One Between the Stars

Chapter 6

Carson couldn't seem to get out of Hoque fast enough. In all his life, he could safely say that he had scarcely been in situations more awkward than when he returned Magonia safely back to her castle.

Arthre had wanted to stay with the ship, so it was just he and Magonia as they made their way to the throne room. The castle itself was beautiful; a perfect combination of gothic architecture and modern technology. When he approached it, it shone spotlessly, white and edgy in the light of the day stars (they had two; Lux and Lumina, so Magonia had said).

Carson was admiring the many paintings along the walls as he passed them, when he felt a hand gently grab his elbow and stop him. Magonia bit her lip when he looked at her.

"Something wrong Princess?" he asked.

She inhaled and let out her breath. "I just...thought we should discuss what happened back at the ship the day you rescued me. And...since then."

Stars, he thought. He was hoping that topic wouldn't come up. He glanced down at the ground. "Look, Magonia, I..."

"I know what you're going to say," she said.

"You do?"

She clasped her hands. "Yeah. And I want you to...reconsider."

Carson squinted his eyes. "What exactly do you think I was going to say?"

Magonia looked up at him. "That - you're a gallivanter, and I'm a princess. That there's no way in the constellations that we could be together, because you travel around the whole galaxy while I'm stuck here. That it's never going to work out."

Carson chuckled. "Well, you're not wrong."

"But I want you to reconsider. I - " she let out a short laugh that seemed to have more than a tinge of bitterness in it "I want you to know that in my short, horribly lonely life, I had one person who understood me, albeit for only a few days. And I don't want that to end."

Carson looked at her, and felt his heart give a little creak. In his many years of saving princesses, he had learned that they all had at least one thing in common; they were terribly lonely. It was possible that he was the first person to ever talk to her like a person instead of an idol. "Magonia, I'm sorry - "

"Please, just hear me out," she said. "I'm not trying to be a delusional maiden like the five million other girls you've probably saved. I've admired gallivanters my whole life. My Uncle was one, you know. And it sucked, after so many years. Gallivanting isn't a long-term job. Once you get older, people stop hiring you, and soon you're stuck with no job and a rising debt from all the ship repairs you had to make to keep traveling."

"Well. Aren't you just a little ray of sunshine."

Magonia put her hands on her hips. "Well, it's true. But I'm telling you this because I have a proposition for you."

"For me?" he scoffed. "What could a princess offer me? No offense."

"I can offer you a long-term job."

He fell silent, a little dumbfounded. Then he found words. "Um, I..."

Ok, they were words. Maybe not good words, but still...

"My brother is looking to hire more guards, and I thought it might be...suiting for you."

Good words were still failing him. "Um...wow Magonia, I...don't know what to say."

"Say that you'll stay here," she said, and took his hands. "Say that you'll stay with me."

Carson looked into her face. Freckles dotted her copper skin, and her eyes swirled like sands in a desert. He remembered her brandishing that shoe when he'd burst into her tower, and that he'd laughed at the silly princess that thought she could be a threat. Well, he certainly didn't think her threatening, but she was proving to be smarter than most princesses he'd met. "I...don't know Magonia. I mean, a career change? That's a big step."