Free The Lereni Trade by Melanie Nilles

at
a market off-world," Korr said.
    Her heart sank to think that. She
wanted to believe that the Inari they spoke of in such esteem had
ties to her species, that they could help. It resurrected a hope
inside her that had died long ago. Now that she had friends, she
had a reason to live and a reason to die; but for the first time in
a long time, she felt like she might belong somewhere.
    And Torik had not shied from her,
despite being a completely different species.
    Her species appeared human. And they
said the Inari hid among humans.
    The Inari hid among humans…
    "Were they on Earth, these Inari?
Would they have been watching me?"
    The three Lereni looked to one another
and Torik finally shrugged. "Possible. Why would they be watching
you?"
    "I don't know, but it says
'Protection'. I found some translations on Earth."
    Torik looked down at her wrist again
and the stone barely exposed from the end of her long sleeve. His
gaze turned distant, a frown on his face all that she could
read.
    "What do they want…" He mumbled the
question and looked up at something on the ceiling. She tried to
see what he saw but could make out nothing that seemed out of
place.
    "I hope he contacts the Inari," Korr
said, his eyes on the same spot.
    "If he really wants what's best,"
Theen muttered.
    What were they looking at?
    Krissa tried but saw nothing but the
girders and heavy beams that formed the skeleton of their
ship.
    "If he doesn't?" Korr refocused on the
others. "Karik doesn't trust outsiders."
    "But we need a back-up
plan."
    "We need to figure out how to make the Tah'Na fulfill their
side of the agreement." Korr keyed a series into the holographic
display controls, which pulled up an extravagant Tah'Na structure.
"House Raou's Menio K'tark ."
    "It's a palace," Krissa
said.
    After a moment, Korr tipped his head
with a shrug. "Yes."
    "Just call it their
palace."
    "It is more. As the current ruling house, it is also the
capitol of their empire. It is the Menio K'tark. "
    "All right. What's important about
it?"
    He entered a series of keys, which
converted the three-dimensional outer image to an outline showing
all the inner rooms and passages of a pyramid in the
center.
    "These rooms—" Theen pointed to
several around a large chamber containing a pyramid-like structure
of steps that looked like the ancient temples in South America.
"—are the residences of the heirs. They are said to play bedroom
games."
    "Bedroom games?" She didn't like where
this was going.
    "Your Seres powers will give you an advantage over their
desires."
    "By desires, you mean…"
    "Mating." The disgust in Torik's voice
left a sinking feeling in her stomach. She wished he hadn't
confirmed her suspicions. "The Tah'Na engage in all forms of
entertaining themselves. They have no sense of loyalty to even a
single mate."
    "There is the risk that you will be
killed before you can pose a threat," Korr warned.
    Then she could do no damage to this
nobility, if she figured out how to use her powers. Still, she had
no other options. "I'll do what I can."
    That seemed to satisfy Theen and Korr,
but Torik remained agitated, a steel set to his jaw.
    "I only hope Karik is able to notify
his Mediators to be there," she said in a voice she hoped was loud
enough for Karik to hear. He had to know they were plotting ways
that she might cause damage to the Tah'Na before they killed her.
If he was smart, he would help them.
    If only she could figure out these
powers they said she had.
    While Theen and Korr discussed
possible actions she might take, Torik relaxed next to her. After
long hours of planning, she grew tired and rested her chin in her
hand and closed her eyes, but caught her head from hitting the
table.
    "You need to sleep." Torik's gentle
voice did nothing to wake her, but he didn't seem interested in
keeping her awake and pressed her down on the cushions. "We all
need rest. In ten hours, we will arrive on Rahmir."
    So soon. That was almost enough to
scare her into full