Page 26 of Measure of the Stars

Chapter Six

Wes and Delauney smuggledthe spectroscope onto the ship with the help of two of Fern’s apprentices in the morning.Gregory startled like a frightened cat when he spotted them, but the apprentices were so happy to see him again that he reluctantly allowed them to give him a single, quick embrace.

“You have to make it right with Fern,” Serafina said, as they rowed back to shore.“He’s miserable without you.”

“He’s miserable in general,” Gregory said.Dominance slipped into his voice for the first time since Wes had met him.“And I don’t miss him none.”Serafina and the other apprentice, a boy named Mattia, rolled their eyes at each other.“You tell him that he’s a stubborn old crab and I hope his hair falls out before he’s sixty.”

“But you still give him your wages,” Mattia said.

“Can’t have you or the cats going hungry with the way he spends his silver,” Gregory muttered, scowling as he rowed the little boat toward the docks.Wes gave Delauney a dubious look over Gregory’s shoulder, and Delauney covered his mouth to hide a laugh.

“About the cats,” Wes said, when they were finally on shore again.“There was a black one that didn’t look too healthy.There was something wrong with its breathing, I think.It had three legs...”

“She’s breathing funny?”Gregory said, eyes wide in panic.“That ain’t right.Fern would’ve fixed it if it weren’t too serious to cure.That ain’t right at all.”He abandoned them on the docks, stomping off toward the far end of the island with his head down.The apprentices followed him nervously, casting confused looks toward Wes.

“That cat looked perfectly fine to me,” Delauney said.

“She was,” Wes said pleasantly.“It just gives him a reason to see Fern in person.”

“I don’t know if you’re evil or brilliant,” Delauney said, tying the rowboat to a post on the dock.

“Hopefully the latter,” Wes said.He hooked his thumbs in his belt and rocked back on his heels.“I was thinking...your cabin doesn’t have many books on the stars, and there’s a library right here.I know it’s daunting, but we can start small.Just one book.Something you’re interested in, not the bullshit your tutors tried to make you read.”

“You don’t have to do all this,” Delauney said.

“I want to.”It was a little surprising to admit.Delauney was precisely the sort of wealthy, privileged noble that Wes preferred to avoid, and he was far too cheerful to boot, but Wes couldn’t seem to help himself.Anyone could see that Delauney was bright, almost unnervingly so, but Delauney had been so strongly convinced otherwise that he couldn’t seem to imagine the life he wanted.

Delauney waslikeable.He was nice.And he showed the same dogged optimism that encouraged moths to dance into a torch flame, which engendered the spark of protectiveness that had brought Wes before the military council in the first place.

“We’ll divide and conquer,” Wes said.“You get those elements you were talking about, the ones you want to test on the telescope thing.”

“Spectroscope,” Delauney said.

“Right.”Wes figured that enough people had dismissed Delauney’s interests already.He carefully repeated the word.“The spectroscope.Then I’ll get the book, and we’ll confer tonight.”

“This feels almost like carrying off an illicit tryst,” Delauney said.“Skulking around in secret to do science.”

“I haven’t had any illicit trysts to speak of,” Wes said, “so I wouldn’t know.”

“Oh, they’re great fun,” Delauney said.“I had one yesterday, in fact.”

Wes thought of Delauney’s mouth on his cock and fixed his gaze firmly on the ground.“Good for you.”

“It was in this funny little side street,” Delauney started to say.

“Book,” Wes interrupted, before Delauney could go any further.He turned on his heel.“I’d better go before the library closes.”

“But it’s barely noon,” Delauney said.

Wes beat a hasty retreat, trying not to show the discomfort on his face.Delauney considered going to the sailor’s library atryst?Had they been...trysting?Wes shook out his arms, trying to loosen his rattling nerves.No.There were no trysts, because they weren’t going to do anything of the sort ever again.