Winter

“I know. I could have despised her as much as I despise Levana, though it’s difficult to imagine.”

Thorne nodded, and Kai was relieved he didn’t say something obnoxious as the podship slipped into a bank of clouds. The light around them began to bend and brighten as they entered the first layers of Earth’s atmosphere. The friction made the ship tremble and beads of water slicked back off the view window, but it wasn’t long before they’d broken through. The Pacific Ocean sparkled beneath them.

“I suppose this is all pretty weird for you too,” said Kai. “A wanted criminal, piloting a kidnapped political leader back to the country you first escaped from.”

Thorne snorted. “The weird part is I’m not getting any ransom money out of it. Although, if you’re feeling generous…”

“I’m not.”

Thorne scowled.

“Well, maybe a little. You’re set to serve time in three countries, right? The Commonwealth, America, and Australia?”

“Don’t remind me. One would think the whole unionization thing would mean we could have a little consistency in our judicial systems, but, no, you commit crimes in three different countries and everyone wants to help dole out the punishment.”

Kai pinched his lips, giving himself one last chance to reconsider. He’d only had the idea a few days ago, and his word would be gold once he said it aloud. He didn’t want to set an unfair precedent as his country’s leader, but at the same time—this felt right. And what was the point of being emperor if he couldn’t sometimes do something just because it felt right?

“I might come to regret this,” he said, dragging in a deep breath, “but, Carswell Thorne, I pardon all of your crimes against the Eastern Commonwealth.”

Thorne whipped his focus toward Kai. The podship surged forward and Kai gasped, grabbing hold of his harness.

“Whoops, sorry.” Thorne leveled the ship’s nose and resumed their steady flight. “That was a, uh … an air … doldrum. Thing. But you were saying?”

Kai exhaled. “I’m saying you can consider your time served, for the Commonwealth, at least. If we both survive this, when it’s all over, I’ll make it official. I can’t do anything about the other countries, though, other than put in a good word for you. And to be honest, they’ll probably think I’m crazy. Or suffering from Stockholm syndrome.”

“Oh, you are definitely suffering from Stockholm syndrome, but I won’t hold it against you. So—right. Great. Can I get this in writing?”

“No,” said Kai, watching the podship controls as Thorne had his attention pinned on him again. “And the deal is only valid if we both survive.”

“Mutual survival. Not a problem.” Grinning, Thorne checked their course and made a few adjustments to his flight instruments as Japan appeared on the horizon.

“Also, I have one condition. You have to return everything you stole.”

Thorne’s grin started to fizzle, but he locked his hands around the console and brightened again. “Dream dolls and some surplus uniforms? Done.”

“And?”

“And … and that’s pretty much it. Aces, you make it sound like I’m a kleptomaniac or something.”

Kai cleared his throat. “And the ship. You have to give back the ship.”

Thorne’s knuckles whitened. “But … she’s my ship.”

“No, she belongs to the American Republic. If you want a ship of your own, then you’re going to have to work for it and buy one like everybody else.”

“Hey, Mr. Born-into-Royalty, what do you know about it?” But Thorne’s defensiveness faded as quickly as it had come, ending in a grumpy sulk. “Besides, I did work for it. Thievery isn’t easy, you know.”

“You’re not really arguing with me about this, are you?”

Thorne clenched his eyes shut, and every muscle in Kai’s body tensed, but then Thorne sighed and opened them again. “You don’t get it. The Rampion and I have been through a lot together. I may have stolen her at first, but now it does feel like she belongs to me.”

“But she doesn’t belong to you. And you can’t expect the rest of your crew to want to stay on in a stolen ship.”

Thorne guffawed. “My crew? Let me tell you what’s going to become of my crew when this is over.” He ticked off on his fingers. “Cinder will be the ruling monarch of a big rock in the sky. Iko will go wherever Cinder goes, so let’s assume she becomes the queen’s hairdresser or something. You—are you a part of the crew now? Doesn’t matter, we both know where you’re going to end up. And once we get Scarlet back, she and Wolf are going to retire to some farm in France and have a litter of baby wolf cubs. That’s what’s going to become of my crew when this is done.”

“It sounds like you’ve put some thought into this.”

“Maybe,” said Thorne, with a one-shoulder shrug. “They’re the first crew I’ve ever had, and most of them even call me Captain. I’m going to miss them.”

Kai squinted. “I notice you left out Cress. What’s going on between you two, anyway?”

Thorne laughed. “What? Nothing’s going on. We’re … I mean, what do you mean?”

“I don’t know. She seems more comfortable around you than anybody else on the ship. I just thought…”

“Oh, no, there’s nothing like … we were in the desert together for a long time, but that’s it.” He ran his fingers absently over the podship controls but didn’t touch anything. “She used to have a crush on me. Actually”—he chuckled again, but it was more strained this time—“she thought she was in love with me when we first met. Funny, right?”

Kai watched him from the corner of his eye. “Hilarious.”

Thorne’s knuckles whitened on the controls, then he glanced at Kai and started to shake his head. “What is this, a therapy session? It doesn’t matter.”

“It sort of matters. I like Cress.” Kai shifted in the harness. “I like you too, despite my better judgment.”

“You’d be surprised how often I hear that.”

“Something tells me Cress might still like you too—against her better judgment.”

Thorne sighed. “Yeah, that pretty much sums that up.”

Kai cocked his head. “How so?”

“It’s complicated.”

“Oh, it’s complicated. Because I have no idea what that’s like.” Kai snorted.

Thorne glared at him. “Whatever, Doctor. It’s just, when Cress thought she was in love with me, she was actually in love with this other guy she’d made up in her head, who was all brave and selfless and stuff. I mean, he was a real catch, so who could blame her? Even I liked that guy. I kind of wish I was that guy.” He shrugged.

“Are you so sure you’re not?”

Thorne laughed.

Kai didn’t.

“You’re kidding, right?”

“Not really.”

“Um, hi, I’m Carswell Thorne, a convicted criminal in your country. Have we met?”

Kai rolled his eyes. “I’m saying maybe you should stop putting so much energy into lamenting the fact that Cress was wrong about you, and start putting your energy into proving her right, instead.”