Page 48 of Cozy Prisons (Human Pets of Talin: Origins #4)
Hundreds of years in the future
Holian
Jinna sat up and made a startled little meep sound, her eyes fixed on the information square in her hand.
Curious about what she could be reading that caused such a reaction, Holian shut down the display in his desk and stood up to cross the room where she’d made herself comfortable in a nest of pillows and blankets.
At first, Jinna had been annoyed at all the nests Talins insisted humans needed to rest in. But after a short time with him, she’d become accustomed to them and even a little annoyed when there wasn't one available.
He would’ve teased her if he didn’t also like to join her in those nests!
“Have you found something interesting in my ancestors' correspondence?" he asked, joining her in the nest.
“I think I’ve found a scandal," Jinna said, holding up the information square so it would be easier for him to see. The screen was full of Universal ticks instead of Talin glyphs.
“I can’t read Universal,” he grumbled, pushing it back to her. “What does it say?”
“Do you remember when you told me that your mother was the one who settled Kalor?” she asked.
“Yes, why?”
She pointed to the top of the document. “This is a letter from your great-great-grandmother. There might be one more great in there, I’m not sure. I’ll have to look at your lineage chart again.”
“My lineage chart is expansive until this generation,” Holian said. “Now there’s only ten of us in the clan and three in my family.”
“Right, maybe later,” Jinna said, then pointed to the next line. “She was writing to her sibling.”
Holian sounded an amused rumble. “I’m afraid that’s not very impressive. Siblings are expected to communicate with each other.”
“It’s what they say that’s really fascinating. I’d definitely call it scandalous!"
Now she had Holian’s full attention. “Scandalous in what way?”
“You were not the first live birth in your family; your great-great-great-grandmother started the live birth trend here on Kalor. The first child she had was named Solsum.”
Holian let out a surprised rattle. “No, that’s not possible!”
Jinna pointed to a section of the document.
“It says so right here. Your ancestor Palathum describes the process of giving birth in great detail, so her sibling will be prepared when his wife goes into labor. She keeps telling him that it would be safer if they traveled to Kalor for the birth because their healer was well practiced in attending a live birth.” Jinna smiled and moved her finger further down the letter.
“It’s really sweet. She says that several of the humans make excellent birth companions and were invaluable to her. ”
“That’s… surprising.”
He actually wanted to say that it was impossible. None of what J1nna was saying made sense. He’d grown up with the belief that it was his mother who started the trend of breaking empire law.
Why would she lie to him like that?
“What else does Palathum say?” he asked.
“A little bit about how she has to turn down hundreds of requests for settlement every few rotations. Some of the requests were from very high-ranking Talins, so she worried about political reprisal. She asks her brother to spread the word that there is an expectation of honorable service if someone wants to settle on Kalor. That having wealth isn’t an avenue to her favor. ”
“That’s a more appropriate topic,” he said. “I know that historically Talins were living in the forests of Kalor, and that most of them were retired military. That’s what gave me the idea, but I never thought it was a deliberate choice. It’s nice to know I’m as brilliant as Palathum.”
Jinna leaned close to brush her lips against the scent gland in his cheek. “You’re totally brilliant, for a Talin.”
He sounded a rumble of amusement. He loved the way Jinna teased him. “The fact that you recognize that demonstrates your own intelligence.”
As expected, she snorted out a laugh and settled back down, now half leaning against him. “That’s pretty much all the letter says.”
“I’m shocked she wrote that in a correspondence that could be intercepted.”
“It was triple coded,” Jinna said. “If I didn’t find code breaking so much fun, I wouldn’t have figured it out. Having it coded like this and sent in a private message relay would’ve kept it pretty secure.”
“That’s true. Why do you think my mother lied to me?” he asked.
“Lied?”
“About her being the first to settle Kalor or the first to start breaking the law by giving live birth to me,” he explained.
“I don’t think she lied, exactly.” Jinna closed the document and opened another one. “Remember the last time we visited Kalor and I asked you about the abandoned settlement at the far end of the port?”
He sounded a rumble of agreement. “And I explained that it was the original housing set up for the port staff that wasn’t needed after most of the buildings my mom needed were completed.”
“Except that doesn’t make any sense,” Jinna argued.
“Those buildings are far more decayed than they would be after only one generation. If they were first put there by your mother, they’d be mostly intact.
Synth-walled buildings are notoriously slow to decay.
They’re ugly and not adaptable to many terrains, but when done right, they last a long time with minimal to no maintenance. "
Now that she said it, he realized it was true. The buildings had to be at least two hundred years old to be in their current dilapidated state. Probably longer.
“I started going through the population's stats. The entire colony was forced to leave during the Sork Conflict.”
Holian made a rumble of agreement. “Many of the smaller colonies were required to leave their homes.”
“Right, well, guess what? That happened here, but thankfully, there weren’t any humans on Kalor at the time.
Your mom was very little, maybe even only a few days old at the time.
When they got here, she was put into a cresh, and soon after both her parents died under mysterious circumstances.
I found out she was named after her mother, Solsum. That made it even more confusing.”
“I didn’t realize there were two Solsums,” he murmured.
“I know more than you do,” she teased. “Anyway, after Solsum the younger and her partner, your grandparents, died, all your family's wealth and property were given to the clan leader to hold for your mother. Once she became an adultlette, they gave it to her. That inheritance included Kalor. ”
Suddenly, it all made sense. “My mother might not have realized she was born from scent-bonded partners. We start forming memories the moment we’re born, but such a massive change would’ve been confusing. With her parents gone, there was no one to teach her what they’d been doing for generations!”
Jinna nodded her head. “Exactly! Your mom resettled Kalor and started the process of sheltering lawbreakers all over again. You come from a long line of Talins who will find love and family no matter what the law says. Unless she did a lot of research, she probably didn’t know anything about what Palathum started.
I’ve been mucking around in your documents for almost a year, uh, I mean rotation.
With everything she had going on, she wouldn’t have had that kind of time. ”
Holian rubbed one of his scent glands over her head. “We know now. Would you be willing to put together a historical account?"
“I already started one,” she said, holding up the information square and showing him the listing of documents she’d already annotated.
“I don’t deserve you.”
Jinna chuckled. “True, but I love you anyway.”
“You’ve given me a whole new perspective. I almost feel inadequate now.”
“Your mom brought Talins back to Kalor, but you brought the humans,” she said, setting down the information square.
“I think that means you’re the one who finished rebuilding Palathum’s legacy.
After reading all her letters, I can tell you that community was one of the most important things to her.
She’d be so thankful to you for not only restoring her Kalor but building it up to be even bigger and stronger. ”
Her words made warmth grow in his chest. He’d work tirelessly to be a male his mother would’ve been proud of.
“Until I met you, that’s all I wanted to do,” he admitted.
“And now that you have me?” she asked.
“I only want to spend half my time fulfilling my mother’s wishes,” he said. He flopped back and pulled her on top of him.
She sat up on him, one leg on either side of his torso. “What about the other half of your time?”
“I want to spend it with you, doing whatever you want.”
Jinna's smile turned gentle. “Honey, I’m pretty sure both Palathum and your mom would completely approve.”
“Then let’s break the law,” Holian said with a sensual rumble.
Jinna leaned over and put her lips close to his. “I love being a criminal!” Then she kissed him. They spent the rest of the afternoon doing exactly that in the most delicious ways possible.