Read Falcorans' Faith for Free Online Page B

hair that fell below their shoulders in waves.  They also had the brightest eyes she’d ever seen.  Tristan’s were emerald green and so bright they seemed to glow.  Grayson’s were also green, but much lighter in color, like new grass on Earth.  Jon’s eyes were a bright, mesmerizing purple.  She was having a difficult time not staring at them, which bothered her more than she liked. 
    “Welcome, Miss Meyers,” Graysan said.  “We hope you found your cabin to be satisfactory.”
    “Please, call me Faith, and yes, thanks, it’s very nice.  I’d like to thank whoever gave it up.”
    “No thanks are needed,” Tristan said.  “Are you ready to begin... working ?”  The blatant sarcasm struck Faith on the raw, setting off her temper.  She was glad for it.  Anger beat fear every day of the week.
    “Look, Admiral Falcoran, or whatever I’m supposed to call you,” she said.  “Let’s just get a few things out on the table.  I don’t like you, you don’t like me, and the thought of a long term relationship makes us all break out in hives.  I’m here as a favor to the Dracons and the Bearens.  I’m not getting paid, so I’m not an employee.  Therefore, I see no reason why I should put up with your nasty attitude.  If you intend to treat me like some kind of disease while I’m here, then turn around right now and take me back to the Skyport.  I’m sure there must be someone else on Jasan who won’t mind helping me do this job.  Preferably someone who won’t hate me quite so much as you so very obviously do.”
    “We do not hate you,” Jonathan said, his purple eyes dark with emotion, though his voice was flat.  “On behalf of all of us, I apologize for making you feel that way.  I ask that you give us another chance.  The discovery that you are our Arima is as big a shock to us, as it is to you.”
    Faith doubted that, but saw no reason to say so.  “Look, I don’t want to get you guys in trouble with your Princes, so I’ll tell them I’m the one with the problem.  Just take me back and you can forget you ever laid eyes on me.  I’ll go repack my things.” 
    “Wait, please,” Tristan said.  “I apologize for my behavior, Miss Meyers.  I assure you, my feelings have nothing to do with you.”
    Faith took a deep breath and forced herself to pay attention to the emotions she felt coming from the three of them.  Tristan was sincere in his apology, though she still felt the anger simmering just below the surface.  Graysan was wary, of what she had no idea, but also a little relieved.  Jonathan was relieved too, and something more that she couldn’t get.  He was the most difficult to read, she realized.  It was as though he kept his emotions hidden behind a wall.  Well, she could certainly identify with that.
    As much as she wanted to get away from the Falcorans, this was the most important thing she had ever been asked to do in her life, and she wanted to do it.  But she could not do it alone.  Like it or not, she had to work with these men, or others like them, so she needed to find a way to make the situation one that she could live with. 
    “There’s one thing we need to be clear on,” she said.  “I am not going to be your Arima.  I know you don’t want me anyway, but I just want to be sure that there’s no confusion on this.”
    “Do you dislike us so much?” Jonathan asked in his peculiar, flat voice.
    “No,” Faith replied.  “I don’t know you any better than you know me.  This isn’t personal.  If we’re clear on that, then we can try working together.”
    “Agreed,” Tristan said.  “If you’ll join us, we are approaching the area in which you saw the first jump point from the Skyport.  As Prince Garen mentioned, the sensor readings have changed from what they’ve been since monitoring began two days ago, but we are uncertain what the changes mean.  We’ve never seen readings quite like this before.  It is hoped that you will