Page 36 of Bonded

Years of discipline as a priest allowed me to maintain an impassive mask. “No need. I can handle my own belongings.”

“Are you accusing me of trying to steal your merchandise?”

That was a leap in logic. What game was he trying to play here? “That was not the case. If that was what I wanted to say, I would have said it.”

Ruzan stepped closer to me, so close that I could feel the heat from his body. “I shall hold this,” he said, lifting my satchel with ease and slinging it over his shoulder.

The beginning notes of a battle song thrummed in his chest. They were percussive growls with tones pitched almost too low to hear. It was the language of impending violence that others felt more than heard. It spoke directly to one’s survival instinct, and the meaning was clear.Danger. Back away.

I had the satisfaction of seeing all three pairs of eyes widen in surprise. Good. It was smart to keep the blooded warrior happy.

“Let’s start again. I am sure we are all eager to complete this deal and get paid. We all will have a good day,” Brooks said.

“Complete the deal?” I asked. “We have already made one, have we not?”

“Oh yes, of coursewehavea deal—” Ori said.

“But now, Brooks is part of the syndicate—” Uri said.

“And perhaps there’s an even better offer he would like to propose.” They finished in stereo. “Come now, sit, sit,”

Brooks slid on to one end of the U-shaped bench, while I balanced on the edge of the opposite side. I could keep both parties in view, knowing that Ruzan had my back.

I also knew that others on Ruzan’s away team, like Kothar, were somewhere nearby as well. Usually, they blended in as one of the other migrant free traders looking for work.

“I see no reason to change your standing business deal with the Kaza twins here. Seems more than fair.”

“Indeed, it does,” I said.

“We will continue to provide various food stuffs and plant matter to you, just as you expect. And, as payment, we would ask for half the weight of medicines in your original deal, provided you would add one cargo run every month.”

A cargo run? That set off alarms within me that were echoed by Ruzan. “We only require supplies once per quarter cycle. Yet you want payment every month?”

“The timing was because of the amount of weight you could haul for us. If you prefer us to deal every other month or once a quarter, that would be workable. It would require a bigger cargo load. More load, more to take care of, more weight to transport. I am still willing to parcel out timing.”

The more he spoke, the more I wanted to be away from him. “What exactly is this cargo you speak, and how do we know if we can sustain this cargo in our ship?”

Brooks slid over a document tab, which revealed a bunch of numbers. “These are the dimensions that are needed. Given the shuttles that you currently use to carry the supplies and considering that you are a pair of Rakoths, I assume you pilot a Cephela vessel. And one Cephela, even young, can easily hold these dimensions.” He emphasized his point by tapping the tablet.

“I cannot speak on any that you have discussed without speaking with Captain Ithran.”

“How inconvenient that he is not present, then. You realize we might not move forward if we cannot come to a sort of…arrangement,” Brooks said.

A numbing void crackled at the edge of my consciousness. It was my practiced calm fighting with my base urge to tear his face off. It was the only thing that kept me in my seat.

I glimpsed Kothar’s orange scales before I heard him speak. “Well, it is a good thing that Captain Ithran is here now.”

Even though the music and video screens in the bar were as loud as ever, the chatter dimmed to a barely audible hum. As Ithran made his way through the restaurant, silence followed him. The eyes of those around him could not help but follow him. I nodded in greeting, grateful that with his presence, Ithran would end this silly bottleneck. I rose from my seat to allow Ithran to take my place.

Instead, Ithran held up one of his hands. Ithran stood with his feet set wide, the bottom set of arms at rest while he folded his top pair across his chest. “What seems to be the delay?”

The Kaza twins perked up in Ithran’s presence, like puppets on a string. They gazed at him up and down. I couldn’t tell if they were enamored of him or afraid of him.

They could be both.

“Apologies, Captain Ithran,” they both purred on cue.

“We did not realize that you would be present–”

---