Chapter Twenty-Two

An hour passed before there were any further updates regarding the malfunctioning shuttles, and even then…it was a ‘please wait a little longer’ sort of answer. I fidgeted occasionally to keep things from falling asleep, and because I was so infernally hot. In the hour I’d been wallowing silently in my own misery, I’d narrowed the cause down to either Rel or Zafir. If I paid any attention to them, my temperature seemed to skyrocket, and my mind wandered. If I ignored their existence, I mostly returned to normal…until Rel’s voice hit certain low pitches during his conversations, anyway.

After careful observation, I realized that one of the two—if not both—appeared to be having the same effect on Xilen, her guards, the other Syldrari representatives…and some of the other guests as well.

If either Rel or Zafir were aware of the issue, they didn’t show it.

Okay, this almost never happens. What other things could be causing this? I wiggled my toes in my shoes to keep myself from squirming visibly. Thinking back on the rare instances of feeling overheated, I couldn’t think of any consistent factors other than Rel’s presence—though he’d only ever shown concern over me overheating. He was good at bluffing, so I had to keep him as a possible instigator.

“Elder Rel, please,” one of the other Syldrari implored him, “I know you’re young and wish to wet your fin with whatever strikes your fancy, but you should return to Syldra. Your mother needs her elder sons—”

“She needs to give us away as political currency to other queens, you mean?” Rel shifted in his chair in an impressively dismissive fashion. “I have my own ambitions and desires—ones she clearly approves of, seeing as the V’shir haven’t been declared rogue.”

“Speaking in front of a queen with such neglect!” The annoying woman I didn’t know leaned toward Rel as if chastising a child. “You should be grateful that—”

“I agree with Rel—Clan V’shir is a valuable asset to Syldra. Without them, we wouldn’t have any trade agreements with the empire, or a foothold here.” Xilen crossed one leg over the other, a dangerous smile coming to her lips. Rel looked away, clearly disgruntled, but wise enough to know when to shut up. “And you are forgetting an important facet. If his mother decides to… arrange for him to serve a queen, Clan V’shir would be part of the agreement. It gives her great political leverage. As such, Rel is unfortunately quite correct in his ‘political currency’ statements. After all, how many of her children weren’t given to other queens?”

“E-even so…” The other woman wilted.

“You should be applauding Rel’s intelligence and thorough grasp of his situation,” Xilen continued, her smile becoming slightly sadistic. “It is rare for a Lun’iri to understand and accept their situation to such a degree.”

Zafir abruptly rose to his feet without a word and strode straight past me, heading for the ongoing buffet. I glanced after him briefly, then back to the troublemaker queen I was supposed to be escorting. I really hope they fix those shuttles soon…

After several minutes of awkward silence, Rel pulled out a communicator and scanned something on the screen. Then, he stood up and approached another guard—who promptly escorted him over to our rather standoffish ‘hosts,’ wherever they were.

Zafir returned first, toting a questionably large slice of chocolate cake and a glass of red wine. Xilen giggled at that development, then shifted her attention to me.

“So, Elara dear, what do you think we should do to pass the time?” Xilen asked sweetly.

Images of the room littered with human body parts briefly filled my mind’s eye, and I shook my head slightly. Remaining silent, I simply shrugged. After all—I wasn’t supposed to talk, and by now my throat was so dry I didn’t want to try.

“I have a matter I must attend to on the surface,” Rel spoke formally when he returned with two human guards accompanying him. “Queen Xilen, if you and your party would like a ride down…”

“Certainly!” Xilen smiled cheerfully, pulling herself to her feet. She thwacked Zafir on the back. “Bring your cake. I’m sure they have boxes.”

Everyone was mostly silent on the way to whatever shuttle Rel had acquired. The moment I sat down inside, he tossed me two bottles of water—both of which I quickly drained.

“It’s as if they were trying to make you ill.” Rel shook his head, his face twisting with disgust. “Damned creatures…”

“They wanted her to break role,” Zafir spat, clearly just as agitated. “Someone among the brass doesn’t like the project, I’d wager.”

“I just want to know who to kill for making it so damn hot in there…” I grumbled, crossing my arms and turning to look out the window as we descended toward the planet. It might have been beautiful if the city below and the surrounding industry didn’t mar the surface so vastly.

“It wasn’t,” Rel stated flatly. “Quite frankly, you should have been shivering, not melting.”

Xilen smirked and looked like she was going to make a sly comment, then appeared to change her mind. Instead, she leaned toward me with a small frown. “More importantly, your clothes are self-regulating and don’t appear to be malfunctioning. So—”

“I’ll be fine. Let’s just get somewhere we can talk in private about the footage we need to have Rel look at.” I crossed my arms and gave them a mildly frustrated look. “Maybe we can find something a bit looser and lighter for me to change into.”

Rel and Zafir both studied me with odd expressions on their faces. When they realized I noticed them staring, however, they both abruptly looked away.

Xilen leaned up against my left side and giggled. “Now, now boys. You’ll get to see her unclothed soon enough. There’s something you need to see.”

“You said yourself it’s a bruise. I’m sure it’ll be fine .” I shifted to give Xilen a challenging look, which just made her smile.

“What do you mean, ‘a bruise?’” Zafir, suddenly, was all business. “There haven’t been any activities in the past two weeks that should have resulted in bruising. Where is it? Does it hurt? How—”

“It’s on her back,” Xilen offered with an amused smile.

“On her back…?” Zafir frowned at me. “Elara, I don’t recall you getting thrown or grappled in a way that would cause such a bruise.”

“Bruises are normal . I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about.” I flapped my hand dismissively, even though I didn’t believe the words coming out of my own mouth.

“Are you sure it isn’t just…” Rel paused as he seemed to search for a word. “I believe humans call them ‘love marks?’”

Zafir twitched. “What you’re implying is against regulations. None of the survivors are permitted to have relationships—romantic or physical—with each other, the staff, or their bosses. There’s surveillance everywhere to ensure they don’t.”

“Is that so?” Rel raised an eyebrow at Zafir. “Then, you naturally behave like a taruc ?”

“I. Do. Not .” Zafir growled at him. “The wellbeing of the survivors is my responsibility. If Elara has been hurt in some way—”

“Ah, so you meant ‘yes.’” Rel nodded sagely and patted Zafir’s head. Then, he gave Zafir a dangerous smile. “How about you fill Xilen and I in on what has you so concerned.”

“Ah…that’s…” Zafir struggled with himself for a moment. “Ask your brother.”

“I’m asking you .” Rel turned in his seat and gripped the nervous Zafir by the chin. “Start talking.”

Zafir appeared to comply…but in their language, leaving me utterly in the dark. For that I snatched Zafir’s box of cake and helped myself to it, earning an amused glance from Rel and an agitated sigh from Zafir.

Unfortunately, their conversation wasn’t finished until we’d reached the surface.

“Did you leave any… Elara .” Zafir groaned when I tossed the box into a trash can. “I wanted to finish that.”

“It was awful. Have Rel make you something instead.” I made a dismissive motion. “His cooking is much better, and it won’t be stale . Now then, you said you need to attend to something on the surface, Rel? Should we wait—”

“Your business is what I needed to attend to.” Rel gave me an amused look. “We can talk after you’ve changed into something more comfortable.”

“It is comfortable,” Xilen pointed out.

“Yet she is overheating again. Find her something else.” Rel shot back.

“Wow, I bet he only gets away with talking to a queen like that because he’s one of the R’selkti queen’s sons…” I heard someone murmuring. I glanced over to see a group of younger, purely androgynous Syldrari.

“He gets away with it because we’re old friends and he’s right.” Xilen rounded on the gossiping group. “If your friends won’t tell you off or call you out, they’re not your real friends. Now. Shouldn’t you Vir’ildrod be in school?”

“It was canceled today…cuz of…” The kid trailed off when Xilen crossed her arms.

“Then go study at home!” Xilen ordered. “You have so many resources at your fingertips! Use them!”

The kids fled, and the fuming Xilen returned to us. We made it back to Rel’s cafe without further incident, and he promptly locked the doors and shut the curtains. Xilen’s guards, for whatever reason took up positions outside.

Next, Rel turned to me and narrowed his eyes. “Strip.”

I glanced over at Xilen when a giggle-snort escaped her. “How do I do that, exactly?”

“Ah, of course. Here, dear.” Xilen tugged the fabric at my waist then twisted, which seemingly told the fibers to let go of each other.

I promptly pulled my top off then turned so my back was to the trio.

“ Xilen you know damn well that isn’t a bruise,” Zafir hissed. “Tch, how are we going to hide this from our bosses…”

“Clothes that cover?” Xilen offered.

“That won’t help when it comes to her monthly physical examinations.” Zafir let out a frustrated sigh. “I need a drink.”

“And we could also use some real food,” Rel added. “Elara, why don’t you go with Xilen and get changed. We can review this footage while we eat.”

“Sure…” I glanced over my shoulder at him, only to find he and Zafir were making their way toward the bar. As they walked, Rel’s outfit morphed back to leather pants and a long-sleeved shirt. Goddamn. That ass.

“Off we go.” Xilen promptly dragged me into another room to change. “Let’s try…hmmm… See about peeling the rest of that outfit off while I look for a replacement, dear. There’s no way we’re letting you saunter around in your ‘standard issue.’”

Sighing, but with no reason to argue, I proceeded to pull off the black and gold ensemble. I laid the pieces out over the back of a piece of furniture, then turned slightly when I heard the door to what I thought was a closet rattling. Before either of us had time to react, the door swung open and a rather furious Jysel walked out of the space—and I noticed some manner of glowing rune on the floor behind him before the door shut.

“Rel, we need—” Jysel raised his voice to call his brother…then stopped abruptly when he spotted Xilen. He had started to scowl at her before noticing me—and clearly the fact that I wasn’t wearing anything other than my panties. His glow shifted from scarlet to a more fuchsia color, as he slowly realized just what he was looking at. “What…exactly is going on here?”

“Jysel, what have I said about dropping in unannounced?” Rel demanded, storming through the opposite door. He, however, was much quicker to realize the situation—and the color his twin had turned. His glow flared a dark garnet red and he stepped aside, pointing to the door he’d just entered from. He narrowed his eyes at Jysel and spoke in an utterly murderous tone, “Out.”

The annoying twin hesitated for less than a second before stalking past me, his slate blue face flushed slightly darker than usual. Rel didn’t even say anything before following his brother out and slamming the door shut. I raised an eyebrow after them, then glanced at Xilen when an unfamiliar laugh escaped her. A laugh that told me I was in trouble, Rel was in trouble, we were all in trouble .

“Well, well,” Xilen remarked playfully, eyeing me up and down as if she were seeing me for the first time. “I think that gives me the perfect idea for what you should wear. Be a good girl and play along.”

“I can already tell you’re not planning to give me much choice in the matter.” I crossed my arms and gave her a lopsided smile. “You should know that Jysel and I don’t get along well. It would probably be best if Zafir and I concluded our business here quickly.”

Xilen smirked. “Oh, is that so? Perhaps you should rethink his reaction. What he ‘doesn’t like’ are women who wish to mindlessly exert power over him—like their mother . You see, queens have this terrible habit of using their power to get everything and everyone they want…”

“And you don’t?” I challenged her.

“I do my best not to.” Xilen chuckled as she turned to rummage around in a bag. “Of course, it would be for the best if you kept your distance from Jysel…but he’s taken an interest in you. I can tell. You won’t be getting rid of him for quite some time. So, just do your best not to anger him.”

“Oh yeah? And how do I do that?” I sighed heavily. “All he ever goes on about is to, ‘keep my nose out of Syldrari business.’”

Xilen shook her head. “Hah! Just ‘be you’ without trying to sway him in any particular way, and don’t try to get something out of him. He’ll come around eventually. The both of them are usually quite standoffish. Rel is the more difficult of the two. Considering you already got him… Ah! There it is! Here, you’ll wear this.”

“Uh…that looks really see through. I’m not so sure—” I held up my hands and leaned back a little when Xilen rounded on me, moving a little too close for comfort.

“You’re wearing this and that’s final! Don’t worry about showing too much. There are pieces that go over the top. Get this on while I fetch the rest.” Xilen shoved what, to me, was essentially a full body stocking.

I swallowed an agitated sigh and started doing as she asked. The material was a little thicker than a pair of tights, and more opaque, showing just the barest hint of skin even when stretched over my hips and chest. Next, Xilen helped me into a little leather one piece with short sleeves, a plunging neckline, and very short shorts. Over that, attaching to the shoulders, she draped an asymmetrical cape thing that had curving patterns reminiscent of a sliced open seashell.

For the finishing touches, she fastened a belt around my waist, then pulled out a pair of ankle boots with metal high heels. They were taller than my last outfit…but still manageable, thankfully.

“There you are—one of my favorite pieces of hybridized fashion!” Xilen clapped her hands together excitedly. “On Syldra, we have widely varied fashions—it depends on more than simply region and season. We also have to take ocean depth, function, ranking, and work into account in our personal designs. In regions where swimming from place-to-place is still common, you’ll find that all our clothes are formfitting to reduce drag.

“On land, however, we express our artistic freedom. We’ve been experimenting with incorporating fashion elements of other species—granted, those pieces are more popular with my alien clients and not the Syldrari, but…”

I arched an eyebrow at her. “So, what was that thing Rel was wearing before, then? Not exactly conducive to sea life.”

“Bah. He chooses the most unsightly things for formal events. Whatever he can do to make himself less desirable to power hungry queens, the better.” Xilen threw her hands into the air in exasperation. “With just you and I there, he should have embraced his daring side. Leather isn’t the only thing he looks good in.”

Xilen winked and shot me a knowing smile before walking over to the door and motioning for me to follow. “Oh! And you can keep both the outfits, dear.”

“Oh, thanks.” I moved to follow her, not entirely surprised by the offer at this point.

“Well now!” Xilen declared as she looked from Rel, to Jysel, and then to Zafir. “Why do you all look so glum? And where are those cute boys you’ve got working here now, Rel? Don’t they live with you?”

“They’re…” Rel trailed off, glancing past Xilen and straight to me. After a moment, he tore his eyes away and gave Xilen a suspicious look. “Just what are you up to?”

“Darling, when am I ever up to something?” Xilen smiled sweetly.

“I think the better question at this point is, ‘what aren’t you up to?’” I shot her a sidelong look as I walked past her and over to the bar. Then, I shifted my attention to Rel. “Should we attend to business before or after you’ve seen to whatever Jysel needs you for?”

“He decided we should wait for you to finish.” Jysel swiveled his chair to look at me and rested his head against his fist. He slowly looked me up and down, though this time his glow remained a passive bright blue. “According to these two, it is related to my reason for being here.”

“How is Sal’aphel?” I put one hand on my hip and leaned forward slightly.

“What—”

“You’d better be giving him plenty of attention.” I prodded Jysel’s shoulder. “In fact, you should give him a juicy treat on my behalf, since he’s such a good boy. What’s his favorite?”

“He’s not a ‘good boy,’ he wants to eat half my—”

I crossed my arms and gave him an impatient look. “Yes, yes, like master like cute-fuzzy-murder-thing. That doesn’t answer my question.”

Jysel slumped back in his seat and sighed irritably. “Jihgsar. He likes jihgsar.”

“That would be the meat you yourself are so fond of,” Rel offered dryly as he slid from his seat and offered it to me, then moved behind the bar. “I’m sure you’re still parched after what the humans put you through. I’ll make you a drink.”

“Thanks.” I shot Rel a smile, then took the empty seat next to his instead. “Though, should we really conduct our business here? I don’t exactly see any secure computers or monitors.”

“I need a drink,” Zafir whined after staring at me for a moment, promptly collapsing on the bar counter with his head in his arms.

“Not a chance. You’re still on duty.” Rel smirked at the miserable man, then shot me an even more amused look. “Besides, if you keep that up, Elara here may get the wrong impression from us all.”

“Did someone say ‘Elara?’” Aldiner crept around a corner, with Ciheri right behind him. “Oooh, you’re all back! Now then—”

“Back to your room.” Rel shot the pair a sharp look.

“B-but…” Ciheri inched toward me, but when he finally spotted Xilen, he hid behind me instead. Almost too quiet to hear, Ciheri murmured, “E-Elara, I apologize for the other day. I was inappropriate. Um…I wanted to talk more, but…”

He peeked around me at Xilen again, glowed grey, and fled back to where he and Aldiner had come from.

Aldiner sighed and shrugged, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “Well, that was what we’d come back down for. I guess it’ll suffice. I’ll just be getting out of the way now before certain people kill me with a look. Yup. Later.”

“What was that about?” Xilen remarked, sounding mildly concerned.

“…from what I understand, Ciheri was sold by his clan’s queen to the fighting arena Elara saved him from,” Rel answered after a moment, then looked to me. “Though, I’m not exactly sure what he’s apologizing for.”

“How about we don’t go into that? Seems he’s learned his lesson. That’s not the first time he’s apologized to me.” I shook my head before leaning forward a bit. “Enough distractions. Zafir and I have been waiting all day to show you this footage. We recorded it around the same time as Jysel’s address was happening.”

“I don’t recall giving you permission to call me by name,” Jysel remarked.

I gave him a sour look. “I recommend you don’t bitch about it. You won’t like any of the other things I’d consider calling you, and with that attitude, I’m pretty sure I’d stab you with every pointy object in this sector over any of your recommendations.”

“Hmph.” Jysel glanced away from me.

“Here you are,” Rel chuckled as he placed a large, neon blue drink in front of me. “As for your original concern about screens—here. This will suffice. You have the disc, I assume?”

I pulled it out of a pocket and handed it to him, then turned my attention to my drink. After Rel had set everything up, a large screen slid down from the ceiling. He walked back around the bar with two large platters in hand—both filled with what I had to assume were some sort of cookies. One of the platters, he placed on my half of the bar. The other, he placed over by Zafir and Jysel. Xilen hesitated for a moment before coming over and sitting to Jysel’s right, leaving the three men sandwiched between us.

When I was confident that Jysel was done with his quips for the moment, I started talking, “This footage was captured at one of the imperial facilities outside the city. Initially, our colleague thought that Jysel’s faction was getting to work early despite the content of his address. On closer inspection though, she recognized that their behavior was strange—and test subjects weren’t the focus of their hunt.”

They all remained silent for the first two plays of the footage. When someone finally spoke, it was Rel, “All former R’selkti, certainly, but no one that I recognize…and I don’t recognize this bond they now have.”

“Agreed,” Jysel murmured, his eyes narrowing at the footage. Then, he glanced down the bar at me. He seemed to consider his phrasing a bit before stating, “I would like to see the controller.”

He may have left out ‘please,’ but it was an improvement. I slid out of my seat and walked over, offering the controller to him. Jysel hesitated to take it directly from me, and seemed to take extra caution to make certain he didn’t come into contact with my skin at all. When I turned around, I noticed Rel scribbling something on a napkin—which he slid over to rest in front of my seat when he was finished.

I returned to my stool and perched on it, then read what Rel had written on the napkin. Huh. ‘Some women exert more power through touch. He’s being cautious out of fear.’ Really? Some women…or some queens , I wonder? Have they not realized that they just keep making me more and more suspicious?

“Elara, about your ‘bruise,’” Zafir began slowly, finally looking toward me. “We still need to discuss a way to hide it. However, it will likely spread. Especially as you spend more time—”

I shook my head, and he fell silent. Turning my seat slightly, I decided to give him a partial answer, “I’m confident in your ability to falsify whatever records you have to send in for the higher ups. Keeping it secret from the other survivors and others is going to be difficult if it really does spread. However, given your skittishness, I have to assume you knew this was going to happen.”

“Of course he did. A human doesn’t simply cough up blue blood,” Jysel muttered absentmindedly as he watched the footage in slow motion. He was so focused, though, that he didn’t catch the others all turn to give him sharp looks. “Are they searching for some manner of military pharmaceuticals, perhaps? If they’re a new group and wish to acquire funding…”

“Blue blood?” Rel demanded. “What else are you not telling me?”

Zafir coughed into his hand, drawing Rel’s attention to him, as Jysel clearly wasn’t paying attention. To my surprise, Zafir slid his data pad over to Rel. The agitated Syldrari skimmed what seemed to be my medical record—though I couldn’t read a damn thing on the page.

I felt pressure against my left arm and discovered that Xilen had gotten out of her seat and circled over to my left at some point so she could lean against me and peek at the data pad. Something caused a look of surprise to cross her face, her lips parting.

“I see—hiding it should be the last of your worries, dear.” Xilen patted my arm before sliding the platter of cookies to me as if it would distract me from the issue.

“Care to explain?” I asked, the corner of my eye twitching.

“There is no point in worrying you with it right now.” Rel gave me a dangerous look. “Allow us to look for a solution. You should focus on doing your job and making certain the imperials don’t retire you early. Until a solution is found, refrain from showing your colleagues more of your body than necessary. You can trust Zafir to inform you of any spread… In fact, Zafir, I would recommend you begin regular checks. Perhaps once per week?”

“I…might be able to swing something, if I suggest all the survivors undergo more through checks…” Zafir pressed his fingers to his temples and sighed heavily. “Elara, Rel is right. Let us worry about this matter— you should worry about keeping up appearances and training the others. If they don’t fully tame their ferals—”

“ Must you keep calling them that?” Jysel turned sharply and glowered at Zafir. “You and I both know the correct term is kuhir-dal . This ‘feral’ nonsense…”

“Yes, yes, kuhir-dal. And how, exactly, am I meant to propose to the imperials that they use a Syldrari word for… anything ?” Zafir slammed his hand against the bar counter and turned to glare at Jysel. “I am supposed to be undercover. If I begin tossing Syldrari terminology everywhere, especially for such a prominent hurdle of the Resonance Project, the brass will begin to suspect me, and all the survivors— especially Elara —will be in greater danger. That is an unacceptable risk. You can spout off about kuhir-dal all you like, but I have habits that I must maintain.”

“Sooo,” I leaned forward on the counter and peered down it at them, “kuhir-dal, you say? And this is more accurate than ‘feral’ because…?”

Zafir groaned. “Elara, please. Do not get him started—”

“Kuhir-dal doesn’t translate into other languages. Kuhir-dal is kuhir-dal,” Jysel stated flatly. When he turned to me and saw my expression, though, he became slightly less defensive. Perhaps he realized my question was genuine. Or perhaps he just wanted to talk about it that much. I wasn’t sure. “It is the word we use to describe the phenomenon where a specific section of the mind has separated itself from the whole. Kuhir-dal encompasses primal instincts—such as fight or flight and the need to gain, protect, and fight for territory—as well as more complex feelings and instincts that humans simply do not share with Syldrari.

“Various forms of accidents can result in the separation of the kuhir-dal. Most commonly, those who are exposed to certain types of resonance and harmonic weapons. The phenomenon was first encountered when our engineers were developing a harmonic art illustration for the capitol—during testing, they misaligned several key components, and the frequency caused the kuhir-dal to separate in those exposed to it.”

Rel sighed heavily and rested his head in his hand, his eyes focusing on me. “And you’ve witnessed firsthand what that same frequency does to humans and their cities. However, the kuhir-dal is a distinctly Syldrari trait…or, at least we thought it was. Zafir?”

“Evidence suggests that not all the survivors share Elara’s…unique traits,” Zafir answered after a moment, his delicate tone making me want to punch him. But he was way over there, and I didn’t want to get up quite yet. “Most of the ones I suspect of being human are still in isolation because they have yet to stabilize. However, given Elara’s strong, negative reaction to one of them…I am working under the assumption that anyone she reacts to in such a way is likely truly human.”

“I wasn’t that bad,” I scoffed.

Zafir shot me an unamused look. “You wanted to kill her, decided she wasn’t worth the effort, and told her to drink bleach. Care to claim that again?”

“Like I said! I wasn’t that bad.” I shot him a small smile and watched him grow pale. “That was me being nice .”

Rel let out a long sigh and put a hand on top of my head, giving me a reprimanding look. “You should try to behave in a manner that is actually nice, if you’re going to maintain your cover and Zafir’s. Shall I use positive reinforcement with you, or do you require a… different method?”

I pouted slightly, then motioned at the screen in front of us. “Weren’t we supposed to be discussing that.”

“Don’t change the subject.” Rel leaned a little closer and narrowed his eyes at me. “ Behave . For all our sakes, but especially yours.”

“I will try ,” I grumbled, relenting, before reaching for a cookie and focusing my attention on that.

“I’ll have my men look into this supposed new clan, but it is likely a new group of outcasts instead,” Jysel spoke up, motioning loosely at the screen. “Either way, it is distinctly business for Elara to keep her nose out of . If the imperials must send her to interfere, I would appreciate a warning first. It’s so very hard to tell when she’s been sent versus when she’s simply being a pain in the—”

“Trust me. You’ll know when she’s being a pain in your anything , dear,” Xilen spoke up slyly, leaning around me with a smile. “From what I hear, none of your encounters with her have been her meddling, yet. Each and every one has been while she’s attempting to work. In fact , it sounds to me more like you are always getting in her way. Ah! Don’t tell me—you have a crush? Is getting in the way of her work your way of—”

And just like that, Jysel got up and stalked out of the room. A moment later, I heard a faint sound that I could only assume was the transporter he’d used to get to Rel’s cafe in the first place. Xilen burst out into delighted, malevolent laughter. Rel and Zafir, on the other hand, both looked thoroughly done with playing host to the trouble-making queen.

“Well. That wasn’t exactly as productive as I’d hoped it would be.” I crossed my arms and let out a soft sigh. Sure, I’d learned a lot—too much, even. Too much to process all at once. Yet, what I’d wanted to talk about the whole damned day? Barely touched on. I doubted it was even enough for Amara’s needs.

“I’m afraid it’s difficult to give you more, when we ourselves don’t know who these Syldrari are,” Rel offered in a mildly apologetic tone. I glanced at him, and he gave me a faint smile. “I can only speak for myself, but I will assure you that, once it is safe to do so, I will answer whatever questions you have. You’ve proven that you are a true ally to the Syldrari and, though you may be playful, you don’t have ill intentions.

“For now, however, it is getting late. You and Zafir should return to headquarters before your superiors grow suspicious about your extended absence.”

“Ah! I’ll go put your things in a bag for you, dear,” Xilen exclaimed, tapping me briefly on the shoulder before hurrying off into the other room.

“Elara,” Rel spoke quietly as he stood up, and I gave him a questioning look. “I meant it. Be careful. You need to pretend, as best you can, that you’re merely a human who acquired more power. It doesn’t take much for the wrong people to begin asking questions, and ‘rescuing you’ is nowhere near as easy as Xilen likes to make it sound. Promise me.”

I simply stared at him for a moment, a little taken aback by the seriousness, but more so by him asking for me to promise. Finally, I gave him a lopsided smile. “Alright, I promise I’ll be more careful.”

“I half expected her to say no ,” Zafir muttered bitterly.

He’s just asking for me to torture him more, isn’t he? I eyed Zafir for a moment, though my attention turned to Rel when he cleared his throat. Perhaps Rel knew what I was thinking, seeing as he was giving me a rather stern look. He left it at that and returned to fetching the disc for us. Unfortunately, we all agreed that taking dinner home would be too suspicious, and for multiple reasons.

“We can pick up some human fare for you on the way,” Zafir informed me as we walked through the Syldrari District and toward where a craft would pick us up. “It would do the others well to see you eat something other than Rel’s cooking for once.”

“It’s not my fault he’s so damn good at what he does,” I pointed out.

“Yes, yes, I’m aware. However, there are plenty of others who excel at the culinary arts. Perhaps it’s time I introduced you to them.”

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