Thelrim joined Ivendir at the door. Only when they reached the chamber where the Moryans wanted to meet, a deep, primal fear clutched Ivendir's entrails. Its freezing-cold claws tightened over his chest, constricting his already quick breath. His muscles tensed, ready to counterattack any threat from the Moryans as if they wanted to kill him on the scene. A raw, instinctual desire to escape flooded his veins with adrenaline. He gripped his elbows to wipe sweat from his hands, yet his face remained unimpressed. In the end, he couldn’t show the Moryans his insecurity.

  As the sliding door uncovered the silhouettes of the same Kehrian and Nelphian as before, Ivendir clenched his teeth and sighed with pure wrath. The very sight of the bald Kehrian and the slender Nelphian evoke the deepest hatred and fury in him, and if they didn’t have him in their grasp, he would just throw himself at them with his bare fists. His hands trembled as if they were ready for attack, while his heart pounded fiercely against his ribs. As a drop of sweat streamed down his temple and cheek, he pursed his lips and took a deep breath.

  “Hi, Ivendir,” said the Kehrian with a sardonic smile. “I have an offer you can’t refuse. I mean, literally.”

  Ivendir only raised his eyebrow, pretending to take it easy. He approached the long table at a leisurely pace. He wanted to mock the Moryans by wasting their time. When he pulled the chair with an ear-piercing screech, the Kehrian bared his teeth in pain and wiggled his long ears. Ivendir slightly raised the corner of his mouth and sat a few chairs away from the unwanted guests.

  “Okay,” he said, resting his hands on the table and tilting his head ostentatiously. “What can you offer me?”

  The Kehrian lowered his eyebrows. “No, no, no, you were supposed to ask what can you offer us.”

  “You mean interests?” asked Ivendir. “They’re...”

  “No.” The Kehrian craned his neck and clenched his fists. “Let me explain something.”

  Ivendir leant against the backrest and glanced at him questioningly.

  “As you remember,” the Moryan carried on, “we helped you become the king and...”

  “I know.” Ivendir crossed his arms. “Get to the point.”

  “Easy,” the Nelphian chimed it, pulling the hood over his forehead.

  “We had some troubles,” explained the Kehrian. “We’ve lost a moon in the Stralgiz system and we need some help.”

  “Some help?” Ivendir shook his head. “Didn’t you already take enough?”

  “You’re late with the interests so…” the Kehrian shrugged, and then he bored his snarky sight into Ivendir. “Let us have a little overnight stop here.”

  Ivendir giggled. “What?”

  “We need a place to stay, what part of it you don’t understand?”

  As the weight of the Kehrian’s words finally hit Ivendir, he blankly gazed ahead for a while, his mouth contorted in a disbelieving smirk. He struggled to remain sceptical, questioning the authenticity of what he heard, but he couldn’t deny his senses this time. A monumental burden sprawled inside his chest, its mass crippling his breath.

  Ivendir leant towards the Kehrian, struggling to keep his expression controlled, yet he kept his voice firm. “I… I won’t just let you live on my planet.”

  The Kehrian nodded slowly. “I guess the missile wasn’t big eno…”

  “No!” Ivendir stood up, his chair moving with a rough scrape. His furious eyes bored into the Kehrian, but the blue-skinned man remained indifferent. “I already agreed for too much. Your demands are out of the question!”

  “Don’t panic,” said the Nelphian, raising his hands. “Didn’t you want to open Helvetto up to the world first? Besides, we’re offering something in return.”

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  The king took a deep breath. He knew he couldn’t bare his weak points like this, yet his mind turned into a vortex of spite, rage, fear and helplessness. To his dismay, his guests had complete control over his every move. Their invisible tentacles wrapped around him, hindering all his actions and decisions. No matter how much he wanted to help Helvettians, his people, he needed to reckon with the Moryans and their whims. In the end, it was they who let him took over Brymir’s position.

  Despite his heart thumping against his chest, he asked in a composed tone, “what do you offer?”

  The Moryans glanced at each other.

  “Peace,” said the Kehrian.

  Ivendir sighed, staring at the table. He sat down, his body limp like a rag doll. His thoughts ricochetted from one doomed choice to the other, as if he was trapped in a deep hole with no ladder to climb, no hand to pull him out, and no light to guide his way. He struggled against the constriction in his chest with every breath, the visions of Moryans running rampant in his kingdom suffocating him even more.

  “Does that mean no more threatening my people like you did a few days ago?”

  The Kehrian scratched his chin and tilted his head. “I think so.”

  Ivendir stared at the table for a while. They requested an unreasonable price, yet the thing they offered in return appeared precious to him. After all, the safety of his people was his priority. Despite this, he feared the Moryans. They didn’t need to treat his people with respect and behave like mere guests.

  Quenching all his concerns and distrust, he gulped and took a harsh breath.

  “Fair enough.”

  As the board clock showed a late night hour, Erilaz yawned and stood up from his seat. “Sitting all day is so exhausting,” he muttered. “I need some rest after... this kind of rest.”

  “Sure,” said Andvari, glancing at the control panel. “No, wait!” He sprung to his feet. “The upper bed is mine this time!”

  Standing in the doorway, Erilaz lowered his eyebrows. “Over my dead body.”

  Hefri raised her head from above the control panel, too. Blinking and wrinkling her forehead, she called, “no way, there are only two upper beds so...”

  Andvari pointed at her. “I have to check the engines, so don’t you even think about taking my upper bed, you get it?”

  “Sure,” responded Hefri with a mean smirk.

  As she stood up, contorting her mouth in pain, Erilaz already reached the sleeping cabin, and Andvari just entered the corridor.

  “Don’t worry, Vardir Hefri,” the botanist interrupted. “I’ll leave the bigger bed for you.”

  “No, thanks,” she said. “I forgot I have to change my bandages before bed anyway.”

  The botanist nodded and approached a locker in the wall. “Sure. I still have many medical supplies for all of you.”

  Hefri sat down again and reached her hand. “Awesome, please give me some bandages and a sanitizer.”

  The botanist opened a square door and tugged a red-white case from its magnetic handle. As he threw the case, it soared towards Hefri as if it moved in slow-motion. The Celestian woman caught it and gave him a quick smile.

  “Thanks. I’ll go to bed when I finish.”

  The botanist nodded again and headed to the exit. As Hefri tried to unzip the case, its zip jammed. She wrinkled her forehead and tugged the metal pull harder. When the case opened, a swarm of medical items soared into the air. Bags of bandages, jars with drugs and boxes with pills scattered in all directions.

  Hefri bared her teeth and growled, “what kind of idiot didn’t stick this stuff into the pockets!?” Then she recalled that the last person who used the medical kit was her. “Oh, wait...”

  Worried by her call, the botanist returned to the cockpit and looked at Hefri with concern. “Vardir Hefri? Do you need help?”

  The Celestian woman drooped her shoulders. “No, I can handle this.”

  She jumped from her seat and began to fish out one item after another. Since the annoyance prickled her nerves like a ravenous mosquito, she clutched the case under her arm and just shoved the items inside. A few of them slipped out, what only fuelled her anger.

  Lowering her eyebrows, she stopped and sighed. “Damned zero gravity...”

  The botanist crossed the doorway as if he was a thief sneaking into a vault. He caught a bag of bandages and approached Hefri.

  “That’s… no big deal for me, I’m not that sleepy. I can help,” he said, staring at her placidly.

  Hefri twisted her mouth. “I’m used to dealing with things by myself. As a kid I had to…”

  “I know,” the botanist tilted his head. “I offer you help because… that’s what good people do when they see someone in need.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Really? Yes, I’m in need, but picking up a few items isn’t a big problem for me.”

  The Celestian glanced at the floor. “I imagine how hard it must be to serve Helvetto as one of the… three female Vardir Commanders throughout the entire history.” He sighed and gave her a quick, feeble smile. “It’s not because you aren’t self-reliant or… not tough enough.”

  Hefri sighed and gazed at the floor. The Celestian’s words stabbed her to the very core of her being. A sharp pang of pain bored straight into her heart, as if a piece of her confidence and self-worth has been torn away.

  As the first wave of bitterness drained off her, she felt somehow relieved. Since she was a kid, she had to rely on herself and no one else while being responsible for her disabled father and overworked mother. Then, as an aspiring Vardir, she couldn’t count on anyone’s mercy, despite support from Erilaz and Andvari. It encoded a simple statement in her mind – only the weaker ones need help, and she couldn’t be weak as the protector of Helvetto, its citizens and their King.

  “Thanks,” she said, raising her sight at the botanist. “Let's just… cooperate this time.”

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