Chapter 8
Amina
Amina would love to say waking up to find Helmen staring down at her with frowning ears folded halfway down had never happened before, but that would be a lie.
Stifling a yawn, Amina kept her eyes focused on her upset cousin and captain as she sat up. “Good morning?”
“What are you doing in here?”
In here? Why wouldn’t she be on her own…wait, this wasn’t her cabin! That’s when Amina noticed she was fully dressed. Why hadn’t she changed into her warm, fuzzy sleeping outfit?
With a little gasp, she looked behind her to find Myrum looking up at her.
“Oh, hi! You must be hungry,” Amina declared cheerfully. Ruby poked her head out from under the blanket she’d draped over her and Myrum’s neck. “And you too. I’ll get us all breakfast.”
“Amina!” Helmen snapped. “Before you start acting like this Talin’s servant, why don’t you explain to me why I found you asleep in his bunk?”
Ohhh, when she used that tone, she was pissed!
“Well, you said I could stay with him,” Amina said, trying very hard to look innocent. “There weren't any limits on how close I could get.”
“I’d think it would be implied after what happened yesterday,” Helmen said. She rubbed the back of her head and made an irritated sound similar to a growl.
“Please don’t punish Amina for being kind to me,” Myrum said, his voice soft and pleading. “My earlier actions were unconscionable. I’m deeply sorry. I can only say I would never deliberately hurt anyone. I’ll understand if you want to leave me tied to this bed for the entire journey.”
“I know why he acted badly,” Amina said. She felt Myrum tense and expected him to demand she keep his secrets. She spoke quickly before he could say anything. “I’m sure he won’t do that again. It’s fine, Helmen. He’s safe to let loose.”
“I doubt that,” Helmen said. “Can you tell me more about why?”
Amina shook her head. “It was told to me in confidence.” She looked back at Myrum. “It’s your story to tell, not mine.”
“No.” The single word held a universe of pain in it. Helmen must’ve heard it because her ears relaxed into their normal position.
“Don’t speak, it’s fine,” Helmen said. “Amina has said enough. Still, I’m not ready to trust you to run around the ship without any way for us to easily subdue you.”
“I could rig a collar with a lancer,” Desur said. Amina stood up and turned to see Desur standing next to the door. He had his back pressed against it, as if scared Myrum would jump up and attack.
“Collar?” Myrum said. “What do you mean?”
Desur jumped a little when Myrum addressed him. “Uh, I could make a collar that could, uh, drug you if you acted out.”
“How would the collar know I was acting out?” Myrum asked. He sounded curious, not confrontational. His calm attitude gave Desur the courage to take a small step away from the door.
“There would be a remote,” Desur said. “We know a lancer drug can work on you, so if something happens, we can drug you again.”
“Again? Is that how you subdued me before? Whoever did it was very brave. I’d like to commend them.”
All eyes turned to Amina. She felt her face get hot. “Um, that might’ve been me.”
“Clever,” he said with a purr. “And brave.”
She was desperate to change the subject. “You’d be willing to wear a collar that could drug you at any time?”
“Yes,” he said, then seemed to consider it a little longer. “I have moving plates running down my spine. If a collar goes over them it will make it hard for me to look up or down.”
Desur suddenly looked intrigued. He loved puzzles, and his interest in solving this pushed away his fear of Myrum.
“Let me research it,” he said and rushed from the room.
“You don’t seem to mind wearing a collar,” Helmen said.
“If it would make you feel more secure, then I have no objections,” Myrum said.
Helmen shifted her gaze to Amina. “Your only duty today is to take care of Myrum. I’ll have Teshor bring you and him some food. What does the lizard want?”
Amina looked around the room and spotted the familiar cage full of bugs and pointed. “Ruby’s got her meal here already.”
Helmen looked at the cage and made a relieved sound. “Right, I’d forgotten about them.”
“I’ll take care of everything here,” Amina said.
Helmen took hold of Amina and tugged her close. “Do not release him from the bed. I mean it, Amina. I know you have absolute trust in him, but whatever allows you to get close without worry probably doesn’t extend to the rest of us. Think how’d you feel if Desur or Teshor got hurt.”
“I know, but he can’t eat like this,” Amina pointed out.
“Secure his legs, keep his arms tied to the bed, and you can release his chest so he can sit up,” Helmen said. “I’m sure you can figure out how to get food in his mouth without making a mess.”
“That will work,” Myrum said from the bed. His lack of irritation at being held like this helped keep Amina from feeling too guilty.
“I need you to be as reasonable as Myrum,” Helmen said to Amina with a grunting laugh before leaving.
Amina stretched then looked down at Myrum. “Will you and Ruby be okay if I use the elimination room?”
Myrum didn’t answer right away, and she got the feeling he really wanted to say no. Ruby picked that moment to move herself completely out of the blanket and settle on his chest, drawing his attention to her.
He let out a long breath, looking up from Ruby to her. “Yes, I’ll be fine.”
She really wanted to use the cleanser too, but that could wait. She gave him a last little pat on the shoulder before ducking into the small elimination closet in his cabin. After relieving and sanitizing herself, she walked out to find Teshor walking in with a tray full of food.
“Breakfast!” she exclaimed, rushing over to pull a small table out of the wall.
“I heard Helmen found you sleeping snuggled up with the Talin,” Teshor said, clearly amused. Then she moved to set the tray down.
“Helmen wasn’t happy with me,” Amina said.
“She’s only worried about you,” Teshor said. “Besides, you don’t always make the best choices when it comes to strangers.”
Amina huffed. “You make a bad call once and no one lets you forget it.”
“The guy tried to steal our ship,” Teshor said with a grunting laugh.
“Desur trusted him too,” Amina reminded her, then waved a hand as if dismissing the subject. “Besides, I took care of him before anything happened.”
“I think that's the only reason Helmen didn’t send you home permanently,” Teshor said and looked down at Myrum. “I’m sorry you have to be secured to the bunk. Desur is working hard to create a solution.”
“Don’t apologize," Myrum said. “I need to apologize if I scared you earlier. I’m content like this for now.”
“I didn’t expect you to be so gracious,” Teshor said. Amina knew Myrum's calm acceptance was winning Teshor over. “I look forward to having a more involved conversation with you later.”
“That would be nice,” Myrum agreed.
Teshor gave him a slight nod, something the entire crew had started doing because Amina did it so much, then left.
“You did that really well,” Amina complimented as she leaned over and scooped up Ruby. The lizard scrambled up her arm and wiggled down into the collar of her jacket. The poor thing felt cold against her skin.
“Can you comfortably handle a higher temperature?” she asked, finding a spare strap to secure his legs down.
“I’ll be fine with however warm you want to make the room,” he said, sitting up when she released the strap across his chest. He rotated his neck, making several incredibly loud cracking sounds.
Amina winced. “Please tell me you meant to make those sounds.”
He sounded a rumble of amusement. “Yes. Are you cold? Is that why you’re asking about the temperature?”
“I’m fine as long as I’m wearing a jacket,” she said, then pointed to her collar. “But I think Ruby would be much more comfortable with a little more heat. At least until I can make a little jacket for her.”
“A jeweled lizard wearing clothing?” he said with another amused rumble. “I think I’d like to see that.”
“Me too!” Amina could already picture it as she picked up the bug cage. She called out to the room to adjust the ambient temperature a few degrees. She was so used to bundling up she sometimes forgot other creatures couldn’t put extra clothes on. Then she turned to the cage full of sluggish bugs.
“Okay, let's see if we can figure out how to feed you.”
She picked up the cage then returned to sit on the edge of the bunk. How was she going to feed Ruby without letting any of the bugs loose?
She tested the small door on the top to see how it opened. A single bug managed to get loose despite Amina only slightly cracking it open.
Ruby was a lizard of action! She jumped from inside Amina’s collar onto the cage top, shooting out her tongue and catching the escaping bug. All of this was done faster than Amina could react.
“Well done, Ruby!” Amina said with a laugh. The lizard’s entire focus was on the cage door, as if she knew that was how to get to the food inside.
“She’s an excellent hunter,” Myrum said with enough pride in his voice that he might as well have taught her himself.
“She’s making it easy to feed her,” Amina said, lifting the cage door slightly to let out another bug. Two came out, and Ruby caught them both then returned her face to the door.
They kept doing this until Ruby turned her back to the door and tried to walk back up Amina’s arm. It was a clear indication the lizard was full. In fact, she had so many bugs in her belly she was moving without her normal grace and basically fell off Amina’s arm!
“Poor food-drunk Ruby,” Amina said with a laugh as she caught the lizard with one hand and helped her into the collar of her jacket. The creature felt cold against the skin of her neck, probably because her body was busy digesting her giant meal.
Turning back to face Myrum, she grabbed the tray of food. “Time for our breakfast.”