moment, that tremendous mind was touching hers and running through her experiences. She jerked her hand away, pulling her glove back on with short movements.
“Touch me again, pilot. I command it.” The emirate whined.
“You are assaulting me, and I don’t sit still for that. You saw into my mind, you know what I can do if I choose.”
He paused and pressed his lips together. “I demand that you return your hand to my branch.”
The guards shifted.
Toby calmly sealed the glove in place. “No. You could have asked me to share, but you took. I am returning to my ship now, and anyone trying to stop me will feel my efforts at self-defence.”
She turned and inclined her head to Prince Naroz. “Enjoy your negotiations.”
He looked into her face and a set expression took over his features. “I don’t think that I will be doing any trade with the emirate. He is not the sort of creature that I wish to deal with. We will accompany you back to the ship.”
Toby waited while Prince Naroz took his leave, and he and Shatter immediately returned to her side, with Shatter offering his arm. She took it gratefully. Her legs were wobbling with an effort to contain her rage.
The men placed her between them and protected her from the stares of the populace. She felt like crying. The memories she had treasured had been forced to the surface. Even the pain of her transformation had been fondled by the emirate. She felt dirty.
They didn’t say anything until they reached the ship, and the moment that the hatch closed behind them, locking them in and the plant folk out, she let the first tear trickle down her face.
Shatter saw it and lifted her into his arms. The stairs came out without her asking for them, and in a few minutes, they were all sitting in the galley, and Prince Naroz was making her a cup of caf with sugar and whitener.
“I am so sorry that he subjected you to that, Tobitha. I will cut off all trade arrangements with the emirate.”
She raised her head from where it was resting on Shatter’s chest. “Don’t do that. I just won’t leave the ship again. He wants to see more of space, but I have nothing more to give him.”
Shatter tilted her chin up. “What happened?”
“I felt him, the loneliness and the emptiness along with the tremendous age, and then, he surged his consciousness along my nerves and did more than see through my eyes, he felt what I felt at every point in my life, all in a matter of seconds. He is still in me, there is a trace that he left behind, like fingerprints on my memories.”
He pressed a kiss to her forehead, but she could feel his rage. Every muscle of his body was taut.
She stroked his face. “Calm down. I don’t want you doing anything you will regret.”
“He assaulted you. That is not something I will stand for.”
She heard the ping on the ship’s systems, but the Fairy wasn’t speaking through her. It was talking directly to the caller.
Prince Naroz looked up. “What is that?”
Toby winced. “I think it is the Dark Fairy telling the com officer to fuck off. Sadly, she learned that one from me.”
“She talks?”
“The same way I do with the com. Voices are a digital signal. You send the signal, and it carries the words.”
“Why is the ship talking?” Naroz set the caf down in front of her.
“She is very upset at what happened. Those memories are hers as well, and she is not pleased that he intruded on a private moment.” She smiled slightly, feeling better that the ship wanted to come to her defense.
“She can get in line. Blasting that tree to segments is my privilege.” Shatter cuddled her gently, but his tone was cold.
“Calm down. Just because the emirate is an ass, it doesn’t mean that there is no benefit to dealing with him. As I said, I will simply remove myself from the event and get some needed rest.”
Prince Naroz nodded. “I will speak with the com officer if I may. We will make a new series of arrangements.”
“That is a