Page 31 of Pirate By Parrot

They were taken to a quiet room, and tea was provided.

Annabelle asked, “What’s going on?”

“Well, Amethyst is married to Lord Akutan, who is the head of Rai. He was a guardian named Blade, and his niece is using the family hero name still. She’s Terran from the first wave. Then there is Kyna, who is married to another retired guardian, and she is the Rai recruiter and is starting her family. She is a Terran Reset and lives as a daughter of the house to Ageka, an ex-guardian known as the Sacred Flame. So, Terran’s are usually welcome. We come in peace and are useful and respectful.”

“They won’t expect me to marry anyone?”

“No. You are coming as a wounded warrior. You need time to find yourself again, and that is what the resort is all about. It’s a good thing you have the funds. Like any good resort, they are pricey.”

“Do you want to stay a few days?” Annabelle asked. “My treat.”

“It isn’t really in my plans. I am not comfortable around people, and seeing others of my species makes my heart hurt because I don’t blend in anymore.”

Someone knocked softly on the door, and a man came in, knelt, and looked at Mel in surprise. “A Vendari. That is surprising. It wasn’t on your customs entry.”

“You were born a Rai?”

He nodded. “I was.”

“What are you now?”

“Um, a Rai?”

“I was born on Terra. Lived as a Terran, and now I am a Terran in Vendari skin.”

He looked at her and nodded. “Understood. So, you wish to visit Rai?”

“Yes. Apparently, the Ladies Kyna and Amethyst wish to have tea with us, with Lady Ageka providing security.” Mel name-dropped with those she was comfortable with. She had talked to all of the ladies in question.

He turned to Annabelle. “You are staying at the resort?”

“Yes. I require therapy and need to find a new direction for my life. I am not able to commit to a guardian position in my current state, and I will not return to the Citadel.”

“Are you looking to immigrate to Rai?”

Annabelle blinked. “No. I want to return to the stars. I am looking for comfort and healing. A place to be safe.”

“You aren’t safe with your current companions?”

Mel said softly. “I am extremely emotionally unstable, and my transformation isn’t done yet. I am also set up for heavy gravity, and having to keep things light is difficult as it curtails naked day. There isn’t a balance with me. My companion and the ship that I am on are very patient, but I need to be able to walk around in a suit that doesn’t have to have compression capabilities.”

“Really? You should feel so much lighter in normal gravity.”

“The suits hold me in and keep my movements small, so I don’t go scampering out an airlock.”

Annabelle asked, “What?”

“It is like being wrapped in Bungie cords. If I reach out, it pulls me back.”

“So, you are under restraints?”

“Kind of like a full-body wrap in elastic.”

“I had no idea. You move so easily.”

“Yeah, that is just practice.”

The interviewer looked at them. “I judge you are no danger to Rai. Your application to take your small shuttle down directly is authorized.”

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