Captain.”
“I’ll call you just to chat and make certain you are being nice to Derrick.” She punched him in the arm for that. “See if you can get the Prime Minister to reconsider the monastery as the location for the peace negotiations. It isn’t just that I mind spending the next three weeks securing it and making it habitable ... I don’t like it and neither does Lieutenant Eldridge.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Arinna replied, mind caught on hearing Jared refer to Derrick formally. Which was probably why he did it. No preference or disregard, that was her role. She was failing at it and she wasn’t sure how to stop.
The result of the conversation with Jared was that Arinna was nervous as she made her way to the hangar. The thought of two weeks with Derrick was making her rethink going, even if, for very practical reasons, she knew she had to. The sight of Byran frozen on the entrance platform broke her worry. She laughed as she joined him.
“I know you said the Guard had planes, but ...”
Arinna looked over the fleet of ten dactyls, each sitting on a hydraulic round platform. Nine were lowered for maintenance and storage, leaving the one they were about to take singled out like it was a display. A very futuristic, high tech display.
“Yup, we have planes. Where are Isabella and the kids?”
“Trying to keep Cerilla and Santi from enlisting for a few more years,” Isabella said with a sigh from the doorway behind.
Kieren managed not to laugh as she paused behind Isabella. “They wanted to see where we kept the swords,” she said.
“That would explain the awed look on their faces, very similar to yours, Byran, over the planes.”
“Ha ha. They’ve never seen a plane or they’d be more appreciative of these,” Byran said. “Really, I don’t mind taking a carriage. I wanted you to come, not escort us.”
“Nervous flyer?” Arinna asked with a grin. Isabella coughed on her laugh. “You are the Prime Minister now, and it is only a two-week vacation. So yes, you do rate a plane and Guard escort.”
Byran stopped grumbling as Arinna led the way to the dactyl. So she chose not to remind Byran that the events leading up to him becoming Prime Minister very much proved he and his family needed protection. That a Captain and Lieutenant called him friend simply made the reality of it a bit more pleasant. It was this reason that kept Arinna from calling off the ‘holiday’ leave because, really, it wasn’t vacation.
Derrick already had the systems online as Arinna slipped into the cockpit while Kieren showed the children how the harnesses worked. Derrick flicked her a glance as she sat.
“I can fly us there, Captain,” Derrick offered as he finished the pre-flight checklist.
Too many answers flooded her mind. It left her unable to say any of them. “Go ahead, Lieutenant. Pretend like I’m not here.”
Derrick didn’t react to her answer, continuing with procedure and rolling through the vertical liftoff and flight away from Prague as if it were a test. He was, of course, an ace student.
Arinna remained unable to frame any question that didn’t come across as an interrogation as Prague disappeared behind them. Finally she unclipped her buckle. “Let me know if you have any trouble,” she said and disappeared into the back, preferring to see how Santi and Cerilla felt about their first flight. She didn’t return and Derrick didn’t request her help the rest of the flight even for landing.
“I will not have you fighting while you are here,” Byran said to Derrick and Arinna as they unwound in Merimarche later that afternoon. Byran had them in his study, handing out wine without asking if she or Derrick wanted any.
“We aren’t fighting,” Derrick said with all the casualness he’d had at Kesmere and none of the military tenseness he’d held the last week in Prague. He seemed to be handling the change in roles better than her.
“I will not have you only talking of the
“I’ll call you just to chat and make certain you are being nice to Derrick.” She punched him in the arm for that. “See if you can get the Prime Minister to reconsider the monastery as the location for the peace negotiations. It isn’t just that I mind spending the next three weeks securing it and making it habitable ... I don’t like it and neither does Lieutenant Eldridge.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Arinna replied, mind caught on hearing Jared refer to Derrick formally. Which was probably why he did it. No preference or disregard, that was her role. She was failing at it and she wasn’t sure how to stop.
The result of the conversation with Jared was that Arinna was nervous as she made her way to the hangar. The thought of two weeks with Derrick was making her rethink going, even if, for very practical reasons, she knew she had to. The sight of Byran frozen on the entrance platform broke her worry. She laughed as she joined him.
“I know you said the Guard had planes, but ...”
Arinna looked over the fleet of ten dactyls, each sitting on a hydraulic round platform. Nine were lowered for maintenance and storage, leaving the one they were about to take singled out like it was a display. A very futuristic, high tech display.
“Yup, we have planes. Where are Isabella and the kids?”
“Trying to keep Cerilla and Santi from enlisting for a few more years,” Isabella said with a sigh from the doorway behind.
Kieren managed not to laugh as she paused behind Isabella. “They wanted to see where we kept the swords,” she said.
“That would explain the awed look on their faces, very similar to yours, Byran, over the planes.”
“Ha ha. They’ve never seen a plane or they’d be more appreciative of these,” Byran said. “Really, I don’t mind taking a carriage. I wanted you to come, not escort us.”
“Nervous flyer?” Arinna asked with a grin. Isabella coughed on her laugh. “You are the Prime Minister now, and it is only a two-week vacation. So yes, you do rate a plane and Guard escort.”
Byran stopped grumbling as Arinna led the way to the dactyl. So she chose not to remind Byran that the events leading up to him becoming Prime Minister very much proved he and his family needed protection. That a Captain and Lieutenant called him friend simply made the reality of it a bit more pleasant. It was this reason that kept Arinna from calling off the ‘holiday’ leave because, really, it wasn’t vacation.
Derrick already had the systems online as Arinna slipped into the cockpit while Kieren showed the children how the harnesses worked. Derrick flicked her a glance as she sat.
“I can fly us there, Captain,” Derrick offered as he finished the pre-flight checklist.
Too many answers flooded her mind. It left her unable to say any of them. “Go ahead, Lieutenant. Pretend like I’m not here.”
Derrick didn’t react to her answer, continuing with procedure and rolling through the vertical liftoff and flight away from Prague as if it were a test. He was, of course, an ace student.
Arinna remained unable to frame any question that didn’t come across as an interrogation as Prague disappeared behind them. Finally she unclipped her buckle. “Let me know if you have any trouble,” she said and disappeared into the back, preferring to see how Santi and Cerilla felt about their first flight. She didn’t return and Derrick didn’t request her help the rest of the flight even for landing.
“I will not have you fighting while you are here,” Byran said to Derrick and Arinna as they unwound in Merimarche later that afternoon. Byran had them in his study, handing out wine without asking if she or Derrick wanted any.
“We aren’t fighting,” Derrick said with all the casualness he’d had at Kesmere and none of the military tenseness he’d held the last week in Prague. He seemed to be handling the change in roles better than her.
“I will not have you only talking of the
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