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What woke me was the dread of a closing door.
Each morning it would end the same. First, the clay dishes would clink into the metal sink. Then Father’s plastic chair would scrape the stone floor. They would stand together at the door, whispering. A silence. I always imagined it was the moment they shared a long kiss. Then at last, it’d be the goodbye. The front door opened, creaking on rusted hinges. And finally, despite all my prayers, it’d close.
I lean close to Mustang and kiss her forehead. Harder than I meant to. She wakes delicately, like a cat stretching itself out of a summer nap. Her eyes don’t open, but she nuzzles into my side.
“You’re awake,” she murmurs. Her lashes flutter and she bolts upright, away from me. “Sorry. Must have fallen asleep.” She looks to the chair she’d been sitting in. “On the bed.”
“It’s fine. Stay. Please.” I’d forgotten we’re supposed to be cold to one another. “How long has it been?”
“Since the assault? A week.” She brushes loose strands of hair from her eyes. “I’m glad you’ve come back to us.”
“Who did we lose?” I ask carefully.
“Lose?” Her hands fidget awkwardly as she lists the casualties. A moment of silence stretches long. The numbers crushing me in my bed. I remember to breathe.
“Your father?” I ask.
“You don’t know?” She smiles awkwardly and sighs a bit too casually, trying to loosen her own tension. She scoots closer on the bed, still taking care not to touch me. “It’s going to be tedious catching you up.”
“I’m sure you’ll manage.”
“Father is alive. When the shields fell, several Golds already inside the Citadel led a lurcher squad to rescue him. Turns out my brother has a long reach. So when the Olymp
ic Knights came to take him with Octavia, they left empty-handed.
“The HC channels are calling Roque ‘Nelson reincarnate.’ He captured more than eighty percent of the Bellona fleet.” Her tone darkens. “Which means, as leader of the engagement, he has claim to at least thirty percent of the ships, the rest going to the House Augustus.”
“Meaning he has more than I do, technically.”
“The pundits are wondering how long his loyalty will last now that …”
“The Jackal is playing his games,” I interrupt with a laugh.
“He never stops. “
“I don’t think Roque will take up arms against me,” I say. “Do you?”
She shrugs. “Power creates opportunities. I told you to mend things with him.”
“Roque is our ally. He always will be. You know him.”
“He’s been here as much as Sevro.” She smiles slowly. “Fell asleep here last night. I shooed him away earlier. But I wouldn’t be doing my job if I pretended he wasn’t a potential threat to us.”
Us, I note.
“Your job?” I ask. “Which is …?”
“I’ve appointed myself your chief Politico.”
“Have you now?”
“I have. The game of court can be a nasty, duplicitous business. You’re much too earnest for it. Like a lamb thinking it an honor to be invited to a banquet thrown in its honor by wolves.”
“And what if it’s you I need to be protected from?”
“Well.” She arches her left eyebrow. “Then I suppose you’ve already lost.”
I laugh and ask about Sevro.
