The first few days on Luminos were the strangest in Ashley's life.

As a person who was set in her ways – for a human – it was interesting to learn that she was a very adaptable creature when compared to Nayanors.

Every part of Nayanor life was ruled by something. After just a few days, Ashley was ready to admit that a part of why everything was so messed up on Luminos was because no one ever changed there.

"What are you doing?" she asked Zar three days after she'd moved into her new "home".

The harbinger looked up from his work, which was sharpening the dagger he kept by their bed. The blade was already so sharp that Ashley would have bet a great deal of money that the notion was pointless.

She had no idea what the dagger represented, but every night when they went to bed, Zar set it on the table next to it, within his arm's reach.

The enormous sword had been close by as well at first, but Ashley had managed to get rid of that after a scare she didn't want to repeat. Getting up in the middle of the night, looking to have a sip of water, she'd knocked it over. The sword had been rested against the wall, unsheathed because why would Nayanors bother with any safety regulations?

She hadn't gotten anything more serious than a cut on her finger, but it had been a close call.

Seeing the blade coming toward her from the darkness, gleaming edge like the face of death itself was haunting. Ashley had screamed her heart out.

Zar had moved so fast it had to count for a world record sprint time. The harbinger was out of the bed in a heartbeat, catching the blade before it connected with her.

Helping her wash and mend the wound, Zar had diplomatically agreed that the sword could stay out of the bedroom.

"This?" Zar asked, holding up the dagger. "It's... a tradition."

"I noticed," Ashley said, taking a seat opposite of him and observing his handiwork.

She didn't go any closer. The incident with the sword was all the contact she wanted with deadly weapons.

"Does it have a sentimental value to you?" she asked. "I don't know much about knives and such, but even I can see that it doesn't need sharpening. Why do you do it?"

Zar regarded the dagger with an expression like he'd just realized it was in his hands.

"It's always been done," he said.

"That's not really a reason to keep doing it," Ashley replied. "Not that it's harmful unless I mistake it for a comb one night, but why? Where does it come from?"

"The old days," Zar said, the tone of his voice changing when he slipped onto a subject he knew more of.

He resumed working on the dagger regardless.

"You've seen Luminos," the harbinger said, keeping his eyes on the blade. "It's not a planet an intelligent species would pick for their home."

"No," Ashley agreed with a soft smile.

Zar snorted.

"Exactly," he said. "One of my tutors once told me that he believes that our species isn't very old. That we are a part of some rogue group of another species that's dead or gone now. There isn't anyone like us in the Union, but we speak the common tongue."

"I hadn't thought of that," Ashley admitted. "But the Union thinks you're immortal. You can't be that young. There has to be a reason why everyone believes it."

"Thousands of years is young for a species," Zar pointed out. "The first females who started telling us of the history of the Union said that Palians can trace their history back to nearly a hundred thousand. And that's just what we know now."

"Point taken," Ashley nodded.

She couldn't take her eyes off Zar's hands. They were strong and beautiful in their power. Sparks flew around the blade as he worked, without tiring or trying very hard. There was something mesmerizing in the play of the sparks that she couldn't look away from. One quick motion after another, it was like she was hypnotized.

"There's more proof," Zar went on, casting a quick look her way and smiling back to her when he saw her watching. "The fortresses themselves suggest they weren't built by – or for – Nayanors. He thought that we arrived here not so long ago. It's entirely possible that we didn't choose Luminos, that Luminos was the only planet the old Nayanors could find."

"It must have been quite a blow for them," Ashley mused. "I can't even imagine what happened during the first long night. If it really happened like that, what warning do you think they would have had?"

"None," Zar said. "The storm is so quick and so swift. It's possible that the reason why we're on the brink of extinction is because it took us so long to figure out the storms. My tutor even suggested that it might be the planet that took the females from us.

"The truth is, no one knows. But his explanation included the daggers."

Zar held it up, observing it in the light, turning it before his eyes and judging it harshly.

Ashley had no idea what could possibly be wrong with it. She could see her reflection on the surface, lounging against a low sofa with her head rested on her arms, watching her fated.

"How so?" she asked.

"It's supposed to be a remnant of survival methods," Zar said, deciding that he hadn't done enough for the blade and continuing. "Warriors used to keep their weapons close for predators and enemies. I imagine that in times before Nayanors knew how to close up the fortresses, resources and every other luxury were rare. There are bloody feuds now, so it had to be a lot worse back then.

"The daggers were there so that a man could immediately and always protect himself from harm. His female and children, too."

Ashley didn't say anything to that. She was thinking about the species that found a world that quickly turned into their worst nightmare. The hope they might have felt when there was solid ground beneath their feet would turn into horror so fast when the first long night showed its colors.

Was it true, then? Had those people turned into Nayanors with their cruel raids and rule-filled lives?

Zar was regarding the blade again, speaking more to himself than her.

"It's interesting," he said. "I never really cared for this tradition. I remember my father doing it when I was a small boy. When I became a warrior myself, I tried to keep it up, but as you said, it's lost its meaning now. I stopped."

"Why now, then?" Ashley asked.

The harbinger turned his sharp, deep eyes to her and the smile told Ashley the answer before the words reached her, on a level much more meaningful.

"I have someone to protect now," Zar said.

Ashley didn't know what to say. What was there to say to a man as complicated as Zar? On one hand, he was a complete product of the harsh society he lived in. On the other, he was nothing like them, as far as she had seen.

She wished she knew where that left her. Being set in her ways wasn't a bad thing and one of the truths Ashley had always believed in was trusting her heart. Right now, her heart was telling her that she had found a treasure, rough but real. It needed a lot of polishing and patience, but Ashley had just caught the first glimpse of the true nature of the man the gods had destined her to be with.

The moment was growing to be too heavy with emotion between them, so she broke it.

"And I made you get rid of the sword, so you have to make do," she added.

Zar laughed, lowering the blade and regarding her.

"Made me?" he asked. "You overestimate your influence over me. Not to mention you confuse my desire to keep you in one piece with giving in to your every whim."

Do I?

"I fail to see how not wanting to get cleaved in half qualifies as a whim," Ashley argued.

The harbinger chuckled.

"You're funny for a female," he said.

Ashley started to yell something at him, a carefully chosen parade of words on the topic of sexism waiting to be hurled at the harbinger when she saw the glint of humor in his eyes.

"Now you're just trying to piss me off," she said accusingly.

Zar shrugged, nodding.

"You can't blame me," he replied. "You look gorgeous when you're mad at me. I guess it's my luck that every word out of my mouth happens to upset you."

"I was hoping you were the strong and silent type, yes, when we were back at the station and you were just looking at me," Ashley shot back.

Strong and silent and so goddamn sexy.

"Your fondness of that moment might have something to do with the plasma gun in your hands at the time," the harbinger pointed out.

"It did help, yes," Ashley agreed.

For his part, Zar didn't look upset at all. In fact, he was looking at her like she was the most precious thing in the universe to him. The more time passed, the harder it was for Ashley to believe that she wasn't.

And if she was, there was no harm in that, was there?