Facets of Revolution, page 26
What a terrifying thought. An army of mini-Jin’s running around Ta Sa’Riel creating who knew what sort of havoc.
“You have a problem,” Kira informed him as she rose from her chair.
“What?”
She shook her head at him as Finn reappeared at her side like a ghost. “You need help.”
Jin trailed after them as they headed inside the café.
“I’m procreating. Isn’t that what people our age do?” Jin complained.
There was a long-suffering expression on Finn’s face as he stared at Jin.
“That’s not what that is called,” Kira informed Jin as they reached a set of stairs, leading down into an alley that would allow them to depart without attracting attention.
“What would you call it then? I created more of my progeny. That fits the definition of procreating.”
“That’s not—“ Kira shook her head as she trailed off.
She wasn’t going to win this argument. She could already tell.
“Let’s get out of here,” Kira told Finn.
“Are you sure there aren’t any other dangerous situations you want to throw yourself into?” Finn asked with a touch of sarcasm.
Kira’s smile spread across her face. “Don’t tempt me or I might do exactly that.”
She was sure there was plenty of opportunity for someone who looked hard enough.
Leaving the café, Kira wasn’t quite ready to return to Roake’s fortress and the expectations waiting for her there, instead preferring to wander the city in the company of the other two.
Jin’s delight rang through their bond as he swooped and dove to examine anything that caught his interest. Kira trailed behind him; her hands tucked in her pocket.
It hadn’t dawned on her until just now how long it had been since they had enjoyed such simple pleasures. Meandering aimlessly. Without destination or agenda. Not worrying about when their enemies would strike next.
Just the feel of the sea breeze on her face and the waning light of the sun as it began its descent.
Though the streets were a little more crowded than the last time she’d traveled these paths with Graydon, it didn’t take away from her enjoyment.
The day’s shadows were beginning to lengthen by the time Kira made her way toward the fortress, her body tired but her soul exuding with contentment.
Luckily, they encountered no further incidents as they walked through the city, and by the time the exterior walls that guarded the fortress came into view, most of Finn’s antagonism had eased.
His relaxation didn’t last long as he spotted Graydon and several of his oshota waiting for Kira in front of the walls of the fortress. A tension entered his body as his guard immediately slammed up.
Finn slowed. “I think news of your escapades has spread.”
“The Tuann are as gossipy as a bunch of human teenagers,” Jin grumbled.
Kira made a face that said she agreed. They were as bad as the space force where gossip had a way of taking on a life of its own.
“I suppose we should see what he wants,” Kira started toward Graydon.
Solal and Amila stood at his back. She found Isla and Baran not far away. Amila acknowledged her with a wry smile before her expression returned to its typical blankness.
“Fancy meeting you here,” Kira said in lieu of a greeting.
Graydon leveled a look on her. “You’re lucky your uncle chose to send me and not someone else.”
“I suppose that means he knows.”
Lovely.
Graydon suppressed a smile. “It’s hard not to when Kashori’s heir shows up on his doorstep demanding an audience with you.”
“Please tell me you’re kidding.”
“I wish I could. They showed up not long before you did.”
Kira cursed silently to herself. “Fucking tattletales.”
A doorway formed in the wall, the stones parting to allow Kira and her companions through.
It was one of many defenses embedded into the fortress’s design and quite the clever one.
It was more difficult for enemies to invade if they constantly found their way obstructed by unrelenting wall and impassible rock. While the sturdy walls wouldn’t stand up to anyone truly determined to get inside, they would create enough of a barrier to slow the enemy down long enough for those within to mount a defense.
Of course, all the hidden doorways and defenses in the world wouldn’t protect you if the enemy was on the inside already.
“Harlow was most interested to hear how your oshota was nowhere in sight,” Graydon remarked as he prowled at Kira’s side.
Finn grunted; his expression unaffected.
Trust Graydon to poke her oshota’s sore spot right when he’d finally recovered some of his mood.
“And he sent you to summon me home?” Kira asked, casting him an arch look.
Graydon’s smile was easy. “He didn’t have to. I volunteered.”
Kira doubted he’d made that offer out of the goodness of his heart.
“Afraid I can’t handle the pampered heir of another House?”
Graydon’s head dipped, his lips hovering a centimeter from her own.
Kira’s eyes darted to them. As always, the banked desire she had for him was quick to rise, tempting her to close that minuscule distance.
Her lips tingled with the knowledge of what he would taste like. The way he would feel against her.
“Coli, you’re never the one I worry about,“ he whispered, his lips brushing hers before he withdrew. There was a wicked look in Graydon’s eyes that said he’d had fun toying with her.
Kira cleared her throat, forcing herself to return to the subject at hand.
“I assume the emperor would prefer I not humiliate one of his loyal subjects and start a House feud.”
The warm weight of Graydon’s palm landed on the small of Kira’s back, sending a jolt of awareness through her as he guided her forward. “I’m sure your uncle would prefer that as well.”
Kira snorted. “Then perhaps he should stop trying to make me Roake’s heir.”
“I think you would make a fine Overlord.” Graydon had a way of smiling without ever moving his lips. The grooves around his eyes deepening as warmth entered them.
If she didn’t love seeing that expression on his face so much, she’d be tempted to kick him.
They entered the fortress’s inner courtyard, the door sealing behind them.
There was a minimalistic beauty to the Fortress of the Vigilant that Kira had always appreciated. It stood stalwart and tall. Its walls built from a stone that seemed to absorb the light. Tall spires stabbed the sky’s underbelly, an austere monument to the stoic warriors who called this place home. The towers merged into one another. A self-contained city in its own right.
Kira crossed the courtyard, avoiding the exterior buttresses.
House Roake wasn’t what you’d call welcoming. They viewed strangers as hostiles who hadn’t yet declared themselves as enemies.
It was why Kira found it extremely unlikely that Harlow would allow their guests to step foot within the fortress’s walls.
That left one place for Kashori to cool their heels while awaiting Kira’s arrival. The formal entrance for the fortress.
Technically speaking it wasn’t inside the fortress itself but rather just outside. Part of the same raised bridge that extended all the way to the Shining Palace.
It didn’t take long for Kira and Graydon to reach the impractical, if intimidating, archway that framed the massive stone doors that acted as the fortress’s formal entrance. The doors were carved with the crest of House Roake. A lu-ong, fringe flared as it guarded a blue stone that acted as the handles for both doors.
Harlow stood in front of them, his face an impassive mask. Every inch the Overlord, despite the synth armor he wore being no different than the oshota flanking him on either side.
No one would ever mistake him as anything but what he was. The ruler within these walls.
Beside him, Wren was an aloof presence. Unflappable and stoic as he stared down the trio from Kashori.
It was easy to identify the two oshota as the ones Selene threw off the balcony.
They hovered protectively in front of the third, a woman a few years younger than Kira. Her hair was a reddish gold, hanging loose except for a single section near the front that had been woven around a strand of leather into a thin braid.
Kashori’s heir, Kira assumed.
She certainly looked the part. Her clothes were made from ethieri, a material Kira recognized since her own garments contained it.
Clothes made from the pricey fabric contained anti-ballistic properties able to stop most forms of small weapon fire. It also had a climate control function that ensured the wearer became neither too hot nor too cold in most environments.
“This is going to be a pain,” Kira said.
“Indeed, it is, but avoidance never fixed anything, Nixxy Poo.”
Jin evaded Kira’s swat, darting away to find a hiding spot among the shadowed recesses of the fortress before anyone could see him.
Before Kira could avoid it, Harlow and the rest looked in her direction, cutting off Kira’s last opportunity to hide and hope this all went away.
With a feeling of resignation, Kira trudged forward.
“Regretting anything yet?” Graydon asked.
“Hush, you,” Kira told him, lifting her chin as she joined Harlow and the rest.
“Niece,” Harlow said in greeting.
Kira was proud when her response contained only a little awkwardness. “Uncle.”
“I’m glad to see you found your way.”
Kira glanced up at the mountain beside her. “How could I not when you send such an insistent guide?”
Graydon’s lips tilted up on the ends before he focused on Kira’s unwelcome guests all of whom seemed more than a little surprised at his presence.
Edris’s expression was carefully blank as he stared at the emperor’s Face. Boden, on the other hand, seemed almost disconcerted, eyeing Graydon like he was some zoo animal who’d just sat up and talked.
The woman at their center was the least affected, more interested in Kira than why the emperor’s Face would be in her company.
Kira’s expression remained bland, giving them no hint as to the reasons behind Graydon’s presence.
Mostly because she didn’t understand it either.
“Our guests have been filling my ears with such interesting stories,” Harlow drawled.
“Is that right?”
“Indeed.” There was a wry curve to Harlow’s smile. “I found several parts most fascinating and am looking forward to discussing the details with you later.”
Kira was betting she wouldn’t enjoy that conversation or the repercussions that came from it.
There was a subtle amusement in Harlow’s gaze that disappeared almost as quickly as it had come as he focused on their guests.
“House Kashori has grown bold since the last time I dealt with them,” Harlow said in a pleasant-sounding voice that was still vaguely threatening. “To think their heir would make demands of an Overlord.”
The woman maintained her calm as she sent Harlow a respectful bow. “It was not my intention to make demands.”
“Whether it was or not, that is exactly what you’ve done.”
There was an air of disapproval in Harlow’s words that made those in front of him stiffen.
The woman’s face showed alarm as her head lifted. “No—“
The pressure in the air dropped as fury settled on Harlow’s face.
“You’ve arrived at the gates of my fortress, a place used for centuries to declare vendettas, then insist I call forth my niece. Do you expect me to stand idly by while you challenge her to a duel?” Harlow’s voice had grown to a thunderous roar by the end of his statement. “Has Kashori grown so fat and bloated that they’ve forgotten how Roake earned our name?”
Boden placed one hand protectively in front of the woman, keeping his gaze on Harlow as a precaution. “You’re mistaken about our purpose here.”
Kira had to give it to the woman. She was brave in the face of Harlow’s wrath. Even Kira felt the hot splash of his anger, lapping at the periphery of her senses.
In the same position, Kira wasn’t sure she would have risked poking the beast further.
Who was she kidding? She probably would have taken a giant stick and whacked him on the head with it.
“Oh?” Harlow said in a silky voice that managed to sound scarier than the shout of before. “Then enlighten me—why have you come here?”
“To apologize,” the woman burst out, ignoring the way Boden tried to stop her as her gaze found Kira. “That’s why we’re here. To atone for attacking you.”
The air went electric.
Ki manifested around Harlow, a rare phenomenon that Kira had experienced a handful of times. It coiled around him, snapping and crackling as the pressure in the atmosphere dropped.
Storm clouds roiled above the fortress. Thunder cracked.
A monster looked out of Harlow’s eyes. “Tell me again. You did what to my niece?”
seventeen
Kira shook her head. Poor fools.
“I guess when you were telling stories you forgot that part,” Kira drawled, forcing herself not to flinch as the heat of Harlow’s anger threatened to spill onto her when he glanced at her.
Was this what others felt when she lost her temper?
The tightness in the chest and the crushing knowledge that a single wrong move could be their end?
Kira breathed through the overwhelming power.
Movement from one of the windows above caught her attention as Elena was pulled back into the fortress by Raider.
He sent her a hand signal that said, “I’ve got your back.”
It was unnecessary. Partly because Harlow wouldn’t hurt her. Mostly because Raider stood no chance against the Overlord.
He might slow him down but that was about it.
Jin had the same thought as Raider, shifting to a lower altitude so he could act if the situation deteriorated.
“You threatened my niece.” Harlow’s voice had developed an animal-like growl that sent chills down Kira’s back.
It was hard to believe Harlow lacked a primus.
The menace he was projecting was the same type Kira had in the moments leading to the primus assuming supremacy.
Kira wouldn’t be surprised if in the next second symbols started scrolling across his skin as a monster tore forth.
Almost unconsciously, Kira slowed her breathing. As if by doing so, she could reduce her sense of presence.
Jin slipped closer, careful to stay in Harlow’s blind spot.
Kira glanced to her left and then her right, carefully cataloging everything nearby as she considered her options for defusing the situation.
What kind of idiots delivered themselves up on a platter like this? If she got injured saving them, she was going to be pissed.
Boden touched his chest, looking vaguely insulted. “I would never threaten a child.”
All thought of interfering on their behalf vanished as Graydon choked on a laugh.
“It is amazing how insulting a Tuann can be without even trying,” Kira said with a glare.
In this situation you’d think they’d be trying to get her on their side. Not making her angrier.
The writhing mass of power that had surrounded Harlow abated, vanishing beneath his skin as the storm clouds above dissipated.
“It’s probably a genetic trait.” Jin’s voice came from overhead as he moved out of the shadows to join them. “You have the same ability to send others into a rage by simply being yourself.”
Kira ignored Finn’s nod of agreement and Graydon’s chuckle as she pointed to Boden and Edris, catching them in the act of reaching for their en-blades.
“Don’t even think about it,” she warned. “I’m less gentle than Selene. I won’t simply knock you off a balcony.”
Not to mention it was the height of stupidity to draw those blades while standing on Roake’s doorstep and in the presence of the Overlord.
Already, she could feel the change in air pressure around Harlow as he fixed his gaze on the three from Kashori.
“I think I’m beginning to understand what happened.” Graydon’s gaze lingered on Jin. “You were somewhere you weren’t supposed to be, weren’t you? What happened to behaving yourself?”
Jin made a disdainful sound. “Did you really think that would last?”
Graydon’s eyes narrowed. “Be careful, drone. Your fate affects hers.”
The rebuke caused Jin to fall silent as the woman stepped forward.
“I apologize for the confusion. I only hoped for a chance to talk to you,” she said with an earnestness that Kira found off putting.
Others had looked at her with that same type of gaze. Tuann who hoped Kira’s survival meant their own children had too.
Kira shook her head at the woman. “No, you didn’t. You wanted Selene, but since she’s under the protection of the emperor, you settled for me.”
It was why they’d tracked Selene to that plaza. Once she was inside the palace, she was untouchable.
That left Kira as their sole avenue for the answers they sought.
To Kira’s side, Harlow’s anger was banked. For now, he seemed content to let Kira direct the flow of conversation. An unspoken sign of support that she suspected these three would carry back to their House.
Likely before nightfall, Kashori along with all of their allies would know Roake’s new heir had the acknowledgement of her Overlord—exactly as Harlow intended.
“What’s your name?” Kira asked, fighting the headache that wanted to spawn.
“Tinsley.”
“Why are you really here?” Kira lifted a hand when the other woman started to respond. “Don’t say it’s to apologize either. We both know your oshota acted according to their training.”
It wasn’t something that required an apology and everybody standing here understood that.
“That’s not true. We are here to offer an apology for offending you,” Tinsley said with a stubbornness that was a little unexpected.
