Tayrym groaned at the sudden burst of light in his face. He put his arm over his eyes before turning over in bed.

“Oh no, you don’t. It’s time to get up.”

What was his best friend, Gwenodyn, doing in his room? “Go away.”

“No.” She yanked the blankets off him.

In a panic, he grabbed one of them back and covered his waist, not remembering if he’d worn anything to bed. Peeking under the blanket, he sighed with relief when he saw the elastic waist of his night shorts. Thank the universe!

“We don’t have school today.” Gwenodyn tugged on his wrist. “I thought we could hang out, since you’ll be leaving for Defender training soon.”

“How did you get in here?” His mom never would have let a girl in his room before he’d become an adult. Not that it would have mattered.

“Your mom was leaving for the market. She let me in and told me to wake you up.”

Market? It was that close to full sun already? “Cosmos! I’m late!” He scrambled off his bed and searched for a pair of pants and shirt to wear.

“Late?” She rushed out of his path and stood in the doorway. “For what?”

“My morning run.” He pulled the clothing over his night shorts, not wanting to waste any more time.

“Since when do you run?” Gwenodyn glared at him with her hands on her hips.

“I started two weeks ago.” He hoped that was enough of an explanation to get her out of the way so he could leave. Sure, she was his best friend, but there were some aspects of his life he kept secret even from her.

“Oh, to get ready for your Defender training?” Her lower lip stuck out as she moved to the side.

“Sure.” He didn’t want to tell her the true reason or listen to her whine about how much she’d miss him when he left. Not this morning.

She jumped in front of him. “You lie.”

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. “Stay out of my head, Gwen. Isn’t it unethical for Mingots to read minds without permission?”

“I don’t have to read your mind to know you’re lying.” She poked him in the chest. “You won’t look at me when you’re fibbing. Plus, you’re flinging your thoughts at me, so it’s hard not to know what you’re thinking. I can’t block you.”

Tayrym sat on his bed and cupped his face in his hands. He’d hoped to get off planet before telling anyone his secret, to go somewhere where he’d be accepted as normal rather than an outcast.

Gwenodyn sat next to him. She wrapped an arm around him and leaned her head on his shoulder. “C’mon, Scrym. You know you can tell me anything.”

Scrym, the nickname she’d come up with when they were both much younger. One only she was allowed to call him. They’d known each other for so long. Yet, he still kept part of him from her.

“I was going for a run.” He rested his head on hers, hoping she wouldn’t leave when he told her the truth. “To the Defender barracks. There’re a few guys who play kickball there.”

“And you play with them?” She turned and scrunched her eyebrows. “What’s wrong with that?”

“I don’t play.” He ran his palms across his lap. “I go to watch.”

“Oh, I get it.” She nudged him, a weird smile plastered on her face. “Is there one you think is cute?”

His insides seemed to disappear, leaving him empty, hollow. She knew? How? “Uh....”

She rubbed his back. “I’ve known for over a Galactic year. It’s why I stopped insisting we were going to get married someday.”

That long? She’d known for over one rotation and was still his friend? He released a heavy breath. Why had he doubted their friendship? Why hadn’t he told her earlier? “Yes. There’s a guy I like to watch. But he probably isn’t like me, in that he likes women, not guys. I’m probably wasting my time admiring him from a distance.” Those who’d admitted to being attracted to someone of the same sex on Hemera were shunned, forced out of the kingdom and never seen again.

“Only one way to find out.” Gwenodyn jumped to her feet and tugged on his hand. “I’ll go with you and read his mind.”

He froze. “But you can’t.” Did he really want these two parts of his life to collide? His mind said no, but his gut, unlike every other time he’d gone to watch, gave no objection. Yet, he couldn’t ask her to do something unethical just for him. “It’s not right.”

“If he’s blasting his thoughts around the way you sometimes do, I won’t be doing anything wrong.” She tugged on him again. “C’mon. Let’s go.”

“Okay.” He stood and gave his best friend a shy smile. “Thank you. For this. And for not leaving me when you realized we’d never get married.”

She cupped his cheek. “I was sad at first, but I can’t make you someone you’re not.”

“But you’re royalty now.” He leaned into her palm. “What would your new parents say if they learned I’m attracted to guys?”

She grinned and shook her head. “Hemera’s changed from when we were little kids. Lalia lived on Terra for many years. And Bryce was a Defender. Your homosexuality is not a big deal to them.”

Tayrym drew back. “You told them?”

“No.” She pushed him out of his room then shoved some naip into his hand. “They know one of my friends is a homosexual, but not which one. And they don’t care.”

“Oh. Okay.” Though Gwenodyn didn’t have any really close friends other than him. He still couldn’t believe she knew, the royal family knew, and yet he hadn’t been sent away. He doubted his own mother would be so understanding. She kept telling him he needed to find a good girl to settle down with instead of chasing his dreams of becoming a Defender.

“Let’s go, already.” Gwenodyn waited for him at the front door with his boots in her hands. “You don’t want to miss him, do you?”

He didn’t talk on the way to the barracks, and she didn’t ask any questions. But once the playing field came into view, Tayrym slowed down. “Let’s watch from over here.” He guided her to a patch of trees near the end of the field where his crush played. The spot he normally watched from.

There were five players again, the sixth guy only showing up occasionally. The missing player and another on the field were both teachers at his school. The guy he had a crush on, Guri, played on the same team as the teachers. He used to go to school with Tayrym, but within days of Tayrym admitting to himself he had a crush on Guri, his classmate stopped attending school. It wasn’t until two weeks ago, when he’d wandered around the Defender barracks that he saw him again.

“This isn’t going to work.” Gwenodyn left the trees and headed toward benches at the edge of the field.

“No.”

She didn’t respond to his whispered objection. He stumbled after her, hoping she didn’t embarrass him, make it impossible for him to ever come back and watch. Though he hadn’t yet told her which guy he liked.
​
She sat on the very front bench and leaned forward, examining all the players. “So, let me figure out which one you have the hots for.”