Luxuros groaned, throwing his head back in frustration. “And what am I supposed to tell Mirquios when some Ellumian criminal sells his fiancée off for parts? Do you have any idea what the head of a Lunarian dignitary is worth in Solaris?”
“Tell him to light a candle for my Ascent.”
Luxuros growled, “You are unbearably stubborn!”
Astra opened her mouth to protest but Ameera stepped between them. “It’s not the worst idea, As.”
Her eyes sliced through her friend, shocked at the betrayal.
“Ellume is not the same city it was the last time you visited, Astra. There are entire neighborhoods that would skin you alive just for your last name. It wouldn’t hurt to have some muscle on our side.”
Astra’s bones rattled with something like a premonition—a knowing that Ameera was right.
“I don’t want to hear a single complaint about our plans.”
Luxuros folded his arms, satisfied with his victory.
“Done.”
“I don’t think it’s fair that Ameera got her own dragon.”
Astra sighed. She’d enjoyed nearly a full hour in silence, drifting through the Midwood, when Luxuros stopped pouting and finally said something from behind her.
“You’re too heavy for a wyvern and we don’t have the supplies for a second dragon. Didn’t I say no complaining? Besides, I thought you liked Riverion.” Ameera zipped ahead of them on her smaller creature, her scarlet wings carving elegant curves in the skyline.
The commander rubbed at an ache in his chest as he leaned away from her. “He’s fine. It’s just a little crowded.”
“No one said you had to be up my ass, Commander. Scoot back.”
Luxuros didn’t move, grateful that Astra couldn’t sense anything within his chest, especially the discomfort he battled as Riv dropped again, jolting him closer to her.
“No fighting!” Ameera called out as she dropped below them. “I can’t listen to you bicker all day. We still have four hours before we’re in Ellume.”
“Fine,” they both sighed.
“What is the plan for Ellume?” Luxuros asked.
Ameera’s eyes flickered to Astra’s face, unsure what she should divulge to the commander.
“That’s none of your business,” Astra said. “You’re basically a stranger, Commander.”
He snorted. “Aren’t you the woman who accepted a marriage proposal after forty-eight hours?”
Astra gasped, a silver ribbon of furious shame tightening in her spine. “It was seventy-two, first of all. And second, I wouldn’t expect someone like you to understand the nuances of a Tether.”
He bristled. “Someone like me?”
Astra tapped Riverion on the back of the neck, letting him know she was leaving him in charge. She twisted in the saddle, swinging a leg over the commander’s lap as she turned to face him. She tucked her brows together and lowered her stare, carving a frown to mimic the pained scowl he so often wore.
“You’re right, Luxuros. You’re the portrait of someone looking to weave the threads of his very soul into another’s.”
Luxuros leaned forward, letting the soft heat of him sink into her skin as a wicked grin slipped over his lips.
“You’re doing it all wrong. I do not scowl, I stare angrily into space as I pray to every god I’ve ever heard of that your stubborn ass will finally listen to something I say.” He stroked the worn leather over his chest, his face falling into the exact expression Astra imitated. He sensed it immediately, huffing a sigh before he reset his face into a neutral mask.
“I know I annoy you,” she said, a rare moment of vulnerability softening her eyes. “And I know that we’re stuck together whether we like it or not. But you could at least try to be less miserable around me.”
He let this sit in the air between them for a moment, absorbing the foreign sincerity in her words. “It would make me more comfortable if I knew what we were in for,” he finally said.
