A shiver raced over my skin at the thought of sparring with Torran, but I shook my head. “No. Eli already kicked my ass this morning. I was just gathering enough energy to take these off and head upstairs.”

Torran frowned. “Are you injured?”

“Nope, just tired.” I slowly unwound the wraps and realized just how true that was. I’d been slacking off on my workouts and it was showing. “If you need an opponent, Eli would probably enjoy sparring with you. He’s a good partner as long as you don’t go around insulting the people he cares about.”

I hung the hand wraps from a clip on the wall. They weren’t quite dirty enough to wash yet, but I didn’t want to put them back in the clean basket. I would use them again tomorrow. I needed to get back into my normal routine.

“I am finished,” Torran said. “I will accompany you upstairs.”

I eyed him. “Are you really done or are you just worried that I’ll fall on my face? Because I don’t need a babysitter.”

“I am not babysitting; I am protecting my investment. If you become incapacitated, your crew will not go to Valovia without you, and I do not have time to hire another crew.”

I wasn’t sure that was better, actually, but it didn’t matter. I was his ticket to reclaiming a family heirloom, and he was my payday. We had agreed to a simple business transaction. I needed to keep that perspective.

And if he already saw me as an investment, then my plan to ensure my team and I were considered indispensable before we arrived on Valovia was already well underway.

There was no reason at all to be disappointed.

The next few days passed peacefully as both crews settled into Starlight’s routine. There were no more fights, and three days after he’d insulted her, Kee forgave Varro. She didn’t hold grudges, so she treated him like everyone else, joking with him like nothing had happened. If he remained extra reserved around her, she pretended not to notice.

Kee and Anja had gotten the new processing unit installed, and as expected, it was a huge improvement over the old one. When I’d marveled at the improved nav plotting times, Kee had just smiled smugly and given me her best I-told-you-so look.

Overall, the trip was going very smoothly, which made me a little wary. I’d expected more issues. I felt like I was sitting atop a bulging volcano, just waiting for the eruption, so it was a relief to make it through the last wormhole before Bastion without any trouble. Lotkez followed a few minutes later, and some of the tension unknotted. Maybe I was worried for nothing.