Chapter 1
Asher had to stifle a sob when he checked his snare, only to find it empty like the others. He knew it had been a long shot to try to lay traps this late in the winter season, but he’d had a poor summer harvest, and his stores were running dangerously low. He couldn’t eat the little b’nnab creatures that the traps were for, but he could trade them with the Almari clan for the few Human-safe foods that grew on Journey-5, the planet he’d called home for the last three years.
Sometimes trading was the only thing that kept Asher from starvation.
It wasn’t a bad life though. Difficult, sure. And lonely. Sometimes so incredibly lonely, to be the only Human on a planet where the only other higher-intelligence species was fiercely insular. Asher was tolerated, in part because he was small but agile and could set b’nnab snares in the tiny crevices of rock that the animals tended to nest. But he wasn’t welcomed.
Still, it was better than what he’d left behind. He missed his moms and older sisters, but Asher had been living on borrowed time ever since he’d been born a boy on Vader-X7.
He’d always be grateful that his family had hidden and disguised him instead of turning him over to the communal kitchens, but sometimes, when life seemed really hard, he wondered what it might be like if things weren’t such a struggle. If he hadn’t spent his childhood always looking over his shoulder, terrified of the kitchens. If he wasn’t spending his adulthood now, just trying to make it from season to season.
Not for the first time, Asher cursed himself for daring to befriend Lilliana. Maybe if they hadn’t become friends, Lilliana wouldn’t have approached his moms with intention to court.And with courting leading to marriage, and marriage leading to Lilliana finding out that Asherwasn’t a girl…
It always ended with the kitchens.
He shook his head to banish the thoughts of that well-worn fear and left the snare, clambering out of the divot in the rock and emerging to the lush greenery that covered Journey-5. He took a deep breath of humid air, feeling himself relax slightly simply by being outside in green, growing nature.
Vader-X7 had been a cold and snowy planet, and sometimes just being around Journey-5’s evergreen glades was enough to chase away old nightmares.
Asher climbed down from his perch using the strong vines that crisscrossed the rocks and tried to ignore the ache in his empty stomach. If only Journey-5’s growing season for the Human-safe plants was year-round, like the evergreen glades were. Then maybe winters wouldn’t be quite so hard.
“No profit ever came from wishing,” Asher sighed quietly to himself.
He landed on the ground and had to cling to the vines for a second as his vision swam. The lightheadedness and sick feeling he’d been nursing since last night was returning with a vengeance, because he’d eaten too little for too long.
He didn’t know what he’d do if his last snare was empty. Go farther to forage maybe? The evergreen glades farther from the Almari clan’s territory might have more options, but they’d be more dangerous too, not having been cleared of their poisonous flora.
Asher took his waterpouch off of his pack and drained it, then started to stumble over to where he’d hidden his last snare. Looking up at the new rock he had to climb made him want to cry, but he swallowed hard and reached out for the first vine.
Asher was halfway up the rock, moving more slowly than he usually did as he picked his way to the crevice where he’d sethis snare, when a loud rumbling sound reverberated through the evergreen glade, coupled with the ground shaking hard enough that Asher almost lost his grip on his vines.
Breathing hard, he scrambled the rest of the way up the rock, landing roughly on his hands and knees. His vision blurred for far, far too long as he got his breath back.
When he was finally able to raise his head, it was to find that the evergreen glade suddenly had a lot more people in it.
There was an Almari Grandfather, his mushroom hat completely white, and flanking him were two creatures that Asher had never seen before. Both wereenormous,far taller and broader than Asher himself, who was admittedly short and slight. They absolutely loomed over the even shorter Grandfather.
The creatures were rather pretty, Asher thought dazedly. They had deep blue scales that glinted in the light, accented by durable but soft looking clothing in golds and creams. One of the creatures’ cheeks had bright orange spots on them. The other had gold jewelry glinting from pointed and slightly furred ears.
The Grandfather stomped his tiny foot and then pointed up the rock. At Asher? He didn’t understand. Asher pointed to himself in question, grateful that they probably couldn’t tell his hand was trembling.
The Grandfather stomped his foot again and chirped. “You,” he said, pointing again at Asher. Then he pointed at one of the creatures. “Dresht! You!”
“Dresht,” Asher repeated under his breath. “Okay.” The Grandfather seemed to want Asher to meet the… Dresht, so Asher could do that. Maybe it would endear him to the Grandfather and Asher could try to trade with him for something he could eat.
He was shaking from exhaustion and hunger, but he could climb back down the rock. No problem.
He gripped the vines.
No…problem…
***
“We understand that you wish him to be yours, but… it could be some time before the poor thing is healthy enough for a Season. He’s underweight and malnourished, and his caloric intake and weight will need careful monitoring. There’s also no telling how long he’s been living with emptiness, and he might have residual trauma from being forced to go without for so long. The facility is happy to care for him—”
“Please, my mate and I knew the moment we saw him that he was meant for us. We are prepared to do anything it takes for him to be ours.”
“Anything. Any treatment, any regimen. And we assure you, credits are no object.”
