Page 33 of Measure of the Stars

Alain sighed plaintively as Ned and Delauney took the oars.Ned gave Delauney a wry look and leaned in conspiratorially.

“Drinks at the usual bar tomorrow?”he whispered.“I have the girls tonight while Peter sees his friends on Mangrove Street.”

Delauney forced himself not to look at Wes.They’d already agreed to stake out a spot near the throne-shaped rock that gave the island its name.The lights of the town below were fainter there, and the weather mages in Hekate’s Eye had promised clear skies.Still, maybe Delauney could steal an hour with Ned before sneaking away.

“Of course,” Delauney said.Ned winked and continued rowing, deliberately trying to throw off the rhythm to tease Delauney.Delauney kicked him after the third time, making Peter roll his eyes.

“Children,” he said.

“You love me for it,” Ned said.Peter blew him a kiss, and he pretended to catch it with one hand.

Orla groaned, flopping back on the bench.“This is disgusting.”

When they reached the docks, the boat rocked slightly as Alain sat up, alert as a hunting hound.Delauney, Ned, Peter, and the girls reflexively clapped their hands over their ears while Wes looked around in confusion.

Then Alain screamed.

An answering shriek rang out over the docks.A young person with long black hair and a white gown raced across the boards, their skirts held up to their thighs so they could run faster.

“Oculus!”Alain cried, almost tumbling into the water in their haste to leap onto the dock.

“Oculus!”The other member of Alain’s colony slammed into them, wrapping their arms around Alain with a frenzied hunger.“We are two eyes again!Darling!Darling!”

“We love us,” Alain said, kissing them on every spare inch of skin they could find.“We love us eternally.”

“We know,” Oculus said.They both started hopping in excitement, holding each other’s hands so tightly Delauney wondered how they didn’t break their fingers.

“We can’t wait to show off our pepper plants!”Oculus said, still hopping, as Delauney and Ned helped tie up the boat and carry the girls onto the dock.

“Show usimmediately,” Alain said.They ran off together like gleeful children, practically skipping with delight.

“Are they always like that when they’re together?”Wes asked.

“You should see them when the whole colony is here,” Peter said, taking Ned’s hand as he stepped out of the boat.“Or don’t.They can be intense.”

“It getsloud,” Duck said.“But they’re in love, so Dad says it’s okay.”

Wes caught Delauney’s gaze, and Delauney felt a strange little jump low in his belly.

He would have pulled Wes aside then and there, but the captain of the merchant vessel needed to sort out the contract she had with the Starian Navy, which was apparently tied up in some nonsense from an official in Katoikos.So Delauney had to stand there in agony, unable to think of anything until the merchant was on her way and he could drag Wes behind a building.

“Are you well?”Wes asked.

“I’m not taking advantage of you, am I?”Delauney asked, speaking too quickly.“Am I favoring you?Do the other sailors resent you for it?”

“Of course you favor me,” Wes said.Delauney slumped in horrified defeat.“You favoreveryone.You doubled Tiffan’s pay for months because her wife just had another child, for example.”

“But she has three already, and there was that business with the ox in their garden,” Delauney tried to explain.

“That’s another thing,” Wes said.“Noble officers don’t know how many children their sailors have.They don’t know about oxen or financial troubles.All they know how to do is drink expensive brandy and bellow when pirates appear on the horizon.You’re practically a commoner in that way.”He adjusted Delauney’s collar, which had gone askew.“Even if all of your clothes are worth more than a sailor’s salary in a year.”

“You do know that you’re defending the virtues of someone in the gentry,” Delauney said.He still felt a little unsure after his conversation with Ned, but Wes’ nearness made him feel oddly reckless and light. “Have I reformed you?”

“Absolutely not.”Wes took Delauney by the shoulders and spun him around.“Can anyone see us?”

Delauney leaned around the corner of the building.Ned, Peter, and the girls were only just visible, heading away from them toward the orange grove.The other sailors from theManateewere still arriving, milling around the docks and bartering at the stalls lined up by the sea.

“No one we know yet,” Delauney said.