Page 3 of The Garnet Daughter
His smile turns up more on one side, a dimple I choose to ignore presenting itself. “Weren’t you? A friendly guest would announce themselves.”
“I was just about to.”
“How did you cross the field from the tree line so fast?” He withdraws the barrel of his weapon from where it lightly pressed into my skin.
“You saw me?” I ask, confused.
“Of course.” He leans in, eyes flicking down my body for a brief, seemingly involuntary moment.
I can’t help the roll of mine, hearing him try to put more meaning behind his words, and then I decide to show him exactly how I could sneak up on him.
I fold the distance so fast he has to catch himself from falling into the side of his own ship.
“That’s how. And if you knew it was me, why the need for a weapon?” I smile as he turns to where I’ve landed behind him, his face beaming with astonishment. I described my gifts to him on his first night in the village, he was sweet and so amused then. “I told you I was fast.”
“By the three worlds.” His laugh is playful. “And apologies, can never be too careful. I am alone, you know . . . vulnerable even.”
It is hard not to like August, not just because he is handsome in a way that frustrates me to admit, but his sense of humor has an ability to calm me.
I clear my throat and dig my heel into the grass beneath it, reminding myself why I am here: to secure my way off this world. The fact that he has indicated he finds me attractive and somewhat interesting may not be enough to entice him to embark on a possibly complicated situation between factions. I am not familiar with the hierarchy of Viathans, but it is clear the 99th Commander is higher ranking, even if this is August’s ship, so I will have to appeal to him some other way.
“Are you going to show me inside?” I ask, gesturing with my chin.
He looks a little flustered at my request, like he isn’t certain what I am truly asking.
“The ship? Sure.” He rubs the back of his head and stands farther down the center of the enormous wall of metal. “Stand back just a bit.”
He taps a square on the wall, lights flashing with each press of his finger. I take a few more steps away as the belly of the ship opens with a whoosh of cold air and a portion of it slowly lays itself onto the grass in front of me.
He smiles at my amazed expression as we climb the metal structure that was just a wall.
“This is the cargo hull, supplies and such.” He points and continues farther into the ship, a soft edge of pride in his posture.
My gaze is unfocused. The cold air is crisp as I breathe it in, similar to the moss layer but without the loamy smell. In fact, the entire space smells like nothing at all.
I follow him up a ladder to another level and listen as he happily points and explains in a way he assumes I will understand. I catch some of it, but most of the names are for objects I’ve never seen before.
“Would you like to see the cockpit?” he asks as though I should know what that means.
“Sure.”
“Right this way.” He gestures dramatically and a door whooshes open and reveals a cluster of stars twinkling not from the sky, but from the structure of the ship itself.
“Wow.” I stroll toward the display of lights and see multiple chairs lining the space, arranged in rows and all pointed the same direction. “Something important happens in here?”
August sighs like I’ve said something wonderful and holds my gaze for so long, I assume he hasn’t heard me properly.
“That’s my chair, at the front,” he explains proudly.
“What do the lights do?”
“Oh, the . . . buttons? I use those to fly the ship,” he answers and watches me.
“It’s amazing this thing can be held by the wind. It seems very heavy.” I touch the cold metal of the wall that looks like an outline similar to the one August opened before we entered.
“The engine helps with that part. I’m pretty sure one of these lights controls it,” he jokes.
I cross in front of him where he leans against the back of his pilot chair; it’s clear he is monitoring my every move. He’s trying to impress me. This is part of his world and he wants to know what I think.
