“Are you sure you’re not misinterpreting? I guess we didn’t talk much about physical relationships when you were with us. It seemed like a low priority item. Maybe we should have, though.”
“I’m his aöseria.”
Yina held her hands up. “Not trying to stick my nose where it’s not wanted, but I just want to make sure you’re not choosing to be with someone because you feel like you have to. No one will be upset if you don’t choose a mate. It’s lonely out here. The transition must have been hard. I need to know this was your choice.”
Cassie stared at the other woman, feeling a strange, ugly emotion rise inside of her. The IA had meant well, she knew that, but they’d all been treated like younglings, even the adult passeri. Cassie was tired of everyone around her thinking they knew best for her. She understood Yina’s perspective. Cassie was alone. Perhaps she thought Örim was the first person who had been kind to her. But Yina didn’t know. She wasn’t there when he held her after a nightmare, when he practiced her hand signs unasked, when he learned everything he could about humans because he wanted her to feel comfortable. Safe.
“Örim is my mate.” It wasn’t worth arguing.
“Ok. Then if he is, he should probably be here for the conversation we’re going to have.” They reached S’samph’s office, where he was already waiting, tail swishing.
“Human Yina. Cassie.” He greeted them before sitting behind his desk.
“Can you ping Örim?” Cassie asked. The second sun was almost setting, which meant his lesson would be over soon.
“I already have.” S’samph glanced at Yina. “It will not be good news if she is here in person.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Yina crossed her arms as she took the seat next to Cassie.
“You do not come to Laurus when you have good news. If you have good news, you send me a message, or we have a holocall.” S’samph’s frill rippled as he checked his wrist interface. “Örim is on his way.”
“How’s Eleri?” Yina asked.
“Eleri is fine. Are you actually curious, or are you engaging in human small talk?”
“Curious, I guess. I saw the request you submitted.”
“That’s a conversation between my mate and me.” S’samph’s frill flattened.
“My bad. Didn’t mean to pry.”
The door opened then, and Örim entered, taking a place behind Cassie. Yina visibly raised her brows when he placed his hands on Cassie’s shoulders unprompted.
“I’m here, aöseria.” Cassie glanced at him, grateful for his presence. She wanted to pull him down closer to her but didn’t think it was the right time.
“Ok, well, I guess if everyone’s here, let’s get to it. Yina rose from her chair and pulled out a datapad. She activated some files which rose as a holo from her device. “BDL Pharma has submitted a lawsuit against the IA calling for the return of stolen property.” Her eyes landed on Cassie specifically, and Cassie knew. Property. She was stolen property.Not a person. The familiar words rang in her mind.
Cassie felt grey and red edging in on her, but she couldn’t harm herself, not with everyone watching. Not with Örim watching. She reached for his hand instead, holding tight. Örim closed the gap between them, crouching next to her chair. “Cassie isn’t property.” He gripped his chest node hard, and Cassie could feel the sudden blast of heat emanating off him.
“Obviously, Cassie isn’t property.” Yina scrolled to the next holoimage. “But legally, it’s a gray area for Earth. Technically, she was registered as a possession of an Earth citizen before herIA designation. We're not going to let them take her, but I’m proposing protective custody until this is sorted out.”
“What is protective custody?” Cassie finally asked, keeping her stranglehold on Örim’s fingers.
“You would come with me and a group of IA peacekeepers to a secret location. We would keep you there until we can get this whole thing sorted out.”
“Alone?” Cassie glanced over at Örim, who was rubbing his wrist node with his free hand.
“Sorry, Cassie. It would have to be alone. Security risk. It’s a lot harder to keep two people hidden than one. Especially, when one of them is from a non-consortium planet.” Yina flipped to her next screen. “We can leave tomorrow. It’ll give you time to say your goodbyes and get your things.”
“No.”
“Cassie, it’s not safe for you here anymore.” Yina’s voice was gentle, if exasperated. Cassie hated it. She hated the big, ugly tears spilling from her eyes.
“I don’t want to be alone again.”
“You won’t technically be alone. We’ll have a squad of peacekeepers assigned to you.”
“If Cassie doesn’t want to go, we will keep her safe here.”
