Chapter 5 Jasmine
Jasmine
The door had barely closed behind Skye when it opened again, bells jingling as another cloaked figure stepped inside. Then another. And another. Within minutes, my bakery had become an impromptu gathering of hooded women.
Zara pushed back her hood first, her blonde hair escaping in wisps around her face. "Was that really a Vandar I saw leaving here?"
"With a loaf of bread," Skye confirmed, leaning against the counter with her arms crossed and her red hair spilling over her shoulders. "Which is apparently all Jasmine is willing to tell me."
"There's nothing to tell." I went back to shaping loaves, needing something to do with my hands. "He came in. He took bread. He left."
"He didn't say anything?" Zara’s gaze was sharp and probing, reminding me why she was one of our best strategists. "Nothing about why he was here? About the alliance? About the mandatory welcome assembly?”
Kaya laughed from where she was arranging fresh loaves in baskets. “Why would he tell us any of that?”
"You're leaving something out." Skye's voice was knowing.
She moved closer, studying my face with the familiarity of someone who'd known me since we were children playing in snow drifts and making ice forts. One of Skye’s talents was reading people, which had come in very handy when it came to dealing with Imperial soldiers. "You've got a look, Jas."
"I do not have a look." I focused very intently on the dough beneath my hands.
"You absolutely have a look," Skye insisted calmly. "I've been your best friend since forever. I know that look."
My best friend’s ability to calmly see through any ruse or lie was both infuriating and crucial for our rebellion. This wasn’t the first time I wished she would keep her insight trained on the enemy instead of on me.
“Maybe it was because the Vandar was so hot,” Kaya teased. “Maybe she’s still flustered.”
"He was enormous and half-naked," I said defensively. "And he had a tail. Excuse me for being startled."
"Startled," Kaya repeated, still grinning. "Sure. Let's call it that."
I shot my traitor sister a withering look that she pretended not to notice, although Kaya wasn’t nearly as oblivious and flighty as she’d like everyone to think.
“If anything,” Brielle said, “Jasmine looked at the Vandar like she wanted to kill him.”
Now Zara grinned, her eyes flashing approval. “That sounds about right.”
Meg slipped in through the door, already nibbling her fingernails. It was a nervous habit the petite woman had never broken, even though she pulled off some of the most nerve-racking sabotage missions. "Are we talking about the Vandar? I saw the frostbitten prick from my window. He’s, um, big."
For some reason, I cringed at the insult that was common on Lexxona.
"Big is one word for him," Kaya said, hopping up to sit on the counter. "If all the Vandar are that hot, I don't want to resist anything."
"Kaya!" I shot my sister a look, but she just shrugged, unrepentant.
Zara wasn't smiling anymore. She'd moved to the window, looking out at the street where more colonists were emerging, heading toward the town square. "Does the Vandar alliance make our work pointless?"
Brielle sighed and tucked her book under her arm, heading for the doorway. "I'm going to go read somewhere quieter. Try not to start a revolution before lunch."
When she’d disappeared, Kaya swung her legs from the counter. "Look, I'm not officially part of your secret club, but I'm also not stupid. And my opinion? If all the Vandar are built like that one, we might have bigger problems. Or better ones. Depending on your perspective."
Meg shook her head, brown bangs flopping over her forehead. "They might be just as bad as the Zagrath. We might end up just as busy. Or busier." She resumed nibbling her fingernails.
"But the Vandar fight the Zagrath," Zara pointed out. She'd moved away from the window, joining us at the counter. "They've been raiding Imperial supply lines for years and freeing settlements from Zagrath control. Logically, we’re on the same team."
I shrugged, patting a shiny ball of dough and admiring Zara’s ability to apply logic to anything. "But they're known by some to be just as ruthless. Violence is violence, whether it's wearing Imperial uniforms or leather kilts."
Skye squared her shoulders, her expression shifting to something fiercer and her green eyes hardening. "There's nothing wrong with being ruthless against injustice."
I looked at my oldest friend and felt a grin tugging at my mouth despite my complicated feelings about the Vandar, especially the one who’d walked into my bakery. "There's always room for those who keep leaders honest."
It was one of the things my father used to say. That every society needed people willing to question authority, to push back against corruption, and to stand up when everyone else was sitting down. He'd believed it so deeply that it had gotten him killed. But he'd also been right.
I wanted to believe that the Vandar would keep their promises.
That they'd provide the protection they'd promised.
That maybe, for the first time in years, we could breathe easier.
That my network of brave, brilliant women who risked everything to sabotage the Empire's control over our colony might finally get to enjoy some peace.
But I'd learned the hard way not to trust leaders. Any leaders.
Corrupt leaders were why my parents were dead.
They were why I'd spent years fighting in the shadows, gathering intelligence, and undermining Imperial authority wherever I could. Power corrupted, and the moment you stopped questioning the people in charge was the moment they started abusing that power. Even leaders who fought the same enemies you did. The enemy of my enemy wasn’t always my ally.
"What do you think they'll announce at the assembly?" Meg asked, finally abandoning her fingernails in favor of picking up a sweet roll from the cooling rack.
"Whatever it is, it's mandatory attendance." Zara twirled a blonde curl around one finger, which meant she was contemplating and strategizing. "The council sent runners around last night. Everyone has to be in the town square by midday. I don’t like it."
"They probably want to impress the Vandar," Skye said, once again calm and confident. "Show them that we're a united colony and that we're worth protecting."
Kaya tilted her head. "Or maybe they just want everyone to see the Vandar up close. Impress us with their Vandarness.” She grinned wickedly. “If the one who came in here was any indication, I look forward to being impressed.”
"You're impossible," I muttered, but there was no heat in it. Kaya had always been the flirt, but she was also the optimist, the one who could find something positive even in the bleakest situations. It balanced out my cynicism, most days.
"Do we think the Vandar know about us? About what we do?" Zara asked, worry wrinkling her brow.
The question sent a chill through the room that had nothing to do with the cold outside.
"The council doesn't even know about us," Skye said, with a lift of her chin meant to convey fortitude. "Not really. They suspect, but they can't prove anything."
"The council are idiots," Meg said bluntly. “Let’s hope the Vandar are as easily fooled.”
I wasn’t sure if everyone on the council was an idiot, but I also didn’t think they were courageous. Then I thought about the Vandar with the golden eyes. I suspected he would not be as easily fooled as the council.
Skye moved to the bread baskets, selecting a rustic wheat loaf and tapping it on the bottom. "Whatever happens, we stick together."
"Like we always do," Zara agreed, taking her own loaf.
Taking bread meant the meeting was ending, and that they'd be leaving separately with a loaf of bread to avoid drawing attention. It was a routine we'd perfected over years. Come in alone, leave alone, always with bread.
“See you at the assembly," Skye said, pulling her hood back up to mask her startlingly red hair.
They filtered out one by one, bells chiming their departures, until it was just Kaya and me again in the warm bakery. She hopped down from the counter and started swiping crumbs from the workspace, humming under her breath.
“About the way you looked at that Vandar,” she said conversationally.
"Kaya—"
"I'm just saying. I've never seen you look at anyone like that. Not even when Jakob tried to court you last year."
"Jakob is a pompous ass who thinks women exist to serve men," I said flatly. "And I wasn't looking at the Vandar any particular way. I was annoyed that he'd interrupted our work."
"Sure," Kaya said, in a tone that suggested she didn't believe me at all. "Whatever you say, Jas."
I didn't dignify that with a response. Instead, I focused on sliding the final loaves in the oven, trying to ignore the knot of anxiety forming in my stomach at the thought of the assembly and of possibly seeing those golden eyes again.
At least he'd be gone soon, I told myself.
The Vandar would make their alliance official, probably station a few ships in orbit for protection, and then leave to patrol other settlements.
I'd never have to see him again. Never have to deal with the unsettling way he'd made my heart race or the irritating fact that my stupid brain kept replaying the moment our eyes had met.
It’s no big deal, I assured myself. He’s no big deal. He’s just another soldier in a galaxy full of them. One I’d most likely never see again after today.
I allowed myself a long sigh. That was a relief.