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CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
FIONA
Kye calms down a little in my arms.
I always find his embrace stabilizing, but I can tell he’s scared. I’m scared, too. I want to tell him as much but then I hear footsteps coming toward us and I disentangle myself from him, watching as the Skoll and Orion sit around the table.
This is our last dinner together before we go on the Wrath, before we take on Lamia. Before I save Homeworld.
I’m not really hungry, but I’m aware I should probably eat something.
Back when they first took me from Earth, we ate together like this while they tried to tell me that it was my responsibility to save Homeworld. That I was going to be Nereus’ wife. I didn’t believe them and I was so scared of them.
Now I’m scared for them. I’m scared that, if this doesn’t work out, I’m going to lose them.
Nereus pulls out a chair for me, but I realize there’s something else I need to do. Before we sit down for this meal, I have one more person I have to call. If things go poorly, I might never get to speak to him again, and at the very least, he deserves to know where I am. What I’m doing.
We’ve spoken since I left Earth again, thankfully, and my dad has been in politics enough that I know he knows how to keep a secret. Even from his awful wife.But while I’ve told him that things are precarious, I’ve never gone into detail. I’m in space and my dad is a proactive man; he doesn’t need to worry about me. And I keep my romantic life to the headlines, mostly because he doesn’t need to know about anything else, but he should probably get to know that his only daughter is married.
And a fucking queen.
“Wait,” I say. “Before we do this, is there any chance I can talk to my father?”
“Of course,” Nereus says, something like regret touching his face for a second. “I should’ve suggested it.”
“It’s okay,” I say.
“Let me walk you to where you can contact him,” he says.
I look back at the men sitting around the table and I’m aware they’re regarding me with affection and a bit of worry, but they’re also chatting amongst themselves, probably to ease my concerns.
Nereus interlaces his fingers with mine and he walks quickly away from the dining room. The walls in the hallway are made of clear glass and crystal, clear green and blue water surrounding us. Inside the water, I see sparkling pink and quartz, Merati swimming around large spiral structures that I think are part of Homeworld. I’m still getting to the grips with the geography of this city.
Nereus slows a bit, his footsteps falling in place with mine. “Are you alright?”
I look at him, my eyes wide, and shake my head. “I’m so fucking scared,” I say.
He smiles. “I would’ve never been able to tell,” he says. “Not if you hadn’t told me.”
“Good. I’m learning.”
“You’re magnificent,” he says. He takes a step toward me, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me close to him. “I’m a lucky man to call you my wife. But I should’ve asked if you wanted to announce it to your father. I wanted it so much I didn’t think about your family.”
“Nereus,” I say, my hand on his chest. “Youare my family.”
He smiles. “I know,” he says. “Let’s call your father.”
He grabs my hand again and we walk through the long corridors again, until we’re climbing up a long, spiral staircase. Nereus pushes a large door open, but the room that it opens into is surprisingly small.
“This is the comms tower,” he says. “You should be able to contact your father from here.”
“How?” I ask, when I look around and I realize there’s no phone anywhere. I’ve used the Naiad and the Wrath’s comms system with Kye’s guidance before, and he’s always said hello to my father, but I don’t see any comms systems here. It’s just a large wall and I don’t see any buttons on it.
“Just sit in the middle, where the cushions are, and someone will help you communicate with him,” he says.
“Oh, like an operator?”
He narrows his eyes. “Yes, I suppose that’s what they are,” he says, then smiles at me. “He’s going to be so proud of you.”
