Page 35 of Measure of the Stars

“A few weeks ago, you’d have lumped me in with all of them,” Delauney said, following Wes like a lost kitten.

“That was before you spent all night describing the movement of the stars,” Wes said.

Delauney felt an odd lump form in his throat.Wes was always so much more open when he was under.That meant that he was probably telling the truth, and it had been Delauney’sstrange obsession with the sky,as his parents had put it, that had convinced Wes to set aside his reticence.That didn’t sound like someone who was simply having a bit of fun, as Wes and Delauney had put it when they’d kissed on the deck the other night.

“Let’s secure our rooms at the inn,” Wes said, seemingly oblivious to the unusual emotions bubbling up in Delauney’s heart, “then we can practice reading in the orange groves after lunch.”Delauney sighed, and Wes cast him a wry smile over his shoulder.“Don’t look so glum, Delauney.If we can get through a chapter, I promise to show you howenlistedsailors enjoy leave on Madog’s Throne.”

Chapter Eight

There was a rumor thatthe orange grove in Madog’s Throne had been blessed by a demon, because they produced the strangest fruit in Iperios.For one, they weren’t really orange.They were usually green, except for the occasional harvest after a cold spell, when they turned pink and tasted so sweet that they were almost inedible.Their blossoms were also pink, not white, and every time someone tried to plant an orange from the grove outside of the island, the saplings rotted in the earth.The more superstitious sailors of the Starian navy avoided the grove altogether.

Wes loved it.The grove felt almost wild, with trees pressed close together instead of in tidy lines, but there were never any patches of rotting fruit or swarms of hornets.Wes had entertained dreams of living there as a boy, hiding from navy officers under the swaying blossoms, but he’d been too wary of his commanding officers to try.

Now, he sat against a tree and read aloud while Delauney mended his stockings.Delauney seemed to need something to do with his hands while he listened; otherwise, Wes caught his attention starting to drift.He couldn’t imagine his old tutors letting that slide.Any deviation from perfection had been enough to take away most of Wes’ privileges as a lad, and he’d quickly learned the art of regurgitating whatever pointless facts they fed him.Delauney’s tutors had simply given up, from what Wes had learned.He wasn’t certain which was worse—parents who hired exacting tutors with ridiculous standards, or parents who didn’t care at all.Delauney wasn’t illiterate by any means.He simply needed more time, something that most nobles always had in droves.They just never bothered to give him any.

“We’ve caught another inaccuracy,” Wes said.“This says that the earth is perfectly round.Didn’t you say that it’s not exact?”

“Well, when was the book written?”Delauney asked.

Wes checked the front of the book.“Fifty-six years ago.Does that explain it, do you think?”

“Not at all.The Arkoudai figured it out centuries ago.I used to know someone from there,” Delauney added, when Wes made an inquisitive sound.“The desert inspires almost as many astronomers as the sea.”

“Do they accept mail there?”Wes asked.“We can write a letter and see if they’re open to sharing their findings.”

“Withme?” Delauney asked, looking up from his mending.

“Yes,you.” Wes rolled his eyes.“I bet they’d be interested in your spectroscope.And don’t debate me.You’re clever.You’ve already isolated one of the elements of the sun.”

“You helped,” Delauney said.He set his mending down in his lap.“Do you like this work, Wes?It doesn’t bore you?”

Wes tapped the book against his knees.Normally, he’d brush off Delauney’s question as pointless worry, but Delauney seemed a little uncertain of late.“I never thought much about the stars as a boy, but you make them sound interesting.I’ve even found myself thinking about them when I’m on my own.Take demons, for instance.Why haven’t any ofthemleft earth?”

“I asked Alain once,” Delauney said.“Apparently it hurts them to try.I didn’t inquire any further, though.Alain started imagining their demon in pain and wouldn’t stop crying.I felt like a monster.”

“I can see that,” Wes said.He supposed that having multiple people in their head at once would make themmoresensitive, not less.“And don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing.You’re trying to apologize for inconveniencing me.Don’t.I never apologize if there isn’t a reason for it.Did I beg for forgiveness after thrashing Lennox?Even with all those dominant bulldogs wagging their jowls at me?”