The Twisted Way (Champions of the Crystal Book 3)

Chapter 23.2

Three days later, Sabrina was pacing the stateroom cabin aboard the Eye of Miah and wishing desperately for anything, even a Council meeting, to occupy her time. She had read Oria's summary of Pharo more times than she could count; she had buried herself in Praxatillus' history books and collections of myths and legends; and she had even attended the officers' morning workout sessions. She dined with them more out of a wish to be distracted than anything they had in common; she knew her odd status made her an awkward guest. The transfer of sovereignty had been kept secret, so no one outside the Council of Ministers knew whether she still held the authority of the regency or not. Sabrina knew it was a good idea not to announce that Tirqwin and Khediva were out there on their own by publicizing Mara's return, but she wished she could have clarified her own status. She wondered whether doing so might have ended the Reissians' attempts on her. It made sense that they wanted to assassinate the ruler of Praxatillus, not a mere Sabrina Devon.

Of course, the attempts might have stopped already. The crew had been scanned and rescanned before and after their departure, and it was highly improbable, if not flatly impossible, for an assassin to sneak aboard this flagship of the Praxatillian space fleet undetected. There was no sign that the Reissians had even tried, and of course only Homeworld knew their destination.

At first Sabrina had relished the rare luxury of being left alone; Darice and Tassan no longer felt it necessary to be in the same room with her every moment of the day and night. But being alone left her far too much time to think. And she missed Tassan dreadfully at night, but try as she might, she couldn't think of a way to be with him that didn't hold too much risk of discovery aboard this tightly run ship.

The door chime made her jump, but she turned eagerly and called, "Enter!"

She expected Tassan, who was catching up on his painting, or Darice, who had said she was going to put in some time in zero-gee, but to her surprise it was General Tdran standing there. "We've had contact from Wayship Khediva," he said. "I thought you would want to know immediately. We will rendezvous shortly."

"Thank you, General," Sabrina said. She kept her voice calm but had to clasp her hands together to stop them shaking.

"Would you like me to escort you to the bridge?"

Sabrina cast a quick glance in the mirror. She was wearing a Praxatillian uniform without insignia, the better to fit in aboard ship and a good excuse to be free of heavy, sweeping skirts. It just needed a sharp tug to look crisp. And her hair was back out of her way in a severe French roll. She supposed she was as presentable as she was going to get on such short notice. "Yes, thank you. And could you have Citizen Nikolar and Major Darice meet us there?"

"Certainly."

Sabrina had been up to the bridge only once, on her arrival, and was astonished all over again at the sweeping view, even though she knew it was a holographically generated representation, not real space. She marveled at how the crew could go about their business completely ignoring the beauty of the view; she found it difficult to tear her gaze away.

"Magnify," General Tdran ordered, and the view changed, morphing into a more detailed one with a familiar object at its center. "That is the Wayship, is it not, Lady Sabrina?"

"Yes," Sabrina replied.

"We have her ident code, but we wanted your confirmation," he explained. "Would you care to speak to them?"

"Yes, please."

"Open a channel to Wayship Khediva," he ordered the communications officer.

"Channel open. Go ahead."

"Wayship Khediva, this is the Eye of Miah. Nice to see you again."

Khediva's voice came through, clearly amused. "Hello, Sabrina. Do not tell me you have taken command already."