"It seems like you've lost something." Shadam returned a locket to Gara, who looked at him worried. "And with pictures of me in it."
Her breathing became a little heavier. They were on an aisle in the Gorma Palace. Still, she was lucky nobody else was around to hear them. There was a moment of silence before he spoke again.
"I admit I'm curious about it. Why would you have–"
"It shouldn't be a strange thing. We have been partners for a long time." She tried to make an excuse.
"Do you have one with Zydos' pictures too?" He noted her surprise. "Don't lie to me."
She thought for a while and then sighed.
"You caught me off guard. I can't answer you."
"You can't or you don't want to?"
"What do you want to know from me?" She became a little annoyed.
Shadam hesitated. He wanted to know the reason behind that locket, but he didn't want to get into a thorny issue. Gara wouldn't give in either. He thought for a while.
"Do you trust me?" he asked her.
She was surprised by his question. "I'm afraid of your reaction."
"I won't tell anyone–"
"I'm afraid of how you would treat me from this moment on."
"You won't lose my respect, be sure of that."
She felt a lump in her throat, but took courage and told him.
"I have a strong feeling for you." She paused. "What those humans would call love, passion, whatever." Another pause. "I don't know how to deal with it."
He tried to remain unmoved and then nodded. She sighed deeply. He glared at her for a while.
"For your own sake, I ask you: forget it. You'll suffer. It's not worth it."
"As if I wasn't already suffering." She thought. His words came as a stab. Everything seemed lost now. They spent some minutes staring at each other.
"Would you do it if you were in my place?" She asked.
"For sure."
"If you could do something different…"
"I can't–"
"You can't or you don't want to?"
"There's no place for those feelings here. I'm sorry for you… Crush it down. It'll be better."
Then he left. She felt some tears roll down her face and wiped them away. She locked herself in her room. No one could see her that way.
The confession scene played over and over in Shadam's mind as he was sitting on a chair in another room. He was really uncomfortable saying those things, although he seemed so cold.
"If you knew how much I wanted you… That's the curse of being a Gorma." He thought.