He hung his head, and colored with
shame.
'I'm sorry. I don't understand these things..... I am a wild,
foolish man. But when you touched my woman---'
He looked up quickly, to find his worst fears confirmed. Sylviana had
winced at being called his woman. He felt a part of himself dying.
Perhaps he overreacted, but it was what he truly felt.
'I am a fool. I will leave you.' But a firm voice broke him off,
that of Kataya, the Oriental.
'NO,' she said. 'Don't ever apologize for who and what you
are. Ever.' He looked up to see her standing. 'Commander
Stenmark, and Sylviana, too, must share the blame for this.' There
was a note of reproach in her voice, though she had not intended it.
'You reacted in the way your world has taught you, a world that none
of us can know, and in which there is no shame. You are welcome among
us, and you will stay.'
There was an awkward silence. Then the Commander, who was in fact their
leader, remembered himself and spoke reassuringly, voicing perhaps the
sentiments of all.
'She's right, young man. God help us, she's always right.'
With this the tension faded. The doctor, who to this point had been
lenient with his patient, now called her visit to an end.
'You, young lady,' he said in paternal tones, 'Are supposed to
be in bed.
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