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“Not to be rude, but you need to practice your patter. You sound dodgy as fuck,” Lenore said, shoving her foot into the neoprene socks. “What if I don’t want to go with you?”
“We’ll leave you with supplies. I can’t guarantee we’ll be able to stop in and check on you, though.” Sarah glanced back to her prince, who spoke again. “Vekele says this is a hunter’s summer lodge. It’s not fit for winter habitation.”
“Yeah, I figured that out on my own,” Lenore muttered.
“Look, I get it that it sounds a little sketchy,” Sarah said, repeating Lenore’s words. “This is a new endeavor for me, for us all. I was lucky that Vekele found me. Others weren’t so lucky. I want to find them. Help them. I get that you don’t trust me. This sounds too good to be true.”
“Promising to send me to a palace was a little over-the-top.”
“Well, it’s only a small palace and in rough shape. Like Miss Havisham does Versailles,” Sarah said with an easy laugh. “Having a doctor, a human doctor, will go a long way toward building trust. Will you help me?”
Lenore shrugged a shoulder. She wasn’t the type of gal who’d be content to lounge around all day, even if it was a palace. She went into medicine because she wanted to help people.
“I’ll pay you a salary,” Sarah offered quickly. “A good one, though I still haven’t got the hang of how money works here. There’s like a universal credit but also local currency, and it’s not base ten, like one hundred cents to a dollar. It’s weird, like Victorian money. Anyway, you’d be a part of our crew as the ship’s doctor.”
The alleged prince entered the cabin carrying a small case. He held it out to Lenore, scowling like the task was beneath him. She opened it to find a device that looked like half of a buckle.
“That’s a translator. It goes over your ear,” Sarah said, motioning to her own ear. “I’ve got a chip implanted, but since you don’t want any needles, this will work. It’s yours as long as you like.”
Lenore removed the translator. It was delicate, constructed of silver wire that shone in the gloom of the cabin, and screamed expensive. Her fingers looked especially grubby. “You’re just giving this to me?”
“Yeah, well, like I said, I don’t have the best grasp on how money works here. The king is financing all this. I’ll keep spending his money as long as he lets me.”
“No one’s getting stuffed with alien eggs?”
“Only consensual stuffing.” Sarah laughed.
Lenore was not impressed.
Sarah’s smile fell. She coughed, blushing, and pulled a very serious expression. “I mean, that wasn’t appropriate.”
“Yeah, I’ll work for you, princess. Someone’s gotta be the responsible adult here.”
CHAPTER FOUR
BARIS
Baris took the opportunity to return to the ship and change out of his mud-covered clothes. The female was loud, crass, and smelled. Carrying her through the rainforest had been to hurry their mission along, nothing more, and he was rewarded for his consideration with mud.
Des, his aide, scurried behind Baris as he headed toward his cabin.
“Your Majesty, Councilor Raelle has been trying to contact you?—”
“Not now,” Baris said.
“It’s urgent.”
Baris ignored the male and stepped through his cabin door. There were always messages and a hundred tasks to be done. It could wait. He needed a shower and a fresh change of clothes to remove the stink of mud and sweat from him.
Fussy.
He could almost hear his karu’s gentle teasing over his appearance, even as the karu would preen Baris’ hair, but there was nothing. Just an empty cabin waiting for him. The absence made his heart hurt.
Baris ignored the ache and stripped off the offensive garments. He wasn’t being fussy about his appearance. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t care. His advisers droned on about standards to be upheld, and Baris did understand the need for spectacle while at court, but in his private time, he couldn’t be bothered.
Clean and comfortable, he found it far more difficult to rid himself of the sensation of carrying the human—Lenore—through the rain forest. He had enjoyed it, and he didn’t understand why. She had been caked in mud and absolutely ruined his favorite shirt. She squirmed in his arms, making it difficult to hold onto her. She petted him, which was beneath both their dignities.
Soon enough, his private aide informed him of the ship’s immediate departure from the moon. The male clutched his tablet, looking as if he had more to say. Baris mentally sighed. Des was a good aide, highly organized and efficient, but he was unsure of himself.
