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The tylian looked like he was about to refuse, but the lygin bowed and said, "We welcome your hospitality." The tylian gave his friend a seething look, but the lygin ignored it.

They sat and talked for some time, and Aly, with her heart gone cold with disappointment, began to lose interest, her gaze slowly dropping, her mind beginning to drift away. It wasn't until her stomach began to turn over again and her legs became pins and needles that she decided to get up and walk. She did not leave the room entirely, as she knew Korzien would notice and probably have her whipped for leaving without his permission, so she elected instead to take a turn about the room and then out to the wide balcony that stuck out past the tall open windows. She looked out over the gardens and over the grounds of the house then stared up at the sky, hoping for a moment she would see another ship coming down, one that she recognized.

"What honor do you have to be here?"

Aly looked around and was surprised to find the lygin staring at her by the window. He came over and stood beside her to lean against the railing. She couldn't even bring herself to smile at him. They stood together, looking out at the orange and pink sky. "I heard about your kind. Humans," he said eventually. "But it is strange to see you here."

Aly looked over at him curiously. She thought about telling him the truth, that they were prisoners. Like the hunters, she knew no one was going to bother saving them. No one would go against Korzien or his nillium brethren.

But if she spoke the truth, it may only hurt her more.

"We are...guests. They believe we are meant to be here."

"Meant to be here?" the lygin said.

"Yes. We are...destined to serve them." She glanced at him then said, " As all those in Xolis are meant to."

"Are they?"

She frowned at him, her head turning, eyes drifting over to the nillium gathered in the room.

"You do not seem happy to be with them."

Aly closed her eyes, choosing her words carefully. "Can anyone be happy being something they are not?" Can anyone be happy...living a life someone else chose for them?"

The lygin was silent for a long moment, and when she looked up at him, she could see a sort of odd expression on his face, his eye regarding her with a deep, weary sort of look.

"Perhaps not, but they could be content if it is with someone they care about. And you care for the nillium, do you not?"

Aly said nothing, only let her eyes do the talking. The lygin seemed to understand. He looked down at her dress, at Korzien's necklace hanging around her neck, at her done up hair.

"They care for you, don't they?" His eye narrowed suspiciously. "They don't hurt you."

Aly's frowned tightened. She turned her head away, not wanting him to see her tremble. "What would you have me say?" she said.

"I am...curious to know what it is like for ones such as you to live in such a place like this."

Aly felt the anger rise quickly. All the sorrow, hate, and utter disappointment mixing inside her, turning into a toxic sludge. Her hands turned to fists and she twisted around to glare back at him. "You want to know what it is like?" she said softly. "I was stationed on Lethe Maws. You know of the place?"

The lygin nodded.

"I was there for many months. I endured countless horrors, endless storms, and a darkness like none I had ever encountered. And yet," her voice shook, and she took a deep breath, "and yet, I would go back if I could. I would go back there before ever returning here."

The lygin went still, watching with intense interest, his expression darkening.

"If it meant being with the one I cared about, I would go back," she whispered. "Because this place is hell."

She left him on the balcony, left him to ponder her words, uncaring if he confessed them to Korzien, uncaring what happened after he did. She slipped away, too angry, too sad, too disappointed, to care.

Chapter Thirty-four

The lygin and the tylian didn't hang around long. When others began to disperse, they called on a servant to lead them to their room. They walked in silence the whole way, neither acknowledging the other except for when the tylian gave the lygin an aggravated sort of glance when the servant's back was turned.

As they passed through a courtyard and were taken into the east end of the house, the servant stopped at a double-sided door and opened it, stepping aside to let them enter. The pair lumbered inside, barely regarding the room to make sure it was to their liking before waving the servant off, who shut the door soundly. The lygin locked the door, and the tylian dropped his pack on the ground.

"You just couldn't help yourself, could you?" the tylian hissed. "For once, can't you put your feelings aside?"

The lygin bared his teeth as he walked about the room, shutting curtains, checking drawers. "I had to make sure she was all right."