Chapter 10 #2
She cut herself off and closed her eyes.
The woman’s relief was so palpable, I easily surmised that this was Aila’s mother.
And for a moment, my throat closed up with the memory of my own mother and the last time I felt her arms around me.
Before the occupation of Belaga obliterated everything.
I tore my gaze away. Closed my eyes briefly and waited for the pain in my chest to subside.
Remembering things was the one piece of retirement I disliked. Enormously.
When I opened my eyes again, a different woman stood before me, gazing up with those wise green-gold eyes that had worked their way into my dreams more than once.
“Gilrox.” Maive tilted her head. “What happened here?”
I gazed down at her, stunned for a moment.
She was dressed in a body-skimming outfit of deep purple shot with gold threads that brought out the rich color of her eyes and the gilded tones of her skin.
It revealed her lovely curves and made my mouth go bone-dry.
Her hair was artfully arranged with those tight coils pulled up and secured with gold clasps.
Jewelry winked at her neck and ears and wrists.
She looked like a queen. True royalty. So far above my station that I felt a momentary, reflexive desire to bow.
Instead, I nodded. “Hello, Maive,” I said in a voice that sounded far too rasping to be normal. “I found this little one at my house. Perhaps you can tell me what happened.”
It wasn’t exactly a fair thing to say, since I already knew what had happened. And I thought again about that metal bird Aila had followed. That was definitely something to investigate, but not now.
Aila pulled her head away from her mother’s shoulder and looked up defiantly. “Gilrox helped me,” she said, tilting her chin up. “I was chasing a bird and Gilrox gave me a snack.”
That was…a vastly abbreviated version, but she hit the key points.
Aila’s mother raised her brows. “You followed a bird all the way out here?”
Aila’s mouth dipped down at the edges. “At first,” she said. “And then I got lost, and I found sort of a trail and I followed it, and Gilrox was there.” Her gaze moved immediately to my little furry companion on my shoulder. “And Silli. He really likes snacks and scratches.”
Aila made a show of “introducing” Silli to her mother, Maive, and Pasek.
Maive appeared charmed, and asked a few questions about him, being mostly—wisely—interested in whether or not he bit people.
I couldn’t really say, and explained that they were the sum total of people he’d met aside from me.
Luckily, he showed no interest in biting them. So far.
After Silli was done being a spectacle, Aila’s mother stood up and looked at me. There were tears in her eyes, but they did not fall. “I am sorry my daughter disturbed you, but thank you for minding her.”
“She’s no trouble,” I murmured.
“I’m relieved she found her way to your home.” She rubbed her forehead and shook her head. “Stars. I was so worried. After what happened to Tregen.”
“Any parent would be,” I said roughly. “I gave her a snack and water, cleaned her up a bit, and we were heading back to the village. No harm done. She just had a little adventure, is all.”
“Well, thank you. I’m Salie, by the way. Maive is my mother.”
I nodded. Pasek, who had been quiet, crossed his arms and smiled broadly. “I had a feeling she’d found her way to your place,” he said. “Also knew there was no safer place for her to end up.”
I could have reminded him that a mercenary’s private home was perhaps the most unsafe place anyone could end up, and it was only because I was in such a remote location—and was, in fact, retired—that the entire perimeter of my home wasn’t rigged with automatic weapons that shot on sight.
Instead, I gave him a tight smile and muttered something about just being glad she was safe.
“Well.” Maive looked down at her feet, where her fine, soft shoes were covered in mud. She pushed a stray lock of hair back up into its elaborate style. “I suppose we’d best start our walk back.”
She looked tired. Worn out from the emotional stress of worrying about this child and taking on some of her own daughter’s anxiety about finding Aila.
I shook my head. “We are very close to my home. Why don’t we go back and I will bring us all to the village in my shuttle?
It will only take a moment, and…” I gestured vaguely toward her.
“It would be a shame to further dirty your outfit.” Sweet fleck, I sounded awkward.
Maive considered me for a moment. “I think that would be acceptable. That is, if you’re sure?”
“It’s a small shuttle,” I said. “But you’ll all fit. Unless you think your people would be frightened?”
Pasek let out a bark of laughter. “Well, it would certainly be a grand entrance to the festival.”
That was why she was dressed up. Of course. I knew this, but for some reason, I hadn’t thought it would involve finery or fancy dress. I certainly didn’t have any, other than the new clothing I had purchased from the Durbok. I would have to make do.
“What do you think, Salie?” Maive asked. “Are you willing?”
Salie smiled. “If it gets us home quicker, I’m all for it.”
Aila caught my gaze with steely eyes. “You said Silli could come.”
I shrugged. “Then he can come.” Even this small, I could tell this youngling was not one to trifle with or go back on promises to.
“Well, then it’s settled.” Pasek gestured back toward my house. “I’ve been curious to see what a spaceship turned into a house looks like, anyway.”
We returned to my home, where I sternly told B2 to stand down and disappear for a little while.
I brought them inside and gave them a short, self-conscious tour.
I really didn’t see what the excitement was about, but they seemed fascinated by the rooms and asked questions about what it had been like living in a flying house.
“It isn’t done,” I said at one point. “But it’s more house-like than ship-like. Progress, I suppose.”
Pasek put his hands on his hips and gazed around as if he actually knew what he was looking at. I found that amusing. “And she can still fly?”
“Well, I haven’t removed the thrusters, so technically, yes.” I rubbed a hand over my chin and thought about that. “Honestly, I don’t know what I’d do with them. They might just stay on.”
On the way through, I picked up the simple box I had left on the counter in my sitting room.
My gift for Maive, which I was suddenly nervous to give her.
The jewels she wore winked and glittered.
Perhaps she liked that sort of thing and would find my gift lacking.
Perhaps some simple bauble was all she wanted.
But what was done, was done. If she disliked it, I would try to find something else the next time the Durbok came to trade.
I led them into the shuttle bay. It was a small, dim space with harsh overhead lights so I could see what I was working on.
It doubled as a garage at this point, cluttered with the tools and equipment I used to work on the house, so it wasn’t the tidiest space.
The shuttle sat in the center of it, hatch open.
The vessel itself, however, was spotless.
I did not tolerate clutter when I was flying and weightlessness in space made disorder a true hazard, so I kept a clean, minimalist ship.
The shuttle was compact. It had an operator’s seat up front, a copilot’s seat beside it that usually sat empty, and a handful of seats in the small main cabin behind.
I got them all into the shuttle as quickly as I could. Silli hopped down to the seat beside me as I settled into the operator’s chair and powered on the systems.
“Can I sit up here with Silli?” Aila asked, appearing in the space between the two seats. Her eyes were wide and hopeful and nearly impossible to refuse. Before I could open my mouth and say yes, her mother spoke up from just behind us in the main cabin.
“Gilrox has important things to do up there,” Salie warned. “Do not bother him.”
I swiveled in my seat to look back at her.
“If the child would like to sit up here, I have no objection, as long as she doesn’t touch any of the instruments.
” I ignored the squeal from the youngling and focused on her mother.
“That is, if you give her permission.” I glanced back at Aila. “Your mother is in charge, not me.”
That quieted the girl quick enough.
Salie shrugged. “Very well.” She gave Aila a stern look. “You heard what Gilrox said. Do not touch anything.”
Aila clasped her hands before her, closed her eyes, and said solemnly, “I promise I will not touch anything. Except for Silli.”