Reece observed them out the window for a moment, tappin’ his fingers against the lip’a the flightpanel, and then all at once stood, grabbed his coat, and headed towards the cargo bay, where the others had been told to wait on his orders. Snappin’ Po’s tin shut, Gideon stood, still chewin’, and went out on Aitch’s heels. He probably should’a paced himself with the biscuits, but the longer he kept them around, the better chance Reece would get sticky-fingered when his back was turned…and the cap’n already had a lot to his name without gettin’ greedy.
No one was more surprised than Gideon to see that by the time he and Reece and Aitch arrived, the cargo bay door had already been opened to accommodate the delegation’a Oceanuns standin’ in a neat formation with a willowy girl at their head. Reece muttered under his breath at the sight’a Scarlet chattin’ amiably with the girl, but it was probably a good thing she’d been on hand, because Mordecai, Nivy, and the Vee were also in the bay, and they didn’t make much’a an impression. Numpty and the old man were sittin’ on either side’a Owon on a crate, and each had a gun casually slanted in his direction.
“Reece,” Scarlet hailed, beckonin’ for Reece to join her. Gideon followed him outta habit, eyein’ the line’a redheads with their clubs. Aitch warily took his place on Reece’s other side.
“You must be Captain Sheppard.” The girl was the voice that had guided them into Neserus. She looked younger than Gideon would’ve expected, with a round, delicate face and hair the color’a cinnamon that fell in big ringlets over one’a her shoulders. She looked like a porcelain doll. And if the men were dressed peculiarly, her outfit was just downright strange. Her blue pants billowed over her knee-high boots, and she wore a sleeveless tabard belted twice at the waist. “I am Talfryn of the Western Pier Deniels,” she said, her accent makin’ her words run together into one long song, “Under Delegate of King Pryor, your host and servant. I welcome you to the planet Oceanus, and its governing city, Neserus.”
Po hurried breathlessly into the cargo bay, and Gideon glanced back to watch her take a seat in front’a Owon before shakin’ his head to himself. She added a bit’a brightness to the bunch, and he trusted her with Mordecai if he trusted her with anybody, but he’d told her a dozen times now she ought’a stop bein’ so nice to the Vee. Girl was gonna get herself killed if she didn’t stop trustin’ everythin’ with two eyes and a smile.
Reece told the Oceanun girl, “I hope you don’t have to say that more than once. Sounds like a mouthful.” Scarlet elbowed him hard in the ribs, but he just grunted and grinned, and the tension fizzed out, the Oceanuns relaxin’ as their leader laughed self-consciously.
“It’s considered proper etiquette, but I hardly ever get it right,” Talfryn admitted. She looked around the cargo bay with guileless curiosity. “I’ve never seen a ship like this. You’re Honoran?”
Reece nodded. “Travelers,” he said simply. “On route to the Rhea. We had a scrape with raiders at our last stopover and need to restock pretty badly.”
With a glance at the crew—her eyes paused on Owon for a beat—Talfryn asked, “Is anyone hurt?”
Before Reece could answer, Aitch stepped forward and held up a hand to draw attention to himself—somethin’ he would never have done before this whole adventure started, Gideon thought. “I’m the ship medic. We did have a few injuries in the…scrape…but I tended them straight away. Still, it might be good to get them into a proper examination room.”
“You’re a doctor?” Talfryn blinked at Hayden, studyin’ him with the same curiosity she’d turned on the ship. Aitch went red about the ears and fiddled with his shirt buttons, and that at least was like old times. He never had been good at holdin’ up under a pretty girl’s scrutiny. “I’m sorry, you’re just awfully young.”
“Well,” Hayden stammered, “you’re awfully young to be Under…um—”
“Under Delegate of King Pryor. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to insult you-”
“No no, that’s alright, I am young, it—”
“Oh, so am I, I just thought—”
“Yes, we’re all young,” Reece cut in. It was hard to tell whose face was redder, Talfryn’s or Aitch’s. “Is there someone we can talk to about making a trade for supplies? We’re kind of on a tight schedule.”
Talfryn nodded. “You don’t plan on staying the night? You all look as though you could do with some decent rest. Or maybe a swim in the hot springs?”
Gideon couldn’t be the only one sneakin’ Reece a hopeful sideways glance. He didn’t know about hot springs—he was used to swimmin’ in the pond at Emathia when it was cold enough to freeze over—but one night’a no guard duty, no chores, and no reason to look over their shoulders couldn’t go amiss. Besides, it was still Sterlin’ Eve.
Reece, no doubt aware’a the stares hittin’ him from all sides, frowned at a distant point and crossed his arms, his finger tappin’ out a rhythm on his sleeve. “Just the one night,” he finally said to Talfryn, sighin’ when he heard Po give a faint whoop’a victory. “We can’t stay past dawn.”
“Of course,” Talfryn said quickly, eyes bright and excited, though she kept the rest’a herself in check as she gestured for them to follow her down the bay ramp and under the canopy’a energy holdin’ off the million tons’a ocean. “I would be happy to show you around. Maybe then you can tell me more of your Honora.”
The girl was a numpty for wantin’ to hear about borin’ old Honora when she lived in an underwater city that was more or less one big palace, but Reece and Scarlet humored her, answerin’ her questions while the rest’a the crew gawked at Neserus. Their walk down the docks might’a been the most impressive part. Somethin’ about standin’ on a narrow plank’a wood and starin’ around at a world full’a water, blindly trustin’ the thin barrier’a Oceanun energy to hold back a power as old as the Epimetheus itself, made Gideon feel as small as an ant. He didn’t like it. He was used to bein’ the biggest thing around. But he was still in as much grudgin’ awe as the rest’a them as schools’a spine-backed fish made shadows ripple over their faces, and a bloated fish as big as a bus-ship bellowed in the distance.
They walked through an arch'a smooth wood inlaid with spirals’a gold and then through three or four corridors that were dirt near identical. Their floors and walls were all clean sparklin’ marble interrupted by long panels’a windows and softly round pillars. Deep green cloth draped a wall here or a window there and pooled at the feet’a glitterin’ gold vases that Gideon knew better than to touch because he’d probably just break them. He kept wantin’ to scrub his dirty hands down the front’a his waistcoat.
The stares were mostly thanks to the Vee. At a sly gesture from Reece, Mordecai and Nivy had grabbed either’a Owon’s arms to escort him along for the tour. That didn’t sit well with Gideon, but he’d learned his lesson about crossin’ Reece in public. If he wanted to chew him out, he’d have to do it later, when he could trust Reece would hear him out rather than just shut him down directly. Talfryn didn’t ask too many questions after Reece said in short that Owon was a prisoner that would need to be detained somewhere in the city, but her glances in the Vee’s direction doubled. Like the looks she’d given Hayden and Aurelia, they were simply curious where the other Oceanuns’ were wary and uncertain. As well they ought’a be.
Some’a the corridors they ventured down were tunnels’a heavyglass, tubes that connected the steeplin’ towers and looked out over the star-shaped city below. For each’a the four big piers, there were four smaller ones strung artfully between them. Four was apparently a key number, for the Oceanuns. Neserus was one’a the planet’s four grand cities. Talfryn had named them all, but Gideon only remembered two other than Neserus, and those just because they rhymed. Haldon and Faldon. Stupid names.
“Looks like a doily, don’t it?” Gideon glanced at Po as she came up on his side, her toffee-colored eyes glitterin’ in the lights’a the city.
“I don’t know what that is,” he admitted.
“
It’s like lace—people use it for fancy table settin’s, and stuff.”
“That explains the not-knowin’.” Lookin’ out the window again, Gideon could see it, how all the city was weaved together like some ornate bit’a frippery. “How do you know about them?”
Po tittered. “Doilies? I kinda thought everyone knew about them.” When Gideon scowled, she outright laughed and hooked his elbow with hers. “You don’t gotta be so grumpy. After all, it’s still Sterlin’ Eve.” He blinked at her, but her eyes were on Reece’s back, the stripe’a freckles across her nose glowin’ pink. “Sterlin’ Eve was the first time my da kissed my mum, you know. He was workin’ in the shop while everyone else was out celebratin’, and she left the festival and walked ten blocks to bring him her famous biscuits. He always said she looked as pretty as a present, all dressed up with a ribbon in her hair. He said if he hadn’t been in love with her before, that night did it. And her cookin’.”
Not particularly comfortable with the topic’a conversation, Gideon pried his arm outta hers and cleared his throat. “Those the same biscuits you made today?” She nodded distractedly as up ahead, Reece laughed at somethin’ Talfryn had said. Stupid and clumsy and likely outta his right mind, Gideon blurted, “They were pretty good.”
Po looked at him, plainly surprised and a little uncertain, and he took the chance to duck away with his shoulders hunched and his head down.
“I’m studying to be an alien anthropologist and culturist,” Talfryn was explainin’ to Reece. “But I’ve never been to another planet, and there is only so much books can teach.” Aitch, who Gideon would’ve assumed would be the first to contest that, nodded thoughtfully, drawin’ a quick glance from Talfryn. “Come, this way. Oh, and watch your step, the stairs here can be damp.”
They followed her down a wide set’a steps into an elegant antechamber with a huge tiered fountain jumpin’ in its middle. Rather than spillin’ out into a basin, the fountain’s water splashed right against the gold marble floor with loud smacks and softer ticks. It misted the air’a the antechamber and just like Talfryn said, made the marble tiles as slick as ice, so when she jerked to a sudden stop, it was almost enough to send the whole crew minus Mordecai, Gideon, and the Vee tumblin’ like a set’a pins.
“Oi sa,” Talfryn muttered. She looked to Hayden not a half second after he managed to stop flailin’ like a newborn antlered horse. “The king is here. I don’t suppose you could greet him in Northern? It is considered…proper.” She grimaced around the word again.
Though Aitch looked briefly stunned, he glanced at Reece, who gave him a shrug, and then swallowed and nodded. “I…suppose I could—”
“Talfryn,” a gnarled, gravelly voice called. Gideon looked around and attached it to the man leadin’ an entourage’a club-carryin’ guards and garishly-dressed Oceanuns their way. He didn’t think he’d ever seen so many buttons and badges before; the fellow’s gold overcoat had to weigh at least twenty extra pounds in baubles. It looked like he could handle the extra weight, though. He was shaped like an upside down pear, broad and barrel-chested, and if Gideon thought someone was big, well, then they were pretty bleedin’ big. His red and white streaked hair was long enough for him to wear it pulled into a tight knot on the back’a his head.
Talfryn dropped a strange curtsy, one’a her legs bent, the other locked straight before her, toes pointed. “King Pryor. May I introduce Captain Sheppard and his crew, from Honora?”
Pryor peered at them one at a time over a badly-scarred nose and chin. Gideon wondered if that’s what all the buttons were for—to distract everyone from his battle-damage.
When Pryor looked Hayden over, Aitch nervously ducked forward and wringin’ his hands, said, “Ah, journo, Pryor estat. Nous d'Honora venes danen lamité. Jes ne navana Honora et frol. Esp…esp…” He snapped his fingers together wildly, tryin’ to call the word to mind. The king’s eyebrows lifted with every snap until Scarlet swept forward, imitatin’ Talfryn’s curtsy as she said grandly, “Espirna ne Oceanun, telnar quis quet.”
At last lookin’ pleased—or at least a lil’ less irritated—King Pryor folded his hands behind his back and nodded. “Captain Sheppard,” he addressed Hayden, his accent rollin’ but gruff, “you would not per chance be related to the Sheppards of Emathia?”
“You mean the Grand Duke?” Pryor’s eyes shot to Reece, who gave a sloppy two-fingered salute and patted Hayden on the shoulder as he melted back into the crew with a sigh’a relief. “That would be my father.”
“Captain,” Pryor began again, impatient now as well as stern. He shot Talfryn a look as if she’d been the one to botch the introductions, and she folded her hands and looked at her feet meekly. Gideon noticed, though, that when Pryor’s eye left her, she straightened and looked unflustered when he would’ve expected the opposite from her. Pryor went on, “Or shall I address you as Palatine First?”
The face Reece made would’a been funny if Gideon didn’t know the heart behind it. It was one thing for Reece to call himself Palatine First to make an impression, and another thing to have to take the title that should’a been Liem’s from someone like Pryor, who didn’t care one whit what might’a happened to shove Reece further up the succession. Liem’s death and the events surroundin’ it had been the biggest thing to ever happen to any’a them at the time, but on this side’a the galaxy, they were a million miles away from anyone who understood what all that meant.
Impressively, Reece managed to pull out a passable smile. “Just Captain. Thank you for taking us in on short notice. I promise, we’ll be out of your hair before you can—”
“Oh no. Talfryn, I can’t believe you let him get to them. You know he scares visitors away.” A gangly redhead whose hair nearly brushed his shoulders squeezed between the king’s guards, drew even with Pryor, and put a chummy hand on Pryor’s bulky shoulder. The king shut his eyes with a sigh. It didn’t make his face any softer.
Gideon hadn’t ever claimed to be a good judge’a character, and Aitch had once said his common sense leaned more towards the uncommon, but as soon as he got a good look at the newcomer, he was filled with every kind’a misgivin’. Somethin’ about the kid just put his hackles up. Maybe it was the way he looked right over Aitch, Gideon, Mordecai and even Owon (who warranted at least some kind’a disgusted look in Gideon’s book) before lettin’ his eyes hover just a second too long on each’a the girls in turn, or maybe it was the way he disregarded Pryor altogether. Nobility was take it or leave it in Gideon’s eyes, but even he felt like he ought’a stand straighter in front’a the seasoned king.
“Captain,” Pryor opened his eyes, seemin’ suddenly weary, “may I introduce my son, the Prince Proper, Hannick Pryor?”
Hannick gave an ostentatious bow and straightened with a smirk before stickin’ his hand out at Reece. “This is how they do it on your world, isn’t it?”
Snortin’, Reece took his hand and shook it. “Some of us.”
Before he could get a word more in edgewise, one’a the snobbish-lookin’ Oceanuns in long teal robes leaned over to find the king’s ear and whispered somethin’ low and urgent. The king grunted and waved the man back before returnin’ his attention to Reece.
“Normally I would offer to escort you from here myself, as would be considered—”
“Proper?” Reece guessed, eyes twinklin’.
Gideon expected Pryor to bristle, but he nodded solemnly, as if they were on sacred ground. Slick as a sliptooth fish, Hannick slid his shoulder between Talfryn and the king, cuttin’ her outta the conversation as he suggested innocently, “Why don’t I take them from here? I’m sure you and Tallie have someplace infinitely more, eh, interesting to be.”
“They haven’t even been to see their rooms yet,” Talfryn complained, and Gideon was surprised someone who seemed as bright as her would take that sorta tone with the king until she went on, “Father, Hannick is simply trying to get out of attending the debate with you.”
No wonder the girl hadn’t
been off world. Princesses didn’t get out much, that Gideon remembered from the stories.
“And you aren’t?” Hannick shot back over his shoulder.
Talfryn lapsed into Northern, growlin’ somethin’ that made the king clap his hands together just once. That was all it took. The brother and sister straightened to attention and looked at him expectantly as he stroked his scarred chin and sighed.
“Come, Talfryn. Let our guests be cultured by the unruly prince proper. If they still wish to stay the night after he’s through with them, they have my blessing to stay as long as they like.” Gideon could hear Talfryn grindin’ her teeth as her prince brother spread his hands helplessly and smiled. The king ignored them both in favor’a givin’ The Aurelia’s crew a half nod that Reece returned and startin’ his procession forward again. After a moment more’a mutterin’ threats at her impervious brother, Talfryn turned to Reece, cringin’ with embarrassment.
“I…I have to go,” she mumbled. With a rushed curtsy, she turned and scurried after her father.
“She didn’t mention she was the princess,” Hayden said in awe, and Hannick leveled him with a look.
“That’s because she isn’t. There are no princesses on Oceanus—just princes and under delegates. I’m the face of the throne,” he clarified when he saw their blank looks, “she’s the brain. Supposedly. But come, let’s not talk politics when there’s a city to be seen and…” He looked the girls over again, smile widenin’. “…friends to be made.”
The Airship Aurelia (The Aurelian Archives) Page 23