The servants had been told quite firmly to keep their mouths shut about their master's strange visitor and his wondrous voice, but young Eranae women are about as discreet as their human counterparts. That is to say, not much at all. It wasn't two days before the rumors began to spread like wildfire.

Shira was quite pleased with her newfound popularity among her peers at the youth club she frequented on her time off. Since the second she had mentioned him the day before, they pumped her for more information regarding the new resident of the Ohtamacil household whenever she appeared.

"He's very odd, you know. He's only half Eranae, I think, if that much. Jeesha says he is old Ohtamacil's grandson, but I don't see how that is possible. He looks nothing like the old man at all, or anyone else I've seen for that matter. I don't know what Ohtamacil wants him for."

"What does he look like? A monster?"

Shira practically squealed with laughter.

"Hardly! He looks an overgrown baby! He's tall enough, that's for certain, but he has no plates!"

"None at all?"

"No! And you should have heard Oro going on about how soft and thin his skin is in the bathhouse!"

"Do you think that Oro is… with him… you know? Oh I can't even say it!"

They all laughed at the indecency of the suggestion.

"I doubt it, unless the Ohtamacil really has finally lost his mind. The man is hardly attractive at all. His eyes are dull and his pupils are round like a single circle. And he has these weird bits of fur on his forehead and behind his ears."

"Well you never know, old men go senile sometimes. Or maybe he just has a fetish for children."

"That's possible, I suppose, though I've never seen him bother any children. Oh, then there is the possibility that the stranger is the one doing the seducing, he has— Oh I can't say! I've been forbidden to speak of it!"

"Tell us!"

"Oh yes, you must tell us!"

"Well, do you all promise not to breath a single word of this to another living soul?"

"Yes!"

"Of course!"

"You can trust us, Shira, we're you're friends!"

"Well, okay. I'll tell you— He has the Voice! The Voice of the Winds!"

"You're totally lying!"

"I am not! I was carrying some towels to the bathhouse and I heard him out in the garden, singing to the old man. It was as though I were a fish caught on a line, I just walked straight toward him like in a dream! I couldn't stop myself!"

The girls all gasped and looked at each other conspiratorially while they pretended to console their friend. This new juicy tidbit of gossip was much too good to allow it to go to waste.

---

It had been over half a month since Tess left Erik on Erana Prime. She'd spent barely more than two days with the man, and yet slipping back into her old routine proved more difficult than she'd anticipated. She'd felt off-kilter since leaving Erana Prime's second moon and by the end of the first week she'd simply resigned herself to the fact that she wouldn't be able to simply ignore the dull pain brought by her isolation anymore. This was not for a lack of trying, though. She chased down her prey and collected her bounties as she had for years, spent the odd day or two watching the goings and comings of her Hunter peers in dilapidated lawless outposts, and occasionally slept under the stars on a wild world. The galaxy was once again her playground, but it no longer brought her any sense of freedom. It was vast as ever, but now felt like a cage to her, or, perhaps more properly, a glass fishbowl.

She was in one of the lawless outposts at the moment, sitting at the bar with a mug of some bitter-tasting brew before her while Hunters, smugglers, assassins, and all manner of unsavory characters milled around her. A small young woman like her would not normally dare enter such a place, but her Ayana armor and openly displayed blasters ensured that she would remain undisturbed by all but the most foolhardy. She had never really developed a taste for alcohol but lately she'd learned to ignore the unpleasant sting it brought to her sinuses in order to bask in its numbing effects.

She wiped sullenly at the tears slipping down her face and gave a threatening glare that would peel paint from the walls to any who dared look at her. She couldn't deny it any longer. As much as she knew he deserved to have his family, she wanted her strange looking foundling back.

---

Endo sighed and dropped the datapad on the table next to the bed in his hotel room. He'd come out here halfway across the galaxy under the guise of renegotiating an out of date contract with one of his family's oldest clients. While it was a task that needed to be done, the fact of the matter was that he simply could not spend another day in his father's home. He could not simply sit in the room with that abomination while his father fawned over it like an infant. How could Oro just allow the accursed offspring of Ohte waltz into their home to stay? Even had it not been a half-breed, nothing that his worthless foolish younger brother had put a hand in came out uncorrupted.

His greatest fear beyond the immediate effects of having such a parasite living with his father was that the rest of the world would discover the shameful secret. Their reputation had been severely damaged when Ohte's dealings with the Hari Anuma were exposed. They lost over half of their clients in the space of a month, all of them fearing any association with the dangerous and ancient crime ring. His father was a soft-hearted man, though, and the day after Ohte was released from prison, Oro invited the traitor back into their home, all past sins forgiven. Endo had been incensed. He, Endo, had worked so hard to improve the family's business, and he knew Oro had poured his life and soul into it, and then to forgive Ohte after he nearly destroyed everything with his foolishness?

Ohte's whelp seemed harmless enough at first, and he'd almost resolved to drop the issue as simply another one of Oro's eccentricities. After all, it wouldn't hurt the old man to keep a pet.

Then he'd heard the half blood's voice. That damnably beautiful voice! It had lured him from his bed as though he were being called by the Winds themselves, an unbreakable imperative. The singing had stopped when he opened the half blood's door and the pain in his heart at its absence had nearly torn him in two.

He had wanted both to run away and to kill the insolent brat at the same time. How could a half blood bastard hold the greatest gift of the Eranae, a gift that appeared maybe once a century at the absolute most? It was a thing shrouded in myth reaching back to ancient times. In earlier eras, it would have brought worship and fame to its bearer. In recent times, it almost universally brought corruption and ruin. The whelp's mere presence was a very real threat to the safety of his family. Why could his father not see this?

Endo stood up and stretched his sore joints, leaving his room and locking it behind him. He walked to a nearby pub to have dinner and calm his nerves with something to drink. He sat at the bar and watched the news headlines of the day floating across the holoscreen being projected from the ceiling. He paid no attention at first to the large man who sat beside him until he cleared his throat loudly in Endo's ear.

"You are Endo Ohtamacil, am I correct?"

Endo blinked at the tall man.

"Yes, I am. Do you have some business you wish to discuss?"

"Oh yes, most certainly, master Ohtamacil. I have a transaction I wish to negotiate. Perhaps you would like to join me at my table and discuss the matter?"

Endo's gut instincts told him that this man intended ill, but he brushed the feeling off as paranoia borne of stress. He followed the man to a table in a back corner of the pub where two others were already seated, taking the fourth seat and waiting for the man to speak.

"I am Sota Enaga. My associates here and I would like to discuss a purchase. It has come to our attention that you have recently come into the possession of something quite rare and valuable."

Endo had a sinking feeling that they were not talking about trading goods at all, but had something far more sinister in mind. He started to get up, but a strong hand clamped down on his forearm, holding him in place.

"I am not certain of what you speak, master Enaga, you surely have mistaken me for someone else."

"Oh no, master Ohtamacil, we most certainly have not. It has come to the ears of my superiors that Ohte left something behind before he was locked away, and little Hunter found it and returned it to you. Had she known what was in her possession, you most certainly would never have seen it. Lucky for us she did not, then, hm?"

Endo laughed nervously, beginning to panic. Damn Ohte! Would he never be free of his brother's shadow?

"We are prepared to pay you handsomely for the creature. If you are worried for its health, I assure you it will be well cared for and put to good use. We will not trouble your family again once the transaction is completed."

Endo gulped as this new develoment flapped around his brain like a trapped bee. He should accept this offer. After all, would it not be killing two birds with one stone? He would end his worry about his family's reputation being sullied and he would be pulling that parasite from his father's breast all in one move. Then why did every fiber of his being scream at him that he was about to commit a crime beyond any his brother had committed? It didn't matter, though, as the choice was immediately taken from him.

"You do realize, master Ohtamacil, that we will take what we want whether you cooperate with us or not. The choice before you is whether or not you want to do this the easy way or the hard way. It matters not to us. Just know this: you can help us and turn a large profit, or bring retribution upon your family and have your prize stripped from you anyway."

Endo pushed the image of his father's grief to the back of his mind and steeled himself. Oro would be upset at first, but he would soon forget the half blood and all this unpleasantness could be put behind them. Life would return to normal.

"I will do whatever you require."

Sota Enaga's simpering smile turned into a predatory grin.

"Good, good. So glad we could do business with you. You have made a very wise decision, friend. You won't regret this."