2. Two

Two

Kira – Ta Sa’Riel

Astorm 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.

"That’s disappointing," Asanth said with a sigh, not sounding disappointed at all. "I was hoping for an opportunity to speak with them. You could arrange that, couldn’t you?"

Asanth raised his eyebrows at Kira in expectation.

"No."

And not just because Alexander and the rest would kill her.

"Is that all you can say? No?" Asanth challenged.

Kira’s primus washed away the irritation and anger she might have felt before it could fully manifest. Cold pragmatism replaced it.

It was dangerous to allow her primus to remain close enough to the surface to affect her emotions like this. Created for battle, the primus was Kira’s alternate form. It was stronger, faster. More resilient than her current one. Very few Tuann had the power or lineage to awaken one. Probably a good thing. The primus was utterly conscienceless. A being without remorse or empathy. Whose only drive was killing.

It took years of training to control. Even then, Kira was reluctant to let it out of its cage, only using it as a weapon of last resort.

Normally, she would have stuffed it down by now, but she was in desperate need of the respite it could give. Without it’s help, she might still be stuck in her own mind. A willing victim of her grief.

The Tuann were powerful, but they possessed one weakness. The bonds they formed with others. Cut those bonds, damage them in some way and their mental state was affected. Some went a little mad. Like Kira when she lost her Curs. Others let themselves wither. They faded away a little more each day until finally their hearts stopped.

The primus protected her from either of those outcomes. At least in the short term.

A reckoning was coming. But hopefully not before she’d saved Jin and Elena.

"Your children don’t want a relationship with you. What part of that is hard to understand?" Kira asked, the words colder than they would have been without the primus’s influence.

Asanth lifted his head off his hand as watchfulness replaced his lazy expression.

Interesting. Kira had expected anger.

The anticipated explosion came from a different direction as Kashori’s Overlord slammed a hand on the table in front of her. "Watch yourself, Roake."

Oh, right. Kashori’s Overlord had lost a child in the Sorrowing too.

"No," Kira whispered.

The woman standing behind Asanth’s Overlord bristled, her gaze training on Kira as one hand went to the weapon concealed in her synth armor.

Harlow held a hand out between Kira and the woman. "Easy, child."

Kira’s gaze flicked in his direction. "You don’t get to call me that anymore. I passed my adva ka."

Even by Tuann standards, she was considered a full adult.

"You will always be a child to me," Harlow returned.

Kira kept her soft snort to herself as Harlow stared Kashori and Asanth’s Overlords down.

"We’re here to discuss the connection between the attack on the adva ka and the subsequent revolt during the soul bound’s trial," Harlow rumbled. "Not to rehash the fate of our lost children."

Asanth leaned back in his chair, crossing a foot over his knee to signal agreement. Kashori’s nod was stiff as she drew herself upright.

A beat passed before Harlow settled himself into the only other empty chair at the table. Kira took up position behind his left shoulder. A sign of fealty and support.

Kira’s attention snagged on Luatha’s Overlord. A cousin from the maternal side of Kira’s family. And the only other individual besides Harlow with a direct connection to Kira’s bloodline.

Liara’s expression seemed to ask if Kira was okay. Kira didn’t react to the question as she looked away again, her glance bouncing off Roderick, her cousin’s Marshal. The mood in the room shifted as the proceedings began.

"The emperor appreciates the Houses’ interest in this matter," Eurus started.

"That’s all very well and good, but Asanth is more interested in knowing how he plans to deal with these attacks," Asanth drawled.

Eurus inclined his head. "An investigation is already underway."

A rumble of dissatisfaction came from Kashori. "You already know who is responsible. House Votair."

"Yes, they do seem to be the instigators," Eurus agreed.

While he was talking, Kira’s attention wandered around the table. She found it interesting—and a little concerning—that Danai’s Overlord was missing. From what Harlow had mentioned, the Overlord had departed for his territory immediately after the events that had taken place during Jin’s trial.

His absence could prove a problem. She wasn’t certain how much he knew about Elena’s connection to her—or if he’d been present when her niece was teleported into Tsavitee territory. The moments before—and directly after—had been chaotic. Kira didn’t know who had been present or what information they’d managed to glean.

"We can’t ignore the fact that the attack on the trial came at the hands of Tuann from different houses," Eurus continued.

Kashori sent him a distrustful look. "You can’t believe that had anything to do with us."

Eurus’ eyebrow lifted a minuscule amount as he focused his unsettling red eyes on the other Overlord.

Asanth propped his cheek on his hand with a bored expression. "Helena, let the man finish before you jump down his throat." The overlord gave Eurus a thin smile of warning to tread carefully. "Go on, Eurus. You were telling us how you think our Houses have rebelled against the emperor."

There was a long pause as Eurus met Asanth’s hard gaze. "The facts speak for themselves. Members of several sub houses of Danai, Kashori, Asanth, and even Luatha participated in the insurrection. To say nothing of several minor houses who aren’t represented here today."

Asanth shrugged. "Our House is massive. How are we expected to keep track of all the little sub houses in addition to our own members?"

Eurus’s expression looked like it had been chiseled out of granite. "The major Houses have a long standing practice of using the minor and sub houses under their umbrella to exercise their will when—how should I put this—they wish to appear innocent."

Asanth and Eurus stared at each other. Asanth was the first to look away, his lip curling in a halfhearted sneer.

"Does anybody else find it suspicious that Roake is the only House missing from that list?" Helena asked.

One side of Harlow’s lips twitched upwards in a microscopic smile that might as well have been a giant fuck you to Kashori’s Overlord.

Helena’s eyes widened in insult.

"Yes, well, Roake seems to have been alerted to the possibility of trouble and completed a top to bottom investigation of their House and all sub-houses in the months prior to the adva ka," Eurus said with a glance at Harlow.

"So nice of him to share that information with the rest of us," Asanth drawled.

Harlow’s expression remained stoic as he held the other Overlord’s gaze.

"Our intelligence suggests Luatha did the same," Eurus spoke, dispelling the rising tension.

"We thought it best to clean house given the way one of our own assisted in the Tsavitee gaining access to our home world. Though obviously, a few slipped through our net," Liara admitted with an unhappy expression.

The youngest Overlord present by decades, if not a century or more, Liara was tall and lithe with hair that seemed like it had been spun out of gold. Her eyes were a purer lilac color than Kira’s.

"I’m beginning to think Luatha and Roake know something that the rest of us don’t," Asanth’s Overlord murmured.

Liara’s expression cooled. "Don’t blame us for your lack of attention, Castor. The warning signs were all there. It’s not our fault you missed them."

Castor lifted his head slightly off his hand, his expression arrested as if Liara had surprised him.

Liara shifted her attention to Eurus. "With everything that’s happened, I’m sure you didn’t call us here to waste our time over who knew what, when. What is it the emperor requires?"

Eurus pondered her for a moment. "Access to your houses so we may complete a thorough investigation."

Murmurs of dissatisfaction ran through the representatives of the minor houses. Those powerful enough to have earned a spot in these proceedings.

"The emperor oversteps," someone shouted.

"Why should we submit to this?"

Kira listened with a frown. Were they really so blind that they couldn’t see what was happening right in front of them?

"That’s not all," Liara guessed with a knowing look.

Eurus was statue still. "The current unrest in the galaxy and the repeated attacks on our territories has highlighted the need for a call to arms."

Cries broke out among the occupants.

"Four battalions from each of the major Houses," Eurus said, projecting his voice to carry over the growing objections. "Fifteen percent of the fighting force from the minor Houses. He believes a cohesive force will be necessary in the coming days."

Castor threw his head back, his roar of laughter silencing the Overlords of the minor Houses. "He asks this even though his own ranks aren’t free of taint?" Castor’s humor drained away to reveal a predatory expression. "If I recall, an inquisitor was the party responsible for giving House Votair’s Overlord the tool he needed to isolate our young and make them vulnerable to attack."

Eurus’s expression hardened the faintest bit, an almost unnoticeable change that Kira would have missed if this was her first time meeting the emperor’s Face. "Jarek’s trust in a former companion was misplaced. He will be punished for the oversight."

Castor’s lip curled. "I do hope so. Asanth was lucky not to lose any of our members, but other Houses weren’t as blessed. Jarek’s fate should be given to them to decide."

"Jarek and the inquisitors fall under my purview. His punishment is mine to mete out."

Nothing about Eurus betrayed his anger. But it was there. Slithering through the room. Making it hard to breathe.

Everyone felt it, going very still.

Helena leaned forward. "Kashori supports Asanth’s stance. This is bigger than just you. His actions contributed to a large loss of life. Moreover, a creature that the Tuann haven’t encountered since we were enslaved by the old masters was used to bring harm to our Houses. That alone should buy him the maximum punishment possible."

Eurus’s anger vanished, subsumed under an icy mask as he regarded the Overlords. "Jarek’s actions do not meet the threshold for exile. While he showed poor judgment in the object of his trust, the act of lending a badge to an Overlord in the course of one’s duties is not without precedent. He did not act in poor faith nor was his intention for his emblem to be used in that fashion. For that reason, I have revoked his authority until he can prove himself worthy again."

Helena looked dissatisfied at that response. Castor was a more difficult read, his expression giving no hint of his thoughts.

"The timing of all this is extremely convenient, don’t you think? These conspiracies all coming to light right after Roake’s heir re-appeared." Castor’s gaze landed on Kira. "Almost as if someone planned it."

Kira regarded Asanth’s Overlord with a blank stare. The accusation was expected. It was only natural to cast blame when the wolves were at the gates and the future uncertain. She was the perfect target as an outsider. Despite all Harlow’s efforts, that’s all she’d ever be to some of these people. An outcast. Little better than one of their wanderers.

"Careful, Asanth," Harlow rumbled.

Castor’s gaze flicked to him. "I’m always careful."

Kira’s head tilted, the same blank expression on her face. "Alexander is one of the most cunning and observant people I know. How can the Overlord of his House be so blind by comparison?"

Castor’s expression froze as Harlow sighed.

Kira continued as if unaware of how thin the ice under her feet had grown. "One only needs to look to the Sorrowing to realize the extent of the rot in your Houses. How many children need to be taken before you wake up and see what’s right in front of your eyes?"

There were several indrawn breaths from around the table. The Sorrowing was one of the worst moments in Tuann history. A time when countless children were stolen by unknown perpetrators. They now knew the Tsavitee and their masters were behind it, but that didn’t change the fact that many Tuann were complicit in the abductions.

Whether the Houses wanted to acknowledge that or not.

"You dare," Helena snarled.

"I do." Kira’s smile didn’t reach her eyes. "You’d be surprised at what I’d dare."

Castor’s face had gone expressionless.

Harlow shifted forward, taking the focus off Kira as he turned toward Eurus. "You have a prisoner in your possession."

Eurus dipped his chin in acknowledgment. "The general. Yes. He’s been most uncommunicative."

"Roake would like access to him."

Eurus’s gaze drifted in Kira’s direction. No doubt realizing the source of this request. "I’m afraid that’s not possible."

Kira made an abortive movement before forcing herself to still. A part of her refused to believe that the emperor would be willing to walk away from his son. Soul bound though Jin might be. He never made it obvious, but his love was there. Hidden but tangible.

This had to be a game of some sort. One of his many schemes.

Harlow had been right earlier. The emperor was impossible to predict.

"Roake is the only reason you retain custody of that prisoner," she told the emperor’s Face.

If not for Kira’s intervention, the Tuann wouldn’t have a prisoner at all.

"Be that as it may, we’re on the cusp of war and the general is a critical asset. His visitors are being carefully screened so as to prevent another prison break. I hope you understand."

Oh, Kira did. All too well.

They planned to hoard any knowledge Aeron might impart like dragons would gold. Was it because the emperor didn’t trust that she could keep her shit together long enough to rescue his son that he was denying her access? Or was it because he was afraid she’d somehow interfere with whatever plans he’d made?

In the end, it didn’t matter. He’d just made himself another obstacle she needed to overcome.

"Luatha will answer the emperor’s call," Liara interjected into the tense silence that followed.

Kira and Eurus glanced in her direction.

Liara lifted her chin. "Although my House isn’t militarily inclined, we’ll do our part."

"That’s all the emperor asks."

Kira’s hands clenched, her fingernails biting into her palms as anger strangled her. The primus turned underneath her skin, its agitation adding to her own. It demanded action. That if Eurus and the emperor didn’t want to cooperate, they would take the general for themselves.

If a few people were bloodied in the endeavor, so be it.

Kira’s muscles locked, her struggle for control harder than it should have been as sweat dotted her forehead. A bloodbath wouldn’t win her friends or allies. Eurus couldn’t give in to her request if she ripped him in half.

Not to mention Helena and Castor’s presence. Both of whom were rumored to have primus’s of their own.

One—she might be able to take. Two? Not likely.

Throw in Harlow and the emperor’s oshota rimming the room, none of whom were likely to allow her rampage to go unobstructed.

She had to be smart. Cunning.

Too bad Jin wasn’t here to take her focus off things. He’d have had the perfect quip to defuse her primus.

Just when Kira had started to regain control, Harlow’s words destroyed it again.

"Roake will answer the call as well."

"No." Kira’s denial burst out before she could give conscious thought as she moved to her uncle’s side, looming over him in a manner she knew was threatening. "That’s not what you promised."

"Later, niece. This isn’t the time or place."

"Oh my, Roake’s heir seems a little out of control," Castor murmured in amusement. "This is why it’s so important that only the truly mature be allowed to undertake the adva ka."

"You promised those battalions to me," Kira argued, ignoring the comment as she glared at her uncle’s face.

Four battalions were a sizable chunk of Roake’s forces. While Roake’s warriors were considered the best, they also numbered the fewest. Her uncle couldn’t answer the emperor’s call, maintain the House’s borders, and also assist in Kira’s rescue operation.

Something had to give. From the way he was acting, it would be her.

"Kira," Liara cautioned.

"I know what I promised, but Roake’s duties can’t be shirked. If you had grown up properly in a House, you would understand that."

The harsh words left Kira blinking as unexpected hurt squeezed her ribs. "Watch yourself, old man."

Harlow finally deigned to look at her. "I’m not the one acting like a petulant child."

Chairs scraped against the ground as those in the immediate vicinity evacuated.

Color leached out of Kira’s skin as violet symbols etched themselves over every inch of her body, their meaning arcane and only understandable to the very oldest and well learned of the Tuann. Her primus peered through her eyes.

"Kira, calm," Liara urged from the other side of the table. "You won’t help matters by losing control."

Kira was too far gone to listen, the desolation and sorrow she’d been suppressing spilling out as her voice took on the echo of her primus. "You will keep your word."

"I have given you a lot of leeway in consideration of the extenuating circumstances." Harlow rose from his chair to face Kira. "Perhaps that was a mistake and you need to be forcefully taught your place."

Kira bared razor sharp teeth. He could try.

Harlow beckoned her with a flick of his fingers. That bubble of anger expanding in her chest burst. The last thread of her rationality snapped as Kira launched herself forward. Liara let out a cry of denial as Kira closed the distance between her and Harlow.

Her claws stretched for Harlow’s neck.

A force struck her. The room spun as Kira was picked up and slammed down on the table. Her head cracked against it hard enough that she blacked out for a second. Before she could recover, her hands and feet were bound.

"I apologize for my niece’s behavior. It seems she’s feeling out of sorts. Perhaps others were right that allowing her to embark on the adva ka was precipitous on my part."

Pain made it difficult to think as the room swam in and out of focus.

"I think some time under house arrest will do my niece good."

It was the last thing Kira heard as her eyes slid closed and she lost her battle with consciousness.