Kincaid has more need of a real friend than a lover and she’d have the support personality she needs.
She also needs a man of her own. Damia’s tone was adamant.
She’s only twenty-two, dear heart.
I’d had her and Thian by her age.
She has an entirely different personality, darling, and Afra’s tone was teasing again, and your needs do not match. Now our Zara, who has also tagged Kincaid quite accurately, says he was in the midst of a destructive three sided relationship that added more stress to a dificult enough assignment. He can relax at CThi”, and heal – all the injured parts. laria has her own soothing effect on people which is why Jeff tried such dificult ones as Stierlman and Clarissia at Clarf Tried? Damia shot a flash of anger at her father’s manipulative ploys.
Afra laughed. I think your father understands and appreciates laria far more than even we do.
That remark both annoyed and mollified Damia. So how long must jaria wait to forfil herself. she asked with some traces of indignation.
I have a suspicion that jaria only needs to look a little closer to those she already knows.
Yoshuk?
Vanteer.
Really?
I’m guessing but you’ll have noticed how often his name came up.
Damia thought about that on and off during the evening. She hadn’t met the Clarf Tower engineer, although she would have preferred a higher Talent than 6 for Laria. But that hadn’t, apparently, all that much to do with inheriting the genes that produced T-is in totally unexpected families. Like Flavia like the Rowan and Jeff Raven for that matter.
The second week, T-2 Clancy Sparrow, Lieutenant Senior Grade Rhodri Eagles, and his youngest sister, Asia, the recently graduated honours engineer, arrived.
None of them had been as far out as Iota Aurigae, even though they laughingly claimed Deneb IV was almost as remote in its quadrant of the inhabited galaxy.
Roddie, once the bane of the young Raven-Lyons’ adolescence, had improved beyond belief Clancy, having so recently worked with Thian, Rojer and Flavia, eased himself into the household and asked permission to do some hunting if that was all right. Instantly he had Morag, Kaltia and Ewain begging their parents to be his guide. Permission was granted and the three younger Raven-Lyons swept their cousin to the stables.
Despite all the efforts of Damia, Laria and Afra to welcome and reassure Asia, she was stiff with uncertainty and so afraid to say or do something `wrong’.
She didn’t even complain when half the household slithers decided to investigate her slender body where she sat, rigid on the stool on which she had seated herself eschewing a large number of more comfortable, empty chairs.
Petra regarded Asia for a moment and then briskly walked up to her and unwound all the slithers.
`Next time say that you don’t like winding things crawling all over you,’ Petra said, rather disgusted that anyone would put up with such inconvenience. She ignored Asia’s deep crimson blushing and, cocking her head, added: `D’you mind cats?’ `Oh no,’ Asia hastily said.
`That’s a relief What about darbuls?’ Asia gulped. `What are darbuls?’ she asked in such a low, meek voice that Petra gawked at her for a moment before summoning one of the canine-like creatures.
`Oh, they’re not bad either,’ Asia said hastily, apparently trying to redeem herself in Petra’s eyes for being so silly about the slithers.
`I’ll tell the coonies they’re to watch out for you, Petra said with all the brash authority of a confident six-year-old. As she went off to do just that, she said to her parents: Someone here ought to do something positive about this Asia girl. She doesn’t know how to complain properly. The first Talent I’ve ever met with that problem.
Petra’s right. That one needs some major sorting out, Zara said to her mother, though her mental tone dripped with disgust for such abject self-effacement. why on earth didn’t she peel the slithers off ri their clinging was so abhorrent to her?
And why didn’t we notice her distress before Petra did?
Damia responded, annoyed with herself that she had misinterpreted Asia’s quietness for courtesy.