"I didn't do anything. It was my family." Lisaan breathed slowly, as though trying hard to control her emotions. "They sold me to pay off their debts. I was never wanted. You see… my mother was a Littan, my father a Kourwine. They weren't married and my mother died when I was born. My father… was denied claiming me. It wasn't out of any love or care for me that my mother's parents raised me. According to Littan laws, when a Littan woman dies in childbirth, if any children live, their upbringing is to be done by the mother's parents. Things got bad for my grandparents… they sold me to pay off their debts."
She held the back of her hand for Damian to see the contract seal that was tattooed there. "I was never wanted…" Lisaan trailed off, then added under her breath, "I like how they couldn't give me to my father by law … but they could sell me."
Damian blinked. "I … see." He murmured slowly. Damian didn't hear stories like this very often, or even at all. His own people did not allow such exchanges of children to pay off debts. They heavily frowned upon it.
"I'm sorry." Lisaan sighed, wondering if she might have unloaded too much on Damian. She was desperate for anyone to listen to her. "I don't know if you care or not, but I have to tell someone what they're going to do with me. I will kill myself the first chance I get if I go back."
"Don't talk like that, Lissan," Damian was quick to respond. "One should not see their own death as the only way out of a problem. You just had to tell someone about it until you're listened to." Suddenly, he felt responsibility to act on what he had heard. It was probably a good thing that Damian normally did not stand still long enough to listen to most people … otherwise he would have a ship of aliens with heart rending stories. "I won't let Riley send you back." He patted Lisaan's knee comfortingly and gave her a slight encouraging smile. "I promise."
