I hesitated and glanced over at my little purple companion. “He’s friendly to me,” I replied. “I don’t know if he’s friendly to anybody else.”
Apparently, that answer worked for her. She reached for the seaweed snack without looking at it and bit off a piece, never shifting her gaze from Silli.
“Can I feed him?” she asked while chewing.
I lifted my hand up to my shoulder, signaling Silli to come down my arm, which he did. I gave him a warning look—which I’m sure he ignored—and murmured, “Be nice.” Then I slowly extended my hand, holding the creature toward her. I hoped to thestarshe didn’t bite her. For his part, Silli looked just as curious about the girl as she was about him. He made a gentle trilling noise and lifted his nose to sniff in her direction.
“Be very careful,” I said. “He hasn’t met very many people.”
“I will.” True to her word, she didn’t immediately try to touch him. Instead, she broke off a small piece of the seaweed snack and extended it toward him in the center of her palm. Silli made chirps of approval and took the small bit in his tiny paws with the utmost politeness.
I was irrationally proud of him. He nibbled it, wiped his face with his paws, and leaned toward the girl, who had finished the rest of her snack and was leaning toward him with a grin.
“May I pet you, little one?” she asked in a sweet, singsong voice. She reached her small fingers out slowly and gently touched the side of his face. Silli closed his eyes and leaned into her touch.
And that was pretty much that. He dropped from my hand into her lap, where he received the full treatment a small youngling could give any animal. She scratched under his chin and his cheeks, ran her fingers over his head, and when he rolled over and presented his belly, she scratched him there, too. He was clearly in a state of bliss.
“Oh! You’re so cute,” she cooed.
I leaned back and looked on in amusement. “I hate to interrupt, but I need to take you home. Your family must be worried about you.”
Aila sighed and nodded. “Okay.” Worry clouded her expression again. “I bet they’re all searching for me.”
“Why don’t you finish your water and we’ll start walking.” I thought about taking the shuttle, but the villagers had not seen it and I didn’t want to alarm them. I could carry the child, who had to be tired. Yes, that’s what I would do.
She took another drink of water and looked down at Silli, who appeared to have no interest in going anywhere. “Can Silli come with us?” she asked.
“I suppose,” I said, rising to my feet. “Come now. You can ride on one shoulder and Silli can sit on the other.”
That appeared to delight her. She stood up with the creature cradled in her arms and handed him to me. Silli ran up my shirt and sat on his usual shoulder, making little chirping noises toward her. She held up her arms, and I reached down and picked her up with more care than I knew I was capable of. She was so small, my hands spanned her entire little rib cage. The quick beat of her heart felt like a bird’s fluttering wings.So fragile.
I almost broke into a sweat for fear that I would accidentally harm her. The only thing I was used to being careful with was delicate computer equipment, so that’s what I imagined I was handling as I settled the small girl on my free shoulder, which was wide enough to comfortably support her like a chair. Shewasdelicate equipment, I told myself. Maive would roast me on a spit if anything happened to her granddaughter.Handle accordingly.
I began to walk, not bothering to grab weapons or a knife or anything. The last thing I needed was to show up in the Runamvillagearmedwith one of their children who had been missing. This looked bad enough as it was. I gave B2 a hard look. “If any Runams come here while I’m out, inform them that I am returning one of their younglings to the village.”
“Yes, Gilrox, sir,” the drone replied.
We walked the path I had taken the last time, toward the straggly trees that would eventually turn into the forest belonging to the Runams. We had not gotten very far when I heard voices and felt the vibrations of footfalls on the ground. I went still. Aila’s arms, which she had looped around my neck so that one hand could stay in contact with Silli, tightened.
I stopped walking to listen. Sure enough, I heard female voices, and one of them I recognized instantly. “It sounds as though your grandmother is here to collect you,” I murmured.
The tightness around my neck did not ease. “Are you okay, little one?”
“I’m going to get in trouble,” she said.
I chuckled. “I doubt it. I think they will just be happy to find you safe.” And hopefully they wouldn’t think I had abducted her.
Sure enough, Maive, Pasek, and an unknown woman came into view. The woman broke into a run at the sight of us.
I crouched down and helped Aila to the ground, where she was immediately snatched up by the woman and pulled into a tight hug. “Oh, my little blossom,” the woman said in a breathy, relieved voice. “I was so worried. I was afraid you’d gone to the ocean and?—”
She cut herself off and closed her eyes. The woman’s relief was so palpable, I easily surmised that this was Aila’s mother. And for a moment, my throat closed up with the memory of my own mother and the last time I felt her arms around me. Before the occupation of Belaga obliterated everything. I tore my gaze away. Closed my eyes briefly and waited for the pain in my chestto subside. Remembering things was the one piece of retirement I disliked. Enormously.
When I opened my eyes again, a different woman stood before me, gazing up with those wise green-gold eyes that had worked their way into my dreams more than once.
“Gilrox.” Maive tilted her head. “What happened here?”
I gazed down at her, stunned for a moment. She was dressed in a body-skimming outfit of deep purple shot with gold threads that brought out the rich color of her eyes and the gilded tones of her skin. It revealed her lovely curves and made my mouth go bone-dry. Her hair was artfully arranged with those tight coils pulled up and secured with gold clasps. Jewelry winked at her neck and ears and wrists. She looked like a queen. True royalty. So far above my station that I felt a momentary, reflexive desire to bow.
