My suspicions about the Finiban warriors greeting us with an unfriendly welcome were unfounded, which was not to my surprise but certainly to my disapproval. Pentaba was built on a mindset of defenses, always looking out for potential threats and eliminating them before they became dangers to our society. Were anyone to show up on our shores without notice, my warriors would have had them surrounded in seconds, demanding to know the purpose of the visit and whom the newcomers wished to see. Finiba was quite the opposite, a kingdom of peace and tranquility, and the shore was quite empty save for a pair of a fisherman and several A’li-uud watching the sun beginning to descend in the sky. They merely acknowledged us with gentle nods as we docked.

Acquiring a carriage was an easy task as the coastal down of Fin-aq’in was a meager quarter-mile walk. The stable master insisted he needed no payment for the rental and requested only that we return the carriage during the day hours, as he retired to his home for the evening at dusk. I did not know what Lena had referred to when she had asked if it would be anything like Cinderella, but I could see on her face as I helped her up that it was far from what she was anticipating.

“You do not like it?” I asked, sliding onto the seat beside her and gathering the straps in my hands that steered the vehicle.

“Oh, it’s not that,” she said as she leaned over the front to study the controls. “I just thought there’d be horses or, I don’t know, oxen or something to pull us.”

“The carriage is propelled by the trawler underneath,” I explained. “It needs no animals to pull, only a driver.”

To demonstrate, I tugged on the straps simultaneously. The carriage lifted several feet into the air, raising us high enough to dwarf the stable master below. A second tug set the trawler into motion, and the vehicle raced forward at a sprint-like pace. Lena seized the stability bar in front of her and looked at me with wide eyes.

“It’s a little jarring,” she said, her teeth chattering together with the bumpy motion.

“Finiba is not a kingdom known for its technological developments, nor does it wish to adopt those developed by others,” I told her. “Vi’den and his people are satisfied with simplicity.”

She grunted in understanding, and I could see she did not wish to talk anymore. Her eyes stared straight ahead at the rolling green landscape and blankets of naturally-growing wildflowers. In the sunset, it was a picturesque sight.

We reached the small hill that served as a home to Vi’den just after the sun had dipped completely beneath the horizon, leaving us doused in nothing but moonlight from the cloudless sky overhead. I helped Lena dismount the carriage the same way I had helped her in, and she wobbled against me momentarily.

“Kind of makes you lose your balance,” she grumbled.

I smiled against her hair and kissed the top of her head, taking care to avoid the place where the lump had blossomed. “I believe it is safe to say you prefer Pentaban methods of travel,” I commented lightly.

“Definitely.” She straightened up, but her fingers still held tight to my arms. “Although I understand now why all of you A’li-uud have such big muscles. You have to do some kind of pulling or pushing or exercise if you want to get anyplace.”

“Hard work is its own reward,” I teased.

She rolled her eyes and nudged my chest before righting herself completely and releasing my arms. I took her hand and led her toward the hill. Embedded in its side was a door with a pathway lined with flowers leading up to it, and beside the door on either side were quaint windows with rounded tops and gentle glows of light pouring from them. Just looking at it filled me with a sense of peace.

I knocked three loud raps, then stood back and waited. Lena was clenching my hand tightly, and I could feel her pulse racing in her fingertips. She had been nervous about this from the beginning, no matter how many times I tried to explain to her that we had nothing to fear with Vi’den. Even if he disagreed with me, there would be no consequence for the visit. We had nothing to lose.

The door swung open, and in its wake stood a very tall A’li-uud. Ribbons of white hair flowed from his head to his waist, and, compared to my deep jade skin, he appeared quite pale in his azure blueness. His face was certainly more aged than mine, but, despite his many more years, his cheeks were still smooth and his jaw still firm. Casting his ivory eyes upon us, he smiled rather sadly.

“I feared I would be seeing you, Khrel,” he said mournfully. Lena’s palm felt clammy in mine, and, the moment she heard his voice, she squeezed with anxiety. I offered her a gentle squeeze back of reassurance before replying to the Elder.

“Good evening, Elder Vi’den,” I said with a respectful incline of my head. “I hope we are not disturbing you at this hour.”

“Certainly not. It has only just grown dark.” He eyed Lena kindly before stepping back and brandishing an arm. “Please, come in.”

I walked over the threshold, Lena following suit without releasing my hand, and waited for Vi’den to close the door behind us before properly introducing him to my companion. “Elder Vi’den, this is Lena. She is one of the humans residing in the Polder Quarter colony.”

He smiled at her and lowered his chin in greeting. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Lena. I do hope you have quite enjoyed your time on Albaterra thus far,” he said.

“Hello,” she replied with her voice quaking almost imperceptibly. “It has been…interesting. But I do enjoy it.”

“Yes, I have heard of your troubles,” Vi’den said, the mournful note returning to his tone. “I trust that is why you have come, Khrel?”

“It is.” He moved past us, long robes sweeping across the finely-hewn wooden floor toward the cozy living space beyond, and I turned to follow him. As I opened my mouth to continue my explanation, however, I froze.

Sitting on a chair in the center of the room, platinum hair shining by the firelight and a cocky grin splattered across his lips was the only A’li-uud I had ever hated. His eyes, which seemed orange rather than white due to the aura of the cheerfully crackling flames in the nearby hearth, glinted mischievously at me as they met my horrified gaze.

“Well, it certainly has been a long time, Khrel. Perhaps we should relive old times with a friendly fight to the death outside.”