Page 103 of Truthful Deceptions

“I hope you continue to like it even when it becomes tedious,” Tolly said. “Narmuna can be pedantic sometimes.”

“Bring it,” I said, making Tolly rumble with amusement.

There was a commotion that made us both turn. A large blue Talin was walking up to the gate with a black-haired human balanced on his shoulder. Her gaze met mine, and a look of relief flashed across her features.

The law keeper escorting them opened the gate, and when they stepped in I could see the Talin was also carrying a child balanced on his hip.

The moment he set her down, the kid ran for the swings. I jumped up to follow. I’d found out the hard way that if you've never been on a swing before it was easy to flip yourself off it! Thankfully the Talins had put surprisingly bouncy ground under the play equipment. Even with a somewhat gentle landing, it was an experience I wanted to spare this little girl from having.

I got there at the same time as her, and we paused to look at each other.

“I'm Mia,” she announced. “I'm six, and I'm very smart.”

I nodded. “I'm sure you are. I'm Opal. It's nice to meet you.”

She held out her hand, and it took me a moment to realize that she wanted to do an Old-Earth-style handshake. This child was adorable!

“It's nice to meet you too,” she said, sounding very formal. “Iris said it's important to make friends with other humans because there aren't many of us.”

I shook her hand. “Iris sounds smart too.”

“The smartest,” Mia agreed as the woman who'd arrived with Mia got to us.

“I am smart,” Iris said with a small laugh. “Smart enough to remember what I told you when we got here. What was that, Mia?”

Mia dropped her eyes. “Not to run until Dee said it was okay.”

“And what did you do?”

Mia's voice got really quiet. “I ran.” Then she looked up and pointed at me. “But only because she was here. Opal should be punished too.”

“Whoa, how is this my fault?” I asked, fighting a grin. “I was sitting on the bench when you headed for the swings.”

Mia shook her head. “Na-ah, you were going for the swings first. I saw it.”

“Okay, little fibber, that's enough,” Iris said. “You can play on the swings, but no dessert for two whole days.”

Mia's eyes went wide then narrowed, and her mouth turned down in a fierce frown. “You're mean and I don't love you!”

With that, she ran off to the blue Talin who'd walked over to Tolly.

Iris shook her head. “She was a perfect child until all the Talins started spoiling her. Now she’s developed temper tantrums. The rest of the crew don’t know what to do. The moment she looks like she might start crying or screaming, they give her anything she wants.”

That was an aspect of raising children among Talins I hadn’t considered. “I’m sorry. That has to be difficult.”

Iris gave me a tired look. “I think I might have to add a new rule for a while. If Mia fusses, they have to ignore her or call for me.”

The way she said that made me curious. “Are you often doing something besides spending time with Mia?”

Iris snorted. “So often. Everyone might think Damascus runs everything, but it's really me. The last time he tried to read a contract for me, he fell asleep before he even got halfway through. I found him sitting at a desk with his head back, mouth open, snoring.”

I giggled at the mental image. “Talins snore?”

“Only when they sleep in weird positions.”

“You read contracts for Damascus?” I asked.

“Read, negotiate, and agree,” she said with a nod. “Damascus does anything that requires face-to-face meetings.”