“And she’s not a slave or in any way forced to stay with you?”
“No.” Azan chuckled. “She has half the males on the ship jumping to her demands. She did get separated from us once when she decided to ‘escape,’ but she decided she preferred our company.”
Terri sighed and smiled gratefully at Gargoluk as he indicated for them to follow him to another table nearby. He returned moments later with two plates of food, sitting one in front of each of them.
“On the establishment,” he grunted at Azan before stomping back to his kitchen.
Azan dug into the food with delight. Terri watched her for a moment before following suit. They ate in silence for a moment before another thought occurred to her.
“Did you know that Veral and I were here?”
“That is actually a happy coincidence,” Azan replied after swallowing a bite of food. “Not to mention fortunate for you. Seems that the gods continue to favor you.” Her expression turned contemplative. “If someone is trying to kill you, perhaps I will linger a bit longer. I am quite fond of my human, but I don’t like the thought of someone getting to you. Where is your mate, anyway? Last I saw, you two were inseparable, and he didn’t tolerate being away from your side for even a moment. He should have been here to kill that male on sight.”
Terri frowned down at her food for a moment, the reminder of Veral’s absence painful. Azan was right. Before arriving on Argurumal, Veral never would have allowed Terri to be separated from him for days on end.
“He’s seeing to some family matters,” she muttered.
Azan made a face, and Terri couldn’t help but agree with her.
“I never would have imagined that you would have been allowed to come to the market alone,” the pirate commented.
“I’m not here alone. I’m with Veral’s cousin. She let me stay here to rest and eat while she went to get the rest of the packages she had to pick up.”
“And she left you,” the female pointed her pronged eating utensil at her, “here alone?”
“Well, she arranged for her friend to watch over me,” Terri said, gesturing at the cook once more working over his cooking flat.
Azan hummed skeptically, but Terri was grateful when the pirate changed the subject and turned to regaling her with tales of her recent exploits and latest acquisitions. The tension within her slowly relaxed until a shadow suddenly loomed over them, and Azan snapped her pistols up in four hands, aiming them that the Argurma glaring down at her.
“Who is this?” Navesha growled.
“This is Azan. She’s a… friend, I guess you could say. Azan, put those away. This is Navesha, Veral’s cousin.”
Azan raised a brow at that as she glanced at Terri but slowly lowered her weapons and holstered them. Navesha narrowed her eyes at the Blaithari but, outside of the hiss of her whipping vibrissae, didn’t make any other moves. Suspicion crossed her face, but it matched Azan’s expression, so Terri considered them equally matched in that.
Terri sighed. “Why don’t you sit down, Navesha, instead of standing over us threateningly. Azan isn’t going to hurt me.”
There was a lengthy pause, but finally the female grunted and dragged a chair over between them. She sat in her chair shooting a glower at Azan, who just grinned smugly. Navesha hissed back but turned her attention to Terri.
“I do not trust this female. Gargoluk told me what happened, and it is too convenient,” she growled.
“You mean like your convenient absence?” Azan purred, making the Argurma stiffen with insult.
“Azan,” Terri sighed.
The Blaithari waved a hand and chuckled humorlessly. “From an outside perspective, there is plenty to be suspicious about. I am here by chance for a bit of trading, something hardly improbable, but someone attempting to kill Terri the moment she is out of sight of a protector is worthy of suspicion.”
“Navesha, is there any way we can talk to that male? He must have been hired by someone.”
The female grunted and settled back into her chair. “It will take time. Probably tomorrow at the earliest. The Farhal guards will not let anyone see the merchant until they have processed and thoroughly questioned him. The species is loyal and thus used for casual guard duties no Argurma would desire, but that they follow every letter of the regulations is both beneficial and a hindrance. In this case, the latter. Regardless, Veral wishes to be present when the male is questioned.”
Terri rubbed her eyes and groaned. She had hoped to get answers before word finally got around to Veral.
“He knows? Shit. He’s not going to be happy.”
Navesha grunted again, her mouth tightening as she glared down at the table. “I commed him the moment I finished speaking with Gargoluk, as was my duty. He is, in fact, very displeased and will doubtlessly murder the male if possible.”
Terri winced at ‘displeased.’ She could imagine that he was, and it was unlikely that his displeasure was solely toward the merchant. He wouldn’t be happy that she was endangered while going on an outing that he had no knowledge of. While there was no reason to have suspected she would be in danger, since no one outside of Veral’s family was aware they were there, she knew that would do little in the face of his concern for her.