“I will, thank you. Have a good night.”
She headed back inside. I let her go, content to remain for another minute. A few other people were enjoying the outside air.
“Incoming,” Susan warned quietly.
I turned around and found Lord Henderson making his way toward me, smug look still firmly in place. I couldn’t quite summon a smile, but at least I didn’t actively grimace at his approach. That was as much as I could do.
“Lord Henderson,” I said flatly.
“I told you to call me Rupert, darling,” he said.
“And I told you to call me Lady Catarina. It seems neither of us will get what we want.”
“Au contraire, darling. I had a very fruitful talk with Lady von Hasenberg this morning after our brunch. She gave me permission to court you openly. You will attend the symphony with me tomorrow night.”
Long practice kept the distaste out of my expression. “I already have plans, and then I will be traveling for two weeks. Perhaps we can schedule something when I return.” I got the whole sentence out without a single inflection that expressed my true feelings. I should get a gold star. And a stiff drink.
Henderson’s face clouded with anger. “Lady von Hasenberg said you would clear your schedule for me.”
I smiled sweetly. “She was wrong.”
He stepped threateningly into my space. “Listen here, you little c—”
In a heartbeat, Susan had switched places with me. “Threaten Lady Catarina again, and I will be forced to defend her,” she said calmly. “Return inside. Now.”
Henderson’s hands clenched, his face livid with rage. “This discussion is not over,” he snarled at me over Susan’s shoulder.
“Yes, it is,” I said. “Run back inside before I forget that you’re an ally.” I bit back all of the other insults I wanted to lob at him. The less I said, the less likely he’d be to run back to Mother and tattle on me.
He turned and stalked away.
“He’s going to be trouble,” Susan predicted. “We should return to House von Hasenberg before he rallies.”
I sighed. I hated ceding ground, but I was done here anyway. “Very well. Let me say my good-byes. Please call us a transport.”
She nodded, and then stayed closer than usual while I found the hosts and made my excuses. She didn’t relax until we had settled in the transport and it lifted off.
“Thank you for defending me,” I said. I could’ve handled him myself, if it came down to it, but she didn’t know that.
She waved me off. “I was just doing my job.”
“You were doing more than that. You could’ve let it slide until he physically harmed me. You didn’t. I appreciate it. And if he tries to come after you, let me know. I will hire you myself if I need to.”
“Thank you.” She paused, seemingly debating something. Finally, she said, “Will you accept his suit?”
I stared out of the window. Even the sparkling lights of Serenity offered no comfort. “I don’t know. I find him revolting, but every day the war drags on, my brother is in mortal danger. And if I spurn Henderson, he could align with Rockhurst just to spite me.”
We made the rest of the trip in silence. Susan saw me to the door of my suite and then retired for the evening when I told her I’d be staying in. I didn’t want her to get in trouble when I disappeared.
My best chance of success would be in the early hours between midnight and dawn. I really should sleep for a few hours, but the chances of that happening were nil. Instead, I changed into dark pants made of sturdy material, a stretchy black top, and heavy boots. Then I double-checked my packing, paced, and thought about what I was going to tell Bianca once I was in the air.
Hours later, I still wasn’t sure what to do about that last one, but it was time to leave anyway.
There was no point in subterfuge—I would either make it or I wouldn’t—so I headed straight for the secondary hangar where my ship waited. Confidence was key in cases like this, so I sailed by the barely awake hangar guard without a backward glance.
Chaos sat right where I’d left her, a tiny little spaceship covered in mottled black-and-gray camouflage paint. The name was an inside joke. My older siblings had lovingly dubbed me a chaos monster when I was young, thanks to my ability to slip away and get into mischief whenever I was feeling well enough. While the nickname had finally died, I’d thought it was perfect for my ship.
It didn’t hurt that the ship was smaller, faster, and stealthier than most of the ships in our fleet—the perfect agent of chaos.
I swiped my identity chip over the control panel and unlocked the cargo door. The ship only had two levels. The cargo bay in the aft spanned both, but didn’t have much horizontal area. The sled with my two trunks stacked vertically took up a third of the floor. I wouldn’t be running any resupply missions in this ship unless I turned off the gravity and stuck supplies to the walls.
I closed the cargo door and retracted the ramp, then headed upstairs to the flight deck. The top level also contained my quarters and the mess hall. The bottom level contained the medbay, guest quarters, exercise room, and maintenance access.
Because Chaos was so small, I’d forgone the traditional three-station layout on the flight deck. I’d kept the captain’s station, but I’d merged navigation and tactical into one station. I rarely had guests on my ship, and I could control the whole ship from the captain’s console. I would’ve omitted the second station, too, but some small part of me still hoped to find someone who wanted to go on adventures with me.
I slid into the captain’s chair. The window shutters were closed, but the displays showed an empty hangar. Time to see if my ship had been grounded or not.
“Chaos, take us into orbit.”
The ship chimed an acceptance and I felt the subtle vibration as the engines engaged. The engine noise ramped up and the ground dropped away in a dizzying rush. I laughed with joy. I was flying.
Chaos rocketed upward and the vast expanse of space opened before me. Something loosened in my chest and I felt like I could breathe again for the first time in months. I’d missed this.
I plotted a course for Honorius and the ship requested a jump point from the gate. Because it was stupid early, we were fifteenth in the queue. Earth’s gate was blazing fast, so in less than a minute, the engine noise changed as the FTL drive ramped up. My stomach dropped, then a heartbeat later, the noise peaked and fell silent.
The emptiness of space had been replaced by the distant view of Andromeda Prime. The planet hung suspended in the inky depths of space, sparkling red and blue in the sunlight. Andromeda Prime was one of the oldest occupied planets outside of the Milky Way and every House had a large holding here.
My com chimed with a message. I checked it and cringed when I saw Bianca’s name. The only reason my sister would be awake now was if she’d been told that I’d left. Damn Ian for not letting her sleep until a decent hour.
And damn me for not sending my explanation sooner.
I opened the message and frowned. Rather than demands, anger, or disappointment, it was just three short sentences: Be careful. I love you. Forgive me.
I was still trying to puzzle out exactly what she meant when the door to the flight deck slid open.