Free Exile by Julia Barrett Page B

down at the bowl of soup. “Why didn’t I see that?”
    Davi snorted.
    “Of the Blood?” Kyr laughed long and hard. “I don’t think so. I grew up poor as a field rat on Calen. My father worked the lithium mines. My mother tended a flock of winat goats and spun thread from their wool to sell to the weavers. Of the Blood? Unlikely.”
    “Kyr, if your grandmother was a pilot, then you are of the Blood. What you think doesn’t matter. Only female descendants of the Blood possess the genetic traits that allow them to be stunner pilots, as you call them. Many people can be trained to pilot, but only women of the Blood can fly blind, so to speak. Could your grandmother fly blind through an ion storm?”
    “So my father claims.”
    “Did she fly through the Tionay Nebula? It’s the shortest route between Calen and the Galactic Core.”
    Kyr seemed reluctant to answer her, but at last he said, “Yes.”
    “Who flies through the Tionay Nebula since the coup? Who, Kyr? Tell me. Do you? Does any pilot you know? Do the Coalition forces ever risk their ships in those electrically charged ion clouds?”
    “No.” Kyr and Davi exchanged looks. “I don’t know of anyone who flies through the Tionay Nebula. At least, not for the past thirty years,” Kyr added.
    “Not since the coup,” said Aja. She spooned up her soup.
    Both men followed her example and ate in silence.
    When they were all three finished, Kyr pushed his bowl away. “What did you mean, when you said, why didn’t I see that? Have you been in my head, Aja?”
    “No.” She bristled at the implication. “And I don’t intend to be in your head, as you so succinctly put it. When I first saw you I read your intentions and your heart, not your mind. If someone has had my blood as you have, then yes, I know what you are feeling, but no, I don’t read your mind. I’ve already explained this. Your thoughts are your own.”
    “I’m sorry,” replied Kyr. “But I needed to know. I don’t understand how you work, for lack of a better way to put it.”
    Aja’s face reddened. “I work exactly the same way you work, but I’ve been genetically enhanced. It’s hard to explain. There are things the Coalition doesn’t want anyone to know and I’m afraid I might endanger you by discussing these matters.”
    “But we already know the legends and the myths,” said Davi. “And my mother claimed there is always a core of truth to the old stories. Besides, I suspect we’re in more than a bit of danger already.”
    Kyr rose from his chair and walked over to Aja. He knelt beside her and took her hands. “Do you trust me?”
    “You have my heart,” she said. “I trust you with my life and everything I hold dear.”
    “Then confide in us. Davi and I need to understand how Bom knew to find you, how he tracked us. I need to know why Davi lost his lunch on that ride through the Pikes while I found it exhilarating. Explain these things. Please.”
    Aja brought his hands to her lips. She smiled down at him. “I’ll make a bargain with you. You make the cavitt and I’ll tell you a very long story. I like mine sweet,” she added.
    “And me,” said Davi.
    Kyr laughed, and he set about grinding the cava nuts and boiling a kettle of water. Ten minutes later, he brought three steaming mugs to the table along with a tiny pot of rare and precious Akkan honey.
    “Contraband?” Aja dipped the tip of her little finger into the thick, clear liquid.
    “My percentage,” Kyr replied. “One of the perks of smuggling.”
    Aja closed her eyes and licked the honey from her finger. “Mmmm. We aren’t allowed anything so valuable.”
    Davi raised his eyebrows. “I’m surprised,” he said. “I would think the Royal Family, well, that you would be provided with whatever you wish.”
    “No.” Aja opened her eyes and smiled at him as she stirred a small spoon of honey into her caavitt. She passed the pot to Davi. “The Ruling Council delights in keeping us hungry and cold.