They Shared again the very next evening. Ekatya would never have asked, not wanting to impose, but Lhyn had no such compunctions and Andira seemed happy to take part. An hour later, when the link ended and they crashed back into their tiny, limited selves, Lhyn said, “If I live to be a hundred and ten, I will always date my life as either before or after my first Sharing with you.”
“Not your first Sharing, period?”
“That was spectacular. But it was with a stranger. I mean, Lanaril is a friend now, but Sharing with you is on a whole different level.”
“You’re tyrees,” Andira said, as if that explained everything. To her it apparently did.
The next day Lhyn invited her to Blacksun Temple for a midmeal with Lanaril. Ekatya had met the Lead Templar only once before, and while she’d liked her, she wasn’t entirely comfortable around someone whose career was religion-based. But Lanaril was so delighted to be able to discuss their tyree bond openly that they spent the entire midmeal speaking of nothing else. Ekatya came away more impressed than ever by the profundity of their bond and the status it gave them in Alsean culture—or would give them, if they ever went public with it.
On their way out, Lhyn steered her to the ancient molwyn tree in the center of the temple and rested a palm on its trunk. “This is going to sound odd, but would you put your hand here?”
Ekatya touched the smooth bark. “Okay. Why am I doing this?”
Lhyn looked expectantly into the boughs of the tree for several silent moments before letting her hand fall away. “I just wanted to test something.”
She was reluctant to explain, and it took the entire walk across the park to the State House before Ekatya learned the origin story of the Alsean banner.
“When Lanaril told me that, I dismissed it out of hand,” Lhyn said. “It was so obviously an oral history that had been embellished and turned into myth. But I thought the whole concept of tyrees was fiction, too.”
“So you were hoping that since you were wrong about one thing, maybe you were wrong about the other?”
“No…I was hoping we were that special.”
Though she tried to hide it, her disappointment was obvious.
“And I thought I was competitive,” Ekatya said teasingly. “We’re the only known tyrees of our entire species and you want more?”
A reluctant smile spread across Lhyn’s features. “I guess that does seem a bit ungrateful.”
“I should say. Andira would probably give her left arm to have what we have.”
“Maybe her right arm. Since she’s left-handed.”
They reached the Councillor’s Entrance to the State House and were saluted by the warriors flanking the door. Ekatya returned the salute, having long since grown comfortable with the gesture. It was when they reached their suite and Lhyn was puttering around the living area that she had a shocking realization.
She was happy here.
For a month, Fleet had dangled her on a string, telling her “it’s complicated” whenever she asked about her fate. On the one hand, she’d disobeyed orders in a spectacular fashion. On the other, she’d helped save the Protectorate from a disastrous shift in the balance of power. It seemed that half of the Fleet brass wanted to court-martial her while the other half wanted her to run for public office. Since she couldn’t leave Alsea, there was no urgency in resolving the debate. So they argued, and she waited.
But it wasn’t in her nature to sit around and do nothing, so she’d spent the last month helping the Alseans in general and Andira in particular. In the process she’d settled into a de facto position of ambassador, though she was never quite sure whether she was representing Alsea or the Protectorate. And everywhere she went, Alseans looked at her with expressions of awed respect. They called her the Savior of Blacksun, for Shipper’s sake. She was globally famous, Andira was offering a shining career and telling her to write her own orders, Lhyn never wanted to leave, and then there were the Sharings. If she left Alsea, she’d leave those behind as well. That was about as appealing as kicking a narcotic habit without medical assistance.
She rested a hand on the window and looked down at the park, a view she’d come to love. Never in her adult life would she have believed she could be happy with a dirt-side desk job. But here she was, grounded and content.
To Hades with Fleet, she thought. It was time for a new chapter in her life.
* * *
That evening the call came from Admiral Tsao. They’d found a shuttle.