Zuran’s mother made it difficult for me to be nervous. She was very friendly, very outgoing, and just generally cordial. She told me her name was Oraaka and asked what mine was.

“Phoebe,” I told her. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Oh, the pleasure is mine,” she said kindly. “You are the first female my son has ever brought to my home.”

That was difficult for me to imagine. Zuran seemed like such a bad boy, for lack of a better term, that I had thought he would’ve had a long string of women behind him. Maybe he did. Maybe he just never brought them home. Either way, apparently I had the honor of being the first, and I felt my cheeks glow a little bit with pleasure.

Oraaka smiled. “How do you know Zuran?” she asked.

“We have been working for the Council together,” I said vaguely, uncertain of how much information to give. “I was a nurse in the colony’s infirmary before, and, as I’m sure you’re well aware, he was the one who the colonists went to if we ever needed anything.”

“Yes,” she said, shaking her head. She was smiling still, and she almost looked like she wanted to roll her eyes. “I still am in awe he was ever able to obtain that position.”

We continued to talk, but it was casual discussion focused on things like Zuran as a child and what had been going on in Ka-lik’et since we’d left. She sighed heavily when a mention of Venan came up, and she shook her head once more, this time not in amazement but in frustration.

“I do not know what to do sometimes,” she admitted. “I have one son in prison, unjustly, in my opinion. I have another son who is a reformed criminal, though it seems he may not be as reformed as I had hoped even if this time it is to save his brother. And I have a daughter whom my boys refuse to speak to.”

I gaped at her. “Zuran has a sister?” I asked, stunned.

“Oh, yes,” said Oraaka. “Ola. She is the youngest. Neither Zuran nor Venan has spoken to her for years.”

I wanted to ask why, but I didn’t want to be nosy, and I didn’t have the opportunity anyway because Zuran and his father came back into the house. Draped over Zuran’s shoulder was a thick series of strings that almost looked like a rope ladder, but they hung vertically rather than horizontally. I eyed it with trepidation, and he grinned broadly.

“Are you ready?” he asked enthusiastically.

“Sure,” I agreed. I wouldn’t have minded staying longer, especially as curious as I was about Ola, the little sister, but I also thought it would probably be best that we returned to the hospital as soon as possible in case any Elders showed up in our absence. I got to my feet after having been sitting on the couch beside Oraaka, and she, too, stood.

She hugged me again. “I quite like you,” she said boldly.

One of the things I liked about A’li-uud was they didn’t hold back their thoughts or feelings because of societal proprieties. She was not afraid of rejection. She didn’t seem to worry that I wouldn’t like her in return or that I would be uncomfortable by her declaration. I wasn’t, of course. I hugged her back and said, “Thank you for your hospitality. It was great to meet you.”

“I do hope I will be seeing you again soon,” she said, casting a pointed glance to Zuran. “I think you will be good for my son.”

Zuran gave me a look with his smirk lingering in the shadows on his lips and clapped his father on the back, who responded in turn. He then crossed the room to his mother, hugged her tightly, and said his goodbyes. Before we made it to the door, however, Oraaka ran forward with something in her hands, and she stuffed it into mine.

“Here,” she said. “You will need nourishment for your trip. I imagine it is quite a journey.”

“Yes, it is,” I agreed gratefully. “Thank you.”

When we departed, Zuran turned me to the right, and we strode together past several blocks of neatly-lined desert houses until we reached one of the towering walls. It was massive, at least twice his size, and I had no idea how he intended for us to get over it. The rope ladder-like thing he had thrown over his shoulder didn’t seem to be sufficient and, even if it was, I couldn’t fathom how he was even going to get it over the wall in the first place.

“Take this,” he ordered, handing me one end of the equipment. I tugged, and I watched it unravel as he pulled it from his shoulder and took the other end.

It was definitely a rope, but it was more like a rope checkerboard than a ladder. There were places to step and plenty of rungs to hold onto, but it was flexible and wobbly. An image flashed into my mind all of a sudden of it thrown over the wall and me trying to finagle my way up. I could picture myself wrestling to keep my balance until my weight pulled the rope clear off the wall, sending me flying to the ground.

Zuran didn’t seem concerned. “Hold tight,” he said. Then, with a great heave, he whipped the other end into the air. It soared over the wall gracefully like an arcing football, and I heard it land with a clunk on the other side. I stared at him in confusion, and he chuckled. “I will show you how it works someday, but, for now, we must go.”

He held the grid of rope at the base so I could climb on stably, and I scrambled up it in an effort to reach the top of the wall as quickly as I could. I was terrified I would fall. Thankfully, I managed to successfully scale the wall to the top, where I was able to throw my leg over and straddle it. I felt safer there than I had on the ladder, but I still had to get down the other side. I looked at Zuran.

“I’m going to fall,” I told him.

“You will not,” he replied confidently. “Just go down the same way you went up.”

“But you’re not over here to hold it.”

I knew I was being whiny, but I was frightened. The wall was at least fourteen feet high, and there was no way I was going to be able to make the trek back to the hospital if I broke my leg or something else.

His eyes flashed dangerously, and, again I saw the shadow of that smirk. “Phoebe,” he said threateningly, “if you do not climb down, I am going to come up and get you, and you are going to be sorry you did not do it yourself.”

A shiver raced down my spine, and heat burst between my legs right where the wall was pressed against the apex of my thighs. If that wasn’t motivation, I didn’t know what was. Part of me actually wanted to stay put just to see if he would follow through, but the other part of me knew we didn’t have time to mess around. So, I hooked my foot over to the opposite side, leveled it onto a rung, and started to descend.