in Astor’s bedroom and sipped the last of his brew.
Separate cushions, but close enough that either of us could reach. Touch. We just hadn’t.
“You said when we met that your parents died, but then later that your new heart was allowed because of family connections,” he said. “How does that work?”
“My brother. Brent. He is… Important doesn’t begin to describe it. He’s not a king, but he does have a lot of power over other people, how they live, what they are allowed to do, what they have access to in terms of work and education and healthcare.”
“And your father previously filled the role? So you are sister to a current king and daughter to the last?”
“No, Brent was elected,” I said.
Astor frowned. “He was not trained and educated to lead people?”
“Well, I guess maybe he was. He was a legal scholar for a while before he ran for office, and he’s smart.”
“Smart is not leadership,” Astor said.
I nodded. “That is true.” Outside, the world was getting darker. It was quiet. In Mattis’ bar, it was never quiet, and that almost made the darkness seem brighter, in a weird nonsensical way. As though day became night. Here, it actually felt like nighttime.
He hadn’t said anything, watching me as though he meant for me to keep speaking. I yawned. “The thing is…where I’m from…it tends to be the same families that lead over and over again. Even though people vote my brother into his office, it isn’t like they have much of a choice. Most of the time, he runs unopposed. Every once in a while, there’s an outlier who serves for a while, but mostly it’s the same crew. So it’s elections, but maybe they’re more like masked kings.”
“Interesting.” He took my hand in his. “It will get cold at night.”
I found myself quickly dozing off, my lids heavy like I couldn’t quite keep them open. “Sorry,” I laughed. “I don’t think I’ve been sleeping well at Mattis’ place.”
“It’s noisy,” he nodded. “I need it peaceful to sleep. Others are the opposite. They’d hate it out here and need to be in the center of things to get any rest. Go to sleep. I will, too.”
As though his words gave me permission, I let my lids shut and drifted in a gentle sleep. I didn’t dream, not that I usually remembered them. Jerking awake, I gasped for breath, grasping on to my chest, but it wasn’t my heart that had awakened me.
Astor sat up, looking around. It was dark now. He must have turned the lighting off and the temperature had dropped significantly. There was a noise in the distance, not one I knew. Wailing, screeching. What was happening?
His hand came onto my back. “It’s okay. That is just the Howlers. You wouldn’t have been able to hear them in the center of the City-State. And they haven’t been out since you’ve been here anyway. They are creatures of this planet, animals. Wild beasts. We don’t hunt or feed from them. We’ve never managed to domesticate them. They’re fearsome, and you don’t want to meet one in the dark, but they won’t come here.”
I pictured huge monsters like from the stuff of horror stories. His words did nothing to dissuade that image.
“They howl because the weather is changing.” He got off his pad, and I shivered. It was much, much cooler in here. The temperature had significantly altered just since I’d fallen asleep.
Astor came back with a blanket. This planet had incredible shifts in temperature. There was nothing gradual about it.
He lay down next to me on my pad. “I hope this is okay.”
I smiled. I’d place bets he had more than one blanket he could use, but I wasn’t going to say no. The sound—that howling—I hated it. Was it some kind of primal, anthropological response to a predator I didn’t know I had?
He covered us both in the blanket, wrapping me against him like we were in a cocoon. I finally found my voice. “I thought it was the Reamers.”
“No, you are safe. I am a light sleeper, and there are alarms and people on watch. You’re fine.” His breath was on the back of my neck, a warm sensation to go with the blanket and his body, all of it shutting out the night.
“Will everyone be okay out there? With this weather shift? Your brother? Nox? The soldiers?”
He paused before he answered me with a laugh. “Torrin will be grumpy. That is for sure.”
“Why do you guys