Read Online Queen of Starlight by Jessa Slade - Free Book Online

pushed back her veils to give him a chiding look. “Of course you wouldn’t. And they know that, which is why they respect and trust you…even worship you.”
    He shifted from one boot to the other, sidling away from her. “Hardly. I don’t pay them that well.”
    “It’s not about the pay. I’ve heard them talking, and their voices are full of reverence.”
    As the crew members who’d supped at the temple melted into the darkening forest, Corso gave an annoyed grunt. “I don’t pay them to talk.”
    “It’s not what they say; it’s how they say it.”
    “I hadn’t noticed.”
    “You wouldn’t. That’s what I’m trained for. To listen and watch and think—and feel.” She spread her hands, repeating the final open-handed gestures of the night song. “The l’auraly specialize in feeling.”
    His gaze shifted even farther from her than his boots and she knew he hovered on the edge of fleeing. “I hadn’t noticed that either.”
    She shook her head at his obstinate blindness. “Take me up with you.”
    He straightened abruptly. “What?”
    “I want to see your ship. I want to see space.”
    “Nothing to see but black.”
    “Then why does it mean so much to you?”
    He was silent, his face turned away from her to reveal only the flexing of his hard-edged jaw as he ground his teeth. After a moment, he cut his gaze toward her. “You want to be with me because you think I’ll go looking for the crystal mine.”
    “Will you?” She let her hands fall into the resting stance, fingertips pressed lightly together in an inverted steeple at belly height. The cup-like gesture was supposed to facilitate peaceful openness and sharing. Mostly she hoped it would keep her from strangling him for his intransigence.
    As if he discerned her decidedly non-peaceful thoughts, he hitched the hazer higher in his grasp. “Our working plan doesn’t require that information.”
    “That wasn’t much of an answer.”
    “And apparently, unlike my crew, you don’t trust me.”
    “But I respect you. And I know you won’t let any piece of information escape your grasp. Even if you don’t need it.”
    He finally turned to face her straight on, his dark eyes glinting. “I thought a l’auralya would abide by her owner’s every wish. Doesn’t that include leaving him the hell alone?”
    “Sometimes the owner doesn’t know what he truly wishes.” She stepped into his anger and angled her face up to his. “And you aren’t my a’lurilyo.”
    In the clearing that had been designated the Asphodel ’s temporary roost, her blue-white running lights lit the trees and threw black bars of shadow across the ground toward them like a ladder. The sound of the engines firing rose over Corso’s muttered curse.
    When he reached for her arm, his grip was firm but not cruel, and as he marched her toward the ship’s hatch, he modulated his stride to hers. She hid her smile and greeted Jorr cordially as she preceded Corso into the ship though the studded ramp bit at her bare feet.
    Jorr scowled, a worthy reflection of his captain’s habitual frown. “What’s she doing here?”
    “Reviewing our strategy.”
    “Since when do slaves get a say in strategy?”
    “When they pay.” His boots rang to a halt in front of the medic, and his broad shoulders seemed to fill up half the big hatch bay. “And you’ll be rethinking that tone, crewman.”
    Jorr stiffened. “Yes, sir. Sorry, Captain. I spoke out of line.”
    Corso steered Benedetta onward but glanced back at Jorr. “By the way, I saw your efficiency update to the recon grid. That is the good work I want from you.”
    Jorr nodded once, the tense crinkle around his eyes relaxing. “Yes, sir. We’re all aboard. I’ll close up and tell Evessa to shove off.”
    “When the surface survey is finished, have her put us in geo sync between the village and temple and run powered down. I’m not expecting trouble, but if it comes, let’s make sure we see it first.”
    “Yes