"You're what you are, and I'm what I was raised to be." Anwei smiled lopsidedly - these days that made the whole side of her face slice open, skin hanging loose. She raised her pitch and spoke in the reedy whisper that was her best imitation of her mothers: "You are a Daughter of the White Line, of the rulers of the Living People, and it is beneath your dignity to eat anything but sentient meat! She coughed, then continued in her normal voice, "It's just this stupid Earth culture that everyone here decided to follow. Lots of sentients eat their dead, 'stead of burning them or letting them rot."

She had tried not being a horrible person. That landed her here. And none of their efforts to reverse Karis' curse had worked out.

The hibachi was hot, and she fished out the skewers. Everything here would have to be sterilized once they were done, of course; too many people with talents on board, who could see a clump of ash and read its DNA. "You want yours warmed, cooked, or charred?"