Prince of Luster (13 page)

“Well … you’ve slept and eaten well these last few days. A couple of weeks have gone by, and it is time you were moving about. But tonight, I’ll bring you some clothes. Please don’t leave the protection of the cave again without proper garments. You could make yourself ill.”

Marcos sat on a flat rock and stared at her for a moment. “There’s a curfew after dark. Exactly what did you mean when you said you’d bring me clothes tonight?”

She smiled. “I have to replenish my supplies. I go out after dark to steal because it’s safer than meeting up with the slugs in the marketplace during the daylight hours.”

“No! Absolutely not. There’s no need for you to creep about at night and risk what will happen if you’re caught.” He walked toward his cloak, which was neatly draped over the back of an old chair. “I have money and some of the gemstones I bought sewn into the lining of this.” He ripped open one seam and handed her a pouch with some coins. “Use this to buy what you need.”

Nova slowly opened the leather pouch and saw the coins inside. “Marcos, this might be enough to bribe a ship’s captain to get us off Delta Seven the next time a supply vessel lands.”

“Do you really think that slug leader is going to let any citizen near a transport?”

She briefly bowed her head in agreement.

“It’ll be better used to buy supplies and clothing. Whatever you need to survive.”

“But I can steal what we need and save this.”

He sighed. “Nova, what you’re doing isn’t worth the risk. Help will come, I know it. My brother and the rest of my family won’t leave me here. And you can buy more and better supplies than what you can steal while running.”

She considered this. “I guess I could get a better supply of herbs for my ointments. You’ll need salves and poultices when the air turns colder.”

“And you can walk right into the marketplace and never be suspected of anything.”

She glanced down at the pouch. “Only if I don’t make a show of having this much money. If anyone sees this purse, they’ll question how a citizen of such a poor planet got it.”

Marcos didn’t consider his stash a good amount. He regularly spent more on drinks at Lusterian entertainment venues. To Nova, the sum must seem like a great deal indeed. She had very little in the way of personal property. Only what he’d seen in the cave. And that amounted to a few pots and pans, and some bottles of herbs and ointments, most of which she’d used on him.

“Why don’t I go with you?”

Her mouth dropped open.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked. “After you buy me some clothing, I’ll put my cloak on, hunch over, and pretend I’m one of a hundred people in the marketplace.”

“Are you
insane
? Do you know what the slugs will do if they find out you’re still alive? Can you imagine?”

“Nova, I’m so badly scarred my own mother wouldn’t recognize me.”

“If your mother has seen those unusual green eyes she would.”

The quip wasn’t lost on him, but he persisted. “If you go, I go with you. You won’t be buying supplies for me, risking your safety by stealing, or going into the marketplace alone.”

“I’ve been doing a damned good job of taking care of myself, Marcos.”

“Nova—”

“No and that’s final,” she angrily responded. “I’ll get warm clothing for you. Buying it is best because no one will recognize their stolen clothing on you if you should ever be seen. But that’s the extent of my compromise. You will
not
go back to the marketplace. Not ever.”

He watched her stalk to the fire to throw on more wood with a force that wasn’t necessary, and smiled. She was no bigger than a young girl. And if she knew that only members of the royal family and his closest friends were allowed to speak to him in such an argumentative way, she’d probably still use the same tone of voice. But she didn’t know who he was. Their conversations had been about very general topics, tending to sidetrack anything that might anger one of them or cause a painful reminder of Nova’s past.

He slowly walked to where she sat and took a seat beside her. “Could I ask a personal question?”

She glanced at him. “Depends.”

“I just want to know how old you are. You look very young.”

She gazed up at him. “Wiccans … those from the planet Wyrdan that is … appear younger than they really are. And the scars on my face hide a few lines.” She tried not to smile at him when his brows arched in disbelief. “I’m twenty-seven years this past summer.”

“You’re lying,” he blurted.

She chuckled and nodded. “It’s true.”

“You’re so tiny. You haven’t a waist as big as my lower thigh.”

“And how would you know that? Been looking me over, have you?”

Her joking tone made him grin broader. “Well, I did look and was wondering about your age.”

“So how old are you, Green Eyes?”

“Thirty-six this upcoming spring. At least the spring on my home world.”

“And where is your home world? You’ve said nothing about it.”

He didn’t want to add to the heap of lies he’d already told, but there was something in him that feared her hatred. And she
would
hate him with a vengeance if she knew who he really was. “It’s far from here. Close to the Lusterian realm.”

“What’s it like?” She turned to him, pulled her legs under her, and leaned forward to listen.

“It’s bright. Very colorful. Not dull like it is here.”

“I was born here,” she quietly told him. “All I’ve ever known are the dull, sepia tones of this world. Even the people here dress as though they’re already dead. But my mother used to tell me stories of her home planet of Wyrdan. She said there were forests and mountains as far as the eye could see. Everything was green and beautiful.” She gazed into the distance. “Someday, I’m going to go someplace where there’s lots of color. And there’ll be tall trees with lovely birds living among the branches. I want to live in a place just the exact opposite of Delta Seven. And when I find a way to leave here, I’m never coming back. Not ever.”

“My world has every color of the rainbow. People dress as if there’s always a festival. Why, some of the women even walk around baring their breasts. On my world it’s common.”

She turned to him. “I think it would be wonderful to feel so free, even though I’m not certain I could do such a thing.” She adjusted her position so she was sitting very close to him. “Tell me about the colors of your planet and the people there. I want to know its name and all the names of the people in your family.”

Now he was in trouble. “I-I have a very large family.”

“How wonderful. It must be grand to come home to a lot of people who’ve missed you.”

He nodded. “It is.”

“Tell me more,” she encouraged.

“My … my planet has been called Avalon by the ancients.” That much was true. It was a very old name, and only the historians ever spoke of it.

“I’ve never heard of such a place.”

The eagerness in her face was beguiling. Starved for news, familial affection, and a simple desire to see other than the dull regimen of colors of her home world for the first time, she practically hung on every word. So this much, at least, he wouldn’t lie about. “The streets on my world sparkle. Mines of white marble provide our building materials. And quartz crystal decorates the outside of some of the homes.”

Nova gasped. “How wonderful! Why did you ever leave?”

“I-I had a job to complete. I would have gone back when my work was done.”

“But it sounds like a wealthy place. Why would you need to scavenge the galaxy for poor-grade gems?”

“It was something I had to do. I can’t explain.” He threw some wood onto the fire and hoped she wouldn’t ask more on that subject.

“I think I understand.”

He looked at her. “You do?”

She touched his cheek lightly. “You wanted to forge a path for yourself. You’re that kind of man, I think.”

“That was part of it. I won’t live off my family, that’s for sure.”

“I knew it was something like that. The way you stood up to Prometheus led me to believe you’re a man who craves a challenge. Someone who takes action. And occasionally bites off more than he can chew. A
lot
more!”

He saw the twinkle in her eyes and knew she meant the last part as a compliment, despite how it sounded. “Do you want to hear more about my world or not?”

She looped her hands around his bicep. “Yes, please.”

The gesture warmed him even if it smarted a bit. But the pain of her small hands on his arm wasn’t so much as it might have been just a few days earlier. In any case, he didn’t want her to pull away. The contact was one of the first signs he was healing faster than he’d have thought. He happily continued with his description.

“There are many on my world who’re wealthy. Commerce is very good. A man or woman can make a very decent living. I guess you could say I chose a harder path … because it was there.”

“Tell me more about colors. What’s it like to wake up every day and surround yourself with them?”

“It’s breathtaking,” he quietly told her. “I never knew how much until now. I won’t ever take it for granted again.”

She sighed and leaned her head against his arm. “Maybe one day I can see it.”

Marcos put one arm over her slender shoulders. The gesture didn’t hurt so much at all, so he kept it where it was and hoped she wouldn’t shy away. When she didn’t, he smiled broader. Even his face was healing.

“I’ll take you, Nova. I swear it. We’ll get out of here. My brother
will
find me.”

She stayed quiet for a few moments. Finally, she spoke her thoughts aloud. “I sometimes wish my mother hadn’t left her planet when she met my father and agreed to be his wife. I wish I’d been born someplace else. It’s always been a struggle here. But my father always told us we’d be wealthy beyond our wildest dreams … someday. And we would have been much better off had the slugs not attacked that merchant vessel and besieged this planet. But the only reason I care about the gemstones now is because they could buy me a way off this horrible, wretched rock. All I want is enough to get out of here. Let everyone else keep the wealth of Delta Seven. I’ve seen what it can do, and it’s not worth it. And I don’t even care if I ever get healed of the scars, either. You and I could leave, go to your world, and you could show me all those beautiful colors. I’ll bet they’re grander than the shade of any gemstone you can imagine.”

For the first time, Marcos realized that if the women he’d bedded could see the second-born prince of Luster now, they’d only reluctantly keep company with him. Even his position and title couldn’t entice them into his quarters if his hideously scarred body was the only offering. But they would still come to him for money and his place in society.

That life now seemed very shallow. Maybe that’s why he’d always craved action at the helm of an enforcer ship. That was the only place where he’d mattered to anyone outside his own family circle.

But he was sure if someone were to offer this little Wiccan a bag of gold, she’d rush to the first off-world vessel she could. She’d give it all to some captain who might kill her after taking it. All for a chance at freedom.

“Nova, I don’t want to hurt you by asking, but I’m curious about something.”

She tilted her head and nodded. “Go on, ask.”

“You spoke of a man you might have married, and that he was killed. Can you talk about him?”

“Why?”

“Well … my brother lost his first wife and child when Warlords attacked their transport ship. When the war raged between the Constellation League and the Warlords, I lost a lot of friends as everyone did. But never someone I loved so dearly. My brother never talked about his wife and little girl after they were killed. I … I could never ask him what he was feeling for fear of the pain my questions might cause.”

“How terrible for him … and for you,” she whispered.

“He has another wife and child now. All that happened long ago. But sometimes, I see him looking up into the night sky, and I wonder if he’s thinking of them. Is it like that with this man you loved? Do you think of him often?”

“Honestly … this may sound horrible, but I don’t know if I really loved him so much as I thought of him as a very good friend. I think … I think that’s why I put him off so many times when he asked me to marry him. I always made some excuse or another. Aeson and I grew up together. I think our families expected we’d make an agreement. And I believe I might have come to love him with more passion eventually. He was an honest man. But he died with all the others who tried to stand against Prometheus. All because of a pile of cold stones wealthy people wear for jewelry. All because some king on a distant planet, and his enforcers, wouldn’t help us.”

“It wasn’t the king or the enforcers who killed your man, or your parents and friends, Nova. It was Prometheus and Adaman Forrell’s greed that did it.”

“I hear your words, Marcos. But the pain is all the same to me. The king and his people are among those who lust after gems of rare quality. If they loved their families more and their luxuries less, we’d all be better off.” She stood and walked to her pallet of blankets. “I think I’ll get some sleep. Tomorrow, I’ll go to the marketplace and find you some clothing.”

Marcos watched her stretch out on the neatly arranged blankets and felt pettier than at any other time in his life. When she finally slept, he stared into the fire and began to think about his predicament and his next move.

To keep Nova safe, he’d have to stay dead. If Forrell or the slugs ever found out she was the one who helped him out of the pit and nursed him, they’d slaughter her. And he wondered how many of the women he’d slept with would have done as much.

The answer to that silent query left him feeling barren. As if she sensed his tension, Una got up from a small bed Nova kept for her and waddled to where he sat. She hopped into his lap as though she belonged there, and began making those strange whirring sounds. He picked up the peculiar animal, held her to his chest, and eventually made his way to his own bed.

• • •

Nova looked over her meager supplies and made a mental list of what she’d need. As she did once each month, she opened the jar of white pills her mother had insisted she have on hand and swallowed one of them.