Kalie’s brow furrowed as he crossed the solar to the sparkling marble kitchenette. “No. Not here. Why?”
“Tea?”
Her eyes stung. “In the left cupboard. It was Aunt Calida’s.”
It was earthy and cloying, but Aunt Calida had loved it, and she hadn’t had the heart to toss it yet. Mylis took the box down and swiped his hand below the faucet, sending water splashing into a porcelain mug. The thermo whirred, and before she knew it, a steaming hot cup of tea hovered under her nose.
As she stared into the opaque brown depths, she could almost imagine the night Aunt Calida had poured a glass of wine, grieving after Grandmother Madeleine’s suicide had ended the civil war. Onesip had sent her sprawling onto the floor, convulsing and foaming at the mouth.
Landon Grant had been arrested for treason a few weeks later.
Kalie took the tea and forced a smile. “Thanks. That’s very thoughtful of you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Warmth seeped into Kalie’s bones as she cradled the mug. She’d never liked the tea, but the gesture was sweet, and she was tempted to take a sip. Then came images ofherfoaming at the mouth, and a hollow spread through her chest.
“Your Majesty?”
Heat crept to Kalie’s cheeks. She stared at one of her paintings.
“Oh.” Mylis looked down at his polished shoes. “Oh. I didn’t think about that.”
She lowered her gaze to the floor. The rug stained by Aunt Calida’s blood was long gone, but she’d been sitting where Mylis now sat the night she drank Landon Grant’s poisoned wine.
“You aren’t your father,” Kalie said. She wasn’t sure if it was for herself or for him, but she pushed the images away and took a drink of the earthy tea.
When she lowered it, Mylis was watching her.
“I’m not. And you aren’t your parents, either.”
Kalie winced. “No. I’m not.”
He had as much reason to despise her father as she had to despise his. Before her parents switched sides in the civil war to ally with Aunt Calida, Father’s drone strikes had wiped out Mylis’s entire extended family. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins. All gone. When Mylis’s mother died and his father was arrested, he hadn’t had anyone left.
She took another sip of tea. “Thank you. This was kind.”
“Any time.”
Draperies fluttered as wind gusted into the empty room, singing a low whistle. Lamps and chandeliers shone on the gold-trimmed furniture. All this space, with more opulent rooms stretching in either direction, and no family to share it with.
“It gets lonely, doesn’t it?”
“Yes,” Mylis admitted. “It does.”
She hunched forward, resting her elbows on her knees. It would get lonelier the further she got into her reign. In the end, Aunt Calida’s only friend was Marcus, and theirs had been a friendship born of shared political ambitions.
Never again would she gossip with someone like Ariah.
Kalie swallowed thickly. “How do you cope with it?”
“I fly. It’s an escape.”
“You crave adventure too?”
“Not really. I’ve had enough adventure for a lifetime.” A wistful look clouded Mylis’s eyes, and his lips curved up. “No, it’s something about being alone in the air. It’s humbling to see the world from the clouds. Everything’s different. Calming. Nothing can get to me up there.”
“Asteroids, other ships, comets…”
