Hunter
The Aleri solar system was pretty far away from the rest of the civilized Empire. Far on the outer reaches of the fringe territories, Hunter didn't think the planets in that system housed any life, let alone a secret royal getaway.
But he took the Princess at her word, hoping that they'd find their mark.
"So what is it we're looking for when we get there?" he asked, swiveling in his chair as the deep empty blackness of space filled up the windshield in front of him.
Snow pursed her lips, narrowing her eyes, her arms folded across her chest. She still looked like a wild forest person, with leaves and dirt matted into her hair, but there was something undeniably regal about that unimpressed glare. That was an expression only those of the noblest blood could pull off.
"We are not looking for anything," she said.
Hunter's face fell and he stopped his absent swiveling. "Why are you so resistant to me?" he asked, doing his best to project hurt and confusion.
"Why are you so insistent about helping me?" she countered.
Her dark eyes bored a hole straight through him, like she was trying to peer into his mind through his pupils, hoping to read his intentions there like a map.
He shrugged, throwing up his hands, trying a sly grin on for size. "Damsel in distress, I told you."
He spotted the flush of color high on her cheeks even under the layers of forest grime.
She stared him down for a long moment and Hunter didn't know if she was trying to come up with an adequate response, or hoping he’d just wither and shrink away from her incendiary glare. He held her gaze the whole time, never wavering or averting his gaze. He'd gotten used to this game with the Queen. He refused to break eye contact with her. That's how people wound up stabbed in the back — literally.
Finally, Snow seemed to decide. She straightened her shoulders and lifted her head high, her posture positively princess-like despite her current state. She looked down her nose at him — something else that Hunter was used to, only with Snow, instead of impotent anger like with the Queen, it only fueled his curiosity about her. Made him more determined to figure out what was going on in that brain.
"Luckily for you, once at my mother's cottage, I will no longer be in distress and you can rest easy with the knowledge that you've helped your Princess live to fight another day."
She said it like it was the highest honor imaginable. Like that simple little action wouldn't come with a death sentence. Like he'd ever be able to rest easy again.
Of course, she had no way of knowing that Hunter was mostly safe from the Queen's wrath. As far as she knew, he was just some unimportant merchant who would likely die for his efforts helping her.
And she didn't seem bothered by that idea. Or maybe she didn't realize how dire it was.
That had to be it. Hunter couldn't — or wouldn't — believe that the Princess would so casually dismiss him knowing death was waiting for him.
Still, he knew when to keep his mouth shut. He knew how to recognize that he'd pushed too far. So Hunter stayed quiet as the ship zoomed off to the distant reaches of the galaxy, a faint speck of blue becoming visible as they progressed.
Snow seemed to think that their conversation was done. They'd sat in silence for some time, only absently regarding one another without any words. She thought she had won the dispute. He was happy to let her think that for now.
She stood and headed toward the windshield again, her hands clasped behind her back, the blaster back in its holster at her hip. "Always blue," she murmured, her eyes locked on the spot of light.
"That's Aleri, isn't it?" she asked him without looking his way.
Hunter dragged his gaze away from the stiff set of her shoulders back to the navigation panel. "It is," he said with a nod.
Snow's shoulders sagged a little — was that relief? — and she dropped her clasped hands to her side. "That didn't take long," she said.
Hunter shook his head even though she still wasn't looking at him. "This ship is built for speed."
She turned at that, narrowing her eyes and Hunter played over his words, wondering what he'd said to tip her off now. "A merchant ship without a cargo hold, built for speed, eh?" she asked, a gleam of mistrust sparkling in her eyes. "Is that really the story you're going with?"
Hunter tried his best to mask his laugh with a sudden cough, but he didn't think she was buying it at all. He coughed two more times, then cleared his throat. "It's the truth, Princess."
The twinkle in her dark eyes faded and her face hardened again. Hunter could almost curse himself for taunting her further. His case was already difficult enough, he didn't need to go making her hate him even more. Not if he wanted to stick to her and find out what she was up to. Not if he wanted to live after his next meeting with the Queen.
But Snow White was not one to be cowed so easily. She dipped her head, ever so slightly, a ghost of a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "If you say so," she said, her voice practically musical as she spoke.
It was different enough from her normal demeanor to stop Hunter's thoughts in their tracks. Did she see right through him? Was she toying with him? Was this whole scheme an elaborate ruse to get him far away from back-up where the resistance could torture him for information?
Hunter dragged his palms down his thighs, drying them on his pants.
Surely not. Snow seemed clever, but not that clever. He was being paranoid.
She wasn't even looking at him as the ship grew closer to the blue star Aleri. She didn't look over her shoulder at him again, and her lack of interest made Hunter squirm. Things were not going according to plan.
...Or, they wouldn't be if he'd had a plan. If he had a plan, this would not be it.
The navigation panel chimed, bringing up an article about Aleri. The sound finally attracted Snow's attention and she strode over to Hunter's side, peering over his shoulder.
"What was that?"
"Proximity marker. Brings up information about the surrounding area. Looks like Aleri has three planets in orbit. One too close, just liquid rocks at that point. One too far, all gas. It's gotta be this one," he said, tapping on the tiny dot on the screen.
The panel brought up another article, this one about the annual temperatures and local lifeforms, but there were no pictures. Only a few lines of text where most inhabited planets would have pages of information.
"I agree," Snow said.
The frown wrinkling Hunter's forehead faded, dissipating into nothing at those two simple words. He gave a quick nod that he hoped didn't betray the rush of satisfaction he got from her agreement. What did he care if the Princess thought he was right about something?
"Looks like we'll just have to find the cottage," he said as he copied the coordinates of the planet into navigation window.
"Lucky it's a tiny planet," Snow said.
Hunter was just about to ask her how she knew that, when his question was answered. Coming rapidly into their view was the small orb of Aleri's second planet. From this distance, it looked purely blue, much like the star it orbited, but as they grew nearer, there were spots of yellow and orange, even a bit of red mixed in with the unending shades of blue.
Snow had already forgotten him and the screen in front of him, going back to the window, eying the planet with some mixture of emotions Hunter couldn't identify.
He found himself wanting to ask her if she was alright, but then he realized what a ridiculous question it would be. Of course she wasn’t alright. She was on the run from a ruthless queen who'd stolen her Empire. And she was trapped on a ship with the Queen's head huntsman.
The worst part for Snow was that she didn't even know the danger she was in.
So no, nothing was alright. It would be foolish to ask.