, so there isn't much I can do."

Kofi pulled his long hair back in a ponytail position, holding it there with his hand for a moment, blowing out a long breath. "Are you sure you can't work on it tonight? We need to get out of here."

"Sorry." Durck shrugged. "I know a nice inn if you want a place to stay. It will be more comfortable and safer than your ship." He glanced at Rocki's well-bandaged leg. "And you'll be closer to a healer. It's on the valicaran side of town."

Sighing again, Kofi looked at Rocki, then back at Durck. "I'll think about it. Where is it?"

After giving him the directions to the inn as well as an estimated time when he would be by to work on the ship, Durck left the two of them to mull over their predicament. Rocki stretched, standing to look at the sunset while Kofi leaned against a wall, clearly thinking over everything carefully.

The sunset here was similar to Hawaii, the same red-orange light cascading over the sky to spill onto the ground. But nothing would match the light reflecting off the ocean like a blinding splash of color. The sparkling waves, the warm, gentle breeze... Rocki was beginning to feel homesick again, the feeling getting worse and worse the longer she stared at the red-painted earth and sky.

"What do you think?" asked Kofi, breaking from his musing to consult her. "The ship or the inn?"

She was quiet for a moment, still staring at out the window even though it made her heart cry. "Which will be safest?"

"I hate to admit it, but likely the inn. There will be more people, but that might be a good thing. Two people alone in a ship outside of town... it just doesn't seem very safe, does it? No matter how tightly the ship is locked. And we'll be nearer a healer if something happens to your leg in the middle of the night."

She hesitated. The idea of being around a bunch of people made her stomach sick, but she nodded anyway. Kofi has a better idea of what is best than I do right now. And I want to be as safe as I can be. "All right." Her stomach grumbled as she carefully stood.

Kofi narrowed his eyes. "Did you eat like I told you to?"

She thought back over what she had done when she entered the ship. Came in... went to my seat... and fell asleep. "No. I wasn't hungry."

He scoffed, throwing his hands in the air. "Well, you need to eat. Let's have something here on the ship, then head to the inn for the night. Durck said he would start the repairs as soon as possible tomorrow, so we'll have to be up to make sure we let him in." He took her elbow to steady her as she limped towards the kitchen. He eased her into a chair, then made himself busy around the small kitchen.