Synnr's Hope - Kate Rudolph Page 0,1

knew was on the horizon. She’d also been chosen as the representative of the human refugees from Kilrym because of her legal training. Despite all that, she was taking time away to go shopping with Lena and Luci.

Lena didn’t want to be jealous, and she comforted herself with the fact that she was only jealous of Emily’s schedule. She didn’t need the man or the job.

Emily cracked a huge yawn that had a couple aliens, Zulir, looking their way. She grimaced at Lena and Luci. “Sorry, it was super late when we finally fell asleep.”

“Can’t exactly blame you.” Luci grinned back.

Now it was Lena’s turn to bump her hip. She’d thought Luci was an innocent little kid when they’d been prisoners. It turned out she’d been holding back a good portion of her personality out of fear.

“Get your mind out of the gutter,” Emily muttered, but she blushed while she said it. Lena was pretty sure they all knew what had kept her up late.

If Lena was being completely honest she was a little jealous about the guy thing too. She didn’t want Oz for herself, but it had been a long time since she’d had a steady partner, not even counting the extra-long space trip. And while there were a few men among the humans rescued from the Apsyns, no one had lit a spark inside of her.

Maybe she’d have to find an alien of her own.

Lena looked around. They were in an open market and looking at clothes at a vendor’s stall. The materials were similar to cotton and silk and there were only so many ways to drape a tunic. Over the past month she’d been discovering that alien life wasn’t as different from life on Earth as she would have expected. If she ignored the fact that most of the people had shimmery, iridescent skin and could spout wings made of strands of electricity, she could pretend she was in a foreign country. But that didn’t work for long.

The air didn’t smell the same as on Earth. There was a sweetness to it, and something vaguely metallic, like she was standing between a metalworking shop and a bakery. The sky was more purple than blue, and instead of a moon, they could see the planet Kilrym, where the Apsyns lived. The Synnrs used some kind of technology to give gravity a harder pull on Aorsa, but she could still jump higher than she would have ever dreamed on Earth, not that she’d let anyone catch her playing.

She wished things were more alien, though. If everything was completely unrecognizable, maybe she wouldn’t wake up some days and forget that she’d never see Earth or her family again.

“What do you think of this one?” Emily asked, pulling Lena out of her reverie.

She’d draped a deep green tunic over the drab brown clothes she’d been wearing. It brought out the gray of her eyes and reminded Lena of a dense forest. “It’s cute.”

“It’s amazing!” Luci added. “Is there a purple one?” She started sorting through the piles of clothes looking for an outfit for herself.

Lena kept back. She didn’t want to spend the credits she’d been given on clothes she didn’t need. She didn’t want to spend the credits at all. She hadn’t earned them. She and her fellow humans had arrived on Aorsa with nothing but the clothes on their backs, and those had been stolen from the facility where they’d been held captive. One of their rescuers, Crowze, had given them a place to stay on his vast estate. And then he’d given them clothes, food, lessons about Synnr life, and more. He hadn’t asked for anything in return and he was rich enough not to notice the expense.

But Lena didn’t want to be in anyone’s debt. That wasn’t how she operated.

“You have to get something.” Luci turned to her, holding a chunky beaded necklace in her hands.

“Not that.” Lena cringed. The monstrosity looked like it weighed ten pounds and was made for a toddler to play with. Definitely not her style. A more subtle green stone caught her eye, but she forced herself to look away. “I don’t need anything.”

“It’s not about need,” Luci said, setting the necklace down. “Things have been terrible and now they’re starting to get better. You deserve something nice. We all do.” She paused and glanced at their companion. “Except Emily. She’s got enough.”

Emily rolled her eyes and went to find the vendor to purchase her outfit.

Was Luci right? Maybe she