“Not a problem,” said Keirth. “You know I can’t stand men like that.” He sat down opposite Lilla on another wooden chair on the porch. His didn’t rock. “You know, Lilla, I don’t understand why you and these women put up with this. There’s got to be safer ways to make a living.”
“I think we had this conversation last time you visited, didn’t we, Keirth?” said Lilla. “If I remember correctly, this conversation is the reason you stormed off the planet.”
Keirth sighed.
“I know your mother got a raw deal,” said Lilla. “But that never would have happened here. I protect my girls. You know that.”
It was exactly the thing he’d said to Ariana that afternoon. He sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “What happened tonight could have gone wrong. Rilf was a pretty stupid man, but they’re not all that stupid.”
“This isn’t really about safety, though,” said Lilla. “This is about you not approving of what we do here, isn’t it? Keirth’s the high and mighty one. Claims he’s not bothered by the same urges as the rest of humanity.”
Keirth shook his head. “That’s not what I said. I only think that people don’t have to give in to their urges. They could fight them.”
“Why fight them? There’s nothing wrong with sex. You wouldn’t exist without it. It’s natural.”
“What you do for a living is not natural,” he muttered.
“It’s the most natural thing there is. They don’t call it the oldest profession for nothing.”
He leaned back in his chair. The porch was nothing but dark outlines against the blue-black of the night sky. He gazed out at the hulking shapes of the ships in the docking bay. Everything was quiet and still.
“That girl you brought here is in love with you.” Lilla didn’t sound like she was teasing anymore.
“She’s not,” said Keirth. “She couldn’t be.”
“You might feel like you’re so damaged inside that there’s no way anyone could find it in themselves to care about you, but that isn’t so. And you don’t seem damaged. You seem strong and confident. It’s not as if you don’t have anything to offer her, you know, even if you have been so stubborn about ‘fighting your urges’ that you wouldn’t know the first thing about pleasing her.”
Keirth stood up and went to the railing of the porch. He gripped it with both hands. “She’s from the nobility, Lilla. A woman like that doesn’t see someone like me as an equal. You can’t love someone you don’t respect.”
“You saved her from a man trying to kill her, didn’t you? She’d respect you for that.”
“She kind of saved herself, actually. She hit him over the head and knocked him out.” But actually, referring to what happened to Risciter made him think of something else. He turned to face Lilla. “If she did feel anything, it would only be because she’s confused. She’s been through a lot in the past few days. She might have some silly ideas in her head, but given time, she’ll get over them.”
Lilla got out of her rocking chair, leaving the rifle propped up against it. She put a hand on Keirth’s cheek. “You’re determined never to let anyone in again, aren’t you?”
He pulled his face away.
Lilla crossed her arms over her chest. “We could use you here, you know? I told you that the last time you were here too. You made things a heck of a lot easier with Rilf. Men respond better to men for some reason. They’ve always got to test me, and that means I shoot more of them than I’d like. Give up on chasing this mad man through the stars. Let your mother have peace. You and the girl you brought could stay. You could give her the time you think she needs to get over her feelings, see if they actually do go away.”
“I can’t, Lilla. You know I can’t. I have to find Risciter.” Keirth looked out into the night again, at his ship. Once he was sure Ariana was settled in, he’d go.
What Keirth didn’t know was that Risciter was standing in the shadows just beyond the edge of the porch, listening to every word he said.
Chapter Eleven
Keirth walked back into the main house. He strode through the kitchen and into the great room to make sure that everyone had calmed down after what had happened. To his surprise, he found Ariana, huddled inside a robe, perched on a couch, her hair mussed from sleeping.
“What happened?” she asked, her eyes wide.
“Someone got fresh with one of the girls,” Keirth explained. “It’s okay. Nothing to worry about. I took care of it.”