I couldn’t be responsible for a child’s death, even indirectly. Torran loved his nephew, but he had still urged me to leave tonight. That, more than anything, made me believe that he sincerely desired to fulfill his vow of safe passage.

But belief wasn’t enough. We had to come to a real understanding, and the only way to do that was to have a conversation guaranteed to be painful. I raised my eyes so I could watch his expression.

“Twice you’ve lied to me by omitting important information that I needed to know,” I said, my tone unyielding. “That’s two times too many. If you’d just told me the truth, then we could’ve worked together on a solution, but instead, you let me think that you’d stabbed me in the back. Why?”

Torran’s spine straightened. “Some of us do care about keeping our promises, and I warned you that I was bound by many oaths. I had hoped that you would be safely off-planet before it became an issue, but I underestimated your team’s skill and determination once again.”

“How many more times is this going to be a problem? How many more secrets are you keeping?” I stabbed a finger at him, temper rising. “I may be only human, but I care about promises, too. And yours are putting my team in danger.”

Torran stared at me for a long time, his expression intent. He seemingly came to a decision, because he stood and circled the table. When he knelt next to me, I frowned down at him. “What are you do—”

The rest of the question was lost as he silently raised his left arm, flipped open a knife with his other hand, and sliced the blade across his exposed wrist. He met my eyes. “Cho wubr chil tavoz,” he said, voice calm, as if deep red blood wasn’t pouring down his arm.

“What the fuck?” I demanded. Torran didn’t move. I grabbed the cloth napkin from beside my bowl and wrapped it tightly around his wrist, pressing on the wound to stanch the bleeding. “Havil!” I shouted before I remembered that I had a comm. I activated it and didn’t bother to speak subvocally. “Someone get Havil to the dining area now. It’s an emergency.”

“On it,” Eli responded.

A few moments later, both teams ran into the room. The Valoffs slid to a stop with shocked looks while my team shared my confusion. “What happened?” Lexi asked.

“Torran cut himself. Havil, don’t just stand there. He needs medical attention.”

Havil shook his head. “I cannot intervene.”

I pinned him with a furious stare. “What do you mean? You’re a medic and Torran needs help. Help him!” Under my fingers, the white napkin was slowly turning red.