Across A Star-Swept Sea Part 13

"Is that how we're supposed to get back?" He nodded to the path.

She chuckled. "Don't be silly. I'll call for a boat." She peeled off her wristlock and, moments later, a flutternote flitted off her palm and was caught by the wind. "I told them to come in an hour. That'll give us plenty of time."

"For what?"

Persis grabbed his hand. "For me to show you why they call it Scintillans."

She pulled him along the narrow path to the shack, then disappeared inside. A moment later, she tossed a pair of dark blue swim trunks at him. "If you go around the shack to the east side, you're less likely to be seen from the fis.h.i.+ng village. But," she said, wiggling her eyebrows, "I can't make any promises."

He looked at the dark blue trunks in his hands. "We're going swimming?"

Persis poked her head out of the shack. From what he could see, she was no longer dressed. "Please tell me they haven't outlawed that in Galatea, too."

"I can swim."

"Good." Back in she went.

Perhaps a swim would help clear his mind. He'd been envying Slipstream in the sanitarium bath. By the time Justen had changed his clothes, Persis was lounging on a rock, basking in the coral glow of the setting sun. Her suit, also dark blue, was two piecesa"a simple band knotted over her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and a brief bottom covered with a translucent blue scarf. It was the plainest thing he'd ever seen her wear. Justen wondered idly whose bathing trunks he was wearing, or if the Blake family kept a stash of blue suits in their shacka"just in case.

As soon as she saw him, she popped up and onto the sand. Her hair was still mostly down, the ma.s.s of yellow and white curls and braids and locks twisted in a loose knot at the nape of her neck. For a moment, he could pretend she was like any other girl he'd known growing up. Her skin practically glowed in the slanted sunlight. She must know what a tempting sight she made, there on the rock. She must know it, because she had never concerned herself with anything more important in all her silly, shallow life. It was vital to keep such things in mind, before he totally forgot the real nature of their relations.h.i.+p. It was fake. All fake.

She held out her bare hand, and he saw the flash of gold from her palmport.

That should help some.

"Hurry!" she called. "We've got to get there before the sun sets." And again she took off, down the rocks to a tiny, shockingly clear-bottomed cove nestled at the base of the cliff. She plunged into the water and Justen followed her to the sh.o.r.eline, bracing himself for the cold sea.

But he was surprised, for the water was as warm as a bath. The cove must be a natural geothermal pool. He sunk into the water up to his chest, sighing in pleasure. Though both islands were largely powered by the geothermal energy derived from the volcano, and Justen knew of several thermal pools inland in Galatea, it was rare to find a natural sea cove such as thisa"protected enough from the tides for the water to seem warmer where it emerged from the heated earth.

Persis paddled across the cove, and he followed her, noting how the sun must be very close to the horizon now, as the surface of the sea had turned to molten gold. Persis had reached the edge of the cliff now and had situated herself on a ledge that seemed to have been carved out of the rock wall. A moment later he joined her, settling into the seat and letting his arms float before him in the warm water.

"I could sleep right here," he said, surprised to find it was the truth. Perhaps his all-nighter was finally catching up to him.

"It is tempting," Persis agreed, waving her hands through the water and watching the golden water drip off her fingers. "Of course, you'd drown. And wouldn't that be a tragedy? A celebrated young medic, a darling of Galatea, young, clever, handsomea"struck down before his time.a"

More like struck down before he could ruin any more lives. He grimaced. What right did he have to relax in a geothermal pool while the refugees suffered in the sanitarium, while prisoners were tortured in Galatea? There was a rule that medics had abided by since time immemorial: first, do no harm.

He needed to fix his mistake. There was nothing more important than that right now. He'd sleep for a few hours, then head back to the lab.

Ahead of them, to the west, the sun melted into the sea, and already, the dusk had gathered here in the shadows on either side of the cove cliffs. "So why do they call it Scintillans?" he asked, more to change the subject than anything else.

"Wait."

He waited. It wasn't difficult to do, snug on the rocks with the warm seawater all around him. Persis didn't speak for once, and when he looked, she wasn't consulting her palmport, either, just sitting and watching the sun set, her expression devoid of its usual false cheer. Her hair was wet and plastered to her head, making her look like an actual mortal for once, as well as the two years younger than Justen that she actually was. He wondered what she might have been like had she not been born an aristo in Albion. Like his sister Remy, perhaps. She wasn't stupid, just unconcerned with any weighty matters.

Then he thought of what she'd be like had she'd been born an aristo in Galatea. How she'd probably even now be Reduced, imprisoned, working herself to death in a field, her silly giggle extinguished like the mischievous spark in her cinnamon eyes.

And it would be his fault.

He was staring. He stopped, and returned his attention to the sun. Persis Blake was beautiful, but she wasn't a sunset.

A moment later, the sun sank below the surface. Justen made a hissing sound before he could catch himself.

But Persis was already giggling. "What was that?"

He shrugged, sending the water into eddies around his shoulders. "Something my sister and I always do, ever since we were kids. When the ocean puts out the sun, it hisses, like water on a hot pan."

"I like it." Persis nodded, as if giving him permission to hiss in her cove. "You must miss her."

"Remy's the only family I have left. Of course I miss her." Missed her and wanted to take back everything he'd said the last time he'd seen her. Remy was just a kid. Of course she wouldn't take kindly to his doubts about the revolution. Of course she would be shocked to learn that he was trying to undo the damage he'd caused.

What had he been thinking, leaving her alone in Galatea? He wanted to believe nothing would happen to her therea"that no matter what, Uncle Damos would be kind to her. But he realized more each day how little he truly knew about the man who'd raised them since their parents died.

Now the midnight blue of the night sky was rus.h.i.+ng after the coral line of the setting sun. The trail of sparkling gold across the surface of the water narrowed, and the waves turned dark. He felt her hand, warm from the water, in his hair again.

"It feels so weird," she said, brus.h.i.+ng it back against its natural direction. "p.r.i.c.kly. Fuzzy. Like Slipstream."

Justen jerked his head away. "I feel like your rodent?"

She pursed her lips, considering it. "Your hair does. A little. Slipstream is softer."

"Thanks a lot."

"He's gengineered that way. To be soft, to be fast, to be playful and clever and cute. To be perfect for me."

"Sorry I can't oblige." Unlike so many of his friends, Justen had never indulged in the gengineering that had become so popular since the revolution. There wasn't enough regulation right nowa"as he'd argued to Persis when she'd been messing with her genetemps. Human gengineering was a dicey prospect. He knew that better than anyone.

"I'll live." She looked at him, eyes narrowed, then shook her head in confusion. "Why do men wear it so short in Galatea? And everyone so dark. Don't you get bored, having everyone's hair just be black like that?"

"I like black."

"As your wardrobe proves," she scoffed.

"Don't you get tired of bleaching yours all the time?"

"I'll endure a little boredom for the sake of beauty." She pulled her hair over her shoulder. "If only we were all lucky enough to have juvenile canities like Isla's royal line."

Justen rolled his eyes. "Give them a few years, and the gengineers will make an argument for it."

"Not in Albiona"the royals would never allow it. It's become such a signature." Persis shrugged. "This color is newa"or relatively. I've only had it about a year. Used to be a lovely deep magenta, but I found it was clas.h.i.+ng with Slippy's coat."

"Can't have that," Justen murmured. "Where is your sea mink anyway?"

"On the cold side. It's too hot over here for him." Persis slipped off the ledge and treaded water in front of him. "Why? Do you find conversations about hairstyles that dull?"

"Deadly dull."

"Then I fear you won't have much fun pretending to be in love with me." She s.h.i.+fted closer, "since, to sell our ruse, you're going to have to pretend every word out of my mouth is utterly fascinating."

He leaned in, too. "I think there are enough people who think that around here, Lady Blake. Maybe what you find so fascinating about me is that I don't fall all over myself the second you speak."

She murmured something incoherent.

"What?"

"I do find that fascinating," she said more loudly. "If annoying."

He shrugged.

She glided back and forth through the water inches from his legs, every bit as graceful and sinuous as Slipstream. "But we should figure it out. What could someone like you, with all your revolutionary ways, find so wonderful about me?"

He shrugged again. There were some, he supposed, who would fall for this silken, silly G.o.ddess.

"That'll never do. We have to find something."

"You're rich and beautiful and the heir to this entire estate," Justen pointed out. "That should be enough."

She looked skeptical. "Not a very revolutionary sentiment."

"Well, I'm a traitor to the revolution, soa""

Suddenly, Persis lunged forward, hooked her arm around his neck, and pressed her lips to his.

"Guha"" he said against her mouth.

"Kiss me," she whispered, her tone urgent.

He did. Her lips were as full and lush as he'd expected. She tasted of sea salt and flowers. His hands skimmed her sides, bare and slippery, and the wet hem of her suit as he steadied her in the current. Her skin was firm and smooth, just as he'd imagined. She moaned a little as his fingers pressed into her thighs, holding her just the tiniest bit away from his body for his own sake. Her lips parted and she slid her tongue along his bottom lip.

Justen jerked away. Enough was enough. "Pera""

She laughed again and splashed him. "What's wrong, Galatean?" she asked loudly. Very loudly. "Am I moving too fast for you?"

Even over the sound of the surf, he heard snickers. He looked back to see a group of figures huddled on the steps near the entrance to the cove. As soon as they realized he'd spotted them, they turned and, laughing, scampered back up the steps.

"Whoa"" he asked under his breath as he watched them go, neck craned to peer over the lip of rock.

"Some children from the village," Persis whispered, still on his lap. She sounded oddly breathless, as if the kiss had taken her as much by surprise as it had him. "Naturally they're spying. But don't worry, you put on a good show. This will help our case significantly." He felt her slide off his lap and turned to face her, then gasped.

For Persis was floating in a sea full of stars. He watched in wonder as she twirled in place, then submerged herself entirely for a moment, only to burst out of the water, scattering sparkles off her skin and hair. She caught him staring openmouthed, and smiled broadly.

"Welcome," she said, "to Scintillans Cove."

"What is it?" he asked in wonder.

"What are they," she corrected, lifting another palmful of starry water and letting it trickle back down her hands. "They are phosph.o.r.escent coral sp.a.w.n, and they love the warmth here in the cove."

Before he knew what he was doing, Justen had pushed off his perch and joined Persis in the water. The stars sparkled in the wake of his movements and he waved his arms and kicked his legs, just for the pure pleasure of watching galaxies wing out in the eddies. He dove and opened his eyes beneath the surface, ignoring the sting of salt to see the marine universe unfold all around. In the silence, he thought he might be in s.p.a.ce. When he was young, he and Vania had discovered a book in the library that described outer s.p.a.ce missions in ancient times, missions like the one that had kept all their ancestors safe during the wars. He'd wondered then what it had been like for those people to float alone among the stars while the world burned.

This was exactly what he'd imagined.

When his lungs could take no more, he surfaced, blinded by the seawater for a moment. He rubbed his eyes and found Persis floating calmly beside him, a few arm's lengths away.

"Have you any place like this in Galatea?" She was on her back, staring up at the real stars appearing in the sky. They were surrounded. Stars above, stars below, and Persis, floating a few inches away, her arms and legs brus.h.i.+ng against his in the water, sparkling everywhere they touched. Her hair flowed, pale and ghostly, in the water, the curves of her body like little s.h.i.+mmering islands peeking above the surface. Even after his swim, he could taste her in his mouth.

Somehow, he found his voice. "No, we don't, and I grew up on the sh.o.r.e. I've heard of sea phosph.o.r.escence before but a"

"This cove is pretty special," Persis said. "All Scintillans is."

"Yes." Seawater dripped onto his face. Was he swallowing stars? Ora"coral sp.a.w.n. He shouldn't think this a miracle. He shouldn't find it so impressive. A simple chemical reaction in the juvenile body of the a they sparkled and swirled in the water before him.

All right. Stars.

"And you're right, I'm the heir."

He blinked. Had he missed some part of the conversation while underwater? Then he remembered. They were talking about what it is he'd say he loved about Persis.

But that was before the stars. Before the kiss. He doubted he'd have to say anything now. Those kids on the steps would be convinced. Everyone would.

"Which is why," she went on, still looking up, while the real stars flickered to life in the slice of sky they could see beyond the cliffs, "it's important who I'm with. It's important that he be someone I can trust, because if I marrya"he'll get it all."

Sixteen.

FOR THE FIRST TIME since donning the mask that had defined her life for months, Persis found she didn't resent the shallow, playful role she'd taken on. Here in the cove, with stars winking above the cliff top and weaving in and out of the knots in her hair, she could be the part of herself that wasn't at odds with her faked persona. The part that entertained her mother with village chatter, who sailed her yacht in high winds and played with Slipstream on the sh.o.r.e. Justen had spent a day and a night fighting against the evils perpetuated by his fellow countrymen. He needed to relax. He needed laughter and splas.h.i.+ng and a yes, even kisses. Who knew that better than a girl who'd spent months risking everything for the same purpose?

The kiss they'd shared had affected her more than she'd expected. It wasn't her first kiss, or even the first time she'd kissed a boy for less than honest reasons. However, it might have been the first time she'd ever kissed someone who didn't want her to.

Now that she knew how awful being on the receiving end of fake kisses felt, she never wanted to indulge in the practice againa"though with her new duty as the object of Justen's false affections, she doubted that was going to happen. She'd figured he'd enjoy it, what with him being a teenage boy and her being a pretty girl in a bathing suit. She'd thought he was enjoying it, and then, just as things had started getting interesting, he'd pushed her away.

And it had been here, in the star cove, where the greatest love story she knew had begun.

Two decades earlier, the young, idealistic heir to Scintillans had met his secret lover in this cove and told her that he didn't care what it meant for his future in Albian society, that he didn't even care if he was disowned by his parents or shunned by his kinga"he wouldn't go another day without her by his side. Torin was rebellious and resolute, and Heloise was clever and charming, and theirs was a love story that won the hearts of the entire island.

Persis was the happily ever after of that story. It was her proud legacy and the cloud that hung over her head. She wondered how much longer her mother would remember the night Persis had been told about like a bedtime story all her life. The night her parents swam in the star cove and promised to defy every rule they knew. What if she fell in love like that, what if she married and had children and ended up as sick as her mother? She couldn't do that to another family. Persis closed her eyes until she could breathe again. Love and duty, as the Blake family motto went.

For months now, the latter trumped the former.

"Are you saying that your future husband will be in charge here?" Justen asked, appalled.

"Yes, of course."