Page 44 of Star Bringer
“And how would you know that, Princess? You been slumming it?”
“No, but I’ve heard.”
“Yeah, Rangar is dangerous, but that’s the point. It’s likely the only place on Askkandia where we can get what we need with no questions asked.”
“Yeah, but—” I break off when I realize Beckett is watching me with disgust.
“Looks like the princess is scared of all the little people,” she taunts.
“It’s not that I’m scared,” I tell her. See, I know how to lie. “I know my mother can be ruthless, but she has to be. It’s not easy running Senestris. But she also loves me. And shewillbe grateful if you take me back.Verygrateful.”
“How grateful?” Gage asks, just as Ian says, “No.”
No discussion. No explanation. Justno. The jerk.
“Doesn’t anyone else get a say in this?” I try to sound reasonable despite my annoyance. “Maybe we should go for a vote?”
“I vote you shut up,” Beckett snarls.
Big shock there. “I’m just saying, there are other ways besides negotiating with thieves and renegades.”
“And here I thought you said you wanted us to go to the palace,” Beckett shoots back.
“Enough—”
Ian talks right over me. “Our main requirements are food and water. Now, it’s not essential, but it would make things easier if we could pay for what we need. So, does anyone have any money on them? Any way to access planeta credits?”
“You were the ones about to get on a prison ship bound for who knows where,” Merrick comments. “You didn’t think to bring any planetas with you?”
“We gave pretty much everything we had to Gage to get this far.” Max looks at him. “Where’s all the money we gave you?”
Gage gives a casual shrug. “Back in my cabin on theCaelestis.”
“You came on board with nothing?” Ian doesn’t sound convinced. But then, he has a suspicious nature.
Gage rolls his eyes. “In case you’ve forgotten, we left in kind of a hurry.”
Ian studies him with narrowed eyes for several seconds, then shrugs and turns to look at the rest of us. But no one speaks up.
“What about you Sisterhood people?” he asks. “Or do they send you out penniless into the world?”
“We had money,” Merrick answers. “But it was on the shuttle.”
This isn’t looking good. Ian must be thinking the same thing, because he looks straight at me. You know he’s scraping the bottom of the barrel if he’s actually looking to me for help. For a second, I actually wish I could—even though I have no desire to go to Rangar. It would be nice not to feel useless. But I’ve never actually carried money. Fuck, I’ve never even been inside astore.
He meanders over and stands looking down at me. I resist the urge to tug at the hem of my dress.
“I don’t have any money,” I say. “I mean, where would I put it in this dress?”
His gaze wanders over me, and a small smile tugs at his full lips. Which irritates the shit out of me. Why is it that when he smiles at me it’s because he needs something? “Tell me, Princess, are those real?” He waves a hand at the row of jeweled buttons that runs down my dress.
Of course they’re real. A princess of Senestris does not go out in public wearing fake jewels.
“They’re real,” Beckett asserts. “Only the best for the princess.”
Ian reaches out and plucks one of the buttons from the dress, and I slap at his hand. “Hey. Stop that.”
He holds up the rare black malinniten, and it glints in the light. “Very pretty,” he comments. “Looks like we’re sorted.”
