“Yes. But Sihvaaro said something else, when he first met me. He called me your lifemate.”
Ronan looked away. “He did not understand.”
“I think he did, better than either one of us. He was a remarkable person, and his gifts were great.”
“As are yours. You must not waste them.”
She gripped his upper arms and gave him a shake. “You swore before your Line that I was your lifemate. I didn’t release you from that pledge.”
“It was a deception I never expected you to honor.”
“It was a little high-handed,” she said with a crooked smile, “but it was the right thing to do. It still is.” She compelled him to meet her gaze. “You still have some crazy idea that you’re somehow unsuitable to be the lifemate of a simple Alliance captain.”
“To lifemate is… it is—”
“I know. Sacred. Forever.” She buried her fingers in the short hair at the nape of his neck. “Do you love me, Ronan?”
There could be no more deception. His mind had reawakened, and his heart lay helpless before her challenge.
All at once she opened her thoughts to him, withholding nothing. Her love was fierce and undeniable like river floods after the great Thaw, spilling down from the Semakka Mountains. It drowned him in humility and awe.
“I had something to prove to myself when I took command of the Pegasus,” Cynara said, “a whole lifetime’s worth of rebellion against my culture, realizing the fulfillment of my greatest ambitions, showing myself worthy to take Tyr’s place when I was afraid I could never be. None of that is important now.”
“Your captaincy is important. Your skill and ability cannot be replaced. The Pegasus—”
“The Pegasus will do very well without me. It’s only a matter of time before the Concordat builds a whole fleet of the ships, and they’ll need captains.”
“Kord—the others—”
“—will also be perfectly fine. I have confidence that Lizbet, in particular, is ready to strike out on her own.” She raised her hand. “And before you bring it up, I can give Damon all the information he needs in a few hours.”
Ronan felt his temper slipping its leash, hope and denial like opposing ve’laik’i battling inside his skull. “You cannot be happy away from your own people, or among mine. Every day would be a struggle to win respect and acceptance.”
“It sounds very familiar.” She bared her teeth with something less than humor. “And I’ll have a teacher of vast and varied experience.”
“Even I may not survive—”
She placed her hands on her hips. “Are you finished?”
He stared at her. She laughed, pure joy.
“You know by now that I was never content to be what my birth dictated. I’ve always wanted to see what’s around the next wormhole—and I still haven’t got a proper souvenir from a shaauri world. That’s why I’m going with you. And you don’t have anything to say about it.”
Ronan tipped back his head and hissed through his teeth. “Sihvaaro,” he said, “why have you set me such a test?”
Cynara pulled his head down and rested her forehead against his. “Because he knew you could do it. Do you remember the last thing he said?”
He breathed in the scent of her hair. ‘The circle will be complete.'”
“And now,” she said, setting her mouth to his, “it is.”
* * *
Glossary
Characters
Aarys, Tala: Third of Aarys striker
Adumbe, Scholar-Commander Taye: Pegasus second-in-command
Annukki: Ronan’s childhood friend, now ri’laik’in
Antiniou, Charis: chief engineer on the Pegasus
Archimedes: mascot cat on the Pegasus
Ardith: medical assistant on the Pegasus
Basterra, Cargomaster Segar: cargomaster on the Pegasus
Belloq: a shaauri Kinsman
Beneviste, Magnus Egon: father of Nyle Beneviste
Beneviste, Matrona Egona: mother of Nyle Beneviste
Beneviste, Fico Nyle: Cynara’s former fiance
Bhruic- guard on the Pegasus
Challinor, Lord Achilles: birth name of Ronan VelKalevi
Challinor, Lord Ambros: Ronan’s elder brother
Challinor, Lord Damon: aka Phineas Janek; Ronan’s younger brother
Challinor, Lord Hector: Archon of Persephone, Ronan’s uncle
Challinor, Lady Kori Galatéa: Ronan’s mother
Challinor, Lord Miklos: Ronan’s uncle
D’Accorso, Magnus Casnar: Cynara’s father, leading burgher-lord of Elsinore
D’Accorso, Cynara: captain of the Pegasus
D’Accorso, Matrona Zurine: Cynara’s mother