“Solace,” he spoke after some time, heart rate elevated despite his restful pose, “will it be safer on Nuyorck?”

He heard the thwip sound of a page turning. “You’ll be safe anywhere, my lord, so long as you're with me.”

Her answer and reassuring tone incited a reaction that surprised him. Heat radiated from his skin, his clothes suddenly became stifling and sticky. He spoke his mind, unfettered.

“I was with you when the Agna blockade around Earth noticed the Specter - even though the tesselant armor should have made us virtually invisible. I was with you when we were nearly mugged and killed trying to sell said ship on D’afine. I was with you when we escaped and posed as slaves on a traficking freighter and actually got sold to somebody. I was with you when you killed said somebody when my mask short-circuited and he saw my face. I have been sleep deprived, starved, even hurt,” he said, lifting his left hand above his head where a deep gash that sliced across several fingers had been hastily stitched up and bandaged by Solace. “Since the moment the Agna Enlightened forced me from my home, I have never once been safe.”

The compounding anxiety and exhaustion had overtaken him. He knew that he was in part blaming their circumstances on her, but the focus to filter those thoughts had eluded him.

Seconds stretched in silence as he anticipated her response, when he suddenly remembered the rigid honor structure of their relationship and sighed. “Go ahead, speak freely. In light of everything that's happened, I think we’re well past decorum now.”

The creaking of the chair was the only signal that she had risen. Then she was inexplicably in his field of vision peering down at him from his bedside, her soft fur blurring the topography of her face, an inscrutable depth in her eyes. 

He instinctively pressed back into the lumpy bed. “What are -”

“My lord,” she interjected, her face placid despite his accusations, “it is unfortunate that your life was threatened - setting into motion that chain of events. You have indeed been ripped from your home and everything you know and forced to flee for your life."

He blinked. "But?"

"I still believe this experience," she continued, "will bring you some benefit.”

Kayl could not keep from scoffing, though he sensed her tone was kinder than he deserved. “How do you figure? What benefit could possibly come from being in danger or in pain?”

Her steely gaze pinned him down. “This feeling of insecurity, of fear for what dangers hide in tomorrow and next day after - this is unfortunately a very human experience. One that a majority of us encounter. Your life until now of not having to worry about meals, or getting enough sleep, whether you would live to see the next day - those are each a luxury that too many must forego.”

Solace's voice grew almost impercebtibly in volume and sharpness. “In the short time I've served as your guard, I've observed both you and Lord Kayla - neither of you are empaths. You often regard those around you with an instinctual detachment and apathy. For this reason I believe that your ordeal here will give you understanding and compassion for the suffering of others."

His mouth hung open like a fish. It was the most she had ever said to him in one conversation and it floored him almost as much as her words themselves.

He frowned. “I’m not sure I like that answer, now I fear you think me terribly ignorant and despise me.”

Her voice did not soften. “The fact that you’re concerned about whether a bodyguard despises you makes it difficult to despise you, my lord.”

Smirking, he retorted, “So you do think me ignorant?”

For the briefest moment, a humorous glint glittered in her eyes. “Yes, my lord.”

Her honest answer wrapped in its deferent package made him laugh. Surprisingly warmed at her candor, he said, “You know I think that’s the kindest thing anyone’s ever said to me. I wish you spoke this liberally with me back at home.”

Solace swiveled slowly to switch off the dull bedside lamp. “Odd that you consider it kind. Most would deem it brazen, insolent, and warranting dismissal.”

“Well those people are busy with a much bigger problem right now,” he chuckled again, then exhaled for the first time in true ease. “You essentially just told me you wish for me to have wisdom, for the benefit of myself and others. Up until this point my schooling has been purely for the Supervisors showing off the intelligence of their political pet to the Delegation. I hope you will continue to guide me in any area you think I am lacking.”

“Experience is the best teacher, my lord, but if you wish it I shall do my best to fill in the gaps.” She bowed her head and left his sight to sit on the chair again. “Goodnight, Lord Delegate Kayl.”

He sighed, shutting his eyes. “Goodnight, First Guard Solace.”

He awoke hours later when something landed on his chest with a thwack. "Awake, Lord Delegate Kayl. We must head back to the port."

Kayl sat upright immediately, his mask dropped into his lap. He stared at it blankly, trying to gather his thoughts. "Why the port?" he groaned, "It's complete chaos."

"We’ll get on a cargo shipment. They’re forbidden from transporting passengers and have a lower chance of being stopped."

He pulled the sheer second skin over his face and head, aligning the two thin control rods to lay right in the creases behind his ears. “How will we convince them to hire us? The Intersystem Transport Control has some pretty harsh punishments for non-licensed passenger transportation.”

“We have some significant jingle, hopefully there’s someone desperate enough to take the job. Now, I replaced the projection unit in your mask, this disguise should last for at least six more hours. Who do you want to be today?" She scrolled through a list of human species on her gauntlet pad.

"Thmien," he smiled, activating the two thin cuffs on his wrists. "Nobody will mess with me if I'm Thmien."

Solace flashed a rare smile that was wide enough to expose her razor sharp teeth. "Thmien it is," she said proudly as she coded the selection into her gauntlet. Instantly the air around his hands and face shivered and morphed his furless sapien features to mirror hers.