If the Audacity was here, then Jerri was here. He had not fully believed it until this very moment of seeing concrete proof. He had hoped, or perhaps not hoped, he wasn’t sure, that Jerri was not in Dinavri clutches. He could only imagine what they would do with a human like her.
“Atlas!” Sithren greeted him. This time there was a much smaller contingent, and they were not armed. The goodwill built up from the last visit was still in effect. Atlas was not sure if Sithren found him amusing, or if he was genuine in his overtures of friendship, but there could be no doubt that the Dinavri lord held all the cards.
“I have your female in my personal residence,” he explained. “She has been my guest for quite a number of days now. It has been a fascinating experience.”
“I can only imagine,” Atlas said, trying not to show any emotion or reaction. He was not sure how to manage his feelings, or what those feelings even were. There were so many, and a great deal of them were directly conflicting. He was both relieved to finally be on the verge of finding Jerri, and furious that any of this was necessary. An Authority ship in a Dinavri dock was a mess unlike any he had tried to clean up before.
Sithren’s home was a beautifully constructed purple and green glistening building. There was probably a lot of gorgeous detail to be observed and admired, but Atlas would not have cared if Sithren was leading him into a large paper bag at this point. He just wanted to see Jerri again.
His host made small talk, which he replied to in limited fashion. He could not have told anybody what they talked about. Everything that was not Jerri was being filtered out of his mind as unimportant.
“If you’d like to wait in here,” Sithren said, leading him into a library of sorts. The windows were made of colored glass that made the light splash across the marble mosaic floor in a fascinating and completely irrelevant way. Atlas was impatient with everything.
He paced the room repeatedly for what felt like an eternity before Sithren appeared, leading a writhing Jerri on collar and chain. Her hair had been plaited back against the sides of her head and she was wearing a pink dewy star blush over her cheekbones. She had on a sheer dress that dragged on the floor, being designed for a much taller wearer. Likely a Dinavri woman. Someone had been playing dress-ups with her like a toy, by the looks of things.
“My harem enjoys her,” Sithren explained, seeing Atlas’s expression.
“They think I’m cute,” Jerri said. “Hello, by the way.”
She had been well taken care of. Fed, clothed, and kept clean. Not, as far as he could see, beaten to within an inch of her life. Finding her alive was a great relief. Finding her in good health and good spirits was more than he could have hoped for.
He held his relief and joy behind a veneer of stern annoyance. “What are you doing here, Jerri?”
“I could ask you the same thing,” she said, shifting uncomfortably. “I thought you were done with me.”
“So you stole a ship to get my attention?”
“No. I stole a ship for some seed money for my new life. I’m done with the Authority. Just like… anyway.”
He could hear the end of the sentence even though she hadn’t said another word. Just like you were done with me.
This was about him. All about him.
He would have been flattered, if not for the absolute unhinged madness of the whole affair.
“We’ve held her, and the ship for you,” Sithren said. “I assume your Authority will be grateful to have it back. Oh, and I kept my hands off this one, she’s had minimal discipline. Out of deference to you.”
“I owe you,” Atlas said gratefully.
“Yes. You do.” Sithren smiled in a very dangerous way. “I’ll leave you two to become reacquainted.”
He left the room and Atlas found himself alone with an insolent Jerri.
“I—” she started arguing first, obviously in anticipation of what was soon to come.
“Come here,” he said, grabbing her and pulling her into the tightest of hugs. He knew he would have to punish her, lecture her, make her scream for what she’d done, but for this moment he just wanted to hold her and let his relief be manifest.
She was rigid for a second, before melting into his embrace with a soft little sob, all the sass set aside as she grabbed him back, her fingers curling against his muscles and in his hair.
“What have you done, Jerri?” He murmured the question against her ear.
“I don’t know,” she whimpered back, her voice cracking and breaking with the potential onslaught of tears. “Why did you come for me?”
“They sent me for you,” he said.