Free… Again

**Angro's POV**

Shaira's words took my breath away.
She shouldn't choose this path, the one of becoming an Opranchi, when she had all the advantages of an Eteri. All she had to do was go back to the fortress she had once left, board one of those "ships," and reclaim her life, a life she wouldn't have as an Opranchi.

"Why do you want to do this, Shaira?" I asked. "Why do you wish to give up your freedom? Haven't you realized that as an Opranchi, you'll have to keep serving the doctor who enslaved you through a scam? Or that Omawit will still be determined to claim you as his own? Haven't you had enough with everything that's happened in these few days?"

I saw my questions sadden her face, and I regretted being so harsh, but it was necessary. Shaira needed to understand she had no future trying to be something she wasn’t.

"I'm willing to take those risks just to..." she stopped herself. "Just to be close to you, Angro."

I felt a strong temptation to approach Shaira and hug her because I felt the same way and didn't want her to leave, to go back to her old life before we met. But what she wanted, and what I wanted, simply couldn’t be.

"You shouldn't stay close to me, Shaira. I've already shown you that I only bring you problems, that your life gets harder the more time you spend with me, and that..."

I didn't say it, but I think she sensed it:
So does mine, with her by my side.
"Even so, Angro... I know I won't have a life going back to the one I had before. I know I won't be happy there, I won't be free, I’ll be missing everything. Angro, I need to be close to you. Haven't you realized?"

Of course, I realized it, because I felt the same. But I'd been too cowardly to admit it.

"Shaira, even so..."
I could see she was about to come closer, the one who had decided to be brave and try to embrace me. Then her touch would burn me again. I would feel what I did when a goddess—or an evil spirit—made me believe I was making love to Shaira after taking over Amari's body. But before her contact could happen, we heard a noise coming from the house.

Zaina approached in two steps.

"What have you done?!" the doctor shouted, having regained consciousness. "You killed these men, military personnel from the base!"

I couldn’t believe the nerve of this man coming out of his house and throwing that accusation at us. I took two steps forward and confronted him.

"Those men were going to assault Shaira, in case you forgot," I said in my best Eteri, although my accent was too thick.

"Of course, I remember, savage," replied the doctor, now showing the mark from the blow he took to his head. "But that’s no reason to have killed them. You could have immobilized them or knocked them out, as they did with me, but not killed them. Now we’re all in serious trouble."

Shaira approached the doctor, and I wanted to stop her, but she dodged my hand.

"Those pigs deserved nothing less, and I’m grateful for what you tried to do for me because I saw you,” she said, “so I’ll take all the blame for what happened here and clear you of any charges with my testimony."

I expected no less from Shaira, but I feared she was being too optimistic, as the doctor quickly made clear.

"That won’t be enough. Who’s going to believe an Opranchi serving as a maid in my house? They'll blame me for these deaths, or at least they'll think I was an accomplice to the savages who committed them. Either way, I’m facing a lethal injection or life imprisonment on a frozen asteroid."

“I think it's best if we leave, Shaira,” I whispered to her. “This man just wants to take advantage of you again.”

I saw the disappointment cross her beautiful face. She wanted to be good, to help the man who saved her, but now he was only trying to gain something from her. Shaira understood this, and it saddened her.

"What will you do?" the doctor yelled when he saw we were determined to leave. "Are you going to leave me with this mess?"

I felt a surge of anger at his pathetic attempt to manipulate Shaira into feeling guilty.

"She's already saved your life," I said. "If it weren’t for her, we would have slit your throat too, so she owes you nothing anymore."

"What do you mean nothing? By law, she still hasn’t paid me what she owes for the medical services I provided to her husband."

"According to what law, you scumbag?" I exclaimed, even more furious. Zaina had to step in between us to keep me from attacking him. "Because according to Opranchi law, it’s you who’s in debt to her, not the other way around."

I don’t know if it was my defiant look or my reasoning—probably the former—but the doctor didn’t protest further and watched us leave without daring to say another word.

“It’s over,” I told Shaira. “You won’t hear from him again.”

Shaira nodded, and we started walking, though I had no idea where to go. Then, we heard someone approaching through the brush.

"It's your husband," said Zaina, well before Assu reached us.

“Shaira,” exclaimed the merchant when he arrived. “What happened? I passed by the doctor’s house without him seeing me, and I saw him dragging the bodies of three Eteri soldiers. It looked like he was planning to burn them.”

I saw Shaira’s reluctance as she approached the man who, by Opranchi law, was still legally her husband.

“It doesn’t matter anymore, Assu. I don’t think the doctor will bother us again.”

“But what—?”

Shaira took Assu's hands, forcing him to listen.

“I’ll explain later, but for now, I want you to fulfill your promise and dissolve the marriage.”

I can’t explain why, but something in Assu's expression made me suspect Shaira's request wasn’t going to be fulfilled the way she hoped.