Facets of Revolution, page 48
Kira’s only regret was that she didn’t get a chance to make any of those memories with them.
The sight of a bassinet in the corner stopped her in her tracks. Other items intended for babies were arranged neatly around the bassinet. A bookcase with toys already put in their homes. Play stations with soft rugs meant for a baby’s knees.
Above the bassinet was the Tuann version of a mobile. Lu-ong swam together, rotating through various poses when Kira pushed the mobile. Light caught their scales, creating a shimmering pattern that would probably have left a baby enthralled.
It took a lot of time and effort for the artisan who had carved this. Care and love were embedded in every inch of the mobile, showing the level of thought they’d put into this area.
Kira hovered over the bassinet, staring at the tiny blanket crumpled inside. Hesitant, she reached for it, picking it up to stroke the material. It was soft except for the slightly raised ridges along one corner.
Embroidery, she found as she investigated further, tracing the lines someone had stitched into the blanket.
Whoever had done them had struggled. The lines slightly wobbling and the pattern a little crooked.
Her fingers encountered a round object that gave slightly under her touch.
A hologram formed over the bassinet. Her mother leaned over something in her hand, the blanket Kira held, her face full of love as she pulled a needle free of the fabric.
“Are you working on that again?” a man teased from out of sight.
Harding moved into view, dropping a kiss onto Liliana’s head as he gently touched her round stomach.
“Don’t tell me you’re recording again.”
Harding flashed her a grin that was a replica of Kira’s own, unaffected by the faint note of rebuke. “I want our child to know she is loved.”
Liliana rolled her eyes. “How will she ever forget with how much you are sure to spoil her?”
Harding leaned one hip on Liliana’s chair, his arm sliding behind her as he touched the embroidery. “No more than you, my heart. It’s a fine name you’ve picked for our daughter.”
“Do you think she’ll like it?”
So much love shone from Harding’s face as he leaned forward to kiss his wife. “She couldn’t ask for a better one.”
The hologram stopped. Liliana and Harding’s foreheads pressed together as they looked down at Liliana’s handiwork.
“I still don’t know what name they gave me.” Kira held up the blanket. “I can’t read Tuann.”
In the last months she’d learned to speak it fluently, but she hadn’t quite progressed to the level of reading. Jin had always been there for that.
Harlow joined her beside the bassinet, his hand finding its way to the blanket. “That’s an easy thing to fix.”
Kira nodded, swallowing down her grief.
Nearly a hundred years but she could still feel the hole Harding and Liliana had left. If that didn’t say all she needed to know about how amazing these two people had been, she didn’t know what would.
“It’s ironic then that I may not get the chance,” Kira confessed.
Who knew what tomorrow would bring or if she’d even be alive to see it?
Kira set the blanket down, smoothing it flat as she straightened. “I’m not sure I’m going to be able to be the person you need me to be.”
Roake’s heir. Harding’s daughter.
Wasn’t it strange? Kira had spent so much time fighting Roake’s hold over her and now she didn’t want to go.
She would have given a lot to stay—but not Jin.
He was her line in the sand. Ancient Greeks would have labeled him her soul mate. Not in the romantic sense, of course. Once, the word soul mate had quite literally meant, the other half of a person’s soul. That was what Jin was for her. Her soul mate.
She’d sacrifice anything for him. Even her place in Roake.
“Child, I’ve never expected more of you than what you were willing to give.” A hand cupped the back of her head as Harlow pulled her into his embrace. “Your ship has been prepared and is ready to depart should you choose.”
Kira lifted her head to look up at Harlow. This was a gift. An unexpected and dangerous one.
His enemies could use this against him. Claim his actions constituted treason.
By now, he had to know she wouldn’t go quietly. She’d try to take Jin with her and in so doing leave the aftermath firmly in his and Roake’s laps.
Harlow’s gaze was calm. “If you run, they’ll hunt you. Eventually, they’ll catch you. A soul bound isn’t something they’ll allow to run loose.”
“I don’t know about that. I have a few tricks up my sleeve.”
“You’ll have to face this eventually. It’s better to do that now when you still have some leverage.”
His hold on her shifted to touch the new marking on her forearm, his meaning clear.
Kira didn’t say anything as he stepped back, heading for the door.
“My name,” Kira started as he stepped out of the room
Harlow stopped and looked back at her.
“What name did they give me?” Kira asked.
“Layana. It means protector in our language.”
Then he was gone.
“It is a beautiful name,” Kira whispered, alone again.
“Does she realize the consequences will fall to you if she runs?” Caius asked.
The commander eyed those entering the audience chamber, an irritated sentry whose presence managed to warn off all those who thought of disturbing his Overlord.
As a commander and having taken a pod of his own, there was no need for Caius to act the part of an oshota any longer. Yet every time he was home, that was exactly the role he designated for himself every chance he got.
Outsiders saw it as a sign of respect, but Harlow leaned more toward it allowing Caius privacy to nag. Like now.
“Your family has always been foolishly loyal to the end.”
Harlow shot the other man a sidelong look. “Is that a complaint?”
Other Overlords would have seen Caius’s words as evidence of insubordination. His mouth would have gotten him cast out ages ago had anyone else been his master.
It was a pity the man was so damn talented, or Harlow would have been tempted to follow suit.
Caius’s grin was unrepentant. “Now, now, don’t get riled. I was simply pointing out the obvious.”
Harlow let out a quiet snort as he returned to his vigilance.
A steady hum came from the audience chamber behind them as Overlords for some of the most powerful Houses and their advisors filed inside.
Kira and Jin’s situation had made the rounds. Many had voyaged quite the distance to be a part of the spectacle as their fate was decided.
Caius leaned over, lowering his voice. “I’ve placed our forces on standby. They’re ready to act in your defense the moment I give the word.”
“If anyone hears you, they would consider that treason,” Harlow murmured, his gaze lingering on the prisoner waiting across the hallway from him.
Elise was surrounded by oshota, her hands and feet unfettered by chains. The glint of cuffs around her wrists were from an inhibitor, designed to cut her off from her ki.
But to the casual observer she would appear to be free.
It was clear she was waiting for something. Harlow had a feeling he knew what that something was—or rather who.
Wren and Auralyn stood a short distance away, trying to hide the torment he knew each felt. Wren’s gaze met Harlow’s briefly before the oshota dipped his chin in a sign of respect.
“How’s he coping with this?” Caius asked.
“He’s pulled every favor he could to get her a lighter sentence.”
“Will it be enough?”
Unlikely. The Houses were out for blood.
Harlow didn’t know how lenient the emperor would feel. Particularly with the news of his eldest son’s fate and subsequent trial.
A storm had landed that might sweep the entirety of the Tuann into its grip.
Harlow wasn’t certain their empire would weather it unscathed. Crashing waves were threatening to sunder their Houses. Already, he could see the cracks as alliances shifted and fell.
Torvald was in a difficult position. With his firstborn being at the eye of the storm, the Houses would argue he was unable to be impartial at the slightest sign he wasn’t following the law. If he wasn’t careful, they would use it to unseat him from his throne.
Civil war would break out and the Houses would turn on each other the same way they had the last time no one sat on the throne.
It would be chaos.
And Harlow’s niece was standing at the center of it all.
Elise straightened as she caught sight of something down the hall, her expression intent as if mentally begging the other person to look at her.
Harlow wasn’t surprised as Kira stepped into sight. His niece met his gaze for a moment before stalking forward.
“That’s a surprise,” Caius said.
One side of Harlow’s mouth tilted up. “I never doubted her.”
Caius reached for his communicator. “I suppose I can call off our forces now that we won’t need them.”
Harlow placed a hand over Caius’s, stopping him. “We don’t know that yet.”
Caius paused before dropping his arm, the message unsent. “As I said before—foolishly loyal.”
thirty
Kira kept her gaze fastened on her uncle’s as she made her way down the hall, a part of her still surprised she’d decided to come. She’d spent hours last night in her parents’ bedroom. It wasn’t until dawn stole across the horizon that she’d arrived at a decision.
To stay and take her chances.
It was a risky move that threw both her and Jin’s fates into question. The thing was neither she nor Jin had ever backed down from a fight and this was one of the biggest they’d ever faced.
They owed it to themselves to see it all the way through. No matter the ending.
Only then could they move forward.
Not to say she wouldn’t fight if they tried to destroy Jin. She’d tear this planet apart if she had to in defense of him.
But she wanted that chance to prove not all soul bound were what the Tuann thought. It was a decision she thought Jin would approve of.
Finn joined her, appearing from behind her like a wraith.
“Did you take care of what you needed to?” Kira asked.
“It turns out my preparations weren’t necessary.” He inclined his chin. “At least not yet.”
Kira sent him a look, reading the promise there that left her with the sense she hadn’t been the only one preparing for a departure.
It was on the tip of her tongue to ask him if he’d really considered going with her when she left. A question she refrained from voicing in case she’d misread him.
This wasn’t the right venue for such questions anyway. The hall far too crowded to allow for a private conversation.
More gazes turned toward Kira as the Tuann milling in the hallway caught sight of her arrival. A murmur started before several began moving toward the audience chamber as it became clear the trial would soon start now that the guest of honor had arrived.
Blue darted in Kira’s direction, her shorter stature making it easy for her to go unnoticed among the much taller Tuann. Her expression was furious as she caught up to Kira.
“Nixxy, what the hell is going on?” Blue snapped, blocking Kira’s path. She turned to follow as Kira side stepped her and kept going. “You’ve been AWOL for days and now I have to hear that Jin’s under arrest and might possibly be put down? What the fuck?”
“I can’t explain right now,” Kira told her, wrestling with a sense of impatience.
Blue didn’t deserve her irritation. Especially since her anger was justifiable. In her place, Kira would have been angry too at being left so far out of the loop.
Underneath Blue’s annoyance was also a thread of fear for Jin, reminding Kira that the two had once been close. Blue had always considered him family. They shared a love for all things technological that had bonded them.
Blue had started to speak when she fell silent again, her gaze moving beyond Kira. Her shock palpable.
“She’s alive?” A fragile hope bloomed on Blue’s face. “What about the rest of the Curs? Does this mean they’re alive too?”
Kira started to shake her head and then stopped. She hadn’t fully considered that.
No bodies had ever been recovered, the debris field of the half-destroyed moon making them impossible to find.
Their graves were still empty.
Elise had survived. Why not the other two?
Though after how much Elise had changed, Kira didn’t know whether to hope for their survival or the preservation of their memory that their deaths would ensure.
Kira shook her head as Raider and Elena arrived.
“Did you know about this?” Blue asked.
“Not until recently.”
Blue wasn’t listening, her head shaking back and forth. “This is—I don’t know what this is.”
Blue’s gaze landed on Elena, suspicion growing. “Wait a minute. I knew it was odd you were hanging around a kid when you hate them. She’s yours, isn’t she?”
Raider twitched.
“Holy shit, you’re a dad,” Blue gasped, seeming equally parts titillated and horrified. “I don’t know whether to sympathize or give you a high five.”
Raider’s jaw flexed. “How about neither?”
“Sure thing, boss.” Blue cackled before heading for the chamber doors. “I’m going inside. I want a good seat before the trial begins since I don’t trust certain people to share important details regarding the outcome.”
When an oshota moved to block Blue’s path, she bristled like an angry hedgehog. After a moment, the oshota lifted his hands and moved out of her way. Blue swept forward with a haughty tilt of her chin.
“Who is she?” Elena asked.
Raider scrubbed a hand over his face. “A Cur and a very good friend.”
Elena’s face puckered in a frown. “Are you sure it’s not more than that?”
Kira almost laughed at the way Raider seemed to freeze.
“What are you talking about?” Raider hissed, sounding almost scandalized. “She’s like a sister. An obnoxious and annoying little sister.”
“Hm.” Elena folded her arms over her chest not seeming convinced.
Raider’s eyes held shock as they met Kira’s.
Despite the tense situation, she couldn’t help but chuckle at his discomfort.
“Kira?”
Kira stiffened at the soft voice coming from her side, Raider doing the same in front of her. Elena’s face was a blank mask as she studied the woman who had given birth to her.
Elise’s gaze darted to her former lover and daughter. Pain and other things filling her face for a brief second before she tore her glance away to focus on Kira with a desperation that was carefully hidden.
Kira could see it, though. All this time and she could still read Elise. A little, at least. The other woman cared about Raider and Elena. Too much. Though she was trying not to show it.
Kira steeled herself against feeling any sympathy for the other. Elise chose this path. Not Kira.
If Elena was upset at Elise’s determination to ignore her, she didn’t show it, instead examining her mother with the same penetrating stare she reserved for her enemies.
Kira pretended the other woman wasn’t there as she ushered Elena in front of her.
“Are you really going to ignore me?” Elise asked with a faint huff.
Raider moved closer to Kira and Elena, his stance protective.
Hurt showed in Elise’s face before it vanished. “Kira, come on.”
Kira maintained her silence and continued forward with her niece.
Elise caught Kira’s wrist, bringing her up short. Elena whirled, slapping at her hand and breaking her mother’s grip.
Elise drew back with a stricken look that changed to one of determination as she focused on Kira. “Please.”
“As long as Graydon is still in a coma, I have nothing to say to you.”
Elise caught her elbow again, her expression pleading. “You don’t know everything.”
Kira yanked her arm out of her hold. “Whose fault is that?”
Kira reached her hand out to Elena, the girl taking it as they turned their backs on Elise. Elena’s hand trembled in Kira’s, evidence her niece wasn’t as unaffected as she was pretending.
“I wasn’t willing at first,” Elise said in Japanese, her voice desperate. “They took my future. Pieces of me that I have to get back.”
Elise’s gaze dropped to Elena, a meaning in them that made Kira’s heart skip a beat.
No. Please no.
“She’s not the only one of mine,” Elise said.
Kira thought she would be sick. It was something humans had been doing for centuries to help couples unable to have children. The years since had seen an improvement on the technology. Made it less invasive. Upped the odds of success.
She was relatively sure the camps had used it on a few of the older female and male children. Those whose abilities and bloodlines they thought worthy of preserving to experiment with later.
She’d never been able to confirm that though.
“Your enemy’s children aren’t the only ones at risk,” Elise said. “In either case, I cannot walk away.”
If true, it would change everything.
The problem was Kira didn’t know if she trusted the words out of Elise’s mouth. She could be lying. She was good at that.
There was a reason the forty-three had chosen Elise to infiltrate the Curs during the war. The woman had always been a talented spy. A chameleon, if you would.
Raider shoved his way between Elise and Elena, inserting himself between them. “Step back.”
Elise’s face softened, unable to conceal her yearning. “My light.”
“You don’t get to call me that,” he told her in a hard tone that made Elise flinch. “We would have helped if you’d asked. You didn’t.”
