“I give you my word. He will have food, and he can go wherever he wants on the planet if he is away from his former people. There will be no jailer, no walls, and no torture. I simply want him to not contact his race. I suspect he will attempt to harm both our peoples.”

Both women got up and then went to the corner. It took some time before they returned.

“If you adhere to the conditions you stated, then yes.”

Fuath shouted, “I do not agree to the conditions.”

Both women spoke in unison. “In the Olden Days, the wives would take over when the king was unable to rule.” They both stared hard, and I wondered about their bonding. I could barely imagine casting Peter out or betraying him. Even the mere possibility sent a wave of nausea through my stomach.

“Our former king. You don’t care about your people. Revenge defines you now.”

The other Sammen continued, “You would see this planet become a dead ocean if you could strike back.”

“The people will still know what I did. I’ll tell them.”

“You can try,” said one. “Records will change, scientists shall agree to secrecy.”

They both looked down and spoke, “Once, you were a good king. It’s been far too long.”

The other woman spoke. “He will not agree to your conditions, but we will. Again… Ryba must have an ocean to swim in. It’s in our blood. Tell me again, he will not be locked in a tiny prison.”

“He will have his ocean planet of freedom. He can pick a direction and swim for hours… provided he is away from other Ryba.”

Both women looked at each other. “So be it.”

I smiled. “Let’s see if we can share this planet as equals.”

One Sammen spoke. “One last… request. I would like to see your Oma. You may allow or disallow. This will have no effect on our agreement.”

I raised an eyebrow and for several heartbeats I stared. A day ago, such a request would be madness. Perhaps it still was.

“Your purpose?” I asked.

“It’s about our earlier offer,” they said.

She gestured to Peter and walked over to him. Easily within striking distance to two of the most important people in my life.

She held out a finger and ran it over the spine of the membranous creature that clung to Peter’s wound. It fell into her open hand and my eyes widened. Where there was torn bloody flesh before, was now perfect, smooth skin.

Amazing.

“Our purpose? To do no harm.”

“We have a surprise,” said the other.

***

For the first time in Augo history, a Ryba craft approached the beaches of Volardi territory. My men were warned, and I had soldiers to bury within the aquatic depths.