Page 22 of The Last Hunt
After that, Aethon didn’t know what to do with himself. He could barely stand to stay in the same room as his parents. Memories of Devan seemed to haunt the family at every turn. Aethon saw how his parents’ faces changed when he walked into a room. He knew they were seeing Devan when they looked at him. He wished he didn’t look so much like his brother. He knew nothing would ever be the same.
For two years, Aethon was restless. He craved the purpose he felt when he was hunting Devan’s killer. Every day on the hunt there had been a new challenge for him to overcome - either mentally or physically. He had to stay focused when he was hunting. And now - he felt aimless. He needed direction. A goal. He couldn’t spend his days working menial jobs on Freehail. He needed to prove that he was worthy of this life. A life that his brother would never get to have.
When the Guild of Two Roses came recruiting on Freehail, Aethon knew he’d found his calling. He had signed up immediately. When he went home to pack his things and tell his parents, his mother had understood right away.
Liadan cupped his cheek with her palm and searched his eyes. She had more streaks of white in her hair now. “I love you, Aethon,” she said, her voice low. “Come back to us when you’ve learned to love yourself too.”
“You don’t need to do this,” his father protested. “We’ve already lost Devan. Stay here with us, Aethon.”
Nikair’s words felt like a knife in Aethon’s chest. But before he could reply, his mother interrupted. “No, chrissah,” she said. She slipped her arm around Nikair’s waist and hugged him tightly. “If Aethon stays, he’ll be consumed from the inside out. We have to let him go.”
Nikair’s face crumpled, and he heaved in a breath. Aethon remembered how often his father used to laugh. Since Devan’s death, Aethon hadn’t heard Nikair laugh once.
“Son,” Nikair said, his hand tight around Aethon’s upper arm. “I don’t understand. But I trust you and your mother. Come back to us soon.”
They hugged, and Aethon had left.
It’s been fifteen years since he’s been home to Freehail. Aethon speaks with his parents every so often and corresponds with them over subspace. They always ask him to come home. But he can’t face them in person. Not yet.
“We’re approaching the Archer,” CAL says, his voice resigned.
“Hail them,” Aethon orders. He sits up straight, and places his palms on his knees. After this hunt - after he brings Daik in - maybe then he can go home to visit Freehail. After he’s proven his ability by bringing in one of the biggest bounties he’s ever seen - maybe then he can face his parents and not feel like the lesser son who survived. After he pays his late dues to Two Roses, that is.
His screen flicks on, and Bladesbearer is there. She stands next to her captain’s chair and crosses her arms as she glares at him with those fierce eyes.
“You’re aware that this isn’t how shadowing is done,” she says through clenched teeth. “You’re supposed to be stealthy about it.”
Aethon presses his lips together to keep himself from either chuckling or snapping at her. He finds he wants to do both in equal measure. “I know that Daik is in the Keidar Belt,” he says.
He watches Bladesbearer carefully, trying to gauge her reaction. To her credit, her expression doesn’t shift in the slightest.
“Isn’t that lovely for you?” she replies. “Better run along then.”
“The Keidar Belt isn’t somewhere you go without backup,” he says. He squeezes his knees and leans forward. “Ships disappear there.”
Bladesbearer shrugs and walks up to her dash, leaning down and opening a compartment beneath. He can only see the top of her head as she rummages around under the dash. Aethon finds himself getting irritated. She’s infuriatingly stubborn. Can’t she just admit that things would be easier if they worked together on this?
“Is that all you wanted to say, Trell?” she asks. She tosses a burnt out plasma coupler on top of the dash. That must be why she’s here at Omega - getting replacement plasma couplers.
“Dammit, Maeve -” he starts. “If you’re going into the Keidar Belt you shouldn’t go alone. I don’t see you palling around with anyone in Two Roses - you don’t have friends. You need me.”
“Shit,” CAL mutters. His AI’s uncharacteristic swear makes Aethon realize fully what he said. He lowers his chin and tightens his lips, preparing himself to take the full brunt of whatever Bladesbearer is likely about to throw at him. He can take it. He just has to make her see that she can’t keep hunting Daik alone.
Bladesbearer rises slowly from behind the dash. Her jaw is tight, her gaze thunderous. She leans forward onto the dash, and a necklace he recognizes swings forward from beneath her shirt - a tiny purple crystal pendant strung onto the chain.
“First of all, who says I’m going to the Keidar Belt?” she says, her voice low.
“I got a tip from Andromeda Trapp,” Aethon interrupts before she can get going on whatever list she’s starting. “So don’t act like I’m wrong about that. Of course he’s in the Belt.”
“And secondly,” she continues as though he hadn’t spoken. “I do not need you, Trell.”
“Don’t be like that,” he groans. “All I’m trying to say is we should be working together. We’d make a great team. In what universe do you need six million credits all to yourself? Unless you’re -” Aethon pauses, his thoughts racing. Being a bounty hunter isn’t a job people generally do because they want to. They’re forced into it through circumstances, a desire for revenge, or like Aethon - simply because it’s the only thing that makes sense. Getting out of the job is almost impossible. People don’t make a lot of friends being a bounty hunter, but they do tend to rack up an impressive list of enemies. Most bounty hunters die on the job. And that’s the way they prefer it. But if someone wants to get out, the only way to do it safely is to save up such a ridiculous amount of credits that they can just… disappear. Buy a plot of land on a remote planet and leave everything and everyone behind.
“Maeve,” Aethon says slowly. “Do you want out of Two Roses?”
Bladesbearer leans back and raises her chin, crossing her arms.
“Get fucked,” she growls.