I want to touch him so badly—to reach over and take his hand. “You’ve been practicing for this,” I murmur instead. “All that time at the academy. You had dismantling and avoiding violence down to an art. Now it’s just a matter of putting it into practice and…”
I trail off, unsure what to say next. Gal’s the one who’s got this all figured out, not me. Once he’s crowned, he begins a years-long process of sharing his mother’s power, and after that the crown will be his and his alone, to pass on to only his blood’s true heir. It’ll be a hell of a fight to twist the empire’s policy away from his mother’s course, but he’s been preparing for that fight for years.
And I have to trust he’s grounded in his principles, trust that he’ll hold out against the most fearsome ruler his empire has ever known. I know he’s not like his parents—he never could be. I wish I knew how to make him see that for the blessing it is. Being raised as a shadow heir turned Iva into a woman willing to slaughter her sister for power. But Gal was positioned in military leadership, not the cold halls of trade. He’s full of heart and camaraderie, not calculation. He wouldn’t make her choices. He wouldn’t ask me to follow him down her path. That’s not the Gal I know.
He reaches over and prods me on the shoulder, jarring my thoughts. “You’re systems away, buddy,” Gal murmurs, and I let out a long sigh that trails into a wheezy little chuckle. “What’s going on?”
I snort. “What isn’t going on? We’re on the run in a foreign empire. We sold our only solid shot at getting home for practically peanuts. I think I hear something dripping in this room. And oh yeah, my best friend’s the Umber heir.”
Gal grimaces.
“And I’m sharing his bed.”
There’s a terrifying, frozen moment where I want to reach out into the space between us, grab the stupid joke by its tail, and stuff it back down my throat before he has a chance to press the issue. But then Gal lets out a loud, undignified snort, and within seconds we’re both laughing like idiots over this stupid, impossible situation. Here we are in this small, shitty room, all but free from the machinations of galactic politics and the danger that’s been locked onto our asses since the moment of his unveiling. Here we could almost believe we’re just two guys lying side by side, both wanting each other so bad it hurts. We could almost believe that it’s possible to have everything we want.
“You know, there’s a bright side to this,” I mutter, nodding vaguely to the room around us.
Gal’s breath hitches. “Oh yeah?”
“Even if you tell them, no one’s gonna believe you’re a prince now.”
I fully deserve the pillow.
CHAPTER 10
I SET OFF on my own early the next morning, slipping into the streets as Isla starts its morning rituals. As a planetary capital in a borderworld system, it plays host to thousands of intersecting cultures that blur together across my senses as I move down the wide roads that sprawl through this part of town. I spot variations on noodles, flatcakes, tea, and even something that looks and smells suspiciously like my region’s own flatbreads and sauces. Corinth can’t match the richness of the Umber interior’s abundance, but from the variety available in the street food, it’s clear they’re a step above Archon’s thin soil. I resist the urge to investigate. We took those ration packs from the Ruttin’ Hell for a reason—we need every single Corinthian bit in our pockets.
Gal chose to stay behind today. He’s waiting in the safety of the room until I’ve secured a new ship. It’s an unnecessary risk to have him wandering the city, but I can’t help but think that leaving him alone is just as bad. He tends to fare better when I’m there to look out for him.
But—and I’m a total asshole for thinking this—I need a breather from being around him. We’ve spent five days locked up in a ship with nothing but each other’s company, and after what happened at the river, the