Inara was bored, so bored of the daily routine of teaching and it had only been six months. There was a time when she had loved it, the way the girls’ faces lit up in their eagerness to learn. But it held no thrill anymore and she could not believe this was all her life was to be now. She put the brush down roughly, annoyed with herself again, annoyed because there was only one place that she had the kind of thrills she missed – on Serenity . There was a soft knock at her door.

“ Ching jin .” It was Sheydra. Like Inara she had tried going solo in the border worlds, but had also fled back on Sihnon. Although fled was maybe too strong a word, Sheydra had been onboard a vessel like Inara, but after she had left them to service a client they had been hit by Reavers. She had been with them for more than two years and it had struck her a hard and upsetting blow. After that, she too returned to the Training House to try to escape the grief.

“Evening, Inara. How are you? I haven’t seen you all day.” Like many Companions, Sheydra was graceful both in appearance and stature. Inara held out her hand indicating that she should sit down before getting up to prepare some tea. It was a ritual they did for each other almost on a daily basis.

“One of my classes was cancelled, so I came back here,” she replied. Inara had no secrets from her friend and so could not hide her obvious blue mood.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Sheydra asked, giving her a penetrating look. Inara smiled, knowing that to a fellow Companion, there was no chance of hiding things.

“I’m feeling guilty for being so bored.” Sheydra laughed softly and then took the preferred cup of tea from Inara. It was an unusual blend of lemon and mint that was interesting, but not her favourite. Sheydra loved strong Russian tea that could stand up on its own.

“Still missing the exciting life of the Border Planets?” Inara sat down again with her own cup and took a sip. She looked at Sheydra over its rim.

“The truth is I just don’t