“Like you were beneath him—like you didn’t deserve his time. But you’re one of the smartest people I know, Val. If he can’t see that, then he’s a fool, andyoudeserve better.”
His face softened. “Thanks, Arie,” he said, and walked onto the lift. I didn’t see him again for the rest of the night.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
THE ARGUMENT
Dad got on the intercom and told everyone to brace themselves as theStarfarerjumped into hyperspace to reach our next destination: Naboo.
“Where a very special person is waiting for us!”he teased.
The special person in question had been the ruler of Naboo during the Galactic Civil War. Normally, we took guests on excursions, but construction was going on at the palace, and so Kotti had coordinated a meet and greet instead. Not every day did you come face to face with former royalty, so it was a fair trade-off.
Traveling to Naboo took anywhere between ten and fourteen hours, depending on where we entered the hyperspace lane. I used to wonder if Mom ever used her skills to shorten the distance, astrogating uncharted routes across the galaxy, but every time I asked Dad, he simply shrugged and told me he didn’t remember.
He wouldn’t even let metryto astrogate. He hadn’t let Val, either.
The one thing that connected us to our mother was a thing we weren’t allowed to explore. I wasn’t sure I even wanted to—ithadcost Mom her life, and so it was frighteningly real, and frighteningly permanent—but Val always took issue with Dad not letting us try…. Val called this ship a cage, but…it was safe. It was home. I couldn’t fault Dad for trying to protect us.
As we eased into hyperspace, the old bones of theStarfarergroaned, and the comforting hum of the engine disappeared in the vacuum of sound. It was always a little disorienting at first, when the engines went silent. It unnerved me every time, no matter how many trips I took.
As I clocked out for the night and returned downstairs to go to my room, a tragically familiar face met me in the corridor after I exited the turbolift. A familiar face that was currently trying to break into a room.
A room that was not his.
“What are you doing?” I snapped, stalking past my own room to confront him.
Sian jumped. Noola scuttled between his feet. “I told you totellme if anyone was coming!” he scolded her.
Noola chirped, eyes wide and innocent.
I folded my arms across my chest and narrowed my eyes at them both. “The refreshers are the other way, if that’s your excuse.”
He sucked a breath between his teeth, starting to pocket the bent fork and the pebble-sized sharp object he was using to pry open the lock. “Thatwaswhat I was looking for, sadly….”
I recognized the other object in his hand. “You’re using aPiece of Alderaanto try to get into my brother’s room?”
“Oh, this?” He tossed the rock into the air and caught it between his first and middle finger. It glinted in the pale lights, looking like a tiny version of the rocks that floated in the Alderaanian graveyard.
Because it was.
Thatwas where the missing souvenir had gone.
“Noola brought me back a souvenir from her excursion. I thought I could put it to use.”
“To break into my brother’s room?”
“Because he keeps snooping around,” he replied simply.
I glowered. “Do you keep giving him reason to? Get away from his door.”
“I won’t have someone like you judgeme,” he replied.
“What doesthatmean?”
He held up the rock. “Really, Starlight? You profit off of the galaxy’s worst moments, and you’re trying to make me feel bad about making sure your brother is not a galactic fascist trying to kill me.”
I fisted my hands. “You take that back. Val wouldnever.”
