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“Because we’ve taken a slave,” he stated grimly. “If she isn’t of low intellect, then keeping her in captivity isn’t the act of having a pet, it’s enslaving a sapient creature.”

I couldn’t pretend I wasn’t struggling with the same issue. “We can’t abandon her here. Even if we give her wealth, she’ll have no protection. She’s still smaller, weaker, and has no political power to keep her safe.”

“We’re not leaving her,” Narmuna said, and I could tell by the tension in his body that he was fighting to keep from rattling. “We need to keep her. To do that we simply need to change our tactic.”

He lost me. “What?”

“I have an idea, but we all need to agree because it’ll put us all in danger,” he said.

There was no question that I was going to go along with anything Narmuna proposed if it meant I got to keep Opal in my life. But I couldn’t ask the others to do the same.

“We’ll all talk when we get back,” I said.

One of the medical staff walked through the door. “She’s ready to leave, but the medical staff director won’t give her the shoes back. He says they’re in deplorable condition and insists she not walk at all until she has acceptable footwear. One of you will have to carry her.”

I rushed back in. Everything else could wait, my Opal needed me!

Chapter 10

Opal

I was eager to leave the moment the medical staff finished poking and prodding me. Tulm was happy to lead us through the station to the merchant area. It felt like it’d been forever since I was in a shop that sold more than the bare essentials.

Despite Tolly trying to convince me otherwise, I’d brought my bag with me. It was all I had in the world right now, and I refused to be separated from it.

My information square had some credits on it, and I was tempted to spend them. If Tolly and Narmuna weren’t paying attention, I might even be able to have some things shipped to my quarters on Bright Star Station.

Being able to do that would ease a lot of my anxiety about being away.

The first few shops were Massoc specific, so there wasn’t anything interesting there for me. Then I saw a shop I was desperate to go into.

“Tolly, put me down.”

“Not while your feet are bare,” he said, not breaking stride.

I looked forward and clapped my hands to get Tulm’s attention, one of the only acceptable noises among the Massoc. She stopped and turned, forcing Tolly and Narmuna to stop also.

“Do you have a request?” Tulm asked.

I pointed to a store and made an excited hand gesture. “I’d like to visit that shop first.”

She wasn’t surprised and didn’t comment, only changed direction. Tolly and Narmuna remained silent and followed her into the shop.

“You could’ve told me you wanted to change direction,” Tolly murmured.

“I asked you to set me down,” I pointed out.

“Not the same thing,” he argued with a short, quiet purr. “But now I know that if you ask to stand, it’s because you’ve noticed something. I’ll ask better questions next time.”

His reaction startled me. It didn’t occur to me that he’d be willing to be guided by me. He wasn’t even reprimanding me. He decided he was going to change the way he interacted with me, taking responsibility.

It almost made me want to say I’d learn to communicate better. It didn’t matter. We weren’t in a relationship or anything!

The moment we walked into the shop, I pushed on his arms. “Put me down. This time I mean it.”

He hesitated and looked down to examine the floor. It was covered in colorful rugs, the same ones sold in the shop.

“I guess it’s safe for you to walk in here,” he said, slowly setting me on my feet.