Facets of Revolution, page 49
And in Raider’s mind that was a betrayal.
Raider turned his back on Elise, dismissing her as if she was nothing to him. “Let’s go. The Tin Can takes priority right now.”
Kira’s nod was slow as she looked beyond him to Elise, catching the sorrow the other woman wasn’t quick enough to hide.
Elise’s gaze hardened. “You know I can’t leave them out there.”
Kira didn’t know anything anymore, and right now, she was too tired to figure it out.
A hand slid into Kira’s as Elena looked up at her, a question in her gaze.
Kira nodded, patting the hand in hers before taking a deep breath and striding forward. Her uncle met her at the door to the audience chamber.
“You came,” he said with a glint of approval.
Kira jerked a shoulder up. “I didn’t have anything better to do.”
He didn’t remark on that as his gaze dropped to Elena. “And you listened to none of my instructions.”
Guilt warred with stubbornness on Elena’s face as she lifted her chin at him.
Harlow sighed before nodding at Wren. Kira’s seon’yer allowed the emperor’s oshota to take his and Auralyn’s spot beside Elise as he held out his hand to Elena. “Come, di aloashka. You will sit with me during this, and I will make sure you cause no trouble.”
Elena’s reluctance was obvious as she clung to Kira’s hand.
“Go.” Kira released Elena and patted her arm. “Keep your head down and listen to Wren.”
She sent an appreciative look Wren’s way, grateful he’d watch over Elena in her stead. Her seon’yer hesitated before stepping forward to wrap Kira in a hug.
“Have faith, my yer’se. You are not abandoned yet,“ he said into her ear with one final squeeze.
Kira gave him a shaky smile. “I’m here, aren’t I?”
If that wasn’t a show of faith, she didn’t know what was.
“Stay the course.” Wren hesitated. “And thank you for what you did for my daughter. I know you could have settled things in an alternative fashion.”
By that Kira assumed he meant, she could have killed Elise.
The thought had occurred—especially when Graydon’s coma lingered with no end in sight. But such an action would have been impetuous. As angry as she was with Elise, that didn’t mean she wanted her truly dead.
“I couldn’t. She’s family.” Kira watched as the oshota guarding Elise prodded her toward the audience chamber. “Even if it doesn’t feel like it right now.”
If there was one rule Kira lived by, it was that you didn’t kill your family. Not unless there was truly no other option.
Elise might still die if the Tuann decided to exact vengeance. But it wouldn’t be by Kira’s hand.
It was a small distinction—but an important one.
The thought sent a pang through her. Perhaps she wasn’t as sanguine about the possibility of Elise’s demise as she was pretending.
Kira wasn’t sure how much of that hesitation came from Elise’s confession. For all she knew, Elise’s desperation had compelled her to feed Kira lies designed to prey on her sympathy.
Wren’s nod held exhaustion. These last few days had taken their toll on her seon’yer, aging him. To find his daughter after all this time, only to see her arrested had to be agonizing.
Wren didn’t say anything else as he ushered Elena in front of him, trailing behind Elise and her guards.
Auralyn paused beside Kira, waiting until Wren was out of earshot. “You’ve done a good job until now, but your part in this is done. We’ll handle those two. From here on out, your focus should be on yourself and that soul bound of yours. Nothing else.”
It was good advice from a woman who treated her words like precious treasures to be doled out only when absolutely necessary.
Kira nodded, taking comfort in the knowledge that if she wasn’t here Auralyn and Wren would pick up the slack. They’d watch out for Elena and though it would hurt, they would accompany Elise to the bitter end if the Tuann decided to exact justice.
With this she’d freed Kira from the last thing holding her back. Elena’s safety was the only thing that might have prevented her from doing what she had to for Jin.
Auralyn had just removed that weight from her.
Auralyn dipped her chin in a gesture of respect before sauntering after the rest.
“Not following them?” Kira asked, looking up at Raider.
He frowned after Auralyn and the other two, his expression grumpy. After a moment, he shook his head. “No. An idiot got themselves arrested and can’t be trusted on their own.”
“I know you’re not talking about me.”
Raider flashed her a smile. “Of course not. I mean the other idiot in my life.”
Kira rolled her eyes before focusing on Harlow. Her uncle waited on the threshold of the audience chamber, Caius the only one at his side.
Harlow held out a hand to her. “Ready?”
Kira took it, trying not to let him feel the way it trembled. “No, but life doesn’t usually care about that.”
Approval glinted in Harlow’s gaze followed by a wry agreement. “No, it doesn’t.”
Caius moved impatiently at their front. “Enough chitchat. Let’s get this done before someone discovers my forces aren’t where they’re supposed to be.”
Kira gave Harlow a startled look.
Her uncle’s smile had a crooked slant as Caius strode forward, stopping at the top of the stairs where he posed.
“Overlord of House Roake submits his niece, the heir of Roake, daughter of our House, beloved to the Mea’Ave and the lu-ong to judgment under the emperor’s authority.”
“Those are some interesting titles,” Kira murmured in a low voice. “Even I didn’t know the last two.”
“Caius is skilled at setting the tone in situations like these. The Overlords need a reminder of exactly who they risk upsetting if you’re threatened,” Harlow answered.
In Kira’s opinion, he was taking a certain amount of latitude by linking her to the Mea’Ave and the lu-ong. But sure, they could do it that way.
Caius’s speech wound down. “She will be tried for the crime of participating in a soul bound’s creation as well as hiding its presence from an inquisitor’s inquiry.” Caius broke off to look at Kira. “How do you plead?”
Kira didn’t have to think. “Guilty.”
She lifted her chin to meet the stares of those assembled head on, her lips quirking as a murmur ran through the crowd.
Her answer threw Caius off balance as he gave her a disgruntled look. “That’s an unusual tactic. Most people would have pled their innocence in these circumstances.”
Kira let go of her uncle’s hand, taking the last few steps to the top of the stairs by herself as Finn and Raider moved to flank her. “Why lie? I did exactly what they’re accusing me of.”
There was no use denying it.
“Jin is soul bound. My purpose isn’t to hide that; it’s to make the Tuann realize he’s not the monster they think.”
Kira started for the stairs, leaving Caius and Harlow behind as she began her descent. She didn’t bother trying to convince Finn and Raider to remain with the other two. Neither man would listen anyway, so it was best to save her strength.
Kira swept a gaze over the crowd, finding her cousin Liara sitting at the bottom of the amphitheater. Given the four formal looking chairs positioned beside hers, each containing the symbol of their House, Kira assumed that was where the major Overlords sat.
Every chair was occupied except for Roake’s. It seemed they’d all come to watch the fate of Roake’s heir be decided. Lucky her.
Except for Liara, the Overlords were strangers to Kira. Two men and a woman.
Kira’s gaze lingered on the sharp features of Danai’s Overlord, interested in a glimpse at the man who could very well be the enemy pulling the strings from the shadows.
Or her enemy’s patsy.
Kira was still undecided.
Danai’s Overlord was an attractive man if you went for the sort who looked like they might stab you in the back the moment you took your eyes off him.
The Overlord shifted in his chair to fix an assessing look on Kira.
From that one glance, she could tell this was a dangerous man. It wasn’t in the amount of ki he could wield or his physical capabilities. This was someone who liked to slink in the shadows. To call him a snake would be an insult to snakes everywhere.
He was the sort who’d use you up and then toss you to the side when he was done with you.
Enemy met and identified.
With this, it no longer mattered if this man was a patsy or a mastermind. He’d be a problem for future Kira one way or another.
She could see it in the way he watched her. A scavenger waiting to pick apart her bones once other hunters finished with her.
Oh yeah. Definitely someone she’d need to keep an eye on.
Kira dismissed him from her mind as she focused on the cage of light in the center of the floor. Jin hovered inside it, careful not to brush against the walls.
The cage sat directly in front of the bench where the emperor’s Justice sat.
Eurus looked even more like a vampire lord today. His hair braided back from his face to expose the points of his ears. The high collar of his jacket framed the pale column of his neck.
His red eyes were expressionless as Kira reached the bottom of the stairs.
Two oshota appeared from nowhere to block Finn and Raider’s path who had accompanied Kira in her descent.
“She must go alone from here,” the oshota told them.
Raider’s protest cut off when Kira glanced at him.
“We’ll be right here if you need us.” He gave her a look filled with meaning before glancing up at Finn. “Isn’t that right?”
Finn didn’t hesitate, his gaze landing on hers. “For once, the human is not wrong.”
The responsible thing to do would have been to tell them no. To not get involved if things went south.
Kira didn’t have it in her to do that. She’d need their help if she really had to fight her way out of this place, a prospect that was looking slimmer and slimmer by the second from how many oshota were gathered along the edges of the room.
“Understood,” Kira said, stepping past the oshota and crossing the floor toward Jin.
She stopped in front of his cage, lifting a hand to touch the energy barrier. Lightning speared through her as it zapped her fingers.
Kira’s expression didn’t change as she considered the red marks on her skin from contact with the barrier. It seemed they weren’t taking Jin lightly.
Her arm had gone numb all the way up to her elbow from a second’s contact with the barrier.
Extracting him would be difficult. Perhaps impossible.
“You okay?” Kira asked.
“Never better. Who wouldn’t want to experience the joy of imprisonment?”
Sarcasm. He couldn’t be too bad off if he was still capable of snark.
Kira cleared her throat. “They hurt you?”
“You know they didn’t. Devon made sure they couldn’t touch me.” Sadness tinged their bond along with grief. “You should have run.”
Kira couldn’t quite manage a smile. “Where would I go without you? You know what sort of trouble I’d get into. I wouldn’t even make it a month.”
“True.” Jin moved closer to the barrier where Kira stood. “I’m sorry I got us into this.”
“Does this mean you regret saving your brother?”
Jin’s instant denial filtered through their connection. “Of course not.”
“I don’t either.” The edges of Kira’s eyes crinkled as she gave him a tiny smile. “There’s never been a need for apologies between us. Let’s not change that now.”
Jin should never have to hold himself back for her. He’d made the correct decision in sacrificing his possible safety to help Devon. He wouldn’t have been him if he’d made any other choice.
“I’m with you to the end.” No matter what that entailed. “You’d do the same for me.”
Kira looked up at Eurus’s impenetrable face. Truly, the man was beautiful. Almost otherworldly.
“Should we get started?” Kira challenged.
The emperor’s Justice stirred, a statue come to life as the room quieted.
Jarek strode onto the center of the floor, bowing slightly to the emperor on his throne, Devon at his side, and then Eurus.
He shot Kira a quick glance. “Since she’s already pled guilty, there is little need for a trial. Although I admit that the actions of this soul bound do not seem to hold much in common with those from our stories, it does not change our laws. Any time a soul bound is encountered it is to be destroyed. It is the only merciful thing to do. As much pain as that fact might bring to others.”
A man spoke from behind Kira, his voice coming from the vicinity of the Overlords. “Danai is in agreement with the inquisitor.”
“Asanth agrees as well,” another man said.
The crowd stirred.
Kira put her back to Jin’s cage as she faced down several Tuann who encroached on the floor. Terrel was among them, his face an ugly mask as he pushed his way forward.
A concussive wave came from behind Kira, a wall of ki picking up those who’d trespassed on the amphitheater floor and throwing them back into the stands.
“I am the only one who can pass judgment in this room. Another display like that and you will be the ones facing punishment.” Eurus’s powerful voice echoed throughout the room, cutting off the chatter.
Danai’s Overlord sat back in his chair, crossing his legs. He was undaunted in the face of Eurus’s anger. “Then hurry up and do so. You have your confession. What more do you need?”
Kira’s hands trembled as she clenched them into fists, hating how helpless she felt in all this. A pointless bystander, unable to do anything but stand there.
Eurus was still for a second before he glanced in Torvald’s direction, the two trading a long look. At Torvald’s side, Devon made an aborted motion and took a step forward to face the emperor and Eurus.
“You can’t kill him. He’s saved my life twice. That must count for something,” Devon pleaded with a beseeching look.
Kira stilled, for a moment feeling hope as Devon fought for his brother.
A hope that was dashed by Torvald’s unyielding expression. He was going to do it. He’d let their enemies destroy Jin.
It would kill him, but he’d do it for the good of his people—everyone but Jin.
Kira was already in the process of moving, whirling to face the barrier. Before she could touch it, a clap of sound rocked the chamber.
A rip tore through the fabric of time and space a few feet away from her. A black gash from which stepped a wanderer and another.
“See, I told you, you didn’t have to worry. We made it just in time,” the wanderer said, removing his hand from Alexander’s shoulder.
Alexander was hunched in on himself, his expression slightly sick as he tried to keep from throwing up.
The wanderer clapped his hands in glee and stepped forward. He was a stranger. Likely one of the ones who’d accompanied the wanderer Kira had met in the adva ka.
“Who are you?” Jarek demanded as the stranger looked around, his face still covered by the helmet of his armor. “What are you doing here?”
Kira fought the urge to take a step back as the wanderer changed direction toward her, his arms open as if to embrace her.
Kira slid away from him. There was only one person she knew capable of doing what he’d just did and who would also be in the company of Alexander.
And that person was someone she usually went out of her way to avoid.
“Not him. Any of the others but him,” Jin pleaded as Jarek motioned for the oshota surrounding them to remove the wanderer from the floor.
Alexander finally straightened, sending a glare at the oshota to warn them off. “I wouldn’t.”
The wanderer reached up to remove his helmet, revealing a face that made Kira want to curse as he gave her a cheeky grin. “Hey there, little sister. Miss me?”
“Not even for a second, Pallas.”
The man’s head was shaved on both sides, his hair long on top. It gave him a roguish look that was compounded by the trim beard along his jaw and the piercing through his eyebrow. Metal glinted from the rim of his ear where there were several more earrings. Like Kira, his ears had been docked, but unlike her, one was missing a sizable chunk from a fight of some kind.
“Why would you bring that psycho?” Kira hissed at Alexander.
Pallas was who the forty-three sent when they were feeling a little vengeful and wanted to wipe clean whatever or whoever had offended them. Considering the man had named himself after the Titan god associated with war, it was no wonder he was their first pick whenever they needed a hammer or a strong fist.
Then again, maybe Pallas was exactly what the forty-three thought was needed for this situation.
Pallas caught Kira, grabbing her cheeks and smooshing them together as he pressed his face against hers. “Don’t tell me you’re still sore about that time I almost killed you.”
Kira drove her elbow into his side, biting back a whimper as pain lanced her arm from the hard impact with armor.
“Multiple times,” Jin shouted, lifting so he could see Pallas better.
Pallas’s grip eased as he got a thoughtful look on his face. “Oh yeah, you might be right.”
See, this was why Kira hated him. The man couldn’t even bother to remember how many times he almost killed her.
“As to your question, he didn’t give me much choice,” Alexander informed her with a glare at Pallas. “He was already here anyway.”
Pallas strolled over to Jin’s cage, tapping against it much the same way Kira had. She couldn’t describe how unsettling it was to know their first instincts were exactly the same.
Pallas rubbed his fingertips together with a thoughtful look before sending Kira a wink. “Thanks for the care you gave my yer’se. He learned so much from his duel with you. I couldn’t have asked for a better lesson. We’d have been here sooner, but I wanted to see him to safety first.”
