\u201cAnd where do you think you\u2019re going?\u201d<\/p>\n
Arilyn Bullian went rigid, slowly turning her gaze toward the voice\u2019s source.\u00a0 Karinlyyn Bridger Kel-Solan stood in the hatchway leading into the Firelance<\/em>\u2019s cockpit, dressed in the silver mesh armor of an Auyn, her honey-brown hair plaited into a braid.\u00a0 Ari swallowed bile as she looked her mentor up and down.\u00a0 The other woman was armed to the teeth.<\/p>\n Must be pretty serious Order business if the open Warmistress is on her way up.<\/em><\/p>\n There was no question in her mind that Karinlyyn was on her way up to Wayfarer to meet up with Cay and whoever else from the Order was up there, either making or stopping trouble.<\/p>\n \u201cThe same place you\u2019re going,\u201d Ari said, squaring her shoulders and swallowing hard, trapping a cough in her throat.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m going up to Wayfarer to find Cay.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFunny you should say that.\u00a0 I\u2019m on my way up there myself, but I happened to see your engines warming up on the private pad and decided to have a look.\u201d\u00a0 Karinlyyn crossed her arms and regarded her with a stern, serious expression that Ari wasn\u2019t entirely accustomed to seeing directed at her\u2014her relationship with her mentor had been secret smiles and winks, of praise and gentle correction, far different from what most of the Auyn who trained under Karinlyyn Bridger Kel-Solan experienced, based on the whispers she\u2019d heard.\u00a0 \u201cWhat\u2019s your rush?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI need him to give me permission to come aboard the Legacy<\/em> or give Dav permission to take leave,\u201d Arilyn said, turning back to her control board.\u00a0 Her heart began to beat a little bit harder, a little more painfully as stinging tears started to rise.\u00a0 \u201cI keep seeing things, Auntie, and I can\u2019t weather this storm by myself.\u00a0 Dav\u2019s the only one who\u2019s ever understood.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYour mother would\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t tell Mom,\u201d Ari snapped, twisting back toward Karinlyyn.\u00a0 \u201cDav\u2019s the only one who understands this right now.\u00a0 I need him.\u201d\u00a0 He needs me, too, but that\u2019s neither here nor there.\u00a0 He\u2019s still\u2026<\/em>\u00a0 She swallowed a sigh at the thought.\u00a0 He\u2019s still frakked up from everything going on with Dad.\u00a0 He still wants to hate him for what he did to Mom and by extension what he did to us.\u00a0 But the rest of us don\u2019t and Dav\u2019s still trying to hang onto that pain and hate and that\u2019s not good.<\/em><\/p>\n Not when he\u2019s a frakking Jedi it\u2019s not.<\/em><\/p>\n Karinlyyn kept staring at her for a long moment before the older woman sighed, smiling a wry smile.\u00a0 \u201cWell, I suppose it doesn\u2019t matter, does it?\u00a0 Mind giving me a lift?\u201d<\/p>\n For a nanosecond, Ari considered saying yes, she did mind, no, the Warmistress could most certainly not<\/em> snag a ride up to Wayfarer with her.<\/p>\n It was only for that fraction of a moment, though, before the impulse faded and left only weary resignation in its wake.\u00a0 Arilyn nodded.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll give you a lift if you\u2019re ready to go right now.\u201d<\/p>\n The older woman spread her arms.\u00a0 \u201cI have everything I need on my person right now.\u00a0 I taught you to be prepared for anything, didn\u2019t I?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou did,\u201d Ari agreed, turning back to the controls.\u00a0 \u201cYou trained me well.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sure that Mackenzie\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want to talk about your son, Auntie,\u201d Arilyn said, her jaw tightening.\u00a0 \u201cSlider\u2019s made a lot of choices in his life and breaking our partnership isn\u2019t one I want to talk about.\u201d\u00a0 She hated being abandoned.\u00a0 Being abandoned by blood kin was even worse.<\/p>\n Karinlyyn fell silent.\u00a0 The only reason Arilyn knew she was still there was because she could sense her and because a moment later, the older woman dropped into the copilot\u2019s seat next to her.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d Karinlyyn said after a moment.<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t have anything to be sorry for.\u00a0 You don\u2019t make his choices for him any more than my parents made my choices for me.\u201d\u00a0 Ari willed her hands not to shake as she finished her pre-flight sequence.\u00a0 The Firelance<\/em> lifted from the pad under her practiced control and she angled the sleek ship toward the upper atmosphere and Wayfarer beyond.\u00a0 The pair sat in silence until the dark blue of the sky began to give way to the darkness of space.\u00a0 \u201cIt must be pretty serious Auyn business if you\u2019re not babysitting Alexander Kerensky\u2019s daughter right now.\u201d<\/p>\n Karinlyyn snorted softly.\u00a0 \u201cKnew about that, did you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t sleep all the time,\u201d Ari said softly.\u00a0 I barely rest when I do sleep.\u00a0 Mostly I sit in the window and watch the world and wish that I didn\u2019t feel like three day old bantha shit all the time.<\/em>\u00a0 Her eyes fluttered closed for a bare moment, then opened again as the last vestiges of atmosphere gave way to the starlit darkness of space.\u00a0 \u201cAnd you\u2019re not the only person who trained me.\u201d<\/p>\n A faint smile touched Karinlyyn\u2019s lips.\u00a0 \u201cNo,\u201d she agreed.\u00a0 \u201cNo, I\u2019m not.\u201d<\/p>\n Whatever hopes they both had for me, though\u2014whatever hopes any of them had for me\u2014are going to be for naught, I\u2019m afraid.<\/em><\/p>\n The memory of the vision she\u2019d had while on the comm with Davil tugged at the back of her brain.\u00a0 She\u2019d been able to breathe again.\u00a0 She\u2019d felt good<\/em>.<\/p>\n Maybe there\u2019s hope.<\/em><\/p>\n Her breath caught.\u00a0 She hadn\u2019t dared to hope for a long time.<\/p>\n \u201cAri?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m fine, Auntie,\u201d she said as she angled the nose of the Firelance<\/em> toward Wayfarer station.\u00a0 \u201cEverything\u2019s fine.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n~ Erin<\/p>\nShare this:<\/h3>