Distant shouts and a hurried chorus of farewells joined in with the alarm, until Rowan turned off the comm.
“Wait! What's going on? What’s happening?”
Rowan rose and opened up a cabinet. "The short range communicators require us to be within a certain distance of each other, but debris is a problem in this area. They’ll have to move the ship to a safer location until it passes. It's nothing too serious.”
“Oh.” I stared at the speaker, just a weird little box in a field of buttons, levers, and screens, and wondered if I was making a mistake after all.
“Wilrhyn. Wilrhyn?” Rowan was holding out a book to me. I took it hesitantly. It was bound in fine leather, common enough for an elven tome. The good books would have embroidery, embossing, gilt, or be hand painted. "You are to be congratulated. We have been actively trying to fluster Milo for ages, without success. You managed it in under a minute, simply by speaking.”
“Ha! I win! Is this the prize?”
“Oh, no, but it will contain some of the answers to many of the questions I’m sure you now have. A history of Lyra, post Destruction.”
I nodded, but my mind was still on the previous conversation. I'd been so focused on what I couldn't have there, that I never appreciated what - and who - I did have.
“Did you think you had been forgotten?" he asked.
"Well, I mean, kind of? Since it seems I've forgotten them. You don’t think I’m a bad person for that, do you?"
"No, it's not your fault. Torpor can do horrible things when it's not carefully managed. It's only meant to take away your anguish, not your memory or your sense of self."
"You sound like you're speaking from experience."
"Seven years, a mere afternoon nap compared to you." He cast a cautious glance at the control panel. “I will escort you home. Come,” he started down the ramp.
I followed, hoping for more background story. “Thanks, but that’s not necessary. I can be home in two seconds.” I snapped my fingers. He flinched, and then shook his head disapprovingly at me when he realized I hadn’t actually done anything.
The group of mechanics were still poking about in the access panel and chattering loudly. He gestured for me to follow him. I did, curiosity rising as he led me to the edge of the platform, as far from the shuttle and the engineers as he could safely get.
"I will not ask you to go back into the Void, but if there were another way, would you return home?" he asked quietly, as soon as he was sure the others weren’t listening.
“I haven’t found another way. I’ve been looking for Entrances for years and there’s just nothing. I can’t go back the way I came, even if I wanted to.”
“Gods and wizards might be able to open doors that don’t exist, and they would both consider you a worthwhile risk.”
“Wizards? You’re allied with wizards now?”
“Elorhyn himself is a wizard of high repute.”
“A prince mixed Harmony and the Word? Isn't that blasphemy or something?”
“Yes, I suppose it is,” he mused with a puzzled frown. “Lyra seems to be allowing it, though? Read the history.” He tapped the book in my hand.
“Is it going to explain that weird comment about my harmonic 'purity?'”
He looked a bit alarmed at the question. "I am not authorized to explain that."
"Try. I won't tell on you."
"Our harmony . . . warped . . . after the Destruction. We are out of tune, you might say? They cannot repair it. If yours proves to still be the original, they might be able to use you to restore everyone’s. This is why we are pushing so hard for you to return with us. We thought we had accounted for every Tanrys survivor."
"Look, it's not just the Void I don't want to face. I don't want to go back to my old life. The rules and restrictions and limitations - " I grabbed a braid and shook it at him. "I'm stronger here. I'm ME here. I’m not Lyra’s any longer."
"There is much they would like to learn from you." He gestured toward the shuttle. "These devices. Do you think we'd stand a chance against them, should we fight with traditional methods? We've seen the damage it can do in other worlds. The presence of metal and exhaust alone would drive us to our knees."
Now that was a sobering thought.
"I . . . I don't know . . . "
"You would have time to decide. It will likely be years before they can come here. You could insist upon returning here safely afterward as a condition of your cooperation."
"Oh, like I could make demands of the Court," I scoffed.
“You are a special case, one we did not expect to find. I'm sure they could be swayed.”
I made a face, and he sighed. “This is the last I will speak on the matter, I swear to you. But at least I have prepared you for a future request and its importance to us.”
“Fine. I promise that I will at least listen to a future invitation, but it better be a good one."
I went home, full of all the feels. I looked at the book, but didn’t get past the first page and the frontispiece depicting elves fleeing in boats, with the sky on fire behind them. I tucked it carefully away for later.
Then I went shopping, and had a lot of fun picking out items I thought a group of people cooped up on a spaceship might like. Fresh food, sweets, the softest, thickest blankets I could find, books and local papers, so they could learn about this world. If they were going to make me read, then I was going to return the favor.
Photo Credits:
Aggi:
Head: Lelutka - Raven
Skin: The Skinnery - Eve
Hair: Magika - Gemma
Shirt: Blueberry - Shyla Knotted Top - Floral
Pants: Blueberry - Laine Zipped Jeans - Cutiebootie
Rowan:
Head: Lelutka - Skyler
Skin: CCI - Elven Male
Hair: No_Match - No Fanatic
Shirt: Butterscotch - Lukas Henley
Pants: Coveted!- Audun Pants
Device: Tentacio! Vania Cyborg Arm Terminal
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