The stairwell emptied into a small kitchen-looking room. Rocki stepped out of the way of the steps so one of the valicarans could take the lead. Kofi gently took her elbow, leading her towards a door, but she pulled away from his grip, following him without having to be led as if she were an addlepated child.

Child. My child. Is he all right?! Did the transformation hurt him? Her wings drew tighter together from an unfamiliar reflex, making her back twinge painfully. She forced her body to relax. I wish I had some kind of pain medication. Maybe their healer will have something. Will I have to tell her that I have a baby? Will she know if she examines me? What are the chances she won't find out? Probably not good if she does an examination. It's not like it's any of her business. I mean, she will be trying to help me though. I shouldn't be so rude, I haven't even met her—or him—yet. She sighed a little, drawing a glance from Kofi. She only glanced at him without much expression before taking off her glasses to rub the arches of her eyes.

Her vision cleared.

Rocki jerked to a halt, staring down the small hall they were walking. Huh, something must have cleared it up. Maybe I just needed a massage. She glanced down and saw the glasses still in her hands. What? Did I leave my contacts in? No, my glasses wouldn't work otherwise. How am I ...? She looked around again, then put her glasses on. Her vision immediately returned to blurred and unfocused.

"What in the blazes?" she muttered softly, taking then frames off.

Kofi and the other man had stopped as well. "What is it, blue eyes?" Kofi asked.

"I ... I can see," she said, then remembered to elaborate. "Without my glasses."

Kofi's eyebrows pushed down. "I thought you said you needed them to see."

"I do." Rocki blinked hard, then rubbed her eyes and put her glasses on again. "How in the world?"

Kofi took the glasses from her and peered through them. "They look the same as they did before." He shrugged a little, handing them back, but then grabbed her chin and looked closely at her eyes. "Still beautiful. Maybe the change did something to your sight. Valicarans are known to have excellent vision." He started off again, with Rocki trailing behind him, dazed at the information.

Kofi tapped on a door, then carefully opened it, peeking his head in to look around before stepping in and holding the door for Rocki and the other valicaran.

"Whilin?" said the male whose name was yet unknown.

A female voice called something in a foreign language from an adjoining room, presumably something along the lines of "just a minute!" from the tone.

"Do you want to sit down?" Kofi asked Rocki quietly.

She shook her head. She still had a headache, and a backache, but she didn't know how to sit down with her new wings and didn't feel like trying to figure it out. I don't feel like doing anything. Honestly, a nap sounds like a vacation at this point. I should have slept on the ship.

After a few minutes, the adjoining door opened, welcoming in a female valicaran with a huge white-blond bun on top of her head that looked like it could fall out at any moment. "Narhan Faish!" She lowered her head and crossed her hands, tapping them twice on her chest. Her hair bun bobbed, leaning perilously over her downcast head.

They exchanged a few words, then the female looked over at Rocki with wide eyes. I guess I was introduced.

"Phyari," the blond said reverently, giving the same bow to me as she did to the other valicaran.

"This is one of our healers, Whilin," said the male. "She's one of the best we have. Unfortunately, she hasn't visited Earth yet, so her translator needs to download your language from Kofi's." He paused for a moment. "Actually, why don't we just give you a translator? That way you'll be able to speak with whomever." He spoke to Whilin, who nodded, then went through a door, different than the one she had come from.

Rocki stared at him. "Aren't your translators put inside of you?"

"Of course. How else would we get them to work?"

"I'm not letting you surgically add a piece of alien technology into my brain."

"It's a simple surgery. You'll only be asleep for a short time."

"No."

Kofi bumped her with his elbow. "Come on, Rocki. Don't you want to understand all the sweet things I say to you in Valicaran?"

She stepped away from him. "You don't say anything to me in Valicaran. Even if you did, I'm sure I wouldn't care to hear what you're going on about." She almost put her glasses back on her nose, but stayed her arm when she remembered her improved sight.

"Well, don't you want to learn more about the valicara? You'll be able to communicate with all of us, not just the few who have translators. Unless you want to depend entirely on me." He winked.

Rocki frowned. She didn't know what to say, so she just stared at him.

"I suppose we could see if any of the old portable models are workable," said the other valicaran. "Maybe you'll be willing to change your mind later. Whilin!" He started talking in Valicaran, probably cancelling the surgery. Hopefully.

"You didn't introduce yourself," said Rocki, eyeing the valicaran when he finished speaking.

"Neither did you," countered Kofi. She didn't bother with a response.

The other alien dipped his head. "I am Sovereign Faish'culmin'ophrant'hakien. I am the leader of the valicara."

Of course he is. Rocki grimaced, rubbing the sore spot under her eyebrow arch. "Roxanne Gentil. But you probably already knew that."

Faish shook his head. "We didn't know anything about you other than you had a sister and were a half breed. The prophecy is not very specific. I'm very sorry about your sister—we will do our best to get her away from the sariun."

A chasm opened in her gut. She hadn't forgotten her sister's plight, but so much had happened, it had been pushed to the back of her mind. "If you don't, I will." I don't know what exactly I'm going to do against an alien species on a foreign planet, but I'll figure something out. We have to rescue Aley.

Whilin entered the room, something in her hand. She spoke softly to Faish, passing the item to him.

"Here, this is an old model of our translators," said Faish, showing the gadget to Rocki. "Your hearing will be impaired in your right ear, but it will translate the words quickly enough to have decent conversation." It was smaller than she was expecting, just a little round piece. "It goes in your ear," Faish clarified.

Rocki fumbled, trying to get it to stay in her ear. It felt like it would be visible, blocking her ear canal from the outside.

"You've got to turn it on first, blue eyes," said Kofi with a laugh, taking it from her. "It will need to be recharged every night, so you'll have to get used to putting it in eventually." He tapped a button on it, then moved her hair slightly to put it in her ear himself.

Rocki didn't move while he gently pushed the device in. When he was done, she moved her head a little to make sure it wouldn't fall out, then looked at Faish. "Thank you."

"Of course, savioress," he said in Valicaran.

"It will also translate your words," said Kofi. "Just press the center button and say whatever language you want to translate to. Short touch translates, long touch turns the whole thing off."

"Now that you understand me, let's get you inspected," said Whilin with a smile.

Rocki nodded.

Kofi and Faish waited while Rocki and Whilin retreated to a smaller room. The healer checked out Rocki's wings and teeth, then gave her a general inspection to make sure she was still healthy.

"You're going to be sore for a few days," she concluded, "but you're fine."

"How did this happen?" Rocki asked. "I was pretty much a human until I came to Kliktal. Why the sudden change?" She flexed her wings cautiously, wincing when her muscles protested.

The healer shook her head. "I'm sorry, I don't know."

"What about ..." Rocki hesitated for a moment. I don't want her to know about the baby if she doesn't yet, but I have to know if he's okay. "What about my ..." She pressed a hand to her stomach, hoping the motion travelled across planets.

Whilin smiled slightly. Rocki noticed that her teeth were similar to human teeth, but without the sharper canines. They were all blunted, like herbivores. Perhaps everyone was vegetarian. "Your child is also healthy, thank Kliktal. We don't have many medical supplies since the sariun have control of the forests."

"All of them?" Rocki stood when Whilin gestured for her to follow.

"Yes. The sariun live in and control the forests and snow fields. The forests are where most herbs are grown, so we struggle to find what we need." Whilin led Rocki out of the examination room, through the waiting room, and into a third room without so much as a glance at Faish or Kofi. It looked like a ward—there were several injured valicara lying in the neatly arranged beds. "I want you to lie down for a few minutes with a cool cloth while I see if we have anything for your aches."

They had to cross the room to find an empty bed. The ones they passed were occupied by wounded valicara, many of them missing body parts. Rocki's heart sank looking over all the soldiers. This was the proof they were in a war—one they expected her and Aley to end.

What do they think we're going to do? We're humans, I mean half breeds, from Earth. We have no experience with war. We didn't even know about the valicara and sariun until today. She sat down when Whilin tapped an empty bed but caught the female's attention before she walked away.

"I'm not really ready to let anyone know I have a baby," she said in a low voice. "I haven't even told my family yet. So ... can we keep it between us?"

Whilin's eyebrows drew in over her dark eyes. "I—I think ..." she stammered for another moment before spitting out, "um, yes, I won't say anything." She shoved the wet cloth she had been holding into Rocki's hand before scurrying back to the other side of the room.

She probably doesn't want to keep anything from Sovereign Faish. I wonder if valicara can be trusted to keep their word? Rocki gently settled herself onto her back, useless glasses sat on her stomach, resting the chilled cloth over her eyes. The cool darkness alleviated her headache, so it felt more like a gentle rain inside her skull rather than a pounding thunderstorm.

It was nice to lie down for a few minutes, even if it was awkward lying on her wings. So much had happened in such a short amount of time. Rocki would have been content to fall asleep for a thousand years like Sleeping Beauty. Maybe then she would finally have some peace.