I opened the door. “Here’s your cabin. Your crew will be in the nearest rooms,” I said with a wave back the way we’d come.

I stepped inside and Torran followed. He took in the bright green walls without comment. The door slid closed behind him. The room felt claustrophobically small in a way it never had before, and my head throbbed.

After a second, I dropped my extra mental shields. I needed the practice, but giving myself a migraine on the first day wasn’t beneficial. And I had the sinking feeling that no amount of shielding would protect me from Torran if he ever truly wanted to do me harm.

I shoved the thought aside and focused on the here and now. “You have private facilities, so you won’t have to use the crew head. Extra linens are in the wardrobe. If you need anything else, ask me or Eli.” I glanced at the stack of linens on the bed and eyed him dubiously. “You do know how to make a bed, right?”

One corner of his mouth tipped up. The tiny grin transformed his face, softening the harsh lines of his features. He went from a beautiful, coldly distant statue to a warm, handsome man made of flesh and blood.

The change sent a jolt through my system. I ignored it.

“I can make a bed,” he confirmed. “This, at least, is not so different.”

I gave Torran the same spiel I’d given Anja. To my surprise, he didn’t balk at the assumption that his people would join in shared crew duties such as cleaning, but his eyes narrowed at the communal dinner. “Is that a problem?” I asked.

“You cook for everyone?”

“We occasionally trade off, but yes, I usually cook dinner.”

“You would cook for us, too?” he asked, something odd in his tone. His expression had turned flat again, so it was no help.

“Yes,” I said slowly, “assuming you can eat what we eat. It’s easier to prepare one big meal than a bunch of small ones. But if you would rather cook for yourselves, you can, though I would still prefer if you ate dinner at the same time as the rest of the crew. It helps build camaraderie. If you need your own food, you should ask your people to pick it up while they are out.”

“We brought food with our supplies. Most of it is human fare we picked up along the way, which you are welcome to use. If my crew gets restless and homesick, I will cook for them from the supplies we brought from Valovia.”

“You cook?” I asked in surprise.

He stiffened in offense, and his tone was biting when he said, “Leaders provide for those under their care.”