“How much longer? I don’t wish to make Her Highness wait for so long!”


    Riysia suppressed his reaction to the complaints. It wasn’t like he couldn’t understand his lord''s mood. They should’ve already entered the bridgeway many days ago, but had to make a turn due to some complications. Now, far behind their original schedule, they finally got close to the entrance point. After such a long journey, Riysia was ready to finally stand on Hohmiys soil again.


    “We’re almost ready to jump, my lord. But we will still need to cross two bridgeways in order to return home.


    “Then make sure not to waste too much time, fly as fast as you can. We have the fuel to afford that, right?”


    “We have, yes.”


    It was a far journey, but with their reserves at full capacity, they could afford to be a little wasteful with it.


    “Good. Her Highness herself gave me this task to fulfill, and she is waiting for the results.”


    Truth be told, Riysia had no idea what “task” his lord was talking about. All he knew was that it included some message they had been delivering to the Krahwol and were now returning with their response. But if he was supposed to know, his lord would''ve told him.


    “Now then, I shall retreat to rest. Find me if something comes up.”


    “Yes, my lord.”


    The door closed behind him. Once again Riysia glanced at his co-pilot but didn’t make a comment.


    Another inva passed until they reached the entrance point, encircled by a small fleet of the Krahwol. The group of warships spread out, allowing them passage.


    “Ready to jump in three, two, one…”


    And so, they passed the entrance point and went through the hyperlane. A tried and true process that nowadays was nothing special and yet, this time it was the moment of the disaster.


    A shake so massive went through the ship that the two pilots would’ve gotten flung out of their seats without their belts. And even then, Riysia felt like his shell had cracked. They had barely recovered from the whiplash when basically every alarm the ship had seemed to go off at once. Fuel, battery, hull, and whatever else one might think of, it currently had an alarm going off. The two tried to check the sensor readings in a desperate attempt to make sense of what had just happened, but for naught. All they got were error screens. On top of that, they almost entirely lost control of the ship, as if the engines had simply disappeared.


    Riysia hastily sprung up to check whether his lord was alright. However, none of the doors that should lead to this section of the ship allowed him to open them, remaining tightly sealed in their emergency mode against which he could do nothing.


    “Riys!” his colleague called. “The patrol fleet here is trying to contact us!”


    He hurried back and quickly opened a com channel.


    “My greetings, Krahwol patrol fleet,” he said as loud as he could in an effort to drown out all the alarms. “This is Riysia speaking. This vessel belongs to Lord Jelfiyn of clan Jelka. Krahwol fleet, we are in dire need of assistance.”


    “My greetings as well. I am Captain Soharr. And yes, I can see your need for help.”


    The alarms for oxygen levels and temperature got louder.


    “You can?” If they could figure it out from a distance, maybe the problem would be easily solved and they could help their lord.


    “Yes. Our carrier is on its way to pick you up. The way it looks, I doubt you have much maneuverability left. If you can, extend what''s left of the landing gear. The carrier will then perform a reverse landing in their hangar. How is your life support holding on?”


    “Not good, it seems like all the generators are out and the backup systems don’t seem to start and we don’t know why! The sensors don''t work properly so it’s hard to estimate how much time we have left, but not much.”


    “Understood, we will hurry as much as possible. But I am not surprised that everything went out. The entire rear of your ship is missing.”


    <hr>


    In the open doorframe stood… not who Krndl had expected to see. Ignoring the guards, there were three people in total: two other Vanaery who appeared to be rather young. Or they were just really short, she didn’t really have a reference for age other than height. The third one - what had been her name again? Damn it, it had been far too long to remember. She had told Krndl some shortened version, but truth be told, the memory of the short conversation had long been drowned out by her anxiety about what was to come.


    They didn’t enter the room right away. Instead, they seemed to have a brief discussion, but they weren’t loud enough for Krndl to understand anything. Unsure what to do, she remained where she was and anxiously waited for their next step.


    Eventually, they seemed to reach a conclusion as all three entered the room, closing the door behind them. Krndl noticed that one of the Vanaery tightly held onto the other’s arms as they walked, which made them rather slow in their approach. The Human walked slowly as well, even slower in fact, fiddling with the translator around her neck. That reminded Krndle that she had taken off hers and quickly grabbed it.


    The trio took seat across from her, one of the Vanaery on each side of the Human. Krndl waited in silence for either of them to start the conversation, but they remained quiet. Were they expecting her to talk first? It wasn’t like she hadn’t things to say, but wasn’t it expected from her to let them have the first word? Or was she remembering that wrong?


    One of the Vanaery also looked at the Human, first at her face, then the rapidly rising and sinking chest.


    “Um, my name is Falpiye,” the Vanaery finally said. “First daughter and heir of clan Silpiyne. And this is Reiykin, the heir of clan Reiylar. We hope you don’t mind if we join the conversation.”


    Heirs? So they really are children then?


    Though they were still a bit taller than the Human. Either way, with that, they had given her the word, so now she could definitely speak.


    “I have no objections to your presence,” she quickly stated. Even if they were children, the Human ambassador was clearly fine with their presence. Or was there a hidden meaning in bringing them? It was also notable that the princess wasn’t here. Krndl would’ve assumed she would rejoin the talks as well, this meeting was, after all, still happening on the Vanaery’s planet. Or was that the reason why the two children were here? Was this normal procedure? Neither of them made any effort to explain this seemingly strange lineup, so maybe this was indeed normal procedure. Better just accept it.


    And so, she decided to just ignore that thought and simply continued.


    “And La… Milady,” she addressed the human, masking the fact she had forgotten her name, “I wish to express my deepest apologies for earlier. Are you feeling better?”


    “...no.”


    A very direct response that didn’t feel great to hear. Did that mean she also rejected the apology? Also, did her voice sound differently?


    It was only then that Krndl noticed some other differences in her appearance, like the redder, puffy skin around her eyes. Did that mean something?


    But with Krndl’s attempt at a conversation starter getting brushed aside, what should she say now? Was she even expected to talk now?


    “I…,” the Human began speaking once more, but her voice died down before she could form a sentence. Krndl once again noticed the rapid up-and-down movements of her torso. The other Vanaery then moved, reaching out with his hands and - after missing once - putting them on the Human’s arm. The Human flinched on contact, her head whipping to the side, but the Vanaery didn’t reciprocate the gesture.


    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    The Human then closed her eyes for a bit before turning back to Krndl again.


    “I need… I need to know.”


    “Yes, of course!” Krndl immediately responded. “What do you want to hear about?”


    “Everything.”


    And everything, Krndl told her. Starting from the moment they first picked up the strange signal, she recounted every detail that she could still remember until they managed to get to the bridge where they found the body of the other Human.


    When she was done, she noticed that the Human’s pose had changed a bit; she was now leaning forward a bit, her eyes wider open then before, though seemingly no longer looking at Krndl. Her mouth was slightly open, and the rising and sinking of her torso had turned into short, erratic bursts of movement. It was then that the other Vanaery, Lady Falpiyne, mirrored the other one and also held onto her other arm until the movements calmed down.


    “So she truly…” she mumbled, more to herself it seemed.


    Finally, the Human looked at Krndl again.


    “Were… were there others?”


    “We were thorough when examining the ship. The only other bodies we found belonged to Kiroscha.”


    “Where’s she now?”


    “You mean the body? On my ship, held cool to stop the decay.”


    The silence that followed was heavy, even though it didn’t last long.


    “Give her back.”


    Krndl clicked her beak in confusion.


    “I’m sorry?”


    “Give her to me,” the human reiterated, causing the two Vanaery to flinch.


    “Nadine!” Lady Falpine called her out - oh, right, that was the name! - before turning to Krndl.


    “Apologies, but would you excuse us for a moment?”


    Confused, Krndl gestured her approval, and the two guided Lady Nadine out of the room. Or, to be more exact, from the way it looked, Lady Falpiyne was guiding the other two, with Lord Reiykin tightly holding onto her arms. Did he have trouble walking?


    The door closed behind them, once again leaving Krndl alone with her thoughts. Had she said something she shouldn’t have? Probably, though this time she had no idea what. Should they have maybe handled the body differently? Was that why Lady Nadine had been so adamant about having it returned? It wasn’t like she minded, she and the elders certainly would be fine giving it to the Human.


    …right?


    Damn it, why didn’t I ask that? What if they want to keep it? They didn’t say anything and told me to take it with me. But what if they just wanted me to do that for the comparison and return with it afterward? Maybe there’s some alliance law that rules that. However, does alliance law even apply to humans?


    She didn’t notice the door opening again and only realized the strange trio had returned when they once again sat down in front of her.


    “I apologize for my previous behavior,” Lady Nadine stated. Oh, did that mean Krndl hadn’t made a mistake after all? “May… may I see the picture again?”


    Krndl quickly pulled out her datapad.


    “Here. But, um, I cropped the image earlier, and it seems I can’t reverse the edits.”


    “It’s… enough,” the Human assured her as she took the pad. Then, quite a long time passed until she spoke again.


    “There… there’s something you should know.”


    Lady Nadine’s voice trembled as she retold her story. How she had been separated form her people with no way find them. By the time she was done, Krndl’s beak hung further open than ever before, as far as she could remember. Even her superiors'' asinine reasoning for making her a captain hadn’t left her this stumped.


    “So…” she carefully took the word again to break the silence. “I take it you wish to reunite with them.”


    “Y-yes. We’ve followed evr… every lead, but it feels like we’re grasping at straws.”


    That changed the situation drastically, even if Krndl wasn’t sure what the last phrase was supposed to mean. She needed to report this to the council as soon as possible!


    Or… did she? Was that now the right course of action to take? Then again, they had only shown her the image, she didn’t even know what the original message from the Princess had been. Did they know already? Would they have told her if she had asked? Was she expected to keep this to herself? Would she offend Lady Nadine if she asked for clarification?


    “And that makes it all the more important that we find out as much as we can. So if there are any further details, please tell me.”


    Details? Sure, there were loads of them. Was she expected to know them all from the top of her head? Hopefully not.


    “Would you like to accompany me to my ship?” She responded instead, shifting the focus of the conversation away from herself and inciting Lady Nadine to fall quiet once more.


    “Yes,” she eventually said. “Let’s go.”


    Lady Falpiyne made a strange head movement toward Lady Nadine but said nothing. Not that Krndl cared. Once on the ship, she could simply have all the questions answered by her crew.


    However, it felt a little strange that the princess still hadn’t shown up.


    <hr>


    The princess’s quarters were quiet as Silgvani sat at her desk, her head resting on the interlocked fingers of her two healthy arms. She hadn’t moved from this position for First-Ones-knew-how-long. Likewise, Mhita stood at attention at the entrance, equally quiet and equally unmoving, making the total silence of the room even more heavy.


    There was a lot the princess was feeling at the moment.


    Anger. She had been angry before. While she always made sure to show it only in reserved settings, always making sure she wouldn’t bring shame to her name, she was hardly immune to the emotion. On the contrary, both her position and her environment made it quite easy to get angry. If she wanted to, she could always find something to get angry at - though that would hardly be a productive way of doing things. But despite how easily it was for anger to become a part of her daily deeds, she couldn’t remember a time she had ever been so paralyzed by it. She hadn’t even known that it was possible to get so worked up as to not dare doing anything, at least aware enough that she would likely regret whatever she’d end up doing.


    Disappointment, mainly in herself. Another thing she was hardly unused to, but that seemed to increase in instances lately. She was supposed to be better. She HAD to be better. And yet there she had been, getting caught up in the moment in a way that had helped absolutely no one, least of all Nadine. She knew she should help her friend deal with the situation. She knew she needed to sort things out with the messenger - poorly as they may have handled things, that was to reason to perform equally as bad - and the fact that she right now couldn’t just made it all the worse.


    One feeling, however, was new: Loss. Ever since she had taken on some form of authority, she had always known what to do. Not with perfect confidence, she doubted and questioned her decisions often enough. But she always saw a direction in front of her. She had to after all. And yet, here she was, having no idea how to proceed.


    She had ordered for the Krsnelv to be brought to a room until further notice. She knew that the longer she’d make them wait, the worse it would all get. But what if meeting her would make her anger flare up again and she made it even worse?


    On any other day, that would’ve not been something she would worry about. She had herself under control. Every word that came out of her mouth when she was in an official setting was carefully chosen. Unless when in private, it had literally taken her getting actively poisoned to let her emotions speak instead of her mind. As such, accidentally speaking out of turn was not something she needed to fear.


    That was what she would’ve said any other day. And then, today happened.


    There is also-


    Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door opening. The princess turned her head to see another servant enter, his name was Onrol.


    “Your Highness…”


    “I know,” the princess interrupted her. “And I know that I shouldn’t just sit here.”


    Silence spread in the room once more. Silgvani eyed her servant. Had it been Nadine, she likely would’ve prodded her to continue with a “...but?” or something like that. But Onrol didn’t. He merely accepted the response quietly, remaining at the entrance to await further orders or dismissal. Just like the social etiquette expected of him.


    Why am I now of all times so aware of this? she wondered.


    Normally, she would’ve simply noted Onrol’s reaction - or lack thereof - without a second thought. If she would’ve taken note of it at all. So why did it stand out to her now?


    Why did it bother her?


    A sigh escaped the princess’s mouth. She gestured for him to leave the room, which he did after a quick bow. Then, she turned her attention to Mhita.


    “Speak your mind on the matter.”


    “Your Highness, I can not-”


    “I order you to speak your mind as you would to your equal, and to keep doing so until I either leave this room or I explicitly order you otherwise.”


    There was another moment of silence.


    “As you wish, your Highness. I believe your reaction was justified.”


    Silgvani shook her head.


    “Justified doesn’t mean appropriate. And the latter, it was not.”


    “Please forgive me if my words carry ignorance, but was there much damage done? You spoke to a soldier, not a diplomat.”


    “She still represents Hsvegplia right now. And, more importantly, I’m still representing Hohmiy. But my emotions seemingly made me forget that.”


    To that, Mhita gave no further response. Skeptically, the princess eyed her headmaid, and while she usually had her body language under control, right now it betrayed her. Hesitation. She still had something to say, but was wary of her boundaries. Silgvani took a deep breath as she finally stood up and turned around.


    “Mhita… please don’t make me repeat my order.”


    “Then… with all due respect… as far as I see it, earlier was a case of exception. I’ve witnessed your ability with your words often enough, I’m certain that if you resume the talks now, it will all be fine.”


    Silgvani cocked her head.


    “Will it? An inva ago, I would’ve said the same. But why would it not repeat? I still feel the same anger.”


    “But doesn’t that anger just show how important Lady Nadine has become to you?”


    “That is not the point! Of course, Nadine is important to me. By now, I care for her like she was of my own clan. But that regards me, Silgvani, not the princess of Hohmiy! With you, right now, my voice alone speaks, but to an outsider, what I say will be heard as the voice of our kind! I’ve always separated these two! And yet, earlier I let my own voice alone speak when that of our people would be heard! Maybe this one time, indeed not much damage was done, but why would it stay one time? Who is to say it won’t happen again? This is… it’s… it’s…”


    “It’s what, Your Highness? If it wasn’t just a one-time exception, what is it?”


    “IT IS-”


    Silgvani angrily threw her two healthy arms into the air and groaned. Then, her gaze fell and her voice became much more quiet.


    “It’s what my parents would’ve done.”


    At that, Mhita seemed to deflate as her expression became blank.


    “Oh.”