Rylan

I spend the rest of the night in my room, studying Faith’s file. It is a frustrating feeling, learning about her like this and I can’t help but wonder if there was something I could have done differently to earn her trust.

I skim through the records the Itharene sent me on my personal comm. As it turns out Faith was running from something when we first met. Or, more accurately, she was escaping. It seems she was on that prison barge I saw coming in at the docks, likely en route here. But somehow, my Faith escaped and made her way to the station where she found me.

I keep reading, hoping to fill in the blanks surrounding my mystery female. I learn she is something called a human, which brings back the memory of her telling me she came from a planet called Earth. That information is echoed in her files and I am glad there is at least one thing Faith did not lie to me about. Under strengths it is written she has “murderous nature and a keen ability for escape.” Alongside that is a recommendation that she not be underestimated, though I find the suggestion a bit obvious.

It isn’t until I notice the reason for her imprisonment that a cold sweat forms on my palms and I feel the need to punch a hole through the wall of the guest room accommodating me.

Faith was found guilty of murder. The victim, her slave master.

Her slave master. The thought of anyone trying to own Faith is so absurd it would be laughable if I didn’t know how it all ended up. She killed the male, quite viciously as a matter of fact, slicing him open from balls to navel. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out why she would cut him in such a way. I hang my head in my hands and take deep breaths to calm my nerves. I’m shaking with rage.

I think of the Kalmuts and their admission that they like to fuck their prey before they kill it and of Visakha and the raw meats he served. I nearly gag. Jumping to my feet, I pace the room anxiously to keep from exploding.

I force myself to steel my nerves and read on. Apparently, her crime was committed over a year ago and she has been on the run ever since, finally getting captured (and then re-captured) just in the past cycle.

Why didn’t she tell me all this? I lament. I could have helped her. I could have saved her! Was she using me from the start? Was this always about my ship for her? I trusted Faith. We talked, we opened up to one another. Maybe it’s stupid for an Aragrandani to even consider it, but I thought there was some natural connection between us, a chemistry. All the while she was looking at me as a means to her end. I feel ashamed that we made love. Did she truly think that was the only way to garner my aid?

All of this information stings, but still, none of it changes my plans. I will rescue Faith and her people if she desires it. I will take her to the docks where we will steal a working vessel. Before anything else, we will travel back to my home world and gather my sisters. This sector of space is clearly no longer safe. I am done with The Conglomerate. We need to start over somewhere new, somewhere I will not be forced to marry my sisters off to Itharene scum. I don’t care if we have to live on a backwater planet. At least we will be together.

After my sisters are secured I will deal with Faith. She has wounded me deeply, but still, I will see that she gets to where she wishes to be. I will show her I am worthy of her trust, if not her affection. No matter what has happened between us, Faith deserves safety.

The night begins to wear thin and I force myself to close out her file and lie down in the plush bed. As I do, I can’t help but wonder where Faith is, if she is safe, and if she will be able to rest this night. Despite the impending sense of doom lodged deep in my chest, I drift off to sleep, knowing that the days following will be a trial I must not fail.