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“Yes, we’re done. That was Captain Darra of The Fickle Dominion,” I tell her as Kalla sneaks away without a word. “He’s the one I chose for the task of finding your colonist.”
“That reminds me,” she starts, threading her fingers together with her eyes on the floor. “I wanted to express my thanks for how quickly and courteously you’ve handled this crazy idea I threw at you just days ago.”
I never know what to do with myself when she looks sweet and says sweeter things. The temptation to gather her cheeks between my palms is barely suppressible. I can’t imagine it looks normal from her point of view to see me short-circuiting like a bot on the fritz.
“Thank me with a long walk before dinner,” I say. “We can see the kennel, and Nisina can come along and take a few sprints with the other kaia.”
After Nisi’s had her fun at the kennels greeting her friends, we take her to the atrium and walk the garden trails while the kaia tires herself out running laps. Nisi is quick to enlist a small pack of children to lavish her with attention and play games with her. They quickly realize she does not fetch things.
We encounter many of the civilian passengers as we make a lazy circuit of the atrium’s main trail, and I realize that Frankie’s memory is something worth studying. She hasn’t been on the ship for long, but she knows a number of my warrior’s names, as well as the palace staff that have been working in the cafeteria.
“Why did you assign me Viro rather than Ruka?” She asks me at one point, when I didn’t know she knew Ruka at all. “He introduced me to her yesterday, joked about stealing the job from her somehow.”
Ruka and Viro are often attached at the hip. They came up the ranks together as young warriors, and I chose them as my personal guard because their hand-to-hand combat skills can’t be matched. They’re formidable separately, and near unbeatable when working together.
“Would you prefer a female?” Ruka had always been a candidate of mine for her, but I ultimately decided Viro would suit the job better.
“No. I only ask out of curiosity.”
“There are many reasons. Your friends were kind enough to tell me what you were like— that you love to travel, you like people, and you have a dark sense of humor… Viro is the same. I wanted you to get along with your bodyguard. Viro has three sisters and scores of female paramours; he’s well-liked by females and not awkward around them as some males can be. As for Viro himself… Well, I know he is prone to melancholy and self-destructive tendencies. I was afraid of what he might get up to if I released him from service as soon as the war ended. I thought he might go on some drinking, gambling, and rutting bender. So I gave him a position that requires his full attention that he can’t turn down.”
“I had no idea you’d put so much thought into it,” she comments, brows raised.
“Don’t tell him all of that,” I sigh.
“Of course not,” she agrees. “But I find it fascinating. Because I’ve noticed you put meticulous thought into many things like that.”
“Ruka is more patient, and she’s well-liked by Kalla. Kalla will be taking over training our warriors soon, and he needs a cooler head by his side to help him with that task. Ruka will be perfect for that. When I need you to have more than one guard, she’ll join him in protecting you. I had considered swapping the positions between them, partly because Viro works well with youths, but he’ll be able to teach courses and still attend to you once we’re settled on Kar’Kal. You won’t need constant protection at home…”
“But traveling is different,” she concludes when I trail off. “Viro explained it. It’s honestly a comfort to have him around, but I used to crave my alone time. I’m curious whether I’ll be like that again someday.”
“Some events change us forever that way,” I say. “That’s why I’m paranoid about travel. I’m not the only one. I mentioned it to you before, the reason behind the tension. Our ship was found and boarded in mid-space. The result was a massacre. It’s a memory that will shape our people for decades to come.”
“It’s only natural that would be on people’s minds,” she says with a solemn nod.
“You’re alright discussing this?” I check in with her even though she’s repeatedly insisted she would tell me if she was uncomfortable. I’m still not sure I believe her on that front.
“Actually, it’s kind of nice casually talking about messed up shit with someone.” She releases a dry chuckle. “The people I’m closest to are worried about me, so anything dark I might say is overanalyzed.”
And I’m not one of the people closest to her, I think to myself.
“You can talk to me about anything,” I assure her, ignoring the subtle pang in my chest. “But like I said, you’ll have to endure some paranoia on my end when it comes to being mid-space. Even when we’re traveling through safe territories, I’ll have my guard up. And I’m glad you see Viro as a comfort rather than a pain.”
“This is what I wanted,” she says. “I felt exposed at home on the colony. Be as paranoid as you want. It can’t be more paranoid than my deepest inner thoughts.”
“Now’s probably not the best time for it,” I say, casting a glance at passersby that eye us curiously. “But we can have a paranoia contest anytime you’d like.”
“I thought I warned you not to romance me,” she jokes.
“Perhaps you should’ve considered that when you drew up the pre-nuptial agreement.”
We share a smile, and I can’t help but notice delighted whispers coming from a small gathering of older women across the way. Little do they know the true topic of conversation.
“I think we’ve made enough of a splash,” I sigh. “News travels fast among the denizens of The Rightful Heir—Well, I guess I can’t call them that now.”
The dinner that follows is pleasant. Once we start talking, time slips away quickly. At first, I’d wondered whether the ease of our conversation would have limitations. I thought we’d tell each other our stories and then run out of any common ground, but Frankie has endless curiosities about my world and the places I’ve traveled. She’s well-traveled too, so we spend much of our time discussing other galaxies. We focus a lot on Kar’Kali history, but it always seems to veer off into some philosophical musings or childhood anecdotes.
I try to keep a cool demeanor, but inside I’m celebrating. This is proof that I have more than a contract with her. She and I can share more than just the titles of Ka’lakka and Ka’lakkori.
