"I suppose so," she agrees, with one of those slight smiles that looks almost but not quite abashed. Homesickness is certainly to be expected... although assuming might be unwise in that case, too. Perhaps there are some here who, for one reason or another, don't miss their home at all.
Stahma remembers what he had told her before, about the nomadic nature of his race, but that hardly means he himself has no place that he thinks of as home. Home isn't restricted to planets or worlds. What he tells her next, though — she tilts her head slightly, listening with interest. His particular situation is not one that she has experience with, but command of a group, an organization... that she knows, even if only through watching her husband with his employees in the Tarr family business. In Castithan society, the authority of command usually comes through right of birth, rather than being earned — one's caste determines the opportunities available. Having seen Datak carve out his own power and position — with her help, though she knows he convinces himself that he deserves most of the credit — has shown Stahma that there are, however, more routes to power and prestige than just being born to it. Gaining a command through illicit means... well, perhaps she wouldn't disapprove as much as one might imagine.
"I would imagine so," she says. There's a moment, the briefest hesitation, and then she adds, "Is it a matter of trust?"
Perhaps too personal a question, but she asks it anyway, and doesn't shy away from meeting his gaze. If it were her husband, separated from his men, she knows he would worry that one of them would replace him and he would have to fight to regain his position if he had the chance to return. But perhaps that is only the Castithan way. She doesn't know how things differ with this man, who is not of her people.
no subject
Stahma remembers what he had told her before, about the nomadic nature of his race, but that hardly means he himself has no place that he thinks of as home. Home isn't restricted to planets or worlds. What he tells her next, though — she tilts her head slightly, listening with interest. His particular situation is not one that she has experience with, but command of a group, an organization... that she knows, even if only through watching her husband with his employees in the Tarr family business. In Castithan society, the authority of command usually comes through right of birth, rather than being earned — one's caste determines the opportunities available. Having seen Datak carve out his own power and position — with her help, though she knows he convinces himself that he deserves most of the credit — has shown Stahma that there are, however, more routes to power and prestige than just being born to it. Gaining a command through illicit means... well, perhaps she wouldn't disapprove as much as one might imagine.
"I would imagine so," she says. There's a moment, the briefest hesitation, and then she adds, "Is it a matter of trust?"
Perhaps too personal a question, but she asks it anyway, and doesn't shy away from meeting his gaze. If it were her husband, separated from his men, she knows he would worry that one of them would replace him and he would have to fight to regain his position if he had the chance to return. But perhaps that is only the Castithan way. She doesn't know how things differ with this man, who is not of her people.