When the Guardian Stayed

Cloudy runs a food stall on the docks of an alien world, the new home assigned to her village after they survived the end of their old one with few losses.

About five hundred of them are still settling on a planet overseen by a descendant of the Hmrain Vecchin, and Cloudy has changed her pigment to blend in with the locals.

The gills she had installed are mostly for peace of mind, since endless ocean stretches behind the dock where she and her business partner keep a profitable, steady trade.

That rhythm breaks when a group of guardians arrives for lunch and one of them, Hazor, begins pressing her with question after question.

Grandson of the Hmrain who owns the world, and nephew to a man recently joined in a successful union with one of her people, Hazor wants to learn whether that fortune can repeat itself with her.