"Welcome to Cinder, Bin of Yu."

The strange man with thin legs and arms attached to a triangular torso offered me an even stranger fruit. "From my brothers."

The healers of Yu were famous among the Collective. Each of the brothers, elders of their continents, stole individual nacres over millions of years. Like Elden, they splintered the nacre apart and elevated their people. But unlike the Icarean race, they lived peacefully with nature and the balance of all things. A truly magnificent people.

Bin smiled at me from an equal height, a rare occurrence. I took the fuzzy fruit and sunk my fangs into it. The sweet juice poured down my throat, fresher than anything on Cinder.

He barked out a laugh. "Thank you for reminding me that there is always more than one way to do a thing."

I liked the warmth in his voice and the sparkle in his filmy gray eyes that rolled freely in his sockets. I'd still kill him to open Cinder to the Third. "Come inside and have a rest. Traveling through Enki can be quite tiresome."

"Yes. Always."

Korac sat at my right side. Surprisingly, Xelan joined us across from Bin. Decidedly, beside my General.

"So, you really saved your race on thirteen nacres alone?" Xelan gaped at the man.

The three holes on either side of Bin's face expanded when he inhaled. "We did. And we dedicated our lives to peace and the reintegration of nature." He peered around, and his eyes filled with sadness. "Of course, we had an environment that fostered our ways. I can see we should never take that for granted." The smile he offered was full of genuine charity.

Guilt gnawed at me. I liked the man.

Bin chatted along, "I hear a new race is forming on a planet even lovelier than ours."

Korac sidled a glance at me, and I nodded. We had to keep the secret of Earth to ourselves. How much did he already know--

"The race is called humanity. And they named their planet Earth. I already mapped a possible ecology based on the composition of gasses in the atmosphere." My brother glared at me. His bitterness hurt.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

I made a mental note never to invite him to clandestine meetings again.

But Bin seemed unphased. "All the planets are beautiful in their own right. Truly the Collective is blessed with beauty." He nodded to Korac. "And beautiful people."

My General dropped his fork mid-bite, mouth hanging wide open.

Xelan snickered beside him.

I roared with laughter.

All too soon, the pleasant evening ended. Xelan excused himself from the table with many promises to show Bin the estimated ecologies. Korac discretely excused himself only a few minutes later. I'd hoped they'd christen his rooms and that Xelan would never leave them.

I showed Bin to my study. Black walls filled with books. One desk and four chairs. I was about to suggest he have a seat when he blurted, "What ailment did they put inside you?"

I almost startled. "What? How--"

He pointed at different places on me. Head, heart, and so on. Careful not to touch me. "I can see the damage it has done to your biorhythms. Whatever they did was brand new to them at the time. They had yet to perfect it. I suppose you were some kind of trial run."

Now I gaped. "Were there more like me?"

He shook his head, sadly. "No, King Nox. Not quite like you. But there were other experiments. They come to us for healing. Thus the Tritans want me dead."

I choked on the emotion in my throat. "Can you help me?"

Bin stared at me a long time. "You all carry a certain weariness about you. Like the world ended a long time ago, and you haul its carcass around behind you."

He finally sat down and indicated I do the same. I did, and he finished, "But that does not necessarily mean you are all deserving of help. And I need to know that before I offer it, your highness. Do you consider yourself a man worthy of peace?"

I could toil away at that question for a millennium. Or I could lie now and get what I needed.

Bin held out his hand to stop me. "Give that thought some time. Meanwhile, I can return to Yu, run some tests, and consult my brothers. Before I give you too much hope, I need to know first if I can even help you." His frown turned into an encouraging smile. "But I find myself wanting to at least alleviate some of your symptoms."

"I am most grateful. What will you need in return?" Because I'd yet to meet anyone who offered what I needed without wanting something from me.

"Your word that you will stave your assassination attempt until I can get back to you. Then you may try to kill me." He grinned, and I gaped.

"The first, you are not. Nor will you be the last. Now, I hope you take no offense, but I will forego any further hospitality." He hopped out of the chair and held out his hand with a device. "For the blood and tissue samples, if I may?"

After two hours of collecting samples and talking, I escorted Bin to the Enki conduit in the shadow of Umbra's Spire. He smiled reassuringly. "I hope that we can find some mutually beneficial arrangement. Fear not, King of Cinder. When I return, I will have good news, my friend."

He held out his hand. And I took his wrist despite the cost.

At six million years old, I made my first friend.