N’kal
Timber grew quiet, pensive, in the days following my talk of children. I feared I had done permanent damage to our bond, but every time I asked about it, she said she was “fine.”
The AARO arranged for a funeral in honor of Ty’shal, complete with several Xalanite traditions. They even gave him a proper sea burial, taking his harem to the coast to watch him sent off to the afterlife.
At the funeral, I noted Timber speaking with several female Xalanite visitors. Had I not known her better, I might have thought she was sharing her condolences. I suspected she was using this opportunity to question Xalanites about the attempts on my life, though I failed to see why she would be talking to the women. Females still held very little power on Xalan; surely, they would not be aware of secret plots or the like.
We walked back to our cabin together, hand in hand, ignoring the stares of the Xalanites and humans alike. Onceinside, I asked Timber why she interrogated so many females at the event. Her answer surprised me in its thoughtfulness.
“Though women have more general freedoms on Earth, you shouldn’t discount your Xalanite women,” she stated. “We’re the weaker sex, sure, but history has shown that the ones you ignore are the ones who listen, who hear the most. Women and servants know more dirt than anyone because they are practically invisible. No one considers them to be threats, so no one bothers to watch their tongues around them. I actually learned quite a bit today.”
My brows shot up as her words sank in. I had not thought of it like that.
“The general’s harem might not seem like it, but they’re smart girls. They realized he wasn’t the target of the attack, and they’ve been keeping their ears open to all the gossip. You’re a popular subject lately with your runaway flight across space and your adventures here on Earth. It didn’t take much for them to clue in that you’re the one the assassin was really after.” She pulled two beers from the fridge and opened them, handing me one. “Take his pregnant girlfriend for example. She didn’t know your attacker personally, but the general had spoken of a secret Xalanite landing nearby just a few days before we got here—right after you landed at Wrigley Field. He didn’t say he knew who was on the ship, but according to her, he was suspicious of the timing.
“That means a couple of things. One, your arrival was not as well hidden as we originally hoped. Enough Xalanites knew you were here to put two and two together. And it also means your departure was noticed on Xalan. It can’t be a coincidence that you were followed so closely. The scarred man, if he was the other new arrival, had to have left Xalan right after you.”
I nearly spat out my beer at her revelation. She’d found out more than I could have thought, and all from speaking with a few women.
“Yeah. Exactly. No one thought to talk to them, but they’ve figured out more than the men.”
I leaned forward, eager to hear more. “What else did they say?”
Timber waved her hand. “Your dad is furious, but we knew that already. What we didn’t know, however, is that he had sent Ty’shal to check on you once you arrived here at the intake center. He was supposed to report back to your father after speaking with you, so it stands to reason your dad didn’t hire the assassin. He wouldn’t have had the general come over here to talk to you if he planned on you being killed.”
“You suspected my father?”
“Briefly. He wasn’t my main suspect, mind you, but he was on the list until today.” She patted my hand. “Don’t worry. He’s off my radar for now. I have a few other suspects who are more likely culprits in this.”
I frowned. “Like whom?”
Timber hesitated before answering.
“I suppose you have a right to know.” She sighed and ticked off her fingers as she spoke. “They gave me three suspects when we got here: a diplomat named B’ming, a merchant named Giilan, and our dear, departed general. The general obviously wasn’t the perp, but the other two are still potential risks, and I have an inkling of a fourth that the AARO didn’t consider.”
“Who?”
Timber shrugged. “Unfortunately, I don’t know yet. All I have is a gut feeling so far.”
I frowned at her reluctance to tell me. “I need to know if I’m to protect myself.”
“True.” She scrubbed her face with her hands. “Okay. My third suspect is a woman. A Xalanite woman.” She stopped and peered between her fingers at me as if to gauge my reaction.
I gaped at her in shock. “You suspect awoman?”
“Yes. It’s like I said before: people foolishly ignore the women in your society. Women are just as capable of plotting murder as men, and as the weaker sex, they’re more likely to hire out someone else to do the actual killing … hence the assassins.” She gritted her teeth, her pretty jaw clenching. “And I should probably warn you not to eat or drink anything we haven’t prepared ourselves. Women, on Earth at least, are notorious for using poisons to kill.”
I hadn’t considered poisoned food, though now it made sense that Timber had hidden all the gifts of baked goods we’d received since our arrival. I shuddered to think what might have happened to me if I didn’t have Timber keeping me safe. I made a new personal pledge to pay more attention to the women around me. How many times had I let something important slip simply because there were only women around?
“You have given me much to think about, my love.” I took her hand in mine, stroking her soft knuckles. “I will strive to be more cautious in my words and actions around the females in camp.”
She smiled. “Don’t distrust all of them. Just be careful who you do trust.”
After we finished our drinks, we retired to the living room. Timber turned on some sounds, a loud cacophony of instruments and screaming vocals. She called it music, but I failed to see the appeal. I tolerated a few so-called songs before shutting off the device. “Silence is better,” I said.
Timber shrugged. “Okay. You don’t have to like the same music as I do. Maybe Earth tunes just aren’t your thing.”
Since I now knew who was most suspect, Timber read me in on what she had learned thus far.
