Starfall: A Starstruck Novel (28 page)

Rather than answer a question like that, I just smiled, then tugged a book out of my backpack so I could pretend to read and ignore her and all the others, determined not to give out any more information before I had a chance to talk to Sean.

Five minutes later, Rigel’s bus, just ahead of mine, turned right while mine continued straight toward town.
 

See you tomorrow
.

Can’t wait
. I could sense the smile in his mental voice.
We’re going to test our new range now, right?

Right.
I think we’re already farther apart than we were during practice.

A moment later we passed the intersection with another county road so I reported exactly where I was to Rigel.

And I’m just passing Donner’s market. Corn’s fifteen cents an ear. I should tell my mom.

We kept describing the things we were passing. It did get harder and harder to “hear” each other, but I was more than halfway home—as was Rigel—before we couldn’t converse at all. The last thing I caught from him was a faint,
Nearly three miles.

Aunt Theresa was just pulling into the driveway when I reached the house.

“I see you stayed late after all,” she said by way of greeting as I followed her into the house. “You’d best get started on your homework. I’ll call you down when it’s time to set the table.”

Aunt Theresa had mostly reverted to her old, strict self after acting
almost
happy to see me the night I got back. Relieved, anyway. More than once, she’d explained that the only reason she hadn’t come to visit me in the hospital in Ireland was because Mrs. O kept insisting it was completely unnecessary. Which made me think she must have felt at least a
little
bit guilty about it.
 

Now, two weeks later, it was almost like I’d never been gone. At least I didn’t have to make dinner tonight.

Back in my room, I was struck again by how tiny it seemed after three whole months in my humongous apartment in the Royal Palace. While I had no real desire to go back to Nuath, sometimes I couldn’t help missing the luxury.
 

Thinking about Mars reminded me I needed to let Shim know about today’s miracle. Quietly locking my door, I went to my nightstand and removed my omni from the old glasses case where I’d hidden it, then pulled up the holo-screen.
 

“Message to Regent Shim Stuart, Nuath, highest security setting.” Keeping my voice low, I told Shim about Rigel getting his memory back and how we’d re-bonded (though I was vague on the whole kissing part of the equation). “This time we don’t plan to keep our relationship a secret, at least at school,” I concluded. “I’ll leave it up to you how much to say at your end.”
 

Once my omni was safely hidden again and I was settled at my desk with homework, I couldn’t resist trying to mentally reach Rigel again.
Can you hear me? Even a little?
I sent as hard as I possibly could, focusing in the general direction of his house, well out of town.

After a few seconds I
almost
thought I felt something back. Not words, more like a vague sense of Rigel’s mental presence. It made me smile, even if I’d totally imagined it.

*
   
*
   
*

I made sure to do the dinner dishes before asking Aunt Theresa if I could go over to the O’Garas’ house. “Molly and I were hoping to work a little on our Government project,” I explained.
 

Though I dreaded this visit so much I almost hoped she’d say no, she immediately agreed, just like the past two Saturday nights, when I’d needed to go there to meet with the
Echtran
Council (half of them holographic projections from other parts of the country).
 

Molly had invited me for a sleepover that first time, since Mrs. O had told her the meeting might go late. Sure enough, there’d been enough to discuss—and argue about—to keep them all there past midnight. The next morning, I’d managed to spend a few minutes alone with my Scepter while Molly showered.

“Make sure you’re home by nine-thirty, since it’s a school night,” was her only condition. My curfew was a whole half-hour later than last year.

I steeled myself as I knocked, anxious to tell Sean about Rigel and me as gently as possible, but the moment he opened the door it was obvious he’d already heard.
 

“Hey. Molly told me you might be by. Come to share your good news?” He gave me a forced smile, trying to hide the hurt and betrayal I sensed from him.

I winced. “I asked Molly not to—”

“Don’t blame Molly,” he snapped, hurt shifting to anger. “She didn’t say anything. But since you apparently didn’t even try to play it cool, it’s all over the internet.”

Crap. I hadn’t even thought of that, since I barely spent any time online myself, not having a computer or even a cell phone of my own.

Before I could say another word, he turned away. I followed him into their little living room, the mirror image of ours, and Mr. and Mrs. O’Gara jumped to their feet. The curiosity I sensed from them was understandable, since I hadn’t exactly paid the O’Garas any social visits since getting back to Jewel.
 

“Excellency.” Mr. O made a perfunctory bow. I hated when he did that, but knew he was still determined to get back into my good graces. “To what do we owe the honor?” His curiosity was tinged with wariness.

I kept my expression pleasant as I inclined my head in return. “I came to share the good news that Rigel has started recovering some of his memories, contrary to what the Healers predicted.”

“Without any treatment?” Mrs. O frowned, clearly skeptical—and slightly alarmed. “It was my understanding—”

“Their own research shows treatment doesn’t make much difference,” I reminded her. “Some people back on Mars recovered their memories without it and for a few, the treatments actually made things worse.”
 

All four O’Garas flinched at my inadvertent reference to Elana but rather than apologize, I forged on. “Anyway, the Healers don’t have any experience at all with anyone
graell
bonded, like Rigel and I are.”

“Were,” Sean corrected me. “That serum you got—”

“Relieved our worst symptoms from being separated. And yeah, when I first got to Jewel, I thought maybe it
had
undone our bond. But…it didn’t.”
 

For Sean’s sake, I tried not to
look
as happy as I felt about that, but his eyes still pinched at the edges. “You’re sure that isn’t just wishful thinking? I know how much you—”

“Yes. I’m sure. Since I got back, Rigel and I have both felt the same pull as when we first met last fall. It got to where neither of us could ignore it and now, as of today, our bond seems as strong as ever. And it’s healing Rigel’s memory.” It would be cruel to tell Sean that
kissing
was what completed our re-bonding, but I added, “He remembers me now, remembers
us.
And…we’re back together.”

Sean gave a terse nod and looked away, his pain slightly tempered by resignation. But Mrs. O leaned forward, frowning.
 

“Excellency, this is most unwise. Remember, it was your relationship with Rigel Stuart that very nearly prevented your Acclamation. Clearly, the Council had good reason to insist—”

“The Council can’t
insist
I do anything now,” I reminded her sharply. “Nor am I bound by any promises I made to them last year, after they betrayed my trust so completely by
agreeing
to Rigel’s memory wipe.”
 

I sent an accusing glare at Mr. O, who averted his eyes.
 

“I played by their stupid rules, pretending to break up with Rigel. I stopped the Grentl from destroying Nuath. And look what happened anyway! If it wasn’t for our bond, Rigel would probably have lost that year of his life permanently, and for what? For being a political
inconvenience
? You know as well as I do that nothing in Nuathan law
or
tradition sanctioned what was done to him. Rigel and I are together now and I have no intention of pretending otherwise, ever again.”

There was a short, strained silence, then Mr. O’Gara spoke up. “What, exactly, has Rigel remembered so far, Excellency? Even you must admit there are certain things it would be, ah, safer he not recall.”

I wasn’t about to admit any such thing. “No matter what he eventually remembers, Rigel is no security risk. Unlike, say, Gordon Nolan. I don’t suppose anyone has managed to track him down yet? He was supposedly living in Dun Cloch, but when I was there last month, no one seemed to know where he was or when he’d be back.”

Mrs. O shook her head. “I called my brother as you requested, Excellency, as he and Gordon used to be friends. But all Allister could tell me was that Gordon had gone to visit family out west somewhere.”

Maybe that’s all Allister
would
tell her, but I was willing to bet he
could
tell a lot more, if he chose. When I’d met with him briefly in Montana, he’d given off all kinds of negative, deceptive vibes. I was sure if Mrs. O spoke with him in person, her ability would immediately tell her he was lying. But this wasn’t the time to fling accusations I couldn’t prove.
 

“My point is that Rigel is no more of a threat now, to me or anyone, than he was last year. Even before he remembered our bond, he kept that anti-Royal goon from snapping my neck Friday night. You know Cormac couldn’t have gotten there in time.”

None of them could dispute that, though I could tell they wanted to.

“I’ll, ah, need to inform the Council about this,” Mrs. O finally said.

“That’s fine. They can tell everyone that Rigel has been reinstated as my Bodyguard or they can just tell the truth that we’re
graell
bonded and fated to be together. But neither you nor they are going to tell me I can’t be with Rigel. Not anymore.”

Though disapproval still came off her in waves, she managed a deferential nod. “As you wish, Excellency.”
 

I knew this wouldn’t be the end of it, though. At this Saturday’s Council meeting they’d probably all join forces to “reason” with me. Not that any possible argument would change my mind.

“Speaking of the Council, was Kyna able to convince Nara to come back, as I suggested?”

Mrs. O seemed relieved at the change of topic. “She was. Which means we now need add only one Council member.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” Though I wished Nuathan law would let me dissolve the Council completely, I’d always liked Nara—easily the Council member most sympathetic to me. “Has Kyna suggested another Scientist or other
fine
representative to serve?”

“Not yet, though she may have a report Saturday.” Mrs. O hesitated, then added, “Though, as Malcolm pointed out, the law does not specifically preclude five Royal members. If not Devyn Kane, then perhaps—”

“No.” A four-person majority was already bad enough. “I’ve asked Shim for recommendations, too. You all were saying last weekend that our biggest need right now, with all these new settlements, is a more robust
Echtran
communication system, since
MARSTAR was only designed for important bulletins. Maybe someone else from Informatics, like Shim, would be a good choice.”
 

Which suddenly gave me an idea—but one I probably shouldn’t mention until I’d had time to think it through. “We can talk more about this during Saturday’s meeting. Anyway, I told my aunt that Molly and I were going to work on our Government project tonight, so we should probably do at least a little of that.”

“Oh. Um, sure.” Molly got up, glancing uncertainly at her parents. “Here, or in my room?”
 

Mr. and Mrs. O’Gara stood as well. “We’ll clear out so you two can work. And yes, Excellency, we’ll talk again on Saturday. I look forward to it.” She sketched a little half-bow that her husband echoed more deeply and they both left the room.

Sean didn’t. He sat on the corner of the couch, brooding a little and reading—or pretending to read—his own Government book. So even though I had the impression Molly wanted to talk more about my news, we stuck strictly to schoolwork for the next half hour. When we reached a good stopping point, I stood.

“Guess I’ll head back. I still have a little other homework to do.” That wasn’t true, but I did want to check my omni to see if Shim had responded to my message.

Now Sean finally got up, too. “So that’s it? You just wanted to give my folks a heads-up that you and Rigel are getting back together?” His jaw jutted out, his lips pressed together in a tight line—the way I did mine when I was trying to keep them from quivering.

“And you. I…knew you’d find out soon but I really did want you to hear it from me first.”
 

He shrugged, but I could still feel his hurt.
 

“Walk me home?” I suggested on impulse, even though I knew Cormac would be out there somewhere, watching and waiting.

Sean blinked at me, frowning, then nodded. “Yeah, sure.”
 

I said good night to Molly and he and I headed outside and down the street together. When we were nearly to my house, I blurted out, “I’m sorry, Sean. I know this isn’t easy for you. Even though you’ve been doing all you could to, um, help.”

Sean shrugged again, not looking at me—or touching me. “It’s what I promised to do. Looks like it worked even better than either of us expected. And quicker. Guess I didn’t—”

“I know. I’m not sure I expected it either, though I was probably hoping for it a lot more than you were. No! That’s not an accusation,” I added quickly, at his look. “If anything, it makes everything you’ve done that much more…noble. You were determined to do the right thing, even knowing it wasn’t what you’d have chosen. I wanted to thank you. Again.”

He lifted a shoulder, his mouth twisting into something that was half grimace, half smile. “Guess being a hero isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, huh?”

“No. In fact, it kind of sucks. But…it can pay off in the end. It has for me, anyway. And for Rigel. It will for you, too, Sean.”