Page 51 of Alien Burn

“We'll let you get back to your important work.”

He inclined his head and left by the upper path.

Sereya stood very still until he was gone.

Roemary looked at the cup.

“Was that really worth missing luncheon?”

“I didn't know you were waiting.”

“Of course you didn't.”

The pale skirt whispered against the steps as Roemary turned. Sereya carried the cup to the tray by the entrance. She set it down carefully, although part of her wanted to put it in her pocket beside the comm.

Which was absurd.

It was a cup. She could leave it here. The declaration had happened whether she kept proof of it or not.

He had offered her his life. She had accepted.

And somehow she had still forgotten to tell him that she liked his smile.

“Sereya.”

She followed.

Revealing nothing as she followed Roemary.

Roemary waited until the suite door closed.

“What did he want?”

Sereya put her comm beside the folded clothes on the couch.

“We talked.”

“I saw that. About what?”

“His family. The courtyard.”

Roemary pulled at the clasp behind her neck. It caught in her hair. Sereya stayed where she was; after a moment Roemary wrenched it loose herself.

“I explained how delicate this is. He has responsibilities. People watching him. He can't spend every hour being openly attentive to me.”

Sereya said nothing.

“Talking to my companion is a way of learning about me without making an announcement. You understand that, don't you?”

The possibility had been the first thing Sereya put to him. She had practically handed him the excuse.

He had admitted his poor beginning.

And she didn't say anything, maintaining her posture, because she knew. Because it always went that way with Sereya.

Then he had told her what his body knew, and waited for her answer.

She hadn't thought he'd been speaking to her at first. Part of her expected that Roemary was behind her somewhere.