Margo nodded.“Or I could just apply to you for direct employment.Then the Zowoth rules don’t apply.Also, as long as I don’t make planetfall on Amtha Prime, I am free to be me.”
Chloe grinned.“We could totally do that.”
“I will consider that Plan B.”
Cori cleared her throat.“Can I see Aken-Var one more time?He isn’t my type, but damn, he’s impressive.”
“Yup.Plus, he’s a cuddler, and he doesn’t snore.”
“Wow.”
Chloe sent soft waves of energy toward Margo.She needed shoring up.Dark red hair that was up in a dark braid, and skin that looked like silk until the jagged lines crossed her features.
As she watched, the lines turned into soft silver.Lines of metal moved across her skin.Her skin smoothed, but the markings were there.Silver took the place of red but left the marks.
Skylar chuckled.“Interesting compromise.”
Margo sighed.“What did she do?”
Cori said, “Your scars are silver and flat.Still there and still scars, but they are beautiful.”
Chloe smiled.“Life isn’t done with you yet.”
Skylar chuckled.“Delia is cheering, and there is a lot of cursing going on.”
Margo sighed.“My little girl.”
The others all came around to hug her, even Chloe.She felt the soft silk of Margo’s cheek and saw the proof of her grieving.Margo’s eyes turned a darker silver than her scars.
Margo, in her unmarked finery, had been a dead ringer for Delia.Now, she would no longer see her daughter when she looked in the mirror.
* * * *
Baket finished thecall.“Most high, Aken-Var, we have learned things to soothe you about your previous consort.”
Aken-Var’s gaze pierced them.“What?I have already heard enough to investigate my entire women’s quarters and the staff therein.”
“She had a daughter.”
Aken-Var thought about what he had seen.He hadn’t understood it.“I thought that was her sibling.”
“Her adult daughter, who died the day after the asteroid strike.Margo kept trying to find her until she was brought to the station and stolen from there.”Baket cleared his throat.“She has a fear of small spaces.”
“She...they put her in a cell.”
“They did.The cells are usually monitored.There must be recordings.”
Aken-Var nodded.“There are.I don’t know why I didn’t think of that.”
“Because you were enraged at her rejection.”Soven said, “And horrified at what she had done to her skin.We have all felt you watching her; we know what you focus on.”
Arven said, “I still can’t believe she had a grown daughter.She looks so young.”
“It must pain her greatly,” Bekat said softly.
“Her daughter looked just like her.”Arven sighed.“It is a tragedy that she is gone.Even knowing she was dead, that is who she fights for.”
Aken-Var nodded.“I see.”
