Starcrossed (45 page)

Nothing was said during the ten minute drive, and I was out of the van almost before it had stopped, running up to the Stuarts’ front door. The O’Garas followed more slowly.

I’d barely touched the doorbell when the door opened, and I nearly collapsed with relief when Dr. Stuart greeted me with a smile.

“You’re back!” I cried, flinging myself into her arms, which closed around me in a wonderfully comforting way. “And . . . and you’re smiling! That
must
mean Rigel is okay?”

“He seems to be,” she assured me. “He should be waking up any moment now, and we all thought you’d like to be here when he does.”

I looked toward the stairs longingly. “Yes! Please.”

She led me to Rigel’s room, which I’d only been inside once before, his parents were such strict chaperones. Shim and Kyna were standing just outside, and I could see Mr. Stuart through the open door, sitting next to Rigel’s bed. Even better, I could see Rigel himself, looking pale and disheveled, but unhurt. I darted forward, but Shim touched my shoulder, halting me.

“Excellency,” he murmured, “I must remind you of your promise. Not a word.”

I was so focused on Rigel, it took me a second to realize he was talking about the aliens, the Grentl. “No, no, of course not,” I promised quickly, never taking my eyes from Rigel’s wonderful, wonderful face.
 

“Very well, then.”
 

He released me with a subtle nudge toward Rigel, which was more urging than I needed. I practically flew to his side.

“Rigel?” I whispered, tremblingly touching his cheek. “Can you hear me?”

My heart beat a dozen times before his eyelids fluttered open. Wonder filled his eyes as he saw me, then gazed around at his room, with spaceship models and the dreamcatcher I’d given him hanging above the bed, then at his parents, standing right behind me.

“Am I dead? Is this . . . heaven?” he asked, his voice gravelly.
 

I flung myself onto him even as I heard his mother give a little sob behind me. “No, no, you’re
not
dead! I was so afraid—! But you’re here, we’re together, and you’re alive. Oh, Rigel!” My voice broke on his name and the tears I’d been holding in check all day finally started to flow.

“M,” he murmured. “My M. I thought I’d never see you again. I thought—” His arms came around me and then we were kissing, in full view of his parents and the Council members in the hallway, and I didn’t care a bit.

comhriteach
(KOM-ree-teek):
compromise

I spent the next few hours sitting on Rigel’s bed, most of the time with our hands clasped, since I could feel him regaining all his strength—and more—from the contact. His mom even brought up snacks and drinks so I wouldn’t have to leave his side until I finally had to go home for dinner.
 

With so many people around, we didn’t talk much. The whole Council was still in the house, plus the O’Garas for the first hour or so. I knew meetings were going on downstairs but couldn’t feel guilty about missing them, I was so happy to be with Rigel again—this time without the threat of having him torn away from me forever.

Even our silent “talking” was minimal. We were both
feeling
too much to put into words, so we spent our time sharing those feelings, instead. Also, after the first rush of joy and relief at our reunion, I remembered my promise to Shim. I doubted I could keep that secret from Rigel indefinitely, but I owed it to Shim to at least try, after all he’d done for for us.
 

There was also the matter of how to tell Rigel about the compromise I’d made with the Council. I knew he wasn’t going to like it, but it had to be done, and soon. If I waited too long, someone else might mention it to him or to Sean, even though I’d made it clear I wanted to tell them both myself. And if Sean found out first, then said something to Rigel . . . No, I couldn’t risk that.

More than once, I tried to frame the words. But we never seemed to be completely alone and I didn’t want to tell him in front of a way-too-interested audience. The most I managed was to warn him that we’d still have to pretend not to be together at school, because of the
Echtran
observers there. When he asked how long that would last, I shrugged but let him know silently that I’d tell him more later.

The next day at school, it was even harder to deflect his questions. There was no way I could explain everything silently in the middle of class, or even out loud in the hallway. My aunt let me go to taekwondo that afternoon, though, and he was waiting for me when I came out.

“Walk you home?” he asked me with a grin. “Or is that still not allowed? I . . . couldn’t face the whole afternoon and evening without seeing you.”

I glanced around to make sure no one was watching, even from a window, then hugged him and returned his kiss eagerly. “I don’t
think
we’ll get in trouble, as long as my aunt doesn’t find out.” Or the Council.

“Let’s swing by the arboretum for a few minutes,” he suggested. He carried my gear bag and it was all I could do not to hold his hand as we walked there in silence.
 

The minute we reached “our” bench, Rigel set down my bag and gave me a penetrating look. “Okay, what is it? It’s totally obvious something’s still bothering you, so spill.”

“You’re right,” I admitted, twining my fingers in his to bolster my courage—and to gauge his reactions better. “It’s . . . It’s about how I got you back to Jewel, how I, um, how I got them to let you go. Don’t be mad, okay?”

Rigel pulled me to him for a hug and another quick kiss. “
Mad
at you? Impossible. So how
did
you get me out of Lennox’s clutches? I really, really thought I was dead. He told me to my face it would look like I had some kind of fatal accident.”
 

I gasped, fighting down my horror. I’d come even closer to losing him than I’d thought! “That’s . . . I need to tell the Council that. I’m sure they don’t know. Except maybe Allister.” Was even
he
that fanatical? I shuddered again at our narrow escape.

“After you left, I asked my folks and my grandfather what you’d done, but none of them would tell me.” He felt a little worried to me, now.

Bracing myself for worse, I plunged in. “That’s because I wanted to tell you myself. I, uh, sort of made a deal with the Council to get you back.”

Judging by his expression, he could feel my worry and uncertainty as clearly as I felt his. “What kind of deal?” he asked cautiously.

“Well . . . I offered to stop fighting the whole Sovereign thing if they brought you back and said I’d refuse to be Sovereign at all if anything happened to you. But they still went on and on about how incredibly important appearances are right now, to rally all the people behind me and the legitimate government before factions start splintering off and maybe starting a civil war on Mars. And part of that appearances thing involves . . . Sean.”

I felt a jolt of anger and jealousy from him, and his fingers tightened convulsively on mine, though not quite painfully. “Sean. So you agreed to . . . what? Get engaged to him or something?”

“No! Of course not!” Now it was his turn to feel
my
anger, and it immediately undercut his. “But . . . I had to promise to
act
like I’m with him, in public. When other Martians are around, anyway. At least until the government is back on its feet.”
 

When he started to pull his hand out of mine, I tightened my own grip so he couldn’t. “Rigel, it’s
only
for show! Part of my deal was that I’ll
really
be with you, for now and for always, no matter how I make things look to everybody else.”

He frowned, only partially mollified. “And how
will
you make things look? Are you going to . . . to go on dates with him and stuff? Hold hands in the hallways? And for how long? What if it takes years for them to put the government back together? Then what? You know Sean will take full advantage of this, try to make you—”

“Rigel.” I put a finger on his lips to stop his tirade, which was getting a little loud, even for the deserted arboretum. “Nothing Sean can do will make me stop loving you. Nothing!”

He swallowed visibly, then nodded, his anguish receding somewhat. “I’m sorry, M. I know the only reason you made that deal was to save me—and it worked.” His mouth twisted into a semblance of a grin, though not a happy one. “Guess you made them an offer they couldn’t refuse.”

“It was a little dicier than that, but yeah, I guess so. After a lot of arguing, they put it to a vote and agreed to my terms.”

An echo of the desperation I’d felt during that all-important vote swept through me and in response, Rigel hugged me tightly and kissed me again, a real kiss this time. When he finally pulled back a little to look at me, I was surprised by the respect in his eyes.

“I guess they do have a real leader after all.”

I felt myself blushing. But yesterday evening, as I’d been leaving his house, I’d overheard Kyna saying almost the same thing to Breann.

“Yes,” her voice had come from behind a closed door, “I think we were all relieved to see the Sovereign demonstrate the backbone she’ll need for the days and years ahead. I confess, I didn’t think she had it in her and I’m delighted to be proved wrong.”

Had I really “demonstrated backbone?” If so, it had been purely for Rigel’s sake. But maybe . . . maybe it did mean I could eventually become what they needed me to be. As long as I had Rigel with me the whole way.

That evening after dinner, I went over to the O’Gara’s house, ostensibly to work on a history paper. In reality, the Council wanted me to record a short video to reassure everyone on Mars that I was alive, healthy, and not crazy.
 

Breann gave me a suggested script, but said I could use my own words. Since it didn’t sound much like me, I changed some wording but kept the gist, introducing myself and talking about how I knew it was a difficult time, but that I was sure they could pull together for the good of everyone, and that I was learning what I needed so I could help with that eventually.

After three takes, Breann seemed satisfied. Putting the tiny recording device in her pocket, went to the kitchen, where the O’Garas had been waiting, to say goodbye to them before leaving. A moment later Sean wandered in.

“Done with your first movie?” he teased. “Breann says you were great. They’re doing some edits, I think, before sending it to the rest of the Council.”

“I don’t know about great, but I did it.”
 

I suddenly realized this was a perfect opportunity to tell Sean about my bargain. In fact, it was possible Breann was keeping everyone in the kitchen to give me the privacy to do exactly that. Dreading his reaction, though not for the same reason I’d dreaded Rigel’s, I launched into my explanation before I could lose my nerve.
 

As I explained the compromise, I repeated more than once that the whole thing would
only
be for show. By the time I finished, though, Sean was grinning like Christmas had come two weeks early.
 

“So let me get this straight. In the interests of peace and for the good of our entire race, we need to convince all the
Echtrans,
here and everywhere, that we’re dating?” His grin widened further. “I’m in! You can come to my game tomorrow night and the party afterward. We can put on a good show for everybody.”

I frowned. “I told you, Sean, it’ll only be when
Echtrans
are watching, like at school. It doesn’t mean I’ll go with you to parties and stuff, when none of them are around.”
 

Still smiling, he quirked an eyebrow. “Like word won’t get back to them if everybody at school knows you’re still going out with Stuart? For this to work, we have to convince
everyone
, not just the
Echtrans
. Think about it.”
 

With a sinking sensation in the pit of my stomach, I realized Sean was right. To truly abide by my agreement, I
would
have to make everyone—even Bri and Deb—believe I was with Sean instead of Rigel. How had I missed that detail?
 

My insides squeezed at the idea of everyone at school thinking I’d dumped Rigel to be with Sean. It would be even worse than our other fake breakup, because now I’d be the bad guy. I could just imagine what Trina would say. At least Rigel would know the truth. And Molly. And there was one other super important bit.

“Part of my deal with the Council is that I’ll
really
still be with Rigel, just not in public. So I’m only going to play along in front of everybody if I get alone time with him on a regular basis.”

That finally erased Sean’s grin. “You don’t expect me to help with
that
, do you?”

“I at least don’t expect you to sabotage it. And yeah, if you or Molly—or your parents—can help, I’ll really appreciate it.”

He grumbled but didn’t outright refuse. I took that as a good sign and changed the subject.

“So, where’s your dear Uncle Allister? Dare I hope he’s left Jewel?” I’d heard yesterday at the Stuarts’ that he’d been removed from the Council but I’d been too wrapped up in Rigel to ask for details.

“Didn’t they tell you?” Sean seemed surprised. “He’s been exiled to Montana for what he and Governor Lennox tried to do. Sounds like they’re both going to face an inquest over this business.”

I blinked. “Who told you that?”

“Mum. They invited her to take Uncle Allister’s place on the
Echtran
Council, since her bloodline is the same as his, plus she did all that resistance stuff on Mars. She agreed.”

“Really? That’s great!” The idea of never having to see Allister again cheered me enormously. Mrs. O’Gara
was
an obvious choice to replace him—and she liked me, which couldn’t hurt, though I knew she’d always put the Nuathan people first.
 

When Mrs. O’Gara brought in tea and cookies a few minutes later, I immediately congratulated her on being appointed to the Council.