THE PARADISE SNARE(91)

“Well,” said Bria firmly, “today you’re going to learn. You’re young and strong and you’ve got good balance and reflexes. You’ll be fine.”

Han proved an apt pupil. Bria was amazed at how hard he concentrated, how precisely he followed her instructions on how to move his arms, his legs, when to breathe, etc. She commented on it at one point. Han smiled sardonically. “Pilots learn to follow instructions,” he said.

“Or they wind up dead pilots.”

Before they came out of the water to eat, he was paddling around fearlessly in the surf and had begun to be able to coordinate his breathing with his arm strokes and leg kicks.

“You’re a very good pupil,” Bria praised as they sat together on the blanket, gazing out to sea.

“Thanks,” he said. “You’re a good teacher.”

They shared food from the provisions he’d brought, and then they walked hand in hand along the beach. At one point a tiny lizard flew overhead, winking in shades of green and gold. Bria put out a hand and held very, very still, and the tiny thing lighted on her fingers and clung there, its wings waving gently in the breeze. Han grinned at her. “You look …

beautiful …” he said.

“I feel as though I own the world,” she replied, half joking. “This day ˇ . I’ll remember it always, Han.”

“You own this beach,” he said, smiling down at her. “I give it to you.

It’s yours, for today.”

The lizard took wing, still quite unafraid, and flew away.

As they strolled through the breakers, Han told her more about his determination to get into the Imperial Academy. “People look up to an Imperial officer,” he said. “Nobody’s ever looked up to me for anything, before, but if I can get in, that’s all going to change.

I’ll be able to turn my life around, Bria. I’ll never have to steal or smuggle or cheat anyone again.”

Bria’s eyes filled with tears at the earnestness in his voice. She reached up and caressed his cheek gently. “My heart breaks for you, sometimes,” she whispered. “You’ve known such cruelty, such betrayal .

. .”

He touched her cheek in return, his brown eyes intent. The wind ruffled his hair. “But I also had one person who loved me,” he said. “Let me tell you about Dewlanna …”

They walked slowly along, hand in hand, and Bria listened as he told her about his best friend during his childhood. By the time they’d reached the blanket again, they were walking in silence. “Garris Shrike sounds like he’d fit in perfectly on Ylesia,” Bria said, finally.

“He’d probably wind up running the place,” Han agreed, a bleak note in his voice. He lowered himself onto the blanket and sat, arms draped across the tops of his knees, looking out to sea, his expression troubled. “I should have killed him when I had the chance, Bria. But ˇ . . I didn’t.”

She dropped down beside him. “That’s because you’re a decent person, Han,” she said fiercely. “You think you’re tough, and you are—but you’re also decent. You’re no cold-blooded killer like Shrike. If you’d shot him, you’d be no better than he is.”

He turned to her, his face profoundly intent, very serious. “You’re right,” he said softly. “Sometimes when things seem so confused, you make them all come clear … with just a few words. You’re a very .

. . wise … woman …”

Bria sat perfectly still as he leaned forward and kissed her, gently, on the cheek. His lips were warm. As he started to pull away, she put her hand on his cheek. “Don’t.”

His head turned, and his lips found her mouth. He tasted of sea salt.

Bria closed her eyes, and time seemed to stop.

After several long heartbeats, he drew back. Bria opened her eyes to find him searching her face. “How was that?” he asked softly, sounding a little breathless. “Okay?”

Bria was more than a little breathless. “Better than okay,” she whispered, sliding her arms around his neck, feeling the sun-warmed skin of his bare shoulders. His arms went around her, holding her tightly.

“Much, much better …”

She kissed him back, and it was a long, long time before they spoke again …





13


Return to Corellia


The following day Mrrov and Muuurgh made ready to set off on their “honeymoon” and Bria and Han prepared to raise ship for the Corellian system.

At their final moment of parting, Muuurgh grasped Han by the shoulders and shook him, very gently. “I will miss you,” he said in his halting—but much improved—Basic. “Must you go? You like Togoria, you said so. Without you, I would never have found Mrrov. The Margrave of all Togoria has asked me to tell you that you and Bria are welcome to stay forever. You can hunt with us, Han. Fly mosgoths. We would be happy.”