Page 40 of The Space Between Stars

Mitek kicked at the deck, looking down. “I suppose I can go and find you something to eat?”

She didn’t bother to hide her satisfied smile.

Rather than move toward the galley, he stood in place wearing an expression like he’d stepped in something unpleasant.

“Thanks,” he finally muttered.

“What was that, now?”

He cringed as he spoke through gritted teeth. “You saved me. So, thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“And I’m sorry I’ve been...”

“A brat?”

“Yeah. It just—” Mitek’s nose twitched. His eyes welled for a moment, and she felt a flash of sympathy. “I knew the real Fankalo. He was like a little brother. So when you came. It... It was just weird.”

It was weird.

Fankalo shrugged. “If that’s so, maybe you can find something else to call me?”

“Yeah, maybe. What was your name before?”

Through her tightening throat, she almost said it: Arleena Curtaim. And that her brother, Calverous Curtaim, was still out there somewhere, and she would find him, Preservation help her, if it was the last thing she did, because he wouldn’t have just left her. Never. Never. Never.

Would he?

“It doesn’t really matter.” That life was no longer hers.

The afternoon sun glinted golden where it grazed the sea. The wide-open space of the endless ocean had adopted her as much as her new father had. She offered a final thought toward that life of darkness in a Kaidechi slum, where linens always covered the only window to their shanty. It would never return. But maybe the best part of it would. Calver.

“You know you’re a girl, right?”

Fates, Mitek was an idiot. “Yeah. But I think, for the time being, I’ll be best off pretending I’m not.”

“Suppose it makes sense…”

“I… had a brother too,” she said, willing to give vulnerability in exchange for vulnerability.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.” She shuffled her feet.

“I’m sorry.” His hand went to his neck. “Did you lose him? In the Tera’thian scourge?”

“No.” This time she couldn’t control it; tears came to her eyes. Her chest was so tight, she thought she might vomit. “He… left me.” Not just tears: heaping, heaving, humiliating sobs.

Mitek put a hand on her back. He guided her to the railing, where the other raiders were less likely to see her state. She was grateful for that.

“Doesn’t sound like much of a brother to me.” The protectiveness in his voice took her by surprise, but the comment did little to stifle the flow. “But you have a real one, now, eah?”

She wiped at her eyes. “A real bratty one,” she sniffled.

Mitek beamed at her. “Come on now. Can’t cry while you’re eating. You’ll make the food taste like seawater.”

They gazed into the ocean. A view that was constant, and yet never the same. Mitek stood by her until she got a grip on herself. Despite the new comfort of his presence, she couldn’t help but feel unease.