Chapter Eight #3
Vivian followed his gesture to a rounded hut in the shadow of the barracks. She turned and looked back at Delilah. Her sister was laughing, still surrounded by soldiers. Vivian caught her eye, and Delilah made a shooing gesture.
If she’d still been in the camp, she would never have agreed.
But she wasn’t at Sumter anymore. She was safe here.
Safe in a way Evie never would be. Sometime in the next fifty-four days, she’d need to pick a husband interested in her for her ability to have his children.
Just this once, couldn’t she enjoy the attention of a handsome man who had no other agenda?
Vivian smiled at Silas. “I accept.”
He offered her his arm with a courtly bow, and Vivian took it with amusement. The Martian airs of grandeur were quite over the top. She let herself pretend, for this moment, that he was courting her in earnest. For herself.
Inside the dark tavern, Silas pulled her into a corner and tapped out an order on the surface of the table. “Tell me, lovely Vivian, how do you find Mars so far?”
Vivian stared around at her surroundings. She’d never been inside a bar before. Soldiers gathered in groups of twos and threes, chattering and laughing. Vivian relaxed into the back of her comfortable padded chair. “The people are so friendly and welcoming. Well, most of them.”
Silas rubbed his lips. “And who might be mistreating you, my darling Vivian?”
“Counselor Dorsey,” said Vivian, glad of the chance to complain about Xavier. “I’ve just spent two days in the same house with him, and I think he’s an insufferable jerk.”
Silas smiled to himself. “X, you never change.” He raised his hands in the air in an expression of surrender. “I can’t give an opinion. I’ve known him too long and too well to be an impartial judge.”
Vivian sat up straighter. “You know him?” That explained their strange reaction upon seeing one another. She wished to know everything this handsome stranger could tell her about the irritating man. “I can’t stand him.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” Silas took their drinks from a robotic server.
“Martian society is blinded by his fortune and frightened by his power on the Council and sees him only as he chooses to be seen.” He handed her a glass of dark red liquid, his scraped knuckles brushing her hand.
“We grew up together. My mother was the house manager of Dorsey Estate.” He gave her a tight smile.
“His father was one of the best men I’ve ever known.
When he died, he intended to provide for me amply, and his wishes were disregarded by his son.
A man of honor could not have doubted his father’s intention, but X chose to ignore his own father’s wishes and refused to honor my inheritance.
The fact is, we are very different sort of men, and he hates me for it. ”
Vivian took a sip of her wine to hide her perplexity. “But why would he be so cruel?”
“Jealousy,” Silas answered promptly. “His father treated me as if I were his own son. X is not one to tolerate any competition.”
“He really is terrible.”
“Hear, hear.” Silas raised his glass. “But I did not bring you here to talk of my childhood. Tell me, how are you finding the attention of being a Red Mother?”
Vivian looked down at her drink. She thought of her parents, still trapped in the camp. Of the tiny bruises dotting her stomach. Of the Earther nurse telling her she would break the cycle. “In the last week, everyone has been kind to us.”
“And yet?”
You should expect more. Vivian pushed Xavier’s words away.
What did more mean to someone like him? He’d never known what it felt like to survive on one meal a day or dodge handsy guards.
He didn’t know what it was like to hear about a friend’s death millions of miles away and be helpless to do anything about it.
“And yet, nothing,” Vivian said firmly. “I’m fine.”
“Why be satisfied with mere contentment?” Silas moved his chair closer to hers. His words sounded so much like Xavier. Well, he’d said they’d grown up together. “Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?”
Vivian ducked her head. “My sister is the beautiful one.”
“You—” He cupped her cheek with one hand. “Are exquisite. Like a porcelain doll.”
He was so different from the men at Sumter.
No crude gestures or dirty jokes. His eyes on her face, not leering at her body.
She should pull away. He wasn’t on the list. But instead, she leaned in when his rough fingers traveled down her neck, shivering in pleasure.
No one had ever touched her like this before. Like she was something precious.
“You have porcelain dolls on Mars?” she managed to ask.
Silas chuckled. “We do, actually. Ivory skin and bouncing brown curls.” He took one lock of her hair and tugged gently on it.
Vivian stared into his vivid blue eyes. What pre-recorded commentary might Wim make about Silas? “I should go.” She forced herself to pull back. “I don’t want to leave my sister for too long.”
“May I visit you, Vivian?”
A thrill went through her at the idea of seeing him again under Wim’s nose. “In the dormitory? It’s locked on both sides.”
Silas took her hand and kissed it again. “For you, I’ll find a way.”