he’s right. It’s important that we keep to a schedule, especially since we’ve been so thrown off with everything that’s happened. If we don’t work, we don’t get paid. If we don’t get paid, we don’t eat.”
“But you can’t put a price on the information we could garner by going there,” she says.
“Be that as it may…”
The defeat on her face breaks my heart. I don’t want to be the one to make her feel this way, but I also don’t want to set her up to be upset when Solair inevitably says no. He’s a good male and I know he sympathizes with Varia and the other women, but first and foremost his duty is to his crew.
At that thought, I have an idea.
“I’ll talk to him for you. Let Varia speak with him first to set the idea into his head. I’m sure he won’t deny her flat out. He’ll want time to consider it first. He usually asks my opinion on such matters. When he does, I’ll tell him I think we should go—because I do. I want you to get the answers you seek, Lamira. I want you to have everything you desire.”
This time, I don’t stop myself from reaching up to twist my fingers along the length of one of her braids. Maybe she doesn’t understand my intentions. Maybe I need to kick it up a notch.
Her eyes flick over to my hand, quickly, and then back to my eyes. “You’d do that for me? Side with Varia and talk to Solair?”
“Of course, I would. I feel like we’re starting to be quite a good team, you and me.”
With a laugh, she playfully swats my hand away from her hair, but takes it in hers before it falls to my side once more.
“Thank you,” she says, playing with my fingers before looking up at me again.
That gaze is steadily becoming my downfall. There’s nothing I won’t do for her now, no cities I wouldn’t burn, no lives I wouldn’t end. I’d sell my soul to any and all the gods if it meant her happiness.
But “you’re welcome” is all I can find the nerve to say.
Chapter Fifteen
Lamira
Against all odds, I feel better now.
Despite smiling confidently at Fiona and Varia right before I left the bunk room, I wasn’t exactly sure about how Grantian would react to my request. He is this ship’s first mate, after all, and he has a duty toward his captain and his crewmen. Now, though, I know he has my back. He sees the women aboard the Ancestral Queen as part of his crew, and that’s a comforting thought.
Heartened by the conversation I had with him, I stroll down the corridor and make my way toward the mess. It’s around lunch time now and, last I heard, Marion was helping Jax in the kitchen. That, coupled with the new supplies we just bought, might translate into an edible meal for a change. As much as I admire Jax’s excitement over his culinary experiments, I can’t say the results are that pleasant. Sure, his food has all the nutrients anyone would need, but the taste? Ugh.
“You’ve got to be kidding,” I mutter as the doors slide back to reveal the mess. The room is only half full, but that’s not what grabs my attention. The one thing I home in on is the smell of chocolate wafting in the air, the scent of it sweet enough to make my stomach roil. When was the last time I ate any chocolate? It feels like a lifetime ago.
“If I were you, I’d hurry,” I hear an amused voice say right beside me, and I turn on my heels to see Marion standing there. She’s wearing her regular clothes, but there’s a white apron over them. I have no idea where she found one, but it does help her look like a respectable chef. “These guys are a fan of my chocolate cake, and if you take too long there won’t be any left.”
“I can see that,” I laugh, watching as a group of Kilgari mechanics stuff themselves with large slices of cake. You’d never think guys like them would have a sweet tooth, but that seems to be the case. “Where the hell did you manage to find chocolate?”
“I told you it was a good idea to have me with you guys on the market.” Taking me by the arm, she drags me across the length of the mess half and toward one of