Release(32)

The chief eyed Keirth.

Keirth shifted on his feet.

“I have to admit,” said the chief, “after what you did to my daughter, I had intended to have you executed the minute I laid eyes on you. But your wife is quite a winsome creature.”

Sure. Now she was. When she wasn’t destroying hyperdrives. Keirth simply nodded. “She is indeed.”

“But I’m not such a fool as to think you came back to our planet only to apologize and make redress for your wrong. There is something else, isn’t there?”

Keirth nodded. “I need a ship. The one we arrived in is badly damaged. I’d hoped to trade it for something in your collections.”

The chief surveyed the jewelry in his hands. He looked at Keirth. “All right. We can deal.” He clapped Keirth on the back. “But let’s save talk of this for tomorrow. Today my daughter is free again, and we have much to celebrate. You will stay here for a feast.”

Okay. Feasts sounded good. Keirth had to admit that Ariana had done a good job here. She’d saved his life, apparently. They would have killed him otherwise. And she did look really nice in that dress.

* * *

“I can’t believe you did this,” Keirth was saying. He and Ariana were sitting on cushions in the feasting hall. The table in front of them was loaded with fruits and meats native to Trioth. There were tables set up in a sort of horseshoe shape, leaving a gaping space in the middle of the vast room. There was music from a band of Triothians playing stringed instruments in the corner. The air was filled with the buzz of conversation as around them the people of Trioth all enjoyed the feast that had been prepared. A few seats away from them, Freetha sat in her new dress, looking excited and happy. The atmosphere was joyous.

Ariana shrugged. “I’m good at this stuff. Like I told you, they trained me to be polite.” She reached across him and dipped her fingers into a bowl of shiny black fruits. “You should try those. They’re a delicacy on this planet.”

“But you know all this stuff,” said Keirth. “You know everything.”

“You’re the one who showed me the encyclopedia,” said Ariana. “And I’ve figured things like this out before. There are different customs on every planet in the sector, even if we’re centrally ruled. Aunt Tildy always used to tell me that the best thing to do when you’re dealing with hostile people is not offend them. You have to know what will offend them to make sure you don’t do that.”

“Well, you’re kind of amazing,” said Keirth. “I’m impressed.”

She smiled at him. “I owed you. It’s my fault we’re in this mess in the first place.”

“But you gave them your own things. That dress. The jewelry. Doesn’t that bother you?”

“Of course not,” she said. “I didn’t have my best things on the ship. Everything I really wanted I’d taken with me planetside. But...” She looked around. “Don’t tell them that, okay?”

He laughed and ate one of the fruits she’d told him to try. It was delicious, sweet nectar bursting into his mouth.

There was a sound of metal striking glass. Everyone quieted. The chief had stood up. He was hitting a knife against a goblet. “Our honored guests,” he told the room, “must lead us in the first dance of the evening.”

Keirth shook his head. “I don’t dance,” he said to Ariana.

She raised her voice. “We don’t know the steps of your dances.” Her voice managed to sound apologetic and pleasant all at the same time. She really was good at this stuff.

“Show us a dance from your planet then,” said the chief. The room erupted into applause, apparently agreeing with sentiment.

“I don’t know any of your dances either,” Keirth said through clenched teeth. This was disastrous.

But Ariana was standing up. “They don’t know either. Just make it up.”

There didn’t seem to be a way out of it. Inwardly groaning, Keirth stood up as well. Ariana took his hand, and they walked out into the space in front of the tables. Ariana faced him.

Keirth had next to no idea how he was supposed to dance to this music. He was going to look like an idiot. He gingerly placed a hand on Ariana’s waist.

“We’re supposed to be married,” she hissed at him. “Act like you’re used to doing that.”

He gripped her a little tighter, feeling the curve of her body under his fingers. She was soft and smooth. Keirth swallowed.

Ariana grasped his hand and put one of her hands on the arm that held her waist.

The music began.

He didn’t know what to do, so he took a step forward. As if she was reading his mind, Ariana stepped backwards at the same time so that they moved as one.