“As will you,” Doren responded.
The two males stared at each other across the desk, and she could feel the tension crackling between them.
Ari chose that moment to sneeze.
It was such a tiny, absurd sound that she almost laughed. The baby blinked, looking vaguely offended by her own nose, and then immediately began reaching for the lights again as if nothing had happened.
The tension broke.
“Very well,” Tanaca said briskly. “Protection for the human and the child, formal documentation of the voluntary nature of any artifact interaction, and Imperial resources in exchange for cooperation and information sharing. On both sides.” He rose from his chair, signaling that the meeting was coming to an end. “I’ll have preliminary documentation prepared within the day. In the meantime, you’re welcome to remain on the station as guests of the Empire.”
“How generous.”
“Isn’t it?” Tanaca’s smile was back, polished and impenetrable. “A pleasure meeting you, Lady Emma. Captain va Karr, I look forward to a... productive partnership.”
The corridor outside Tanaca’s chambers was wide enough to fly a small ship through, lined with the same precious metals and imposing artwork that had decorated the meeting room. Imperial guards flanked the doorway, their expressions as blank and unreadable as statues.
Doren didn’t speak until they were well out of earshot.
“I don’t like him.”
“I noticed.”
“He’s everything I’ve spent my life avoiding. Politics. Bureaucracy. People who treat others like pieces on a game board.” His tail lashed against his leg.
“Athtar doesn’t like him either.” She adjusted Ari, who had fallen asleep against her shoulder. “But it was the right choice.”
“Was it?” Doren stopped walking, turning to face her. “Maybe I should have found another way. Maybe I should have kept running, kept?—”
“Kept getting us nearly killed every few weeks?” She reached up with her free hand, touching his cheek the way she had aboard theVagabond. “Doren. We made this decision together.”
His eyes closed. She could feel the tension in him, the barely contained frustration of a man who had built his entire identity around independence and was now learning to let it go.
“I know,” he said quietly. “I just... I hate feeling trapped. And this feels like a trap, no matter how many documents we sign.”
“Maybe. But it’s a trap that comes with resources and protection and a chance to actually find what we’re looking for instead of running forever.” She smiled slightly. “Besides, you heard Tanaca. I reminded him of the Emperor’s consort. That’s got to count for something.”
His eyes opened, and despite everything, a hint of amusement flickered in them. “You did handle him well. Where did that come from?”
“Five years of parent-teacher conferences.” She shrugged. “You learn to hold your ground when someone’s trying to intimidate you into changing a grade or overlooking bad behavior.”
“So Tanaca is basically an overprotective parent trying to bully a teacher.”
“More or less.”
He laughed—a real laugh this time, warm and surprised. “Gods, I love you.”
The words hung in the air between them, and her heart squeezed. He’d said it before, in the aftermath of their escape, but hearing it again—calm and certain and completely unguarded—was something else entirely.
“I love you too,” she said softly. “Even when you’re being stubborn and impossible.”
“Especially when I’m being stubborn and impossible?”
“Don’t push your luck.”
He leaned down and kissed her, gentle and sweet, mindful of the sleeping baby between them. When he pulled back, some of the tension had finally drained from his shoulders.
“Come on,” he said. “Let’s find our quarters and figure out what we’re actually going to tell Tanaca about the Vault. Because right now, I’m not sure I want to give him everything.”
