Prince of Luster (20 page)

She nodded. “My mother taught me something similar. That’s why we’re more alike than we realize. Even our religions are very close. All because these Elders, as you call them, kept visiting different planets at different times in history.” She suddenly frowned and shook her head. “I … I don’t believe it was right for an advanced race to take people against their will. Maybe that’s why no one knows what happened to the Elders. It could be they were punished by the Creator Goddess for interfering in so many lives.”

He shrugged. “Maybe. I don’t know of any writings alluding to the Elders’s demise. But you’re right about one thing. If they ever took beings from any world against their will, they were interfering. People, even those less advanced, have a right to live as they please and without intrusion. And they shouldn’t have various kinds of technology forced on them until they’re willing or capable of being responsible for it.” He paused for a moment, stroking her head as he did so. “You know … it’s said these star-traveling forebears would visit the same places over and over again, adding advancements, and taking away those among the population who showed greater intelligence. If all that’s true, they believed themselves gods.”

“Well, whoever was put on Wyrdan long ago left my people with genetic traits that gave me my eye color and pointed ears. At least, my ears were pointed until the tips were burned off.”

She’d made a joke of it, but he didn’t find anything about her injuries amusing. Instead of bringing up the topic of slug presence in their lives, however, he simply kissed the tip of her nose. “You’re still very compatible … with
me
.”

“Very, very
compatible,” she murmured as she moved closer to briefly kiss him.

Una grumbled loudly at being squashed between two bodies. She got up off Marcos’s chest, shook her herself, and found a new bed on a soft blanket by the fire.

“Maybe the Elders did something to alter the animals too,” he said and smiled at Una’s attempt to circle her bed and make it softer. “There are species on many planets that are similar. Una, however, seems quite unique. Just like you,” he said as he touched the tip of her nose with one index finger.

“I can’t wait to leave here and get to Avalon. I know I must have said that so many times that you’re sick of hearing it. But it sounds so wonderful.”

“It is, Nova.” He pulled her close. “We’ll build a cottage in the woods, just as I promised. And we’ll have a garden where we can go outside at night and sit under the stars. You’ll have flowers of every color growing there; shades that you can only imagine. And we’ll have quiet evenings together.” He grinned. “There’ll also be those evenings where my entire family shows up and plants themselves in every room, space, and corner imaginable. You’ll get quite tired of them.”

“No. Never. Especially if I can be included with all the birthdays, holidays, and special events. I want that so much, Marcos. To be a part of a family and have all that love to share. I … I’ve missed it so.”

The earnest tone of her voice made him want to hold her even tighter. Nova never asked for any material possession besides a home. That could be nothing more than a tiny cottage by a babbling brook. She craved the things that mattered most. Family, peace, safety, and a future. He so desperately wanted to give her all those things and more.

“I’ll bet you’ve never been on a picnic, have you?” he blurted.

She pulled away from him stared for a long moment. “What’s that?”

“It’s where you pack up some food in a basket, walk until you find just the right place, then put down a blanket, and spend the afternoon eating and talking. Then, just before the stars come out, you lie back and plan the future.”

“Have … have you done this with others? Planned a future?”

“No. And I’ve only been on picnics with members of my family. No one else. Not ever.”

She sent him a brilliant smile. “Then, I’ll be the first lover to go on this picnic with you.”

“You’ll be the
only
lover I’ll ever do that or anything else with from here on. And I’ll take you to the ocean and let you see the way the moon glows on the water at night. Or we’ll walk in mountain meadows where wild herbs are said to grow.”

Tears formed in her eyes. “I’ll go anywhere with you. Just as long as we’re together. And as long as you’ll love me.”

“How could I do otherwise?” He pulled her closer and draped one leg over her body. “You’re the only woman I’ve ever met who cares for who I am
inside
, Nova. Not for what I can do for them. And certainly not for my looks.”

“Why do you say that? Are those the kind of women you’ve known?”

“That was the kind of woman I attracted because I was shallow and banal. I … I was a rogue looking for a good time. Nothing else mattered to me.”

She shook her head vehemently. “I don’t believe that! You’re a good man. You wouldn’t have risked your life for total strangers if you weren’t. I can’t for a moment think of you as shallow.”

“Well … look where my good intentions got me,” he reminded her and motioned toward the burns on his body. “I don’t know that I did that man and his granddaughter any good at all. For all I know, Prometheus went back, found them, and did whatever he would have had I not interfered. Maybe I was a bombastic, pretentious fool who should have remembered that invoking a Limaxian’s anger could have had consequences for others. Prometheus might very well have turned that plasma on everyone else. Just as he did when you were burned.” He gently stroked her cheek and kissed her forehead. “But we can remedy all this. As soon as we’re out of here, my brother has an incubation unit aboard his ship. He can lock us up in it, and we’ll sleep together until we reach Avalon. By then, we’ll probably be completely healed. Then, I’ll get to see what you really look like.”

She suppressed a smile. “I’m told I’m quite plain for a Wyrdan. You might not want me if you see the way I really am.”

“What if Fate decrees we stay just like this?”

“I saw you from a distance. That day when you were … ” Her voice trailed away before she spoke again. “I couldn’t see you well, but you were magnificent. Just as you say, I don’t care if either of us is healed of our scars. As long as we’re together.”

“Then we’ll let Fate make that choice.”

“What’s inside you is what I value. That’s what I love, Marcos. Not the beautiful black hair I saw or the anger in your gaze.”

He’d never tell her the real reason he had confronted the slug leader. To do so might give his identity away before she was ready to know it.

Years ago, during the allied conflicts with the deadly faction calling themselves Warlords, he’d landed on planet after planet, witnessing what scavenging slugs had done. They’d killed countless men, women, and children because they were too injured, too old or too young to be taken as slaves by the slugs. And of those children he’d helped rescue, their innocence had been stolen.

When he’d seen that girl beg for her grandfather’s life, it’d all come back with a vengeance, and he’d gone off mission in less than a heartbeat. But no one knew these things about him. Not even Darius knew, and Marcos could never speak of them. Words wouldn’t come. But anger over those old events had surfaced in the marketplace. His much-vaunted control had left him for a brief moment, when he had seen the chance to avenge all those children. And it’d cost him.

When he saw her gazing at him with great intensity, as though she could almost hear his thoughts, he shook his head and dredged up another smile.

“If I couldn’t be healed, you’d never see all the steeled muscle beneath these scars,” he joked.

“I told you … I don’t care. And something tells me you don’t really care either. Something tells me you are far deeper than you let anyone know.”

He gazed at her for a very long moment. “You have the ability to look at people and see more than they wish. That’s why I can’t ever let you go. I think you know me far better than anyone ever has.”

She caressed his face, then his head. “Just love me. And together we’ll heal whatever wounds we have.”

He kissed her very tenderly and heard her softly moan in response. Then he broached the subject he’d most feared speaking of. “Nova … what if the enforcers aren’t the adversaries you seem to think them?”

“Enforcers are only as good as their leader. The king of Luster doesn’t care about some little spitball of a planet that doesn’t do him any good. That’s the reality of the situation, Marcos. We’re alone here and always have been.”

“But you
do
want justice done, don’t you? Forrell should pay for his greed and the murders he committed.”

She pulled away. “Yes, I want Forrell and the slugs to pay for what they’ve done.” She sat up and shook her head in confusion. “M-my mother once told me that Wiccans don’t believe in revenge. She said such negative feelings only come back to the wisher, threefold. And though I know it’s wrong to hate, I can’t help it.” She pulled the blankets closer to her body. “The more I learned about the way politics work, the more I understood that someone else just like Forrell would take his place. All the brave men and women who ever lived here are dead. And the enforcers still leave him in charge. They blindly believe everything Forrell tells them. It suits them to do so. And that’s why I’ve gone against my mother’s own teachings. I can’t help it,” she repeated.

“Nova, just as your feelings are complicated, nothing having to do with politics is that simple. You’re right about the intricacies of the situation. They go much deeper than you can imagine. Enforcers just can’t land on someone else’s world and take over. That’s not what they’re about. They battle when attacked and respond when asked. There are other issues I can’t—”

“Please don’t,” she said as she raised one hand in refusal. “This is one topic on which we’ll have to agree to disagree. The enforcers and Luster’s king wouldn’t be so complacent if all this were happening to their families, on their world. Delta Seven is nothing to them. The sooner we can get out of here, the better off we’ll both be. I just pray your brother doesn’t get held here by the slugs when he comes. If he asks too many questions, that could very well happen. And he might end up getting the same treatment you got.” She put her fingertips over his lips when he would have spoken again. “Your focus would be better placed on
him
than with what enforcers will or won’t do. All we have to do is two things. Get to your brother before the slugs do, and get off this planet safely. It can be done, but we’ll have to know, almost to the hour, when your brother arrives. It may be the only way to save his life and ours.”

He took a deep breath. This was the time he should reveal everything. But there would be months of living in this cave with her feeling she’d been betrayed. He’d become the object of scorn; someone who had lied to her all along. He pulled her close, tucked her head under his chin, and stared at the top of the cave. After he could get her to safety, everything would be different. He knew it would. Nova would understand why he hadn’t revealed himself. He could make her understand, and they could live all the dreams they’d planned. It would just take time.

• • •

“We’ve been through this. I’m going to the marketplace with you and that’s final.”

Nova knew he’d recovered a great deal of his strength, and had already delayed the trip for a week hoping he’d relent and stay safely within the cave. Now, there was no choice. Their supplies were low.

“What if someone asks questions about you, Marcos? What should I say?”

“I’ll do as we discussed. I’ll stoop over and pretend to be so badly debilitated by the burns that I’ll appear as many of those poor wretches milling about. You can say I’m a brother, cousin, father, or whatever. Or even just a neighbor. Surely anyone who’s done business with you won’t care as long as they get their money. You’ve said they don’t even know who
you
are because of your scars and because you did your shopping
mostly at night … as a thief.
You haven’t been to the marketplace all that much.”

“That’s all the more reason that
two
newer customers will stand out. Even if our faces are as scarred as everyone else’s. Don’t you see? While there are many people in the square, there aren’t so many they’ll ignore someone newly burned. Your scars are still raw. Why do you insist on doing this?”

“I won’t let you go alone.”

“How many times to I have to say this? I’ve been taking care of myself for a very long time, Marcos Orlandis—”

“Not with those slugs everywhere. I don’t like the idea of them getting anywhere near you.”

She put her hands on her hips and glared at him.

“We’ve argued this to death. Even Una hasn’t enough food for another two days. You can’t carry everything we need, and I’m not staying behind. Get it into your head.”

“You’re being foolish,” she insisted.

“And you’re not honoring the bargain you made. I’m as strong as I ever was. I can easily make the trip. I’m going and the subject is closed!”

“What if I went out tonight and stole what we need, just like I used to? Then neither of us would have to—”

“No! Do you know what would happen if you were caught after curfew? Had I not been standing by a window the last time, you’d have been some oversized worm’s tasty little supper. Or
worse
.”

She grabbed up her long cloak and impatiently pulled it around her shoulders. “I don’t like this. I have a bad feeling about it.”

“If we act like we belong, we’ll be all right. Just keep that in mind.”

“Thank you for the lesson in how to survive. I’ll take notes,” she sarcastically responded.

She watched as Marcos dressed in the woolen shirt, long pants, and boots she’d bought for him the last time she went to the marketplace. His anger was born out of a sense of possessiveness. She could have found it more charming and heartwarming if it hadn’t also been belittling skills she’d taken so long to hone.

The final garment he donned was his brown hooded cloak, the same one in which the money was still kept. The cloaks were the quintessential outer garb of all the citizens. Perhaps he might look like them if he could manage to crouch low enough. Marcos was so tall as to make that seem impossible. Indeed, when he stood next to her, she felt like a recalcitrant child. His height and size were so much more pronounced because of her fears. She tried to breathe deeply and focus.