31. TWENTY-NINE

twenty-nine

The journey back to the arena took much longer than the one to the chamber. Part of the blame lay in the fact they had two unconscious people to transport. One of whom was a heavily muscled Tuann the size of a mountain.

Kira didn’t trust Elise to be there when she returned, and she wasn’t willing to leave Graydon behind so it meant taking both with them.

She could have sent the wanderer for help but in the end decided against it.

Once they left this place, her instincts told her they wouldn’t be able to find their way back. With the lenacht having chosen its carrier, the chamber’s purpose was at an end.

Best for everyone if they didn’t delay vacating it.

Aeron carried Elise while Kira and the wanderer, whose name she still hadn’t gotten, supported Graydon between them.

Their journey went by in silence.

Kira was too heartsick and exhausted to do more than put one foot in front of the other, and the wanderer didn’t strike her as the type to engage in aimless chatter.

It wasn’t long before they used the same entrance Finn had shown her to find their way to the arena.

A little of Kira’s numbness dissipated.

The arena and its floor looked like someone had kicked over an anthill. The bodies of the face changers still lay where they had fallen. As did the bodies of those Tuann who hadn’t been lucky enough to survive.

The sands were stained red.

Truthfully, Kira was a little surprised the arena hadn’t booted the dead as soon as their hearts stopped. Maybe because they were true dead and not killed by one of the weapon illusions.

In the end, it didn’t matter.

Kira and the wanderer hobbled forward, drawing the notice of several of those who’d responded to the emergency.

There was a cry as Amila spotted them. She broke from the crowd, Solal and the rest of Graydon’s oshota, including Baran, Isla, and Cord sprinted up the stairs.

“What happened?” Solal demanded as soon as he was within reach.

Kira let Amila and Cord take Graydon’s unconscious body, stepping aside while they lowered him to the ground. “He’s alive but unconscious.”

“It’s more than that,” Isla said with a focused look in her eyes.

Kira’s nod was weary. “He was shot by something that induces comas. He will wake up.”

She had to believe that. Any alternative was unacceptable.

Graydon would wake up. He would.

Solal’s gaze moved to Aeron who still held Elise. “Did he do this?”

For once Solal was easy to read. His desire to murder Aeron if Kira answered yes written on his face.

Kira put herself between the two men. “Not him.”

Solal considered her, his expression loosening as understanding dawned. “She has to pay for this.”

Kira forced herself to meet his stare head on. “I know—but not with her life.”

Even with everything Elise had done, she was still precious to Kira. Punishment might be necessary, but Kira wouldn’t let them kill her.

Solal’s stance eased. “You have your own situation to worry about.”

Kira nodded as Jarek, flanked by a contingent of oshota stalked up the stairs. “I expected as much.”

There’d be no more hiding. No more lying.

She supposed it had always been inevitable she and Jin would face a reckoning. From the moment her marking tying her to House Luatha and the Tuann was exposed, they’d been barreling toward this point.

At least after this she’d know for sure.

The Tuann would either accept the price their children had paid for survival, or they’d turn from them.

Kira straightened her shoulders, readying herself for the upcoming battle.

If Jarek felt a sense of victory at the turn of events, Kira couldn’t see it in his face. There was none of the antagonism Kira expected as he stopped to take in Graydon’s prone body and Aeron where he held Elise.

“You’re under arrest for harboring a soul bound and your possible role in its creation,” Jarek informed her.

Kira lifted her chin. “His name is Jin, and he’s the reason Devon isn’t dead.”

If nothing else, that should have earned him a bit of goodwill with any reasonable group of people. Unfortunately, the Tuann were far from that, veering toward hysterical when anything having to do with the words “soul” and “bound” were linked together.

“You may be right, but there is a reason the Tuann outlawed his kind. If found guilty of his making, you will face punishment.” To the oshota beside him, “Take her.”

Before they could move, Roake’s oshota flooded the landing where they stood, surrounding the emperor’s inquisitor and the rest.

Harlow stepped out of their midst. Wren appeared from behind him, his gaze landing on Kira as if to assure him she was still in one piece.

She knew the instant he spotted Elise, his body going utterly still as shock coated his face.

A pained sound left him as he took a step toward her. “My child.”

He lifted a hand to touch her face, stilling as she shied away from him slightly. A mask dropped over his expression as he let his hand fall to his waist.

He didn’t try to touch Elise again, but neither did he retreat from her side. His stance signifying his silent support.

“You will not touch Kira,” Harlow declared. “As a daughter of Roake, she will remain in our custody until her trial as is our custom.”

Jarek inclined his head. “That is acceptable as long as she receives the same treatment any Tuann facing such charges would.”

Harlow’s tawny golden eyes found Kira’s, emotion moving in them before he looked away. His jaw flexed as he nodded at Makon.

The Marshal stepped forward, taking a black band from one of Graydon’s oshota.

“Forgive me, heir,” Makon said, stopping in front of Kira.

There was a hint of apology in his eyes as he held up the two-inch wide band of metal. It was a collar for her neck, Kira saw. Once on, there would be no removing it.

Kira was betting it contained a tracker. Not to mention some means to knock her unconscious or kill her if her jailers decided it necessary.

Worse was the nasty feeling it projected. A sense of wrongness that felt like it was trying to latch onto Kira’s ki and leech it away.

And she hadn’t even touched it yet. Oh joy.

If she let them put that collar on her, she’d be defenseless in a way she hadn’t been in a long time. Her chances of escaping later almost nonexistent.

“Trust your Overlord,” Makon advised.

Kira flicked a look at him, holding still as he reached forward to snap the collar around her neck.

Cold bit into the skin around her throat as the collar settled into place. Ice spread in her veins, traveling from her neck until it invaded every inch of her body.

By the time Makon stepped back, the last remnant of ki in her body had vanished, leaving behind a heaviness that dragged at Kira’s limbs. It sapped the color from the world, turning it a little less vibrant.

Makon nodded at Harlow. “It’s done.”

“Happy now?” Harlow asked.

“I know you don’t believe this, but I have the best interests of our people at heart,” Jarek said calmly.

Harlow lifted a lip but didn’t comment.

“What about Elise?” Kira asked when Makon gestured for her to precede him. “She’s a daughter of Roake as well.”

Harlow hesitated at the sight of Wren hovering next to his daughter, his blank face not quite masking the yearning. A flicker of emotion showed in Harlow’s expression before it was stamped out.

“And she shall be treated as such,” Harlow agreed.

Solal didn’t give way as a pair of Harlow’s oshota approached.

“She has not formally been acknowledged as a daughter of Roake, like Kira has. Moreover, she injured the emperor’s Face. I cannot allow her to leave our custody,” Solal said.

“A compromise, then,” Makon inserted smoothly when Harlow’s expression darkened. “Members of Roake will accompany her until her fate has been decided.”

Harlow and Wren shared a long look before Harlow inclined his head. “That is acceptable.”

The matter settled, Makon once again gestured for Kira to follow him.

Not yet. There was still one matter to settle.

Kira searched and found Jin in the grasp of one of Jarek’s oshota. “What are you planning to do with him?”

“When he wakes, he will face trial,” Jarek answered.

Kira wasn’t a fan of that suggestion. Right now, Jin was defenseless and would be for days. He’d have no way of protecting himself if the Tuann decided they would prefer to skip holding a trial for him.

Devon pushed his way through the oshota. “You don’t have to worry. I won’t let anything happen to him.”

There was a promise in his gaze, a level of determination Kira hadn’t seen in him before.

Whatever the rest of the Tuann thought, there was at least one who saw beyond Jin’s outer layer to the amazing person inside.

Devon would protect Jin. That would have to be enough.

Kira nodded, her gaze sweeping the arena in search of those she’d had to leave behind when she answered the summons.

“The injured, including Finn and your human, have already been taken to the Shining Palace to receive treatment,” Makon informed her.

A wave of relief went through Kira as Makon’s words removed the weight from her shoulders.

Now was the time to take a step back in retreat. As long as the Tuann came to the right conclusion they could have all the trials they wanted.

And if they didn’t—well, Kira wouldn’t be held responsible for that. They’d been warned.

If the Tuann thought something like this collar could contain her, they had another think coming.

Four days later

Kira waited at the end of Graydon’s bed as Quillon completed his examination. The healer’s expression was regretful as he shook his head. “I can’t tell you anything different than what the other healers already have. He is sleeping comfortably, but there is no way to tell when he will wake up.”

The answer hurt. As did the knowledge that there was nothing anyone could do.

“Thank you for taking the time,” Kira told Quillon.

His face was full of sympathy as he squeezed her hand before making his departure.

Finn saw him out as Raider joined her at the bed. His arm was in a sling. He was nearly back to full health, but the healers wanted him to keep it immobile for a few more days since they weren’t sure how a human’s physiology would react to their medicine.

They seemed to think different meant weaker, but Kira had already caught Raider testing the range and motion of his arm.

She was betting it wouldn’t be long before he ditched the sling for good.

“What did you tell Elena about her mother?” Kira asked.

It was the first time they’d had a chance to talk since the arena. Elise and Aeron had been taken into custody immediately after Kira.

Unlike Kira, Elise didn’t get to keep a modicum of freedom in the form of the prisoner collar. Instead, she’d been placed under guard, her movements restricted.

Kira didn’t know if that meant a prison cell or a nice room. Quite frankly, she couldn’t bring herself to care.

It would be a long time before she forgot Elise’s betrayal. Much less forgave it.

According to Finn, Elise had asked to speak with Kira.

Not her daughter. Not Raider.

A fact that had to burn.

Raider shook his head. “I haven’t been able to figure out what to say.”

Kira could imagine. How did you tell your daughter that her mother not only doesn’t have any desire to see her after a lifetime of absence but that she also attacked the aunt that raised her?

Kira wouldn’t even begin to know where to find the words.

“Wren and Auralyn are watching her for now. The old man looks like he has aged a century,” Raider confessed.

Another person Elise’s actions had hurt.

“How are you handling this?”

Raider snorted. “About as well as you’re handling that.” He nodded at Graydon’s immobile form.

Kira smirked. “You mean fragile. Angry. Like there’s this ball of rage you don’t know what to do with because if you do anything, try to set it down or aim it somewhere else, you’re afraid it might burn down the world?”

“Something like that.”

The answer drew a smile from her. It died as she returned her attention to Graydon’s face.

“I should be happy she’s alive.” Kira’s throat was tight. “I spent so much time feeling lost when I thought she was dead. This should be a good thing.”

There had been a point where she would have given anything to have Elise back. She hadn’t cared how that might come about.

It turned out she’d overestimated her threshold of acceptance.

“Elise’s return has brought up a lot of bad feelings in all of us,” Raider agreed. “It’s made me question a lot of what I thought I knew about her.”

If anyone understood the conflicting feelings in Kira, it would be Raider.

Elise had once been his everything. To have her returned in such a way that he had to doubt what they’d once had must be agonizing.

Kira couldn’t forget that she wasn’t the only one Elise had betrayed.

What she’d done to Raider and Elena was arguably worse.

“What a pair we make,” Kira said, tilting her face to the ceiling.

Raider grunted as Finn returned, the oshota taking up a position against the wall. Kira had tried to convince him to take a seat since he’d been hurt worse than Raider, but the man had refused.

He was taking his loss of consciousness after the battle with the face changer and her choice to confront Elise alone hard.

He’d been even more bull-headed and stubborn since he’d reported to her side immediately after he woke up.

“The question of Elise and her return can wait,” Raider announced. “Jin’s situation is more pressing right now. Things don’t look good. I’ve already put a call in with Jace. He doesn’t think the Consortium has the resources to pursue a case for Jin being their property. Evidently, while we’ve been here getting our asses kicked, the Consortium has decided they no longer wish to abide by the Haldeel’s treaty. Several factions have motioned to reject the demands the Haldeel and Tuann have made as recompense for the Consortium’s part in the attack on the quorum.”

Kira’s feeling of disconnection faded as she gave Raider a sharp look. “What are you saying?”

Raider’s face was grave as he met her eyes. “The Consortium plans to withdraw from the alliance with the Haldeel.”

Kira sucked in a breath. “How can they do that?”

Did they not remember how many died in the last war against the Tsavitee? Without the Haldeel’s protection, they would be ripe for invasion. They’d lose everything they’d worked to rebuild over the past decade.

“They are convinced they’re strong enough to withstand anything the Tsavitee throw at them.”

Kira let out a huff that told him what she thought of that idiocy. “They’re fools.”

Raider’s grunt said he agreed. “Be that as it may, Jace says he lacks the influence necessary to stop this. He’s in the process of relocating his forces to one of Himoto’s secondary bases.”

“The ships Luatha gave him?”

“Also relocated. He’ll keep them hidden until they’re needed.”

There would come a time Kira would have to reckon with the fact that Centcom and the Consortium had decided to blow up a treaty over which so much blood had been spilt to forge. But not now.

Right now, all she had room for was Jin.

Humanity could wait.

“The Haldeel?”

Kira still had allies among them. A royal who owed Jin her life.

Tierni would do everything in her power to help. The question was timing. The trial began tomorrow.

Even if she could get in contact with Tierni, there was no guarantee the other would be able to come to their aide on such short notice. Or that she’d be able to cut through the political red tape to do so.

Raider scratched his jaw with one thumb. “Alexander put in a few calls. He used the communication marble the Haldeel gave you. Not that he shared how any of those calls went.”

“He wouldn’t. Alexander likes to play things close to the vest.”

It meant his machinations were harder to counter but it also left those with most reason to be concerned in the dark.

Raider started to turn and then hesitated. “You should prepare yourself. Elise will be there tomorrow.”

Kira’s hands clenched and then relaxed. She dipped her chin in acknowledgement.

“I have to face her sometime, I suppose,” Kira said.

“Tomorrow is going to be tough, and there’s no guarantee you’ll win.”

Raider didn’t need to say the consequences if they lost. The Tuann would destroy Jin and likely Kira in the process.

Raider’s shoulder brushed hers as he lowered his voice. “This might be the point where you consider an alternative exit strategy.”

Their gazes met as they shared a knowing look.

Kira dipped her chin to show she understood. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Raider’s lips twisted. “You do that, Phoenix.”

Finn watched Raider depart, saying nothing as the human lifted a hand toward him in goodbye.

Only when he was gone did Finn push off the wall. “I’ll wait outside.”

Kira appreciated the gesture, knowing how hard it was for the oshota to leave her on her own.

Finn closed the door behind him, giving Kira privacy to share what might be her last moments with Graydon.

If only she knew what to say. The exact series of words that might make what she was about to do okay.

Kira moved to the head of the bed, taking a seat in the chair waiting beside it. She settled into the soft cushions with a heartsick feeling.

“This is quite the predicament,” Kira informed Graydon.

The door behind her opened as someone stepped into the room. Kira chose to ignore them as she brushed a lock of hair out of Graydon’s face.

”I do love you. That’s part of what makes this so hard.“ Kira reached for Graydon’s hand, taking it in hers. “I won’t let them kill Jin. You might not approve what I do next.”

It was a warning—for herself and the room’s other occupant.

Kira would like to believe any rescue attempt would end with no one hurt except for a few bruises and maybe some broken bones, but she’d be lying to herself.

Graydon possessed a protective nature that rivaled Kira’s own. He might not be able to forgive her for doing what she felt she had to.

Kira’s clogged laugh held a touch of self-deprecation. “I guess Elise is a little easier to understand now.”

Maybe Elise’s loyalties to Kira and Raider had conflicted with what she felt was her duty to the generals. If so, Kira couldn’t help being a little sad for all of them.

Pain twisted Kira’s heart as she gave him a sorrow filled smile. “This is why I tried so hard not to love you.”

She’d seen this coming and yet fell for him anyway.

She was a fool.

With nothing left to say, Kira rose. She hovered over Graydon for a moment before leaning down to whisper in his ear. The words were familiar ones. The same ones he’d given her on Ta Da’an and then again standing in front of Roake’s fortress.

Speaking the oath of Aliria to him felt right. Important.

A promise that even if circumstances and life separated them, she would be here if he ever needed. His shield and his sword.

It might be all she could ever give him.

Kira pressed a kiss against his lips and straightened to find the emperor watching her. He said nothing as she stepped away from the bed and advanced across the room.

Throughout it all, Torvald made no move to prevent her departure.

It was with mixed feelings that she stepped into the hallway. In any situation where you were facing a superior force, the element of surprise couldn’t be overstated. An element she’d just shot to hell by giving the emperor warning.

Call it a sign of respect to the man lying comatose in that bed or some vain hope that the emperor had even the smallest iota of empathy for his firstborn.

Either way, she’d let him know her intentions. What he chose to do with that knowledge was in his hands.

Kira found Finn standing at attention outside the door. No greetings were exchanged as they made their way toward Roake’s avenue by silent agreement.

Since Finn had woken up after his injury, the mood between them had been uncharacteristically strained. More so than could be explained by Kira’s actions of heading to the sanctum alone.

Of Finn and Raider, she was the least injured.

Still, he was quiet. As if he was wrestling with something only he knew.

Kira left him to his silence, more preoccupied with memorizing every detail of their journey to be worried about what was going on inside his mind. The way the sun’s rays slowly faded from the sky. The golden tinge of the horizon. The flags flapping in the wind. The salty smell of the ocean and the brisk breeze against her face.

A cold front was coming. There’d be snow soon.

Too bad Kira wouldn’t be here to see it. She’d have liked to have experienced a snowfall in Roake’s fortress. Snug in the warmth of her room drinking a cup of laug as nature decorated the world with white.

They reached the entrance of the fortress all too soon.

Finn stopped at the door, his expression unreadable. He gave her an abrupt nod. “I’ll let you go alone from here. There are a few things I need to take care of.”

Kira didn’t think she was imagining the unspoken goodbye as Finn bent in a respectful manner and touched his chest.

He looked up. His eyes catching hers for a long moment before he strode away without another word, leaving Kira staring after him speechless.

Where was he going? His room was in her suite.

As her near constant shadow for weeks, it was hard to wrap her head around his sudden departure.

She hadn’t realized how lonely it would be with him no longer at her side.

Feeling at a loss, Kira went inside the fortress, making her way to her floor where she found herself standing in front of a door that wasn’t hers.

The entrance to her parents’ bedroom beckoned. A silent reminder of the things she’d be giving up if she followed this course she was considering.

She owed it to herself and them to know what she’d be missing out on.

Kira gathered herself, searching for the courage to lift her hand and take that final step.

In the end, it was easier than she thought. Almost too easy as she set her hand on the knob. There was a pause as a hum of electricity swept through her, the ki contained in the lock reading her biometrics.

The door gave under her touch, opening a centimeter before stopping.

Kira’s heart pounded in her ears as she stared at the small gap of the opening. This was it. The last thing she needed to do before tomorrow came.

She wasn’t ready. Probably wouldn’t ever be.

Which was why she should just do it and get it over with.

Kira gave the door a push before she could talk herself out of it. The door creaked open, revealing a room much like the one Harlow had given her.

Kira hovered on the threshold, slowly taking in the furnishings. Though its inhabitants had been absent for nearly a century, the room looked like it had been empty for no more than a few days.

Harlow had kept it exactly how it was the day her parents died.

The bed was made but a robe had been tossed over the end of it. Its presence making the room’s emptiness all the more sorrowful.

Her mother had good taste, Kira saw. The robe a delicate weaving of the finest silk. The pattern a work of art in and of itself.

Belongings were scattered throughout the rest of the room. Small things that pointed at the occupants’ personalities. A variety of weapons mounted on the walls that must belong to her father except for the pair of daggers whose hilts looked like they were made from a butterfly’s wings.

Those would be her mother’s, Kira guessed.

There was a small replica of one of Roake’s battleships in the process of being assembled on a table in the corner. The pieces still arranged in neat little lines as if waiting for someone to finish putting them together.

Her parents had been neat but not immaculate. The room had a lived-in feel even after all this time. As if waiting for its owners return.

A picture of Liliana and Harding was hung on the wall. The image of her father was of a younger, less rigid version of Harlow. Love radiated from his gaze as he stared at the side of her mother’s face.

Kira resembled him. Her mother too—in the eyes and her smile. But Harding was the one who’d donated most of her looks.

They seemed happy.

They were happy. It was written in every line of their features. Whatever their ending had been, they’d lived a good life.

If nothing else, that was a source of comfort as Kira crossed the floor. Their lives weren’t filled with only tragedy. They’d laughed and they’d loved and made a million good memories between the two of them.

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.”