by Rebecca Rode
“Did you—” he began, but she didn’t give him a chance to continue. She threaded her fingers into his hair and pulled him downward, pressing her lips to his.
He grinned against her lips and placed his hand on the small of her back, pulling her against him. He’d longed for this for weeks, and now here she was, making the first move. He deepened the kiss, and she responded until his head went dizzy. He could hardly bear the heat jumping between them.
Someone walking by hooted, as if they were just another couple. Two soldiers about to embark on a battle, just two people from completely different galaxies whose futures were forever intertwined.
* * *
Ember yanked herself out of the vision and shot out of her chair. It fell to the dirt with a sharp thump. She gasped for air, looking at the crowd with an edge of panic. They watched her with interest now, obviously unsure why she’d stopped her humming and card shuffling so dramatically. Her mother’s cards were strewn haphazardly across the table. Some had even fallen to the ground.
“I—” She cleared her throat and tried to smile, but she knew it was shaky. “I’m sorry, but there’s nothing else.”
2
The crowd was silent for a moment. Stefan’s face registered shock.
The girl named Eris burst out with a bitter laugh. “I told you, Stefan, didn’t I? She’s an actress. Gypsies are all the same. Let’s go to the beach now.” She whirled and headed toward the sleeping woman with the sunflower seeds.
“I will return your money.” Ember typed in the amount and held out her arm. Her hand trembled slightly.
Stefan was still watching her carefully, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. “You’re sure you didn’t see something?”
“The stars are silent.” Her voice broke on the last word, and she cleared her throat.
He nodded slowly, as if Ember had confirmed something in his mind. Then he stood. “Keep it.”
Stefan turned and crossed the street to follow Eris. When he reached her, they began what looked like a heated argument. Normally Ember would be curious to know the details of their exchange. It almost looked like he was defending Ember. But she was too numb to do anything but stand and watch . . . and think.
Ember had never questioned her gift before. Her visions were just too detailed to be made up by her subconscious, and most of her repeat business reported that her predictions had come true. But this? The stars had to be playing a twisted joke on her. How could she kiss that . . . that . . . gadjo? Not just kiss him, but throw herself at him in a most un-Roma way.
The market tilted and swayed around her. She kicked her chair upright and plopped into it again, remembering the way they’d looked at each other in her vision. It wasn’t just the excitement of a new relationship or the possibility of a future together. He’d seen her as something precious—like she was everything that mattered to him. And she had kissed him with an openness, a complete trust she’d never experienced before. And there was something else hovering between them during the kiss, something Ember still detected in her father’s eyes whenever he looked at her mother’s photograph.
Love.
She shook her head. Her gift had betrayed her. That man would climb back onto his ship and go back to wherever he’d come from, and Ember would go home and care for her father. Eventually, when her father was better and didn’t need her anymore, she’d fall in love with a respectable Rom man. She’d forget about the outsider by next week.
She had enough money for Dai’s medicine now. The next bottle would last him two more months—plenty of time to recover. This was definitely her day.
As the crowd dispersed, the officer stepped forward. “My turn.”
Her stomach plummeted. She’d forgotten about the soldiers. Ember’s heart threatened to pound right out of her chest as she faced the man. Her instincts were shouting at her now, telling her to get away. She could hear sounds of fumbling with boxes and hurried preparations coming from the other stalls. Of course. The other sellers had already begun to pack up at the sight of an officer. She should be doing the same thing, yet she sat here, frozen.
“Um . . .” she began. “Are you a homage officer?”
“No, no. Nothing like that. Just curious about my future.” Her unwelcome guest sat himself in the chair Stefan had just vacated. His four guards—three men and a disturbingly tall woman with pink hair—surrounded him, eyeing her like prey. The officer programmed the payment into his wristband and extended his arm.
Ember didn’t dare breathe. Officers never wanted their futures read. Ember had always assumed it was because they already knew what awaited them—a lifetime of killing ended by an abrupt and violent death. Dai had been an Empire soldier before joining the Roma, and he refused to talk about his experiences. It must have been a terrible thing for a human being to fight in battle, particularly one as kindhearted as Dai.
No, Empire soldiers didn’t like their futures told. That meant this man had another reason for his request. She couldn’t imagine what it would be.
Something is wrong, her heart told her. Get out of here.
“I will pay double your fee,” the officer said. He brought his wristband closer so she could verify the amount on the screen. It was a fancy, lightweight model she’d never seen before.
“Ember!” a frantic voice called from behind her.
“Bianca?” Ember turned to find her friend coming down the road from their village. Bianca was breathing hard and holding her back as if in pain. She didn’t often descend the hill these days, not with the birth so close at hand. Her news had to be urgent.
“Your dai needs you,” Bianca said in broken Common. “You must come right now.” Her eyes flicked to the officer, and she swallowed hard, staring at the ground.
Ember’s panic began to dissolve. If it had been a true emergency, her friend would have been far more frantic and spouted off in Romani. Bianca had obviously seen the officer and decided to rescue her. Dear friend.
“Forgive me, sir.” Ember swept her mother’s cards into her hand, then quickly bent to retrieve the ones that had fallen into the dirt. She pulled the tablecloth into a bundle in her arms, exposing the ugly table underneath. She didn’t have time to carry the chairs today. She’d have to risk them getting stolen.
The officer’s eyes narrowed, all pretense gone. “What is your family name, Ember gypsy? Are there others like you?”
“Gheorghe, sir.” She paused. “I’m the only one who reads the cards.” She didn’t actually need the cards to read a person’s future, but she wasn’t about to tell the officer that. Dai was the only one who knew about her strange gift, and even he seemed ashamed, forbidding her to discuss it with anyone. Not even Bianca knew specifics.
Her answer seemed to please the officer, though she couldn’t imagine why. A strange glint entered his eye. “How did you know about that man’s brother? A lucky guess?”
Her heart pounded against her ribs. All Roma knew how dangerous soldiers could be, and this was an Empire officer. She was required by law to answer his questions. Which would be worse, saying she was a liar or admitting she had a gift?
“I must go,” she finally said, her throat tight. “My father is ill. I’m very sorry.”
He gave her a long, searching look. Finally he spoke. “I will allow you to leave on one condition. You will return tonight at sunset. Be on time, or I will come looking for you, and believe me, that will be rather unpleasant. Understood, Ember Gheorghe?”
He’d arranged her name in the Common way, but she didn’t point it out. “Yes, sir.”
The officer looked her up and down for a moment, and stories of soldiers claiming Roma women, then leaving them with child flooded through her mind. Her dark hair was unbraided, flying free to signify she was a maiden. Did this man know what it meant? Was that the cause of his inexplicable interest?
“Go,” he finally said.
Ember didn’t hesitate. She grabbed Bianca’s arm and pulled her along toward the hill.
An officer. Earth hadn’t seen an Empire officer in over a decade—and now one had issued her an order. She had no desire to return, but dared she defy him? Especially since Bianca was now involved.
Maybe he really did want to know his future. Ember couldn’t bear to think of the alternative.
Bianca loosened up a bit as they walked, making jokes as if nothing had happened, but Ember’s mind was elsewhere.
She felt the officer’s eyes on her back long after the market was out of sight.
3
He looked even meaner up close,” Bianca said as they walked.
Ember let her shoulders slouch a bit now that the village loomed before them. Hundreds of cinderblock homes stood on either side of the dirt road. Most were simple cubes with a small outdoor courtyard for cooking, but occasionally there was an actual glass window. Ember’s home had once boasted two before the village children smashed them.
“I owe you,” Ember said. “How did you know about the officer?”
“Mimi sent me to the market. She’s sick.” She emphasized the word with a grin. Bianca’s mother-in-law was frequently drunk and spent much of her time in bed. As one of the older and therefore more respected women in their kumpania, Mimi took full advantage of her status. “Dretta’s son walked by and said an officer was lingering at your stall. Who else would help but me?”
Too true. The other Roma tolerated her, but they would never come to her rescue like that. Not with her gadjo father and traitorous mother. She leaned over and gave her friend a peck on the cheek in gratitude. “Thank the stars for you. I haven’t seen you in days. I was beginning to think Mimi tied you up in a corner somewhere.”
“The life of a boria is lovely but hard.” Her smile faltered just a bit as she slowed, clutching her rounded belly. “Someday you’ll experience it yourself.”
Ember already knew more about marriage than she wanted to. First the ceremony, then moving in with the groom’s family. The new bride was responsible for the laundry, cleaning, and cooking while the bori, or mother-in-law, looked on. Mimi was less rigid than most, but the woman rarely let Bianca go to the market, much less visit her shameful half-blood friend. It made this time together all the more precious.
“Where is Luca?” Ember asked. Bianca usually had her three-year-old son with her, but he was nowhere in sight.
“Playing somewhere outside. I’ll walk you home and then go find him. The soldiers aren’t coming here, right? I only saw four of them.”
“I don’t think so. Their shuttle was mostly tourists.” That part was strange. She couldn’t decipher why they’d be traveling together on an Empire ship. The military had their own craft.
The officer wanted her back by sunset. Surely the Empire ship was leaving shortly afterward. How long would the man wait for her? Would he even have time to search her out in the village? There had to be other future-readers in the galaxy, if that was what he really wanted. And there were plenty of women to please him in other ways. It was all so odd.
“How is your dai?” Bianca asked, pulling her out of her thoughts. “Has the smuggler come yet?”
“No. It’s been a week since Ambrose said he would come. Maybe he’ll be there tonight.” She couldn’t hide the worry in her voice. Ember didn’t know of any other smugglers who came to the outer planets, and the healer had no idea what ailed Dai. None of the woman’s prescriptions ever helped. If only they had a hospital here. The closest one was on Enceladus, a day’s journey by shuttle. And an expensive trip, at that. The entire kumpania could pool their money and still not have a quarter of the fare.
Bianca shook her head. “Well, I brought you this, hoping I’d find you at the market.” She handed Ember a brown bag.
Ember took it and peeked inside. A piece of stringy ewe meat, a tomato, and some figs.
“Bianca!” she burst out. “Don’t tell me you’re stealing from Mimi again.”
“I didn’t steal it. We came across some good business recently with the horses. We can’t spare much, but at least it’s something. Tell your dai Gavril and I asked after him.”
“We don’t need help. We’re doing just fine.”
Ember tried to give it back, but Bianca raised her hands. “Do you think I’m stupid? Just take it and don’t think so much about it.”
Ember frowned, resentment spreading through her chest like acid. Months ago it would have been Ember giving charity. Her father had just sent off his first shipment of furniture when the sickness settled in his lungs. Now all his orders were being canceled as his customers found what they wanted elsewhere. Once he recovered, it would take a year or two to rebuild his business.
Why couldn’t you have sent me a practical gift? she asked the stars. Like furniture making.
“Thanks,” she muttered, wrapping the bag up and tucking it under her arm.
Bianca’s hand lifted to her swollen stomach, and she grimaced. “Gavril thinks I will give him another son, but I think it’s a chey. This one is too sharp with her kicks.”
They reached Ember’s home. It looked much like the others, only slightly larger and sporting square holes where the windowpanes had once been. Hens squawked from the courtyard beyond. Ember had neglected to feed them this morning, too.
“Well, thanks again. I hope I see you again soon.” Ember turned away.
“Wait.” Bianca stared at the ground. “I’ve been meaning to ask you about something. Gavril talked to Coste the other day.”
“Please don’t,” Ember broke in, too tired to argue about this again. “I know you mean well, but I can’t discuss it right now.”
“You can spare one minute, Ember. Is it true you refused him? Tell me it’s not true. Not after everything he’s done for you, the times he has defended you—”
Ember snorted. “All the times? Coste stopped the children from calling me ‘old maid’ once, Bianca. It hardly qualifies as gallantry.”
“He offered a bride price for you. Do you understand how rare that is?”
“Of course I do.” She knew better than most, actually. The sharp pangs of a dark, painful memory emerged, but Ember shoved them back. Now wasn’t the time to dwell on that terrible night. “Most guys don’t even bother. They just kidnap the girls they want. Cheapen them first, then get them for free.”
Bianca flinched as her face fell.
A horrible realization struck Ember then. “No. You’re not serious.”
“I can’t believe you just figured it out. It’s been four years since we married, Ember.”
She was right. Ember should have known. Bianca’s words felt like a well-deserved slap to the face. “But you looked so happy at your plotchka. I thought you wanted to marry him. How could you not tell me?”
“Oh, like you told me what happened the night your mom died?”
Ember paused. “That’s not fair.” She hadn’t confided in Bianca about her mother’s death, true. But nobody knew the truth. Except Dai, perhaps, but he wasn’t talking about it either. How could she explain something she didn’t quite understand herself?
“Not fair?” Bianca turned to go, her cheeks stained with pink. “All you can see are your own cares, your own suffering. You’re not the only one with problems.”
“I didn’t mean to hurt you, Bianca.”
Her friend turned back to face her. “Nobody in their right mind would marry you now, Ember. You pretend not to see it, but you know what they say about you. You’re barren or unclean. Some even say cursed. And yet Coste ignored all of it and asked anyway. His family offered more than they should to help with your dai’s medicines. And you threw it back in his face, just like with the others.”
It wasn’t exactly true. Coste had offered a bride price, yes. But she hadn’t rejected him in a cruel way. She’d just . . . explained things to him. Told him she couldn’t leave Dai. Said she had to stay until he was better. She could still remember the anger in Coste’s expression. He hadn’t understood. In his eyes, as in everyone’s, Coste was doing her a favor.
>
Apparently Bianca didn’t understand either.
“Dai needs me,” Ember said. “I can’t abandon him. I’m all he has.”
“He doesn’t need you,” Bianca said flatly. “He needs money. Medicine. Proper medical care. You can’t give that to him, not on tourist gratuities.” She paused and her voice grew soft. “And if you keep running from those who would help you, you’ll be even more ostracized than you are now. I know Coste isn’t that much better than Babik, but you can bet he’s your last chance. Stop being stupid and ask him if he’ll take you back.”
In her eyes it was simple. For Ember it was anything but. As the daughter of a Roma woman and a gadjo, however liked and accepted he was by her tribe, she had been an outsider at birth. Her parents raised her Roma, but in her dealings with friends and boyfriends there had always been that hesitation, that reluctance to fully accept her.
To the gadje she was a gypsy. To her people it was the other way around.
How could Ember explain what her parents once had? The way they treated each other with such tenderness? They’d truly liked one another. They took on traditional roles, but they did it as a gift to one another. He cared for her and brought home money. She prepared his favorite meals and kept his home for him. And at night they talked and laughed as if they’d waited all day to be together again.
That was before. Now she was gone, and Dai wasn’t doing well. And as long as Ember was the only thing standing between him and the last good-bye, she refused to stand down.
“Thanks for the concerns, but you have plenty of your own.” She brushed Bianca’s protruding stomach and leaned over to speak to her friend’s unborn child. “Grow well, dear one. Be kind to your mother.”
Bianca frowned, but her anger was already fading. “I have to go now, before Mimi wakes up. Love is just a gadjo notion, one your dai should never have planted in your mind. Just think about it, all right?”
Luca, Bianca’s energetic three-year-old, came bounding up to them. He barely gave Ember a glance, turning instead to his mother. “I’m hungry.”