“Thank you,” Serri said, picking up the cup. The pattern this time was a swirl of paint that started with a warm yellow at the top, then settled into a stronger pink at the bottom. “And I like the cups you chose for the tea.”

“The good thing about being up here is having enough room to do that.” Tairdi poured for xemself and took a long, thoughtful sip. “Vachlan is a bit like a younger sister to me. That’s how we grew up. My parents were neighbors to hers and they didn’t mind mingling with people who weren’t in darkness for their entire life. Our problems happened as we became older. I don’t know if you noticed, but Vachlan is not fully avian.”

“I had.” She took another sip. “I didn’t think it was something for me to comment on.”

“It’s something that might come up while she’s under your wing.” Xe chuckled at the joke. “Most beastkin are of one species. I am from a bear lineage that might cross into other types, but in the end, we’re all still bears. Vachlan’s parents fell in love, which is never a bad thing I’d say. However, with how beastkin talk to each other, it’s...rare. Rare enough that each family was certain their child had been swindled, conned, and hoodwinked by the other into being a part of this marriage.”

“One of her parents was a bird, and the other one...” Serri suddenly realized where the retractable claws and lashing tail came from. “The other was a cat?”

“Yes. Which was another reason for many of the fights we saw growing up. One side wanted her to act one way, the other in another way. Even worse was when she’d do something correct and everyone would circle around to explain how she was wrong. It made her fearful of doing anything.”

“She said that you saw her with no one here.”

Tairdi froze, and for a second xe looked stuffed and mounted. She was about to ask if xe was okay when she heard a breath.

“Vachlan told you that?”

“Yes.”

Xe said nothing after that.

“Tairdi.”

“She wanted me to lie about what I could see, but I couldn’t.” Xe shook his head. “If I did that, it would make no one happy. So I told her the truth, and watched as she lost all faith, love, and trust in me. Her parents refused to talk with my family as well, and then it was just the two of us.”

“That sounds horrible.”

Tairdi leaned across the table and took Serri’s hand. “Take her away from here. Keep her close at your side, not only for what she can do for you, but for what you and Rive can do for her.”

“Okay...” Serri gave xem a look over the top of her teacup. “I feel you’re not telling me things.”

Tairdi let go of her hand and laughed so loud at her comment that she could count xyr upper teeth. Eventually, xyr laughter settled down into chuckles, and then xe was speaking normally again.

“I’m not telling you many things. Some of that is to protect you, and those in your care. And some is to protect me.”

She swallowed more of the tea, focusing on the way the flavors rolled across her tongue instead of imagining the various ways she could shake the information out of xem.

“You enjoy collecting knowledge, don’t you?”

Xe nodded.

“How about an exchange, then? I know something I’m pretty sure you don’t. If I tell you, then I’d like an equivalent exchange.”

Tilting xyr head to the side, xe studied her. Serri did her best to ignore xem. She pulled forth all the manners her father had taught her for tea and exercised them. Placing her fingers at the bottom of the teacup, she turned it to show off the pattern to others at the table, and with the absence of a napkin she used her thumb to wipe away a pink stain at the top.

“How...” Tairdi swallowed hard. “How likely is it I don’t know this information?”

“Very.” Serri smiled at xem. “In fact, I’ve been sworn to secrecy by my crew not to talk about this to anyone. And I’m sure you’ll agree with me that Vachlan would be unhappy, at best, to know that I was about to tell you.”

Dangling it like that, she thought, would be the perfect way to hook xem. However, she wasn’t prepared for a look of distaste to cross xyr face, nor did she expect xem to pull back from the table.

“I...” Tairdi rubbed xyr face. “I don’t like that you’re willing to break an oath so quickly made to your crew.”

“I’m doing this to make sure they’re okay.”

“No, I’ve already told you they are. You’re doing this because you want to know more.”

“And prepare for anything I can,” she shot back, wondering how she’d lost control of the conversation so quickly. “Also, I trust you. I wouldn’t be willing to tell just anyone what I’m talking about, but you? I know you won’t do anything to hurt us.”

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For someone with a lot of fur, it was interesting seeing the bare patches of skin turn white.

“You don’t know that,” xe croaked, turning away from her and tossing the rest of xyr tea into xyr mouth. “Grow up, captain. Friends will turn on you if there is no other choice. Information can be wheedled out of anyone for the right price.”

“I know that!” she snapped, the “grow up” remark making her bristle. “And the information I’m going to exchange is not about either Rive or Vachlan. It’s about me, which makes trusting you my choice to make.”

Serri realized her voice had reached too high of a pitch, so she stopped talking, took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. While she normally wouldn’t do that as obvious as she did here—her father had mentioned that making the other person in a negotiation feel she wasn’t thinking clearly was an asset—that wasn’t what she was trying to do with Tairdi.

“I choose to give you this knowledge, and even though we haven’t shaken on the deal, I’m telling you this because I’m looking for more information on keeping my friends, my crew, safe.” She had future plans for Rive to make her a necklace, but for now, her pink stone was nestled in an inner pocket close to her heart. Seren pulled it out. “Have you seen a stone like this?”

Tairdi glanced down at it, then stood up. “I think I know what information I can share with you that will be… What were your words again? Ah yes, an ‘equivalent exchange.’ I’ll be a minute or two before I return.”

She nodded, relishing the quiet as xe went off to find what xe needed. A lot had happened since they’d landed here. Too much, if she was being honest with herself.

“Ugh. Is this how adults feel? It’s not one thing hitting me, it’s everything all at once.” Her mind helpfully started listing events from the beginning.

While running away from home, she’d stolen a ship from its dead owner, who may or may not have been killed by her parents. Rive had helped her get the ship registered, and that wasn’t a bad thing, but that fact that their paperwork were forgeries didn’t make it a good thing either, and if that was ever found out then she didn’t know what would happen. The tree on the ship was threaded, and that meant someone could follow them wherever they were, unless they paid for someone to remove it or abandoned the ship. Everything out here cost money, and she understood people should be paid for their time and products, but that meant she needed to find jobs, not for herself, but for all of her crew too, and the number had increased—Serri closed her eyes and massaged her temples.

“Stop it. Most of those worries are things you can’t do anything about, so it’s a waste of energy. You’re working on figuring out the threading situation, so stop stressing about that, too. Vachlan said she’d bring her friend up, and if not, then we’ll check the next place we go.”

“Did someone else stop by?” asked Tairdi, re-entering the room.

“Ah, sorry.” Serri opened her eyes to see the bearkin walking back to their table. “I was talking to myself.”

“Ah, privacy. Enjoy it here. I think it’s something in short supply on your small ship.” Xe smiled as she laughed. “Now, earlier you asked if I had seen a stone like that before, and my answer is yes.”

She groaned, but xe held up a claw.

“That is still new information to me, that you even have a stone.” Xe held out xyr hand, and nestled on xyr pale palm was a small grayish stone flicked with amber. “This is mine.”

“When did you find it?”

“It found me, actually. I bought food from down below and this came up in the basket. When I touched it—”

“You realized it was attuned to you, right?”

Xe nodded. “I’ve tried to discover more about it, but what I know about attunement doesn’t exactly fit what happens with it, and seeing your rock makes me realize it happens to more than one kind.”

“Do you know what rocks we have? Maybe they’re in the same family, or collective group like trees.”

“Not a bad idea, but that’ll take a lot more research than you have time for.” Xe looked at xyr rock. “On the other hand, I have an idea.”

Xe took xyr rock into xyr hand again, and without pausing, threw it at the ground.

“What are you doing?!”

“What happens to the rock doesn’t happen to the person,” xe explained. “Which is a good thing because a rock can be placed in a cup of water, or buried in sand if you get my meaning.”

Both pieces were placed on the table, one of them a little larger than half.

“...so it’s only what’s happening to us being shown on the rock? Like a mirror?”

“Exactly. When I broke my stone, it did nothing to me, but my rock was also large enough to shatter. Yours might give a small chip, but nothing big enough for us to communicate.”

Serri arched an eyebrow and xe nodded.

“Watch.” One of xyr claws traced a small circle on the stone xe still held and she saw it flash on the newly broken piece. “And if we create a code, at least an alphabet for spelling, I’ll be able to give you information.”

“And you had to keep some next to you as well, didn’t you?” She looked at the slightly larger piece leftover from the original. “It feels weird when you know it’s there, but it’s not nearby.”

“Yes. Which is why I’d rather break it in twain than give you the only stone I know of.”

She took xyr stone and put it next to hers, then smiled. “This feels nice. Like they’re meant to be together.”

“It might be worth looking into what you can do with your stone if you wish to gift bits of it to others.”

Serri looked up at xem and xe chuckled. “Your desire was written all along your face, I did not magically pull it from the aether.”

“I was thinking,” she admitted, “that if there was enough to break off, I’d like each of my crew to have piece.”

“How big do you think your crew will get? I’ve seen your ship. It’s a tiny place.”

“I honestly don’t know where Vachlan’s going to fit,” Serri confessed. “Rive and I are already sharing the bed by taking night and day shifts.”

“She’ll find her place, as will the others you bring aboard. I will suggest, however, that the next person you find be someone with building skills.”

“Same here. I’m not sure if we should look for someone who can manipulate stone, since our ship is made of seashell, but I’ll just have to hope there’s someone out there who can help.”

“There will be.” Xe nodded. “I’m sure of it.”

She gave xem an odd look, then took her teacup and sipped it. “The tea tastes a lot more like rose now that it’s cooled down.”

“It does, and if you can ever make it on a freezing day, then it’ll taste less like rose and honey, and more like lavender, strangely.”

She looked down at the tea. “I’ll take your word for it.”

“Let’s use the time we have to come up with a way to communicate from me to you. Hopefully, it’ll let me tell you of problems to stay away from, or maybe even some opportunities to take advantage of.” Xe peered at the table and the remains of their tea. “It will require a bit more brain power than tea can give, however. Let’s grab a good tray of snacks and teas, then retire to the study.”

“How long do you think we’ll be up and working?”

“As long as it takes to whittle a language down to the nubs needed for communication.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you wanted me to stay forever?” Serri drank the rest of her tea, then stood up, taking both her stone and Tairdi’s stone. Xe led the way into the tea and snack area, and for the next few minutes, all she had to think about were delicious tastes.