Redsight by Meredith Mooring

Author:Meredith Mooring
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy
Publisher: Rebellion Publishing Ltd
Published: 2023-11-30T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty-Two:

Korinna

They sat in silence for the rest of the evening. Korinna drank more of the wine. That helped.

Deciding she needed a powerful ally was one thing, but sitting next to Aster—just the two of them and no one else—was another matter. If she failed to live up to her expectations, she wouldn’t merely risk her job, she’d risk disappointing one of the only people who’d ever given her a choice. Who’d treated her like a human being with agency instead of a tool to be calibrated.

“If you’re finished, there’s something I’d like to show you,” Aster said.

Korinna followed her to a command bridge so old it was carved from the inside of an asteroid. The walls were made from solid rock, smoothed by time. At the center of the room was Korinna’s octagon.

She rushed toward the obsidian panes, brushing her fingers along the cool stone, tracing every seam, examining them for damage. But they were perfectly intact. They’d been disassembled and brought onto the Diabolos without a single imperfection.

“How did you do this?”

“I undersold my abilities to you before. You and I aren’t that different in how tactus affects our bodies. I wanted you to be safe.”

Aster wasn’t meeting her eyes. She was flustered, like she’d opened her mouth and too many words had spilled out.

She knew Korinna would need to express tactus eventually. Without the reflective chamber to contain it, the rush of propulsive energy could destabilize the vessel, hurt Korinna, or kill the people around her. Aster was looking out for herself and her crew by taking the octagon, but the look on her face said what she didn’t want to admit.

Aster didn’t want her to suffer. She didn’t want her to be in pain.

“Is it connected to the ship?” Korinna asked.

“It’s operational. That’s one of the reasons I brought you down here—to give you the chance to fly the Diabolos. If you want to.”

“Right now?” After a simple handshake. Control of the entire Diabolos.

“Yes. There hasn’t been a Redseer on board in centuries. I’d love to see what you can do.”

If the octagon was fully connected, she could fly anywhere. Straight to the Galactic Imperium if she wanted. She could make Aster stand trial before the Senate for the murder of Governor Wu.

With those dark eyes locked onto hers, she could tell Aster knew it, too.

She was letting Korinna choose. She was trusting her instead of ordering her as Renatia or Governor Wu would have. Not just trust. Something deeper. She was giving herself to her on a level no one ever had. She was placing her life in Korinna’s hands.

“Yeah, I think—I’d love to fly your ship,” she stammered. Her palms were clammy with sweat. “I don’t have a navigational suit on. It might… I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I’ll be fine.”

She was no novice, then.

Korinna brushed open the wall of obsidian. It locked her in the truest black she’d ever known. Matter here was different somehow, pushed into denser shapes under the pressure of the Umbra.

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