"After you left," Liiza announced, stopping to gulp down a mouthful of booze, "I tried to follow the Niqols' ways. I wasn't an outcast anymore, and Azni insisted. In a way, it was proper."
Khan didn't know how to feel about that revelation. Part of him had guessed as much, especially due to the emotional blow the separation had inflicted on him and Liiza. That was the Niqols' way, and Liiza had been a proper Niqols by then.
"I kicked, screamed, and cried," Liiza continued, her eyes still on the universe above. "I probably traumatized that poor boy. I just couldn't do it."
Khan wanted to glance at Liiza, but the memories that rose through his mind prevented him from doing so. It hadn't been as immediate, but he had done the same on Ecoruta.
"By the way," Liiza added. "Azni is fine. She and Doku married and had two terrifyingly cute kids."
