“Wait—I thought you were going to help him,” Anandra protested as she turned to go.
“And I have.”
What more did this boy want from her?She’d protected him and Caius from those humans.She’d given them access to her inner sanctum and the trees he needed to repair himself.
Anything more would be excessive.He might as well ask for her life.
A chirrup came from one of the nearby bushes.A second later, an animal the size of Gus’s fist with lilac colored fur stuck its head out of the leaves.Seeing Gus, it fluttered its wings, bobbing up and down as it prepared to launch itself airborne.
“Is that a chaterling?”Anandra asked in a hushed whisper.
His features were filled with an admiration that bordered on reverence as the creature landed on Gus’s shoulder and hooked its long tail around her neck.It rubbed its cheek against hers in greeting.
Gus offered it her finger.“Hello, there.”
The chaterling had shown up one day out of the blue.She found it eating the pollen from the azira aliri she’d included in the ecosystem.
It was something of a mystery as to how the chaterling had managed to find its way inside considering the containers were supposed to be airtight.Gus left it alone because of how happy the forest had been since its arrival.
“I’ve never seen one in person before,” Anandra admitted.
Gus checked his expression out of the corner of her eye.
The chaterlings could be found on most Tuann held worlds.For him to never have encountered one meant one of two things.He was either from a small minor House that existed outside the Tuann empire’s borders; there were several within spitting distance of Titan.Or he belonged to a pair of wanderers.Those who’d been exiled from their House for some imagined slight or another.
Gus was betting on the second of those two options.
It did beg the question of why someone of Caius’s status—a favored son of a major House—would be running around with an outcast’s child.
“Keep an eye on him,” Gus instructed, giving the chaterling one last pat before unwrapping its tail from around her neck.She lifted the small creature onto a low hanging branch of the choko tree.
It chirruped before disappearing into the canopy with a rustle of leaves.
She’d never been sure exactly how much the creature understood, but its behavior made her think it was intelligent.
“Where are you going?”Anandra protested as Gus walked away.
“I have work.You two have delayed it long enough.”
Gus paused.It irked her, but a warning might be in order.
Normally, she would let nature run its course.If someone was stupid enough to go touching things they shouldn’t, they deserved whatever happened next.
But this was a child.Impulsive and reckless, without the wisdom that age and trauma brought.
Caius would also wake up eventually.It behooved Gus to keep Anandra in the same condition in which she’d found him.
“Keep your hands to yourself,” Gus advised.
While there were a few trees and plants that were harmless, the vast majority were deadly.Among those, most required the ingestion of their leaves, flowers, or bark to present a problem but not all.
“A-alright, I will,” Anandra stammered.
He looked slightly confused but nonetheless open minded and attentive.It made Gus wonder if she should add anything or if that was enough.He’d seen what the orchid did to those humans, and she’d warned him.That was more than most people got.
Just then, Anandra’s stomach rumbled.Painfully loud in the otherwise silent greenhouse.He avoided meeting Gus’s eyes as his cheeks flushed with shame.It was clear that he was embarrassed but Gus couldn’t figure out why.
“How long has it been since you ate?”
