Page 87 of Sway’s Peace (Delivery Service #2)

Sway gave him a long look. “So, you knew then. Who I am.”

Vweet grunted. “I knew. And I can’t lie, I was frightened at first. I immediately thought the worst. That you must be planning something. That you must be evil. The fact that you were resisting assimilating back into our culture just confirmed it to me.”

“You’re the one who told Veesway.”

“No!” Vweet’s head shot up quickly, his crest firmly plastered to his head.

“I-I mean, I was going to. Initially. But then… Then, I saw you with Grace. I saw how you treated her. How she treated you. You didn’t look evil.

And then you started acting like one of us again.

Dressing like us. Whistling along with us.

And I thought… maybe it would be best if I didn’t tell.

“You’re not the only farasie that didn’t return to us…

whole. There are others like you that needed to sacrifice their pacifism for their life.

Usually, Veesway spots them right away. He does his own search, sees that they’re the violent type, the type that have taken a life to save themselves, then he turns them away.

I think, being his son, it blinded him to his own habits at first. I used to agree with that choice.

But seeing you becoming one of us again, I thought that maybe it was possible that others could do the same.

That the violence you committed could be justified and forgiven.

I thought, surely, if you were capable of change, then others could be too.

And if they were, then we could save and rehabilitate so many more . ”

Sway was uncomfortable listening to this. It was a weight on his chest he didn’t like bearing, but he couldn’t ask him to stop either. It felt good in the worst kind of way. A bittersweet vindication given far too late.

“I don’t know when Veesway looked you up himself,” Vweet continued, his hands nervously moving around his drinking glass.

“But I think he realized that I’d already done it and was keeping it to myself.

And that’s why he didn’t tell me what he was planning.

He thought I would sympathize with you and try to stop him or warn you.

And… honestly… I don’t know what I would have done if he told me what he planned beforehand. ”

Grace leaned in, offering him a smile. “But you helped me. Even after it was done, you still tried to help me get out.”

Vweet gave her a pained smile. “Thank you, Grace, but it’s quite different with you.

I wasn’t the only one who disagreed with what Veesway planned for you.

You may have been planning to mate Sway, but that didn’t mean you shared his crimes.

You hadn’t even met him yet. An argument could be made to exile Sway, but to my way of thinking, you were innocent.

Combined with my hesitation over what should have been done about Sway, it made helping you a lot easier of a decision than you might think. ”

“Still,” she insisted. “Thank you, Vweet. That was very courageous of you.”

Vweet smiled at her, then up to Sway. After a moment, he inclined his head, agreeing with his female.

He may not think it deserved praise – because not stealing their young from Grace’s arms then throwing her out into the wild really seemed like the obvious choice – but he was willing to acknowledge the difficulty in what Vweet had ultimately done.

“Is that all you had to say?” Sway asked, ready to leave him, and the others, behind for good.

“No. That’s not what I meant to say at all,” Vweet said quickly. “I just wanted to explain why I was here, asking what I was going to ask.”

“Which is…?”

Vweet hesitated again before sitting up straight.

“Despite everything, I still believe in what Veesway is trying to do. Despite what you must think, our Song does do great things for many people. Our goal is to save farasie who have been taken, preferably before they are forced to break their pacifism. But we have saved so many more in the course of that simple task. We have done good things. We’re going to keep doing good things, I know it.

And I want to keep working towards that goal. I know it’s the right thing to do.”

Sway nodded once. “Okay. Then I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors.”

Vweet smiled, his shoulders relaxing. “Thank you. Admittedly, you made it difficult by destroying our entire Song.”

“I’m not sorry,” he said bluntly, making Grace nearly choke on her drink.

Vweet grinned back at him. “I didn’t think you would be. You left quite a message. Veesway refuses to even acknowledge that you exist. Especially since you somehow managed to get out of trouble with the peacekeepers.”

Sway smirked. Captain Ikvar had a lot to say about their attack on the Song of Retrieval.

But the fact that Sway and Trove had been careful not to kill anyone and Sway had been chasing his mate, and they really could have done a lot worse if they wanted, meant the captain actually supported them.

He praised their restraint. They hadn’t gotten into any trouble.

Sway imagined that must have infuriated Veesway. Unable to punish them for what they did, Veesway had decided to instead pretend like Sway didn’t exist. And the thought amused him, because that was the entire point.

“And you’re pleased about that,” Vweet laughed.

“I accomplished what I set out to do. That’s still not a question to me though.”

“No. My question to you is: Will you help me?”

Sway reared back, not at all prepared for that. And absolutely not sure how to respond to it. “I, er, don’t think I would be welcomed back.”

“That damage wasn’t even that bad,” Vweet said, waving his concerns away.

“I don’t know who you had at the weapons, but their aim was impeccable.

Really, besides the obelisks, the damage was mostly cosmetic.

No one was killed and only a few people were hurt.

I was quite impressed when I got the damage report. ”

“I’ll be sure to pass along your compliments,” Sway said dryly as Grace smothered a laugh.

“We already have a deal with the peacekeepers,” Vweet continued.

“Those we save who aren’t farasie are turned over to them to help them return home or get medical attention – whatever it is.

Our Song is funded by our home planet, but only to help farasie.

So, everyone else we must hand over to the Coalition authority to help. And that works well.”

“Great. What do you need me for?”

“For people like you,” Vweet said, his voice strained.

Sway frowned, but Grace’s eyes turned down sadly.

“People like me,” Sway repeated. “You mean farasie that aren’t still whole. Those who have committed violence, even extreme violence, to protect themselves.”

Vweet made a sound of agreement deep in his throat. “Our agreement with the peacekeepers does not include them, because they are farasie, so they should come to us. But Veesway does not see them as redeemable, so the are turned away from us.”

“Exiled to the forest, you mean?”

“No!” Vweet assured them quickly. “No. They often don’t even make it to the Song.

We would typically have the domini mercenaries drop them off at a nearby station.

But they’re given no help or aid beyond that.

It’s… tragic. It’s an easy way for them to get hurt still.

We don’t even give them any credz to start them off.

It’s… It’s wrong. They may be criminals, or have abandoned their pacifism completely, but I don’t believe that means I have the right to abandon them.

I don’t agree with their choices, but that’s not my place to judge.

I committed my life to helping my people.

All of my people. Including those who do not ask for it or don’t appreciate it or, if it could be argued as such, don’t deserve it.

Their actions should not dictate my response.

Regardless of their past, I want to be someone who helps any farasie who needs it. ”

Sway stared at the other male. Surprised by the declaration. By the solemn strength behind it. The force of which seemed to beat down that uncomfortable pressure on his chest. It turned it from a hard weight into something softer, something warmer.

Something right.

“I can’t do much for them now,” Vweet admitted.

“Veesway still controls the Song. He says he will still give control of it over to me when he’s ready.

He thinks I didn’t tell him about your past to spare his feelings, and he doesn’t realize that I purposefully helped Grace.

I haven’t lost his trust. More than that, I haven’t lost his resources.

And I need those if I want to keep helping my people.

I could never have built what he did out of nothing.

And until he hands control to me, I cannot change it from within to help all farasie.

“So, until I can, I have to do it where he cannot see it.” Vweet was staring him directly in the eyes now. Beseeching him. “That’s why I sought you out. I wanted to ask you to help me. I don’t find many like you. But those that I do, I want to offer more than just a ride to a station.”

“You want me to pick them up. Deliver them through my company.”

Vweet chuckled. “If that’s how you want to think of it. Yes. I want them to have you to contact so you can help them. I’m not offering to do it for free, of course. I’m willing to pay you and your company for each person I send your way.”

“Oh, yeah?” Grace leaned forward, smiling. “Shall we talk numbers?”

Vweet blinked at her. “He didn’t even agree.”

Sway smirked. “My mate would like me to. And she is determined to make good business for our company.”

Grace beamed. Not even denying it.

“Besides,” Sway continued, looking Vweet over. “Consider me interested in your goal.”

Vweet looked surprised. “You want to help our people too?”

“No. I want to see how well you stick to your morals.”

Vweet frowned. “What?”