Trials of Conviction, page 2
She’d spent years yearning for the woman in front of her. Nights and days dreaming about their first meeting.
And this was how her egg donor described her. As nothing.
Elena felt her heart breaking. Cracking into tiny little pieces as her girlhood dreams shattered around her. It was one thing to refer to Elise as her egg donor in her head. Another entirely to hear her mother dismiss her so casually. It didn't matter that Elise had already warned her not to trust anything out of her mouth from here on out. Her words rang with a note of truth that Elena had a hard time denying. Elena really was nobody to her. That was certainly more believable than her egg donor’s claim of love.
Elena kept the pain those words caused off her face. Survive. That was the only thing she needed to do. Just survive.
Lothos's gaze remained locked on Elise's face, his expression considering. "Then it won't matter if we dispose of her."
"I considered that," Elise admitted. As if it wasn't her child's fate up for debate. "But she was seen in Kira's company on more than one occasion. She has ties to the Phoenix that we might be able to exploit."
"You want me to protect her." Lothos's face left no doubt as to how much he disliked that suggestion.
"You know how Kira is. She won't abandon a child she feels responsible for. She'll come for her. You can use that opportunity for your plan."
Lothos looked like he was considering. "It would be better to give her to the masters. They can vent their anger on her instead of you."
Elena's stomach curdled. Her breathing stuttered for a brief second before she caught herself, forcing it to resume a normal cadence.
She knew how bad that would be for her. She'd overheard Aunt Kira and Uncle Jin talking one night. They were two of the strongest people Elena knew. Anything that could put that amount of pain and fear in their voices was better off avoided at all costs.
"I disagree. We need the Phoenix's cooperation. If the child is harmed, she will not bargain," Elise said. "I can take anything the masters throw at me. The child can't say the same. She's far too weak to survive their anger."
Lothos narrowed his eyes at her. "You're not trying to hide something from me, are you?"
"Of course not," Elise answered lightly. "I learned my lesson the last time."
The moment dragged as Lothos stared. Suspicion forming behind his eyes.
Elena found herself holding her breath. What would she do if he realized Elise was lying? Fight? She'd die.
But maybe that would be better. Being ripped apart at the seams didn't sound like a bucket list item.
No. Survive. Those were Auntie's orders. Survive at all costs. No matter who you had to sacrifice or what you had to do.
Easier said than done.
An eternity later, Lothos seemed to come to a decision. "Very well. I'll believe you. For now."
Elise's face remained apathetic. As if it didn't matter to her whether or not Lothos believed her.
Lothos's gaze shifted to Elena. "Does she understand our language?"
"Of course not. She's Tuann. You know their kind. Only ever interested in their own matters."
Lothos's frown sent another jolt of adrenaline through Elena system. "Are you sure?"
Shit. He knew.
And Aunt Selene would have sent her to time out for using that word.
Elena fought the desire to flee, trying not to react outwardly in any way.
Pretend. Pretend.
Of course, a Tuann wouldn't know the Tsavitee language. They would have no reason to. They hadn't fought in a war against them. Even if they had, Elena doubted most would have taken the time to understand their enemy.
A human might have. A Haldeel scholar definitely would have. But not a Tuann, who were the very definition of arrogance.
If not for Elise's disguised warning, Elena would have already given herself away.
She couldn't help but be upset about that oversight. Only a few minutes in and she'd already endangered her cover. She needed to be better than this.
"If she knows a little, it's probably due to the Phoenix's influence. She was obsessed with studying the Tsavitee and everything about them," Elise answered, sounding bored.
The comment offered a way for Elena to "learn" the Tsavitee language faster than if she was newly exposed to it.
A door appeared in the same place it had earlier. A second general stepped inside, pausing at the sight of the dead mantis before continuing.
Possessing a smaller stature than Lothos, the newcomer still towered over Elise by nearly three feet. His horns weren't as impressive or as well developed as Lothos's, placing him lower than the other general in the hierarchy. His face was impassive as he stopped a few feet away, clasping his hands behind his back as he waited to be acknowledged.
"Speak," Lothos ordered.
"The masters are aware of her return and have asked for her presence."
Elise's chin lifted. There was a note of fear before it was gone.
"I can't protect you from this," Lothos informed her.
"I didn't ask you to."
Lothos sighed. "Do what you can to appease them and hurry back."
Elise sauntered toward the door. "You don't have to tell me that."
Her hands moved briefly. A bare flutter of movement that was hardly noticeable. Only someone who'd grown up learning the self-developed sign language of the forty three would have recognized the motions as something other than a nervous tick.
It was a message. A brief one.
"Beware."
That's all Elena got before the wall reformed.
"She's hiding something," the second general announced in Tsavitee.
"Probably."
"What do you want to do?"
"For now, we'll wait."
"The girl?"
Elena allowed fear to form on her face. They'd expect a scared little girl so that's exactly what she'd give them.
The fact she really was terrified made the deception easier.
"Throw her to the pits," Lothos said after a moment of consideration. "We'll see if she survives long enough to be worth protecting."
Two
Kira – Ta Sa’Riel
A storm was forming off the coast. A harbinger of things to come. The wind and waves set to reshape everything that had once been. Already, thin ribbons of clouds partially veiled the night sky. Infrequent pockets appearing to offer a glimpse of the vast expanse waiting beyond.
Such a big universe. So easy to get lost in.
That was where Kira needed to be. Searching for her niece and Jin. Not on a planet with a sky that matched Kira's mood. A little bit dark. A touch forbidding. With the promise of misfortune on the horizon.
How very apt, considering her current situation.
Kira focused on the glass's reflection, her uncle's solemn face appearing over her shoulder. The resemblance between them was uncanny. A product of Harlow being her father's twin. Had her father lived, he would have looked exactly like Harlow. Minus the scars. One that bisected his eyebrow, narrowly missing his eye to carve a jagged line down his cheek. Another that followed the line of his jaw.
Like Kira, Harlow's hair was a deep burgundy red. A color their family line was infamous for.
Their features carried a similar stamp, pointing to a shared heritage even without the signpost of their coloring.
Their eyes were where things diverged; Kira's a grayish purple that were inherited from her mother's side of the family. Depending on the light and her mood, they could appear more purple or closer to the gray of those storm clouds outside. Harlow's were the golden color of a raptor. And like that bird, they held a piercing intensity that always seemed to see right through her.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Harlow asked.
There was a sense of disconnection as she faced her uncle. His expression familiar and alien at the same time. It felt like she should be able to understand the emotions on his face, but for some reason everything felt out of sync. Like a barely heard melody that was missing the important notes.
Kira rubbed her chest, the pang there taking her off guard. "You said the emperor is a reasonable man. I'm choosing to believe those words."
Harlow caught the small movement, his shoulders rising and falling as he took a deep breath. "This situation is complicated. There's no guarantee he will agree to your proposal."
"He will."
Even if Kira had to use force to accomplish her objective.
Harlow schooled his features, but not before Kira caught the faint note of concern there.
He didn't agree with her course of action. Not entirely anyway. He thought she was being reckless. True, but Kira didn't know how to be any other way right now.
"Very well. If this is your wish," Harlow said, the sense of defeat in his voice puncturing the impenetrable shell she'd wrapped around herself. The wall that had been there since she'd awoken from her fugue state three days ago. The tiny pinprick it opened allowed her to push back the tide of numbness. Just a bit. Enough for his earlier expression to make sense.
Sorrow and regret. That's what she'd seen. How had she missed that?
"Uncle," Kira managed.
Her voice was faint. Almost inaudible but it spurred her to latch onto her connection with him. She used it to drag herself out of the morass she'd fallen into in the brief span of time she'd spent staring out the window.
How easy it had been to get lost. To descend into a state where the outside world didn't seem to matter.
It was a temporary reprieve from the grief that weighed on her. More likely to backfire than help.
Yes, the numbness offered a respite from the pain and guilt, but it also deadened her perception. It made it so she couldn't remember what was important. The people around her. Not just Jin and Elena but her uncle and all the others she'd need to get through this.
The funny part was that this wasn't her first time down this road. The last time she'd broken herself. Almost irreparably.
Harlow set a hand on her arm, the physical touch bolstering her. "I feel like I've failed you. I promised she'd be safe."
"We all failed that day. Not just you."
Her failure was what hurt the most. The innocent would pay the price for her ineptitude. That knowledge ate at her, but she wouldn't let it destroy her. Not again.
"That's why we're here, though, isn't it?" she asked, her gaze steady. "To correct our oversight."
By any means necessary.
"Just promise me one thing," Harlow said, pain on his face. "You'll come back at the end of this. To your House."
Kira didn't like making promises she couldn't keep. With where she was going and what she planned to do, there was no such thing as certainty. She was fully aware she might die in this endeavor.
Harlow was a man Kira respected. Moreover, he was family. One of only two blood relatives she knew of.
Lying, even as a way to give him hope, felt wrong.
"Don't worry so, Uncle. I've just started to live again. I won't jeopardize what I've gained."
Unless there was really no other alternative.
Harlow was no fool. He didn't need to hear that last part to understand that was where her head was at.
"Don't forget, niece. You're of Roake now. Call for us and we will answer."
His offer was a kindness. One she didn't know if she'd be able to bring herself to take advantage of.
"Do you ever fear your house may resent you for allowing me to drag them into my vendetta?"
It was what she was afraid of. That they'd come to hate her for the loss of lives. Tuann lived for a long time. Thousands of years if something didn't forcefully end their life. But they procreated extremely slowly. A single disastrous battle could wreak havoc on a House, taking centuries to recover from.
Technically speaking, the Tuann were never at war with the Tsavitee. Only a few in the emperor's court and some in the upper ranks of Roake's House knew about the presence behind the Tsavitee. A group responsible for enslaving the Tuann many thousands of years ago. The masters, as they were known. The rest of the Tuann had no clue. Some of the other Houses might suspect but most were in the dark. They'd wonder why they had to put their lives on the line for someone who could barely be considered one of them. A child stolen from them during an event the Tuann referred to as the Sorrowing.
As a result, Kira hadn't grown up Tuann. Until recently, she'd considered herself human. A product of clandestine gene experiments but homo sapiens nonetheless.
For that reason, she'd prefer not to drag House Roake into a war they didn't desire and one that would likely cost them considerably.
"You didn't start this war. The Tsavitee and their masters did when they attacked the adva ka. There are a lot of people who'd be grateful for a chance at vengeance. Remember that," Harlow instructed. "We're with you, niece. Never doubt it."
Kira's inhale was shaky as she gave him the nod he was expecting.
"That is why when you find them, you're not to go in alone. You will call us," Harlow pressed.
She nodded again. "Alright."
The tense set of Harlow's features eased. He gave her a firm nod before turning toward the waiting double doors that were guarded by a pair of the emperor's oshota. Kira took her place at his side as a sign of her status as Harlow's heir.
"I promise to do everything in my power to make it back," Kira said softly as Harlow signaled to the oshota that they were ready to enter.
Harlow gave no sign of hearing as he stepped inside, leaving Kira to follow. She was careful to keep her expression blank as she took in the room's occupants.
The Overlords of almost every major House were present along with representatives of influential minor Houses. Interspersed among their ranks were those in the matte black synth armor that designated them as the emperor's people.
To her surprise, only one of the emperor's Faces, those individuals bestowed with the emperor's authority, was in attendance. Disappointment moved through Kira at the realization that the Face she most expected to see was missing. His absence an unexpected blow that threatened the delicate balance she'd struck with herself.
She'd seen Graydon only once since he’d come out of his coma. An all-too-brief meeting that had done little to reassure her as to his health. Little was known about the side effects a sleeper, the Tsavitee weapon Elise had used on him to render him unconscious, would have on a Tuann. It could be she was worrying for nothing.
Then again, it wasn't like Graydon to be absent for something as important as this.
Kira sent her uncle an uncertain look, hoping he wasn't hiding something from her. Though could she really blame him after everything she'd just put him through? Her own fugue state and its aftermath.
"House Roake, it's good of you to join us after all this time. We've missed you during these proceedings," the Overlord of House Asanth drawled.
The man's size rivaled most of those in the room. It wasn't fat either. Just pure muscle mass stretched over a giant's body.
Tiny scars ran down the side of his neck and along a portion of his jaw. A sign that at some point in this man's life he'd come very close to dying. A chunk was missing from the tip of one ear. The way it had healed, jagged and covered in scar tissue, was very different from Kira's which had been docked in a surgical procedure to allow her to blend in better with humans.
The Overlord didn't wait for Harlow's response, his gaze locked on Kira. "Oh look, you've brought your heir. How fortuitous." The Overlord made a show of searching the air over Kira's shoulder. "No soul bound today? I thought he was your constant companion."
Kira didn't react to the provocation. No one except her, Harlow, and a very trusted few knew about Jin's absence.
"Considering his last encounter with the Tuann almost led to his execution, I thought it best he sit this one out." Kira swept a meaningful gaze over those assembled, most of whom had been present during the trial to decide Jin's fate.
As the first soul bound discovered in recent memory, the Tuann had been understandably perturbed when they'd found one in their midst. The soul bound had always been considered abominations. Monsters that went against the natural order of the universe, thought to only be capable of madness and bloodshed.
They were what happened when you took the soul of a living creature and bound it to a creation of metal and circuitry.
Jin proved an exception to the truths that had defined them for so long. Soul bound but with his mind and empathy intact.
Kira glanced at the only Tuann present not wearing the synth armor that marked them as oshota. The emperor's Face of Justice, a man who didn't need a weapon or armor to be considered dangerous.
There was a tiny wrinkle on Eurus's brow as he regarded Kira. His shoulder length red hair was the only splash of color in his otherwise monochromatic pallet. His high collared, formal black jacket and white shirt made his already pale skin look even paler.
All he needed was a set of fangs and blood dribbling out of the corner of his mouth to be a dead ringer for the vampires of myth. He'd even managed to nail their haughtiness. A bone deep arrogance exuded from him that seemed to say that these proceedings weren’t worth his effort.
"No need to fret." Asanth leaned back in his chair. "We're more interested to hear of what became of the rest of the children taken during the Sorrowing."
Kira glanced at Harlow.
"The other three disappeared after the trial," Harlow informed her.
Asanth stretched, making himself comfortable. "Courtesy of that interesting fella, no doubt. What was his name again?"
"Pallas."
"Ah, yes. Pallas. You wouldn't happen to know where they went, would you?"
"No."
If Selene, Alexander and Pallas were gone, it meant the forty three had been apprised of the situation. They'd know about Elise and Elena. Not Jin though. He'd been very careful when he slipped into his lu-ong spawn. They probably wouldn't realize the significance of the J1N collapsing immediately after.
Kira didn't want to think her siblings would leak that information to the Tsavitee, but you never knew. She'd gotten this far by being paranoid.
