As night fell, a large bonfire was lit in a wider space between the houses. Only then did I realize that the buildings were arranged in a circle, as if that central area were the true heart of the village.

  While we waited for instructions from the Xerantos, AX was showing the Seliums the Known Universe, just as it had done with the others.

  “An impressive empire,” Aluram commented at the end of the presentation, sitting beside me. “Do the Xerantos control all of this?”

  “The Known Universe works as a single organism. No one controls anyone. The Xerantos organize, but it is the Sekvens who keep everything united. They are the center of it all.”

  “I found them… unsettling,” he admitted. “But they seem harmless.”

  “Even so, you felt drawn to them, didn’t you?”

  He hesitated for a moment.

  “That’s why I found them unsettling.”

  “Your people have two paths to follow, if you want to avoid extinction. Whichever you choose, you must make the Sekvens see you.”

  Before he could ask, I went on:

  “They don’t see with their eyes. They see with the heart. If the Sekvens do not see you, the Xerantos will not help your people.”

  “But aren’t they the ones bringing the ships?” he asked, eyes wide.

  “They are not helping your people. They are helping me.”

  Aluram frowned, attentive.

  “The Sekvens sent a human precisely because the hatred they carry toward humans prevents them from seeing the love in human hearts. Without love, it is as if they do not exist. And there is no way to help what does not exist.”

  “Clever,” he said after a few seconds. “You come, you help us, and you show that not all humans are the same.”

  “Almost. I am a bridge. I must love your people, and in return, you must show love for me, so that it can reach the Sekvens.”

  “How are we supposed to love someone we barely know?”

  “It’s enough not to hate. They taught me that love is an exchange. When you feel loved, you will love.”

  He pulled slightly at the corner of his mouth, skeptical.

  “That’s illogical.”

  “The Xerantos thought so too. Until the moment millions knelt beneath the smile of a Sekvens,” I replied, smiling.

  Aluram fell silent, thoughtful. I tried to help him organize what he was feeling.

  “The slaves… No. Sorry,” I took a deep breath. “To me, they were never slaves. Let’s call them the reborn. All of them will be reborn.”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “You know what they do to slaves, don’t you?”

  His expression changed, but he answered:

  “They mark them forever. They cut their ears and apply nanachá leaf to their bodies. For a Selium, ears, hair, and body hair are extensions of identity—symbols of dignity and belonging. To mutilate them is to erase who they are, even if they remain alive.”

  “Tariel went through that.”

  “Impossible!” He stood up, shocked. “How?”

  “I loved her the moment I saw her, even marked and mutilated. The Sekvens love me, so they loved her as well. The Tariel you see now is someone loved by the Known Universe.”

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Aluram sat down again. His eyes searched for Tariel, who was talking near the bonfire, laughing naturally.

  “I… I don’t know what to say,” he murmured. “This is far beyond my small world.” He paused. “You said we have two options.”

  “You can choose independence, or belonging to the Known Universe. If the Sekvens allow you to choose.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “They decide whether they want you. If they do, you will lose your choices. You will become theirs… and you will be loved. It may sound strange, but it is the best thing that can happen.”

  Aluram remained silent. Tariel’s laughter echoed near the bonfire, carrying a joy that slowly seemed to pass through everything around it.

  “That said, Aluram, the Reborn will all be healed, just as Tariel was. But they will not return to live with you. The Sekvens who care for us shared their love with all of them, and now they belong to them. After being touched by that love, it is no longer possible to live without what they receive.”

  I then told him about the small incident with Melissa and about the plans to build a city where humans and Seliums could live happily together. He listened in silence, attentive to every word.

  “I understand,” he replied at last. “I want to see those who are with you and meet the Xerantos and the three Sekvens before making any decision.”

  “Willian, tomorrow at dawn, the Soyo will land where Jazzia is,” AX informed me. “She will need to make three trips to transport everyone. Food will have to be brought while we secure more supplies. Twenty-two large tents will serve as shelter. However, we do not have sleeping mats, pillows, sheets, or basic utensils. I ask that you bring whatever you can.”

  “Now it’s up to you, Aluram.”

  “I will ask each family to bring what they can.”

  He did not stand up. He remained watching Tariel and the luminous joy radiating from her. The two of us stayed there, listening to her talk.

  “It’s true!” she was saying. “He pulled the knife away from my neck twice. They even cut me… a little more and I would have died.”

  “And how did he get you out of there?” one of them asked.

  “He paid for me, knelt down, and said he would take care of me. There was fire in his eyes, so much anger at the butcher. He took me from there and carried me in his arms out of the city… but I passed out.”

  I smiled to myself. Tariel was better at telling stories than I was. Everyone was completely absorbed by her words.

  “When I woke up, he was sitting under a small tree, still holding me. I was already better, because AX had taken care of me. I tried to stand up, and Willian told me he was immune to the poison.”

  “Didn’t you find it strange that he was human?”

  Tariel fell silent for a second.

  “I think I never saw him as human,” she replied at last. “I only saw the affection in his eyes. I think that’s when I fell in love.”

  “How long have you been together?” another asked.

  “Three days.”

  Aluram shot me a startled look.

  “They’ve been frantic days,” I confirmed. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this. But what Tariel and I felt when we first saw each other changed everything. A single spark was enough for the Sekvens to feed the fire.”

  “It seems… forced,” he commented.

  “It isn’t. The Sekvens eliminate the ‘what ifs’ and the ‘whys.’ They erase any doubt about what we feel. I’ve tried to question it, to doubt it, to explain it… but all it takes is to look at her.”

  The light of the bonfire flickered across the attentive faces of those listening.

  “Melissa, Sacha, and Kane came to see me,” Tariel continued. “They are beautiful. We felt an overwhelming urge to hug them. Hours later, when they left, we were no longer just Willian and me. Now I’m the mother of a human girl and… a human wife. I think that’s what it is.”

  “What?!” they exclaimed. “You share him with another woman? How is that possible?”

  “I don’t know,” she replied, laughing. “But I wanted her for myself!”

  Tariel’s spontaneous way drew laughter, but the Seliums remained intrigued.

  “A Selium male does not accept more than one companion.”

  “AX, bring Ana and Anastácia,” Tariel asked. “They need to be here. They are my family.”

  “Willian,” Aluram called, “she speaks as if you and those other two have known each other for a long time. It doesn’t feel like you just met.”

  “When it comes to the love of the Sekvens, time doesn’t enter the equation. I love Tariel as if I had been born beside her. All of us—and even the Reborn—are immersed in that love.”

  He shook his head, confused.

  “But, Aluram,” I continued, “doesn’t your culture forbid a male from having multiple females?”

  “It’s more than culture.”

  I slowly rubbed my forehead.

  “That explains why Selium women ‘steal’ partners from one another.” I paused. “And now I’m facing something I don’t know how to resolve on my own.”

  “I only felt this way when they invaded the village, killed, and abducted hundreds…”

  “I have three hundred and two women from your people, without partners and bound to me. If I allow it, the Sekvens will marry me to all of them. I’m human—and normally, we also have only one wife.” I pointed to Anastácia and Ana, who were appearing near the bonfire. “They gave me a family in three days.”

  Aluram burst out laughing.

  “You have a different kind of problem,” he said, watching them.

  Tariel did what came naturally to her: she integrated Anastácia, Ana, and the Seliums as if they were old acquaintances. There was no time for negative feelings toward humans to arise. Within minutes, everyone was talking, and Ana was already playing with the Selium children.

  “Fascinating,” Aluram murmured.

  “I think we should leave and let them prepare.”

  “Stay a little longer,” he asked. “My people have lost the will to live. We don’t even have children anymore… It’s been a long time since I’ve seen them smile.” He paused, watching the scene. “And now they are smiling.”