“Welcome, welcome, come in.”
She stood uncertainly in the center of the room with her suitcase sagging at her side. “Thank you.”
“Make yourself comfortable. My name is Pyo, I think you met my wife’s younger brother, Minio on your way in. So, what appears to be the trouble? Has S’samph not come for you yet?”
“No, he did.” Eleri’s stomach rumbled, reminding her, much to her embarrassment, she hadn’t eaten in the last twenty-four hours before her luxportal transit. “There seemed to be a misunderstanding around the mating contract.”
“What kinda misunderstanding are we talking about here?” Pyo tapped a few things on his datapad. “The IA made a mistake with your paperwork or something?”
“You see…” Eleri stared down at her hands, trying to find the correct thing to say hidden somewhere in the lines of her palms. There was no point in trying to talk around it. She’d have to give him a proper answer eventually. “S’samph told me he isn’t interested in our mating contract after all.”
Pyo stared up at her for an eternal moment but ultimately had the good grace not to laugh or gawp at her confession. If he had thoughts about her confession, he kept them to himself well enough, choosing instead to continue tapping on his screen.
“Well, it makes things a bit more complicated if you’re not going to mate with S’samph. But we’ll find something for you to do and thenworry about finding you somewhere more permanent to sleep after that’s taken care of.”
“I’m a hard worker.” Eleri straightened for the first time all afternoon. “Give me a chance to prove myself.” She reached into her bag and produced her work clearances, handing them to Pyo. He scanned them over.
“You’ve trained as a healer? I’m surprised Aglao let you leave the clinic.”
“I’m a registered nurse, but I’m human trained only. Aglao offered to help me finish my training, so I can get an IA designation. But I want to make sure I can earn my keep.”
“You humans are funny.” Pyo tapped a stack of papers together into another neat pile. “But we’re a funny bunch here in Laurus anyhow. Help with the farming in the mornings and then train with Aglao in the afternoons. A healer is much more valuable to us than another farmer. Although the IA might tell you different.”
“Are you sure?” Eleri held her breath, not daring to believe her day could turn around so drastically. It would be some time before she could trust her luck, but for now, she’d settle for a place to stay and something to eat.
“Of course. And you’ll stay with me and my mate until we can get another cottage built for you. I’m sure Myla will be grateful to have another lady around.” He bowed his head, lifting the tops of his wingtips in a kyrot gesture of welcoming. Eleri approximated the movement by bowing her head and lifting her shoulder blades. There had been several kyrot on Gaia and she’d learned some of their customs.
“Thank you for your kindness.” Eleri grabbed her bag again. She followed Pyo out of the building and back into the haze of blue dust. The streets were fuller now, with a few people wandering by now. Despite it being the end of the working day, the sunlight had barely dimmed. The larger of the two suns was crouched on the horizon, but the smaller still flared high in the sky, showing no signs of motion. The magtrack lines were heavier here than out where she’d emerged from the luxportal. She noticed a crowd of people staring at her from outside one of the buildings.
“Don’t mind them,” Pyo’s wings flared in and out as he noticed her discomfort with the staring. “You’re our first human and a female, no less. Most of these males aren’t from planets wherehumans live. They don’t mean any harm.”
“How many people live here in Laurus?” For what seemed like the hundredth time that day, Eleri tried to hold her head high even though she’d rather crawl under a rock somewhere. She only hoped she wouldn’t encounter S’samph again. Reminders of the humiliation of his cold rejection might be too much for her to bear for a while.
“About a hundred fifty of us here. This is one of the smaller settlements on Cassiaq-IV, but we have the biggest medical clinic, so we get a fair number of visitors from neighboring towns. Mostly Indras and Tinti. Minio takes a trip out to some of the larger towns for trading every few days if there’s anything you need.”
“And you’re the leader?”
Pyo laughed. “That’s right. Although I don’t know I’d call myself that. Someone’s gotta keep all these idiots in line. Too many males will beat the blood out of each other if there isn’t any law and order.”
“I see.” Eleri swallowed. She was no stranger to violence. Her family hadn’t exactly been able to afford to live in one of the gated communities on Gaia. In her neighborhood, it was best to pretend you weren’t home when the gangs came around collecting. Not to mention the trouble her brother always seemed to bring to their door.
A group of workers passed them, dust smeared on their faces. They laughed and jostled as they walked past. Eleri held her breath until she could tell S’samph wasn’t among them.
“Who’s the pretty female, Pyo?” One of them called out. He was a squat urtazi male with prominent blue spots across his lavender face and back.
“Not for you, is who she is,” one of the other males chimed in, elbowing his way to the front of the group past the urtazi. He was latil’e like S’samph, but where S’samph was a pale yellow, his scales were dusty crimson. “That’s S’samph’s mate.”
“Why isn’t he with her then?” the urtazi asked.
The latil’e male’s frill rose high along his spine. Unlike S’samph’s, Eleri noticed his was intact. “Didn’t your egg layer teach you how to keep your tongue to yourself?”
“Insult my egg layer again, K’kaen. I’ll beat the bones out of you.” The considerably wider urtazi puffed himself up to face K’kaen’s lanky frame. In response, K’kaen’s tail lashed outward, sweeping the urtazi’s feet out from under him. The male fell into the dust with a puff and a loud groan.
“Don’t start a fight you can’t win.” K’kaen’s tail remained in an extended position.
“Enough of that, you raviks.” Pyo finally stepped in to break up the scuffle. The group of males dispersed, some of them retreating inside while the others kept an eye on her from a distance. She noticed K’kaen specifically watching her as she continued walking with Pyo. Eleri wished wholeheartedly that she could bury herself under the dust and never return. She wasn’t about to correct anyone who assumed she was still S’samph’s mate. That was a level of shame beyond her tolerance. She followed Pyo away as he apologized for the encounter.
“There’s a reason the IA recommends you pick out a mate before you come on planet. The competition for female partners can get intense otherwise. It’s hard enough to keep males from being at each other’s throats without unmated females in the mix. A yearly trip to the brothels in Abwele is scarce enough satisfaction for most.”
