Page 76 of Tempting Fate

“One day, brother, perhaps you will.” With all the political upheaval reported on Orith since my departure, perhaps the gods would find a way. A shiver ran through me. Perhaps they would use Tokki and our siblings as their avatars.

“My apologies, this is about you.” He straightened, the mask he wore all too often firmly back in place. “Some pirate crews in town are paying attention to the Hunters’ Guild. If there is a bounty hunter here, I suspect they are working with pirates or mercenaries. So, much as you hate being confined here, it really is for your safety.”

“But no news on an actual bounty hunter? This shadow stalker?”

“Not as yet.” He rose, looking every inch as proud and composed as any military commander or politician. “I will brief you every day with any updates. Will that do?”

I let out a ragged breath, not ready for the rush of gratitude that washed through me. Nobody had given me this type of consideration before. “Yes, thank you.”

“As you need, brother.” He clapped me on the back and strode away.

I’d slipped back into trading like I’d never left, seeing the patterns in the data and sending recommendations through to my sister where I saw fit.

It was easier to do that than spend time in the village, where the new security measures reminded me not only how I was trapped, but how my presence impacted everyone here.

Despite myself, I stared out of the window. Instead of the usual blue glow over the village walls, the deflector shields created a forcefield that extended up and over, converging at a central mast, encasing the whole of Zyamzh in a protective dome.

I only knew it was a dome because Imani had taken a picture from the outside. From inside, in the daylight, the only signs it was there were the shimmer when one caught it at a particular angle and the slight green tint to the otherwise yellow sky.

If it truly had been a shadow stalker who had planted the listening device, there was no way they could enter the village now.

I turned back to my datapad. “Commara, search for articles about interspecies relationships.”

Pages upon pages of images jumped out of the screen in their own mini holograms, all manner of species, some I recognised, others I didn’t. Headlines scrolled past each one.

Overcoming Anatomical Differences: Exclusive Interview With Sokoosa From Famous Aurora Five Sex Shop

Mate Bonds: How Species Mechanics Interact

Genetic Recoding Produces Healthy Baby And Parents: First Hetrega-Nyiian Baby Born In Galactic First.

It was all so normal out here—and that felt like a truth. I would have to reprogram my brain from what I’d known on Orith, and there would be layers to this.

Time to peel back the first layer.

I swiped through page after page of headlines, finally prodding a claw towards How Ex-Orithians Integrate Into Orkri’ian Society.

A pang of homesickness hit me as the holographic image sprung to life above my datapad. A kri’ith male wore Orithian attire, a finely tailored jacket with a scrolled collar, a garment appearing so very out of place to me now. Bright jewels glistened in his tusks, reminding me yet again of my shame. “I mostly keep to the Orithian areas. Even after two years, I prefer not to mix much with other sapients.”

Why leave if you wished for everything to stay the same? And to be stuck in the past. This was futile, only an exercise in devising misery for oneself.

The next interviewee wore a sleek, revealing tunic with pinpoints of light flashing through the seams. “It was a shock at first, but we made small changes, a little at a time. Now, Orith feels like a different life, and I’m glad I’m here.”

Small changes. This seemed far more logical.

I, too, was glad I was here. Despite my frustration at being confined to the village, I had far more freedom than before. And I will again.

More articles popped out from the main view.

The Seventy-Three Most Outdated Orithian Attitudes.

Will Orith Eat Itself? Prixien wfThwae Investigates.

But it was the advertisement for an Orkri pleasure house that caught my eye, gaudy, brash, and shameless. Before I could think too hard, I touched the screen.

Oh. Oh.

I rocked in my seat, thoroughly unprepared for the moving holograms writhing above my datapad. Half dressed sapients—kri’ith and others—removing clothes, running hands over their bodies, accompanied by graphic descriptions of what delights one might enjoy in their fine establishment. As I peered closer, my cock swelled.