"That is normal, I think," Helly said, though ne looked a bit anxious. Ne stepped closer, craning nir head gently towards her. "...Did you get any of the answers you were hoping for?"

Liya squared her shoulders and turned to nem. For a moment she didn't reply, merely scowled up into nir face--and then she said flatly, "My brothers died 'cuz we got followed home that night. By humans." She turned away, looking at anything else but Helly, and her eyes fell on the small bed in the corner of the little room. "Humans killed my brothers," she mumbled, moving towards the bed. "Not the Royal Order. Not monsters."

The bed was neatly made up with a deep blue blanket spangled in tiny silver stars. There was a single pillow at its head. It lay beneath a window over which sheer white curtains screened out only some of the wintry light from outside. She looked at it, ran her fingers over the stars.

"The Order only got involved 'cuz they thought the humans were slavers," she said, and then, "They killed the guy who actually did it, did you know? No one told me, but there were photos--"

"Dhuurm ra," Helly said at that moment, and Liya whipped round to look at nem, aghast.

"Did you just cuss?!" she said incredulously. Helly was fidgeting in a way that involved knocking nir wooden hands together fretfully, which made a soft 'clunk' sound each time ne did.

"I am so sorry!" ne told her, seeming almost upset. "I told him to take those photos out of the report! They are so horrible, Liya, it is cruel to make you look at them again. That Numair," ne muttered, scowling a bit.