“Do you know what these are worth?” he asks.
I shake my head. I don’t have a clue.
The thought causes something to warm my skin—shame, I think. Have I really lived in such a rarified world?
I feel like I’m on the edge of a precipice. Like I’m teetering on the brink of everything I’ve always believed is true and I’m about to fall into the unknown. It’s terrifying, but part of me wants to fall anyway.
“Let me see,” Beckett tells him.
Ian crosses the bridge and holds out his hand, and she paws through the stones. “If legit, ten thousand planetas at least.” Ian whistles. I guess that’s a lot. But Beckett continues, “Black market, ten percent of that.”
“That will still be enough to get us provisions,” Gage says.
“We should probably get something for Beckett to wear, just in case she has to go out in public,” I suggest. “Having Prisoner 826 stamped on your back is probably a big sign saying—” I break off as I realize I’m being undiplomatic—the first cardinal sin for royalty.
But Beckett just grins. “Aw. Didn’t know you cared, Princess.”
I don’t. Or maybe I do. I don’t know anymore.
Rain stands up and looks at me. “Can you get me something to wear as well?”
Beside her, Merrick stiffens. But he doesn’t say anything, and neither do I. I don’t know why she’s asking me—I’m not going on this little shopping trip. I doubt they’ll even let me off the ship.
At that moment, something beeps, and Beckett turns back.
“Through the atmosphere and approaching Rangar,” she says. “External comms are still down, but they got us with a local check. Spoofed credentials worked. And with an assigned spot for landing, no logs required, no questions asked. Hey, I like this place already.”
My heart rate kicks up. We’re about to land on Askkandia. I just need to find a way to contact the palace without involving the others. Maybe ask Gage to teach me a few techy things, and I can try to get the comms going? Then the others can just go about their business and I can go home.
Which is what I want.
Isn’t it?
We’ve slowed down, and the ship is sort of vibrating, like it’s not happy.
“You do know how to land this thing, don’t you?” Ian asks.
Beckett twirls in the pilot’s seat. “Not a clue.”
Fan-fucking-tastic.
The planet is approaching really fast now, and we don’t seem to be slowing down. I suspect Beckett has a death wish. Or maybe not an actual death wish but definitely an I-don’t-care wish. So, I slide into the nearest chair and strap in. It’s hard to believe that only two days ago I was nearly puking as we approached the Caelestis. Look at me now.
I grin to myself, then glance up to find Ian watching me. He looks away.
At the last moment, the ship almost screeches to a halt. I brace myself and hold on tight, somehow managing to keep my eyes open. Seconds later, the ship lowers gently to the landing slot.
“Good job,” Ian tells her as he peels himself from the captain’s chair and starts brushing himself off.
“Not sure what you consider a bad job,” Gage mutters as he, too, climbs to his feet.
“Dying,” Max answers from his spot on the ground. Strapping into a seat was definitely the right call. Maybe I do have some spaceflight instincts in me.
“It wasn’t me,” Beckett tells him. “The ship gets all the credit.”
“You mean she switched herself to autopilot and landed on her own?” I ask. “Can ships do that?”
“Obviously, or we wouldn’t be having this conversation,” she sneers back.
I don’t even bother coming up with a retort. Not when we’ve finally landed on Askkandia.
I don’t know how it is that I can be back on my home planet and still be as far from home as ever. It feels like the worst kind of failure. But also strangely freeing. I glance down at my grimy, too-long white robe, bare toes peeking out, and a giggle escapes me. Definitely not how I planned on returning from my first official off-planet royal duty.
Ian casts me a weird look, as though he’s worried something’s wrong with me, which makes me giggle again. I’ll go back to worrying about what he thinks of me—what they all think of me—soon. But for right now, I’m just going to stand here and enjoy the sight of Askkandia’s bright blue dirt.
And wait for whatever clusterfuck comes next.
Chapter 17
Ian
“Okay,” I say to Kali as the landing gear locks click. “You’re coming with me.”
She’s still laughing under her breath, which isn’t concerning at all. I’m afraid there really is something wrong with her—and can’t help thinking I should be around if she ends up freaking out or something.
But as soon as I have the thought, I try to forget it. The princess isn’t my responsibility. But I am the captain of this ship—for now, at least—which technically means everyone on board is my responsibility. Fuck. I’m not not responsible for her, either. Fuck.
This captain shit is a lot harder than I thought it’d be.
“Are you serious?” she asks. “What happened to the whole I-don’t-trust-you-not-to-go-running-to-Mummy thing?”
“No joke. It’s because I don’t trust you that I’m taking you with me.”
“I won’t try to contact anyone. I promise.” She actually bats her eyelashes at me like she thinks that will work.
I roll my eyes in response, then say, “Up.”
“Oh, come on,” she needles, gesturing a hand down over herself. “How can I go out there looking like this?”
I don’t see what the problem is. She actually looks sort of cute, like a really grubby ghost at a fancy-dress party. I do miss the bare legs, though. “Easy. People will just think you’re a nun.”
“I’m a high priestess, not a nun,” Rain volunteers.
“I didn’t ask,” I answer. But I smile to soften it because snapping at her feels a lot like kicking a small, cute prupple. Then I turn back to Kali. “People find nuns nonthreatening, even here. You’ll be totally safe.”
I can almost see her mind working as she considers it. Or, more likely, considers a bunch of plots to give me the slip and run home to Mommy. But the last thing we need is the Empire on our asses, so I’m going to have to make sure she stays next to me.
Eventually she nods, though, which saves me from having to force the issue. I address Max in my head. “You stay here and watch the ship.”
“Already planned on it.”
“Good.” I look at Gage, who is studying the ship’s now blank console like he’s trying to figure out how and why it worked. I should probably spend some time doing that, too, while we’re on the ground, but the truth is I don’t give a fuck. As long as it gets me to Milla, the ship can fly upside down and backward and I won’t care.
“I need you to arrange for the water tanks to be filled,” I tell him. “Go and talk to the port authority—they pump from the lake.”
Rangar is a port city on the edge of a huge freshwater lake, though lake is a bit of an understatement, considering it’s bigger than other planets’ oceans. At least water is one thing there will be no shortage of here—half of Askkandia is covered with it. They ship it out to the inner planets and sell it at an exorbitant price to the poor sods who live there—most of whom can’t afford to buy enough to quench their thirsts. One of the few things I remember about my early childhood is always being thirsty.