Sons of Lyra: Stranded (5 page)

His eyes were cold as ice,
his air distant. It hurt her more than anything. She could bear
being parted from him if he showed her a hint, the tiniest sign
that what had happened between them had truly meant something to
him and that this was hurting him as much as it was her.

On the ship, he’d shown
her a glimmer of his feelings. The closer they’d got to Lyra Prime,
the colder he’d become, until she was left doubting his feelings
and wished she was away from him. He’d barely spoken to her since
their time in the cryo-sleep chamber. She hadn’t been able to find
her voice either. Each passing league had seen her sinking deeper
into depression until she barely had the energy to raise her head.
She’d spent most of the journey crying in her room. She wished she
was far away and not standing here in front of him, unable to say
what she wanted to and knowing that things would never be the same
again.

It hurt too much to be
around him now and know that he’d never be hers. She’d lied when
she’d said she’d be fine with just one moment in his arms. For the
rest of her life, she was going to regret him.

“
Engineer
Stella...” He started and his voice cracked, his eyes sparking with
pain for a brief second before he cleared his throat. Was he
hurting as badly as she was? The thought of that didn’t lessen her
own pain. She cursed him. Why couldn’t he tell his parents to go to
hell? Why did he have to marry another? He stepped forwards. “As
soon as you fix the ship, you are to leave Lyra Prime.”

She didn’t want to leave.
She wanted to stay right here with him, even when she knew it was
pointless. In a matter of days, he would be married. His wife could
even travel onboard the Nephis-Lyra with him. What would happen
then? How could she bear to see Acer with his bride and know that
he would never be hers?

“
I’ll see you
soon,” he said in a low voice, almost a whisper. “Enjoy your shore
leave.”

Tears filled her eyes and
she couldn’t blink them away. She didn’t dare raise her hand to
wipe them away. It would draw everyone’s attention to
them.

“
Thank you,
Captain.”

Her hand rose in a shaky
salute and she looked at him one last time, seeing the anguish in
his eyes again, before turning her back. Her legs trembled as she
walked to the ship, stopping at the gang plank and busying herself
with the engine parts that sat in boxes on the dock. She felt sick
and weak, shaking.

The scrape of boot heels
on the stone floor made her turn and disappointment flooded her
when she saw it was Captain Lyra II, Balt. Her gaze strayed to
Acer. His other brothers were talking to him, laughing about
something. Acer wasn’t laughing. She’d never seen him look so
solemn.

Her heart
broke.

She actually felt the rip
and the snap as it split in two.

Unable to look at Acer any
more, she forced her eyes away. They followed Kayla as she played
chase with her twin daughter and son, all laughing happily with
faces full of sunshine.

“
My wife plays
with them too much,” Balt said with a joyful sigh. She envied him
and envied Kayla even more. “She spoils them.”

Her chest tightened and
ached again when she noticed that Acer was leaving. She watched his
back, torn between turning away and running to him. She did
neither. She remained rooted to the spot and forced herself to
watch him go.

“
All isn’t
lost,” Balt said close to her elbow and her attention was with him.
What was he talking about? She gave him a questioning look. He
smiled at her. “I married a slave-girl and my parents forgave me.
The moment you have children, they forget every past
indiscretion.”

Her heart thundered. She
didn’t know what to say. Was he trying to hurt her more? She was
already dying inside with the thought of seeing Acer everyday while
knowing he could never be hers and they could never again recapture
their moment together or the love they shared.

Stooping, she picked up
one of the boxes and started to walk towards the ship.

Balt’s hand on her arm
stopped her. She looked up at him, cursing him for looking so much
like Acer. Her throat went dry. She swallowed to clear it and her
lower lip trembled as her emotions got the better of her. She
turned away again, staring at the box. If she looked at him, she
was going to cry, and crying was a pointless waste of time now. It
was over.

She jerked out of Balt’s
grip. “There’s no point.”

Another few steps towards
the ship and he stopped her again. She frowned at him, not caring
that he was royalty or her superior. Let them throw her in prison
for insubordination. She didn’t care anymore.

Maybe she’d take the
Nephis-Lyra and run away. She could leave it all behind her and
travel into deep space, thousands of leagues from Lyra and
Acer.

“
Do you love
Acer?”

Balt’s question floored
her. She stared at the ship, heart hammering and mind racing with
answers. Did she tell him the truth or lie to protect herself? It
seemed that Balt could see straight through her. Could he see
through his brother too? He’d been watching them both closely ever
since he’d rescued them.

She hesitated and then
nodded.

Balt smiled.

“
Don’t give up
so easily then. Take it from a captain who’s seen more battles than
you’ve imagined. If anything is worth fighting for, it’s
love.”

***

Acer stood lost in his
thoughts, miles away. He didn’t hear the music as it swept around
him, or the excited chatter of the thousand guests gathered to
watch the extravagance of a royal wedding. He didn’t see the beauty
of the decoration or notice that every noble and honoured family
was present. He didn’t feel the sun against his skin and didn’t see
the blue open skies above him. He was miles away in the docks where
he’d left Stella to repair the ship. By now she was probably
off-world and on her way to Lyra Six. Right this moment another
man’s hands could be pleasuring her. The thought sickened him. He
closed his eyes and heaved a sigh.

He missed her.

It had been three days
since their moment on the ship, and two days since he’d told her to
fix the ship and get on her way to her shore leave. It had broken
his heart to leave her at the docks, but he’d had to do it. He was
bound by duty and there was no escaping it without sacrificing
everything. He wasn’t strong enough to go against his family. He
was a coward.

She’d never speak to him
again.

Would she even look at
him?

She’d left him with more
pain than pleasure. Every time he saw her he would remember how
things had been and what he could have had if he’d had more
courage. Every day he spent on his ship would be a day where his
thoughts were always with her. He deserved to be tortured for what
he’d done. It was his own fault that she wasn’t his.

Now he had to pay the
price.

He opened his eyes and
looked at the guests. So many distinguished families had travelled
across the galaxy for this event. It was all politics at play. They
were only here to maintain or build good relations with his family.
None of them cared about him, about the fact that he was facing a
sentence worse than death as he stood waiting at the top of the
aisle.

The fanfare began,
signalling the arrival of his miserable future.

He looked at his family,
singling out his older brother, Balt. His brother looked as
disappointed as he felt. His gaze slid to his eldest brother,
Sebastian. Now he knew how he’d felt all those years ago, standing
here waiting to meet his future bride and not knowing who she was.
Now he understood why he’d looked so pained.

His thoughts returned to
Stella and he replayed the moment he’d said goodbye to her at the
docks. There’d been so much he’d wanted to say to her, but he
hadn’t been able to with his family all there to greet him. He’d
told her that he’d see her soon. He sighed again. He’d be a married
man then.

His bride reached him,
resplendent in sky blue and white, the traditional colours of a
Lyran wedding. He looked at his future and didn’t like what he saw.
He longed for it to be Stella in that dress, not this trophy
bride.

He held his hand out to
her and turned to face the priest when she placed hers into it. He
wished it were Stella’s hand in his. He’d give anything to feel her
touch again.

He was barely aware of the
ceremony as he recited the words the priest said to him, his voice
void of any emotion. A breeze stirred his jacket. He thought
nothing of it. A stronger gust blew, pushing him forwards, and he
frowned when there was a commotion behind him.

Turning, he dropped his
bride’s hand and brought his hand up to shield his eyes as wind
blasted against him. The high tinny whine of forward thrusters made
him instinctively brace himself. The flowers hit the floor, their
vases smashing on contact with the flagstones. The guests screamed
and scattered. His future wife clung to his arm and he shook her
off, his eyes scouring the heavens for a sign of the
ship.

His heart leapt into his
mouth, hammering in his throat and making him feel sick.

The fighter descended,
sending another rush of warm wind towards him and causing his bride
to fall to the floor with a squeal. He didn’t move to help her. He
couldn’t take his eyes off the ship.

The front cargo bay doors
opened and the ramp descended.

The ship hovered in front
of him, casting a wide shadow over the shrieking guests and filling
half the square.

The
Nephis-Lyra.

He couldn’t believe
it.

Stella appeared on the
ramp, her cheeks flushed and a smile shining in her eyes. There was
something else there too. Fear.

“
I fixed the
ship,” she shouted over the engines, her voice shaking enough for
him to hear it. “I’ve come to take you away from a future you want
no part of to one I hope you do.”

He smiled and then ducked
as the guards arrived and started firing on the ship. Stella backed
into the ship for cover. He shouted at the guards to cease fire but
they ignored him. Anger bolted through him at Stella being fired
upon as though she was the enemy. He had to protect her. He’d made
a silent promise to himself that he would. He couldn’t let anything
happen to her. His gaze shot to his family and then to her, and
then back again. He looked at Balt. His brother nodded and smiled.
Had he had something to do with this? Only their parents looked
angry.

By Iskara’s wings, he
wasn’t going to let a second chance with her slip through his
fingers. He’d said that he’d give up everything just to be with her
and here she was coming to rescue him just as she’d said she
would.

The guards closed in,
hollering orders to each other.

He ran, leapt and grabbed
Stella’s hand as she reached out to him.

She hauled him up and then
ran inside. The guards backed away, evidently not eager to fire on
royalty. He looked down at his family and his bride.

“
I’m sorry...
but I’ve already found the only woman I want,” he said to his
family.

His mother stood, pushed
her light brown hair from her face, struggling as the wind from the
thrusters blew it around, and scowled at him. “Get back down here
right now and finish this wedding!”

His father took hold of
her arm, restraining her. His grey hair danced around in the
wind.

“
There will be
a wedding within a year,” his father said to his mother and then
looked at him. “I guarantee it.”

“
But who is
she? Who is her family?”

Acer turned away, not
needing to hear any more. He would bring his mother a wedding
within the year if his family would accept him back and accept
Stella for who she was. He didn’t care that she wasn’t of royal
blood or from a distinguished family. He loved her.

He closed the cargo doors
and went up to the bridge to find her.

Walking onto the bridge
had never felt so exciting. He slid into the co-pilot’s seat beside
her and strapped himself in. She shot him a wide smile that reached
her eyes, turned the ship, and blasted out of the
atmosphere.

He smiled when dark deep
space greeted him. He’d never felt so free.

“
Where are we
going?” he said.

Stella eased the ship past
the defence satellites and out into open space. She leaned back
into her seat and looked over at him. He was smiling broadly. She’d
never seen him look so happy. She grinned at him, happy
too.

“
I still have
shore leave,” she said. “I was thinking we could swap my
reservation on Lyra Six for Vega Three. It’s a good distance away
and no one will recognise us there.”

She unbuckled the straps
holding her into the chair.

He nodded and punched the
coordinates into the ship’s computer. Vega Three flashed up on the
panel in front of her. There was the click of a safety belt being
undone and then his hands were around her waist. He lifted her out
of her chair and settled her on his lap.