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good idea. Set the terms, and see if they meet them.”
    “That is my plan. I will head to the com unit, you stay here with Shatter until I am sure that everything is set. He will take care of you, I am certain of it.” Naroz smiled.
    She rested her cheek against Shatter’s chest. “Thank you for the comfort. It was an unexpected stressor that I should have been prepared for. It caught me off guard.”
    “There is no reason you should have been prepared. Have you ever come under psychic attack before?”
    “No, but he ran his mind through my wiring, not my thoughts. I can’t defend against my own nervous system.”
    He pressed a kiss to her head again. “I will hold you as long as I am able. You are not alone, but if duty calls, I will have to leave you for a time.”
    She smiled. “I understand. Duty first and mate second.”
    “No, making sure that my mate is safe comes first. Duty comes second, but you are safe here. The ship will assure that no harm comes to you. You are as safe as you can be.”
    She snickered. “Safer than you think. I charged my weapons before we went out. With one punch, I could have had them looking for a new emirate, but I held back, and now, Naroz has a chance at his treaty.”
    The prince in question returned to the galley and sighed. “The emirate is issuing a formal apology to you for his behaviour and while he understands your refusal to participate in any further meetings, he will treasure the memories he shared with you.”
    Toby smiled and got to her feet. “Even a tree can make an apology sound skeevy. Well, gentlemen, you had best be going. I am going to get myself into a deep nap. Enjoy yourselves.”
    Shatter got to his feet, and he wrapped his arms around her. “I will be back soon. Don’t have any fun thoughts without me.”
    She enjoyed the hug and felt surprisingly cold when Naroz and Shatter left her alone. Just a few days earlier and it would have been the norm to be in the silence of the ship, now it rang empty.
    It was amazing how quickly things could change.
     

Chapter Seven
     
     
    Surprisingly, Toby was bored. Instead of napping, she sat in her throne and sent out the eyes of the Fairy . Minute insect-like fliers blended with their surroundings and let her see through their eyes.
    She took a quick look around the ship and made sure that there was nothing hinky going on near her ship before she sent her eyes to watch over Prince Naroz and Shatter.
    In the chair, her lips quirked. The Dark Fairy was rife with little gizmos and gadgets. It was why her cohorts had named her Gadget. She did so love to pack her ship with every bit of new tech she could manage.
    Her eyes flew around the court and investigated the bark and the leaves of the locals. The conversation down below was indeed all about trade routes, but the hand signals and gesturing vines of Naroz and the emirate told her that there was more than just cargo ships being discussed. She was flying with an intelligence officer. The hand signals were unmistakable.
    So, when they arrive, we will hide them from view. Your terms are fair. The emirate’s vines were hard to figure out, but she examined them from three angles and it came out in a steady translation.
    Your payment will arrive with the refugees. Break down their ships immediately, and they will be retrieved over a course of months.
    As I said, your terms are fair. We have a deal. The vine wrapped around Naroz’s wrist.
    Shatter watched, tense and ready for action.
    Naroz completed his handshake with the tree and inclined his head.
    They then resumed their boring talk about environmental impact of an increased spaceport.
    Toby sent her little eyes for miles, gathering images of daily life and the peculiar life cycles of the Yaviilianika. The mature trees threw seeds, the seeds were collected and germinated in tidal pools before they sprouted into small versions of the adolescent population.
    It was the adolescents that did all the legwork and raised