Andi and Dex had had their conversation. Now it was Lira’s turn.
“I have offered you my title, many times over,” Alara said. Still staring, still speaking with that calm, even, queenly tone. Lira looked at her toes. “I have offered you a life of safety and comfort inside this very mountain, where you could have had everything you ever wanted. And what is more, Lirana, you could have all of Adhira at your fingertips. An entire planet full of people for you to call your own. To protect. To rule.”
“But that’s the point!” Lira hissed, then blinked in surprise, shocked that her voice had simply slipped out. But now that the dam had broken, she couldn’t stop it. “I don’t want your stupid title. I don’t want to rule. I don’t want to look after an entire planet full of people.” She took a deep breath, and finally looked her aunt in the eyes. “I love you, but I don’t want to be you.”
And there they were.
The words Lira had held in her chest for so long, ever since her aunt had begun grooming her for the position. Alara had never been able to have children of her own, but when her sister had stopped caring for Lira and Lon, Alara had become their sole guardian.
And Alara thought she’d found her heir.
She’d wanted to share her world with Lira, every animal, plant and person living and breathing throughout it.
But it was too damned much.
I don’t want the title. I don’t want the job. I don’t want the responsibility.
I want to soar through the stars. I want to navigate through nebulas. I want to fly my ship so close to a black hole that the fear nearly shakes the bones from my body. And then I want to overcome it.
All of those things, Lira had already said.
But this?
This, she had never had the guts to share with her aunt.
Alara nodded slowly, as if she were mulling over Lira’s words.
She stood, pressing a button on the small silver band wrapped around her thin wrist. Moments later, the double doors to her chambers opened, and a Sentinel walked in.
Lira’s heart sank.
Lon.
He smiled apologetically at Lira as he walked past, his eyes downcast as he took up his place beside their aunt.
“I have loved you as if you were my own daughter,” Alara finally said. “After all these years, Lirana, and even with the pain your brother and I have endured from your absence...I still consider you a piece of my heart. A vital part of this planet.” She looked sideways at Lon. “Show her.”
“Show me what?” Lira asked.
With a deep sigh, Lon held up a glowing screen.
On it was a photograph of Lira, smiling as if she hadn’t a care in the world. She knew that photograph. It was from her Efflorescence Ceremony. Her gown was beautiful, the fabric like an elegant flowing stream, in every shade of blue she could imagine. Lira stood before a sunset, her face aglow with both a smile and the evening light. Lon stood beside her in the image, his arm draped over her shoulders. His own smile matching hers.
“This is a photograph of a girl who once loved her home and her family,” Alara said. “This is the daughter I raised.” She stared at the image, smiling sadly.
“I still love you!” Lira yelped. She could feel her scales heating again, and she willed the emotions away. “I have never stopped loving you. But I’m not the same girl anymore,” she pleaded. “I never have been, Alara. It’s as if during my entire life here, I was...playing a part. For you. Not for me.”
Alara nodded, and Lon chewed on his bottom lip, worrying away at the skin until Lira feared it would bleed.
“You have always been a dreamer,” Alara said. “I have known it since you were born. I don’t know what sort of web you’ve gotten yourself tangled up in, but I know that with General Cortas involved, I fear for your safety.”
At the mention of his name, Lira raised a brow.
“He’s a good leader, but his honesty, and his methods, are questionable at best. Nevertheless, he has been in constant communication with me, and I with him, since the very first time your wanted posters appeared on the feeds.”
“I’m sorry,” Lira said.
She truly was. For the shame it brought upon her aunt. For the worry she must have caused both Alara and Lon.
“I know of the plans he has for you, and the rest of the—” she took a deep, shuddering breath “—the crew you have aligned yourself with. If you succeed in your mission to return Valen Cortas home, General Cortas has promised you a full pardon of your crimes. Has he not?”
Lira nodded.
“I would like to offer you something else, as well.” Her aunt turned to Lon, who tapped something onto his screen and turned it back around so Lira could see it.
Her eyes nearly bugged out of her skull.
“For years now, I have been in talks with the other planetary leaders about their own starfleets. It’s something I should have acted on long ago. And ever since Valen Cortas was stolen by a Xen Pterran rogue force, I realized that Adhira needs a stronger presence in the sky, stars forbid they strike again, on this planet—or if anything should ever happen to return us to that black pit of war.” She tapped two fingertips to her forehead and whispered a silent prayer to the Godstars. “I love you, Lirana. I always have. You have wounded me. You have betrayed my trust. But we are family, by blood, bound to this planet by duty, whether you see it that way or not.”
Lira nodded again, still staring at what was on the screen.
“And so, through many negotiations with General Cortas, I am able to offer you this.”
She pointed at the screen.
On it was an official document stating that Lirana Mette would become the pilot of a new Adhiran Skyback Explorer.
It was the fastest model in the Mirabel Galaxy. The most advanced. Plenty of cargo space, plenty of room to gather and collect and return home with whatever she pleased. Plenty of room for weapons, something Alara had never, in all her years ruling Adhira, truly condoned.
The ship, sleek and beautiful, was the most desired by anyone who knew anything about ships. It wasn’t even available on the public market yet.
“You would reside in Rhymore alongside your brother and me,” Alara said. “You would, of course, have to work without wages for a year to pay for the ruined crops from your recent crash landing. And I would ensure that you enter pilot’s mechanical training, with the very best in the field, so that you do not repeat your mistakes again. You will also work to control your energy output when faced with strong emotions, as I have always insisted. It’s clear you have not maintained that practice on your journeys. After you agree to my terms, you are free to pilot this ship. We trade with several of the planets across Mirabel. You would be the one traveling there, with Lon at your side, and a handful of others, to collect and deliver goods. And in case the need should ever arise...you would help train other pilots to protect this planet.”