The Kiss: An Anthology About Love and Other Close Encounters(124)

On the other side lay Auraylia in the grip of some sort of nightmare. Reaching down, he touched her shoulder and whispered her name.

In a flash she opened her eyes. The green looked even darker in the low light and the fear was evident. Before he could say anything she shuffled back into a crouched position and drew two blades from somewhere inside her clothes. One was Myreen and reflected the reddish light back to him but the other was dull and rusted.

As he took all this in, she snarled and launched herself at him. It took all his skill to dodge as the daggers sliced at the air where he'd been only seconds before. Undeterred, she rushed him again, and again he moved out of the way just as the metal would have cut into him.

The third time she flagged and he managed to knock the Myreen blade from her hands, sending it clattering onto the metal floor several feet away. With only one weapon to contend with he managed to grab her wrist and yank it from her grasp. She hissed in pain and lashed out at him with her finger nails instead.

As they caught him on the side of the face he used his body weight to overpower her and pin her up against the wall, both hands gripped within his.

At first she thrashed against him, hissing and snarling as she hurt herself in his unrelenting grip.

“Auraylia, stop this, now!”

His words registered somewhere in her mind and she went still and limp, her eyes wide and fixed on his face.

“Captain?” He nodded, but didn't let her go. “I'm sorry. I didn't realise it was you.”

Attacking him was a crime, but his gut told him something was wrong and her apology was so full of remorse he was positive she meant it. However, she had unauthorised weapons, one of which she could only have taken from the invading forces earlier. As captain, he knew he had to take action.

“Why did you have those daggers on you? They weren't authorised. No fleet staff on probation are allowed weapons.”

She didn't answer.

“I need you to tell me, Auraylia. Why did you attack me?”

“I thought you were... I didn't realise it was you. I didn't mean to, Captain.” The pleading tone to her voice almost made him melt and relent then and there, but he knew regulations and he had to get to the bottom of this.

“Who did you think I was, another crew member?”

“No, sir.”

“Then who?”

She closed her mouth and looked away from him. Whatever the reason she wasn't going to say.

“If you don't tell me where you got the blades and why, Auraylia, I will have to charge you with unauthorised possession.”

“I understand, sir,” she replied, barely above a whisper. He finally let her go and her arms fell to her side.

“Put your uniform back on.” Disappointment filled him. When the Thorian had told him something was wrong, he'd been expecting she needed help, not to find her sleeping somewhere she wasn't meant to be.

As soon as she was fully dressed he walked back out to his second in command. She followed and had the good grace to keep her head down and look ashamed of herself.

“Take her to the brig.”

“The brig, sir?”

“Yes, the Brig. She can be locked up there until we can hold a trial, and make sure she gets some sleep.”

The Thorian nodded and didn't ask any more questions, leaving him to find someone to watch her until the morning. Whoever it was wouldn't be happy about having their sleep cut short.





*


Auraylia tried not to shiver as the Thorian led her into the brig and locked her in. The room didn't have a single bit of privacy. Even the small toilet was out in the open. The bed had a short blanket and no pillow. She sat on it and tried to think of something to keep her brain occupied and awake.

“What the hell happened?” the Thorian asked a minute later. She looked up to see him leaning against the door post, his arms crossed. He must have been staring at her the entire time.

“It was an accident. I didn't realise it was the Captain.”

He shook his head in disgust and looked like he might say something but before he could, Thomas turned up. He was pulling his uniform straight as he did.

“The Captain asked me to watch her. Apparently she attacked someone.”

The Thorian nodded, handed him the key to her cell door and glared at her for a second before leaving her alone with Thomas. She wanted to scream and beg for him to stay, but she just ignored him and paced instead. With Thomas in the room she had to stay awake.

“Well, this is an interesting situation. Do you want me to come in there and help you relax. You might find it easier to sleep.”

“Didn't you hear the Thorian? I'm in here because I attacked someone. Do you really want to unlock that door?” she countered and did her best to look fierce. Although he didn't look scared, he backed away from the bars and sat down. Once there he stared at her and she stared back.

Hours passed and she had to break off the glaring match and pace several times in an attempt to get herself buzzed with enough adrenaline to keep her eyes open. Just as she thought she couldn't take any more, the Captain came through the door. She stopped moving and stood in the middle of the cell. Inside she felt awful. She knew she had let him down and he had every right to be cross, but self-preservation had to come first.

“In the morning, once all my crew is well rested, you'll be tried for your actions. Do you understand?”