Her gaze stumbled on a familiar face at the other end of the hall, and she gasped. She took in the familiar dress and coloring of the men around her, startled to realize she did know where she was.
"Mansr!" she cried, tears filling her eyes again.
A look of astonishment crossed his face as he turned. She raced forward through the men, not caring what they thought, and flung herself into Mansr's arms with enough force to drive him back a step.
He grunted and started to take her arms to pry her away. She shoved his hands away, clinging to him. He relented and spoke, his words garbled. She squeezed her eyes closed, not caring what he said and suspecting he was lecturing her on how not to behave in public. He wrapped one arm around her and touched her ear with his other hand, depositing a translator there.
"Nishani," he chided.
"No!" she almost shouted, pulling away to glare at him with tear-filled eyes. "Don't tell me what to do! I just had the most horrifying day of my life! I almost died a million times over, and if I didn't know how to enable the shields on the escape pod, I would have burned up in the atmosphere, and if that didn't kill me, then hitting the planet-- "
He held up a hand, planting it across her mouth when she refused to stop.
"I cannot understand you when you speak so quickly, nishani," he said, warmth crossing his dark eyes. "Calm down."
She hugged him, and he grunted.
"You want to meet the man who rescued you?"
She wiped her eyes and turned without releasing him.
"This is my son and the cousin of the dhjan, Leyon."
Leyon was wiry and tall, his whip-like body unlike A'Ran's, who was far thicker. His features, however, were similar, his eyes identical.
"It is my duty, nishani," he replied. He looked hard at Mansr, who chuckled.
"Nishani, if you'll let me go," Mansr said, "I'll take you somewhere to rest."
She released him reluctantly. He took her arm and led her through the crowd into the night. Leyon followed, and Mansr took her into a small dwelling on the mountain. He led her to a bench in the middle of the house and glanced at an awaiting servant, who darted away. She crossed her arms.
"Can you call A'Ran and tell him where I am?" she asked.
"I will," Mansr said, sitting down across from her.