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This snippet is from the second edition of Daughters of Suralia (Book 2 of the Tales of Tolari Space). The award-winning first book in the series, The Maraan, is also available from Sky Warrior Books. 

     The letter came in the morning, enclosed in an
envelope of
rough paper, hand-folded, smelling of something like cinnamon and
tied with a strip
of cloth the same green as the Paran’s robe. A slender, willowy
woman in brown
handed it to Laura at the high table.

     Laura laid it on the table in front of her,
unopened, and
ran a finger along one edge. The envelope bore a subtle empathic
resonance,
like a vibration. It had exchanged hands before it reached her,
not many times,
but a few. The strongest resonance on the outside of the letter
matched the
woman who now walked away toward the tables of food near the
kitchens. The
inside—

     Marianne’s voice burst through her thoughts.
“Aren’t you
going to open it? It’s not every day you get an actual, physical
letter on any planet.”

     Laura looked up. Every eye at the table watched
her. Even
Cena and Storaas, who sat side-by-side next to Thela, had stopped
feeding each
other to stare.

     
“Um,” she said, which would disappoint her
long-ago
deportment tutor, but the woman had never covered Proper Behavior expected of a Widow upon receiving a
Letter from her
Lover during Breakfast. She scooted her chair back. “I think
I’ll read this
in my quarters.”

More about Daughters of Suralia:

Three women, two planets, and a whale.

Meanwhile, the Sural’s apothecary is a serene and
gifted healer who knows what – and who – she wants. Circumstances have
conspired to deny her the man she’s always loved, but in the pursuit of his
heart, she has an unexpected ally – in the depths of Tolar’s oceans.

Cover by Laura Shinn