The Seer (Tellaran Series) by Ariel MacArran Read Free Book Online Page A

Jolar grumbled. “I’ll buy you a pile of nightgowns after I’ve had some sleep. Now come to bed.”
    Arissa crept forward. Feeling along the edge, she got to her side of the bed. She toed her slippers off, lifted the tunic over her head and folded it, placing it on the floor beside the bed. She undid the fastening on the trousers and felt along the floor to put them on the tunic. That would leave her with only her underwear and her halter.
    She slipped under the fresh, sweet smelling sheets. The bed was soft and cool as she settled the blankets over her. She curled up under the blankets, her heart hammering.
    She jumped when he rolled toward her.
    “Are you warm enough?”
    “Yes,” she whispered. “Thank you.”
    He sighed. The blankets slid as he shifted again.
    She had never shared a bed with anyone and he warmed the bed just by being in it. The turmoil of his mind gradually slowed, calmed. It was soothing just to be so close to him.
    After a time his sense settled and smoothed into sleep.
    She wished she’d had the courage to take her clothes off in front of him.
    She closed her eyes and, after a moment, scooted a little closer .

Six

     
    Arissa started awake and panic sent her heart racing at the sight of the dark, unfamiliar room. She cast about with her Seer’s senses and blue eyes flashed in her mind.
    Jolar.
    Feeling his presence in a room nearby, memory came rushing back. Arissa put her shaking hand over her face. She was in the bedroom of their suite on the Queen’s Light , not cowering in a filthy rooming house in Xan-Tellar waiting for TelSec to track her down.
    She stretched her awareness a little farther toward the living room, to Jolar, shyly touching the weight and heft of his mind, his pensiveness, his determination, drawing comfort from his shimmering depths.
    A flutter of thought came back at her.
    Probably wondering how long I’m going to sleep.
    She withdrew the contact and rubbed her eyes, wondering what time it was.  They’d left Tellar’s orbit sometime when she was sleeping and the viewport showed nothing but distant stars and empty space now. He felt like he’d been awake for a while and the space next to her was cool to the touch.
    Shower first or eat first?
    It was pure luxury to have the option at all.
    The rooming house had a shared ‘fresher and weak shower with tepid water and she’d gotten five minutes to wash yesterday before they left the Fleet base. Food had become more scarce when she’d had to choose between eating and rent. Driven by desperation when the money she’d brought from Apovia ran out, she seized on a moment’s inattention of a man who’d drunk one too many lums and quickly had his billfold in hand.
    The money in it had kept her for a week.
    It had been a dizzying risk to take. Always terrified she would be caught, and knowing that arrest for her meant execution, there were many days she couldn’t bring herself to steal.
    It made her ashamed too, imagining what her parents would think. Maybe it would have been better to offer herself as an Ornament. At least it was something for something.
    Fleetingly she wondered what someone like Jolar could possibly want a telepath for, then sighed. Whatever it was, this was far better than being locked in a cell, far better starving in Xan-Tellar. She was safe, for now at least, with delicious food in the dining room and plenty of hot water in the marble bathroom.
    After so many months of fear and hunger and filth, it was like a dream.
    Shower first.
    She reached out again, trying to gage how impatient he was for her to get up and yanked the blanket up to her neck just as he came in.
    Jolar stopped in the doorway. “You’re awake.”
    She tried to smooth her hair. It must be a wild mop now. “Yes.” She cleared her throat. “What—how long did I sleep?”
    “It’s ship’s morning now.”
    “Oh,” she said, sitting up straighter. “Sorry. You should have woken me.”
    His chagrin rippled. “Yes, well,