'If my neighbor is insulted by me following the basic rule of fair contract and explaining it is a cultural difference then we were never going to be good neighbors. I've heard this advice before, Erin. Conform. Assimilate. Stop being who you are and valuing what you value. But I'm a Tradeliner. That evil djinn couldn't take that away from me, nor could the torturers in the village, and my friends won't do it either. I'm a Tradeliner on my ship, on every planet, every station - even in your Rome. That won't change. You might as well have brought me a plate of meat and told me eat up, it's what everyone else does.'
She looks at Erin directly now, intensely. 'I intend to prosper here. But I'll do it as myself, living by my Code, regardless of what anyone else thinks of it or of me. I'll stay here as long as I must, and then someday I'll get home.'
Tayrey's not going to talk about what happened on the ship because she doesn't trust herself to, doesn't trust herself not to crumble and break down if anyone so much as hints that they think she deserved any of those horrors. There are walls that need rebuilding first. Someday she'll be strong again.
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'If my neighbor is insulted by me following the basic rule of fair contract and explaining it is a cultural difference then we were never going to be good neighbors. I've heard this advice before, Erin. Conform. Assimilate. Stop being who you are and valuing what you value. But I'm a Tradeliner. That evil djinn couldn't take that away from me, nor could the torturers in the village, and my friends won't do it either. I'm a Tradeliner on my ship, on every planet, every station - even in your Rome. That won't change. You might as well have brought me a plate of meat and told me eat up, it's what everyone else does.'
She looks at Erin directly now, intensely. 'I intend to prosper here. But I'll do it as myself, living by my Code, regardless of what anyone else thinks of it or of me. I'll stay here as long as I must, and then someday I'll get home.'
Tayrey's not going to talk about what happened on the ship because she doesn't trust herself to, doesn't trust herself not to crumble and break down if anyone so much as hints that they think she deserved any of those horrors. There are walls that need rebuilding first. Someday she'll be strong again.