15

I roll out of the bed, being careful not to jostle it. I don’t want to wake Valen. I don’t want him to see me like this.

As I walk across the room to the washroom, I try to reason with myself.

It isn’t logical that Valen and I will be in each other’s physical presence every minute of every day. It probably means nothing, the fact that I didn’t see him there with me. We still have to lead our lives, we’re still individual people.

I pull my uniform on and brush through my hair, telling myself to forget about it.

Valen still sleeps when I walk back out so I decide to leave him to rest, and head into the Command Deck.

The sky is still dark outside and when I look out, I only see the peak of the mountain beginning to have a silhouette as the sun makes its way around the globe. I can’t hear anything through the thickness of the ship, but I can see the vague form of a bird as it soars through the air. I see a beast dart through the clearing, heading back into the trees.

Alone in the Command