17. CHAPTER 17
Kira
The Capital
Kallum, Ciondo
The Riven estate towered before Kira, ensconced in thick woods that groundskeepers pruned the wild from, manicuring the trees too neatly to look natural.
The shadow of the Phaedra's tower fell upon the massive home in a show of protection and promise.
It was a perfect depiction of the unfairness of Ciondo.
While families in the territories starved, the Riven's front doors rose to twice her height.
Carved wooden pillars spiraled from the pebbled landscaping up to the roof that covered a wraparound deck. The estate screamed power.
Cool air nipped her skin, ripping her back to that freezing tank.
A human part of her wanted to run from the prison into the warmth of a real home. When Kira returned from Dr. Cooper's to the prison, she expected to never walk out of that indomitable building alive. This looked like a gift, but Kira didn't know what awaited her in this house.
The Phaedra extended her no kindness. He wanted her here. Like Dr. Cooper's clinic, she entered another trap, one she never anticipated. That sanitized facility seemed deceptively safe until he locked her in a tank and nearly killed her. Death closed in so fast.
She was about to walk into another tank, just with better decorations.
How had she ended up at the home of the most powerful family in Ciondo?
The Phaedras didn't rule by bloodline but by appointment.
They were selected. The Rivens stood at the side of every emperor for the last two centuries in a military dynasty that protected the power of the Phaedra.
While the emperor possessed far more authority, the Rivens were the first and last line of defense. They were the foundation of the empire.
After the Collapse, chaos crawled up from the ashes of the Old World, and the Phaedras forced order upon their lands with their insurmountable might.
The population grew once more. Times of peace even came.
Times of hope and change when the people shared some of that power.
But the world circled back around to the unyielding hand of power.
And the Rivens were there, helping to usher in this era of control almost two hundred years ago.
This house represented the empire as much as the Phaedra's tower. And so did this man standing beside her. Body marked with loyalty and service, Zayne would inherit his father's position and power, and further the bloody legacy of the Riven men.
Kira didn't belong here—not at this house and not beside him.
Zayne didn't think so either. His silence spoke far louder than his gruff words or grunts. Whoever decided to move Kira didn't request Zayne's approval. In the week she'd known him, she learned the coldness of his discontent well.
“Don't forget your rules,” Zayne said.
Or else.
Kira almost spoke that part out loud for him.
Any violations meant returning to the prison.
She didn't plan to do anything overt, like plead for help from any visitors who entered the estate.
These were loyal people. It worried her how badly she wanted to follow his rules, though.
The days of isolation and darkness in the prison, especially after the tank, wore down her spirit.
Being trapped there again terrified her.
What if Kira slipped into compliance? She needed to stand strong.
What Zayne said while she recovered from thermal shock kept her from losing herself to that despair, though.
Bitter anger heated the chill of his words and the night.
Everything he said carried an implicit threat, all reinforced by his message to her while she lay shivering and half-conscious beneath the blankets three days ago.
Dr. Cooper created that awful tank and subjected Zayne to it a decade ago. Now Zayne wanted her to believe that he ordered the doctor to lock her within that icy water.
Why? Why lie to her?
Then again, why didn't she believe him? Being hurt never stopped a person from hurting someone else.
The good in another didn't erase their bad.
Seeing Zayne's wounds and sorrows told her nothing about his intentions with her.
So, did she believe Dr. Cooper tortured her without Zayne's knowledge because that story fit all the clues?
Or was it because Kira already sipped his poison?
Dr. Cooper wanted her to find Zayne drugged and weakened, to see his scars, so empathy might soften her to him.
Then he flippantly revealed his schemes to make it all feel inevitable.
Hopelessness was the empire's greatest and cheapest weapon.
The Phaedra convinced the people to surrender before the fight even began.
Well, Kira wanted it to cost them to kill her. She refused to listen to anything that stole her sense of power.
None of this helped her decide whether to trust her instincts about Zayne lying to her, though. Her survival depended on her figuring him out, as well as protecting herself from these assaults on her heart and mind.
So, did Kira trust Zayne?
No. He hurt her.
Did she believe Zayne wanted to hurt her?
Not really.
Where did that leave her?
Zayne checked his watch. “The estate's secure now. It's time.”
Home sweet home. He sounded as if this was a military base and not the house where he grew up.
Knots twisted her stomach as she walked quickly to match Zayne's stride and followed after him through the oversized front doors.
The smell of bread and burning candles wafted over her. The smell of home.
Soft lighting cast its glow on the dimly lit walkway, a gentle transition from the darkness outside. Each piece of the house looked so ornate and detailed. The polished shelf on the wall beside her boasted glossy, midnight blue pottery with black succulents.
Mrs. Riven stood at the base of the spiral stairs with a crystal chandelier hanging above her.
What an elegant picture she made, her hands clasped in front of her, and her long auburn hair curling over her shoulder.
A sweet smile lifted her full lips, and the flowing hem of her lavender skirt swayed when she stepped forward.
“Welcome,” she said in a lilting voice. “I promise you're safe here.”
While the resemblance between Zayne and his dad was immediately apparent in their light hair and gray eyes, in the way they carried themselves, Kira saw so much of him in his mother.
Their faces looked alike, pretty and shapely, with the same high cheek bones.
If Zayne ever smiled, she figured it would look so much like the one lighting Adelle's eyes.
Despite the similarities in their looks, Zayne's mother exuded the exact opposite of everything he did with her inviting voice and expression.
It only left Kira leery of whatever danger she posed. “Thank you, Mrs. Riven.”
What did Kira say next? Apologize for invading her house? This woman imprisoned her just as much as the Phaedra and Zayne, didn't she?
But she looked so kind. So authentic. So motherly.
Mrs. Riven's eyes shifted to Zayne. “I made dinner.”
He looked like another fixture in the house, still as a statue. “I'm leaving after I orient the prisoner.”
“You're staying.” The sweet voice carried a quiet warning.
Kira struggled not to smile. The irritation emanated from Zayne even if he didn't show it.
“In fact,” Mrs. Riven walked closer to her, though she eyed her son. “You're on injured reserve. Rest and I'll show Kira around.”
“No.”
No further explanation. No argument or apology. He simply met his mother's eyes and uttered that one word.
This didn't shake Mrs. Riven nor did it appear to discourage her.
Rather, she lifted her hand in invitation to Kira and took the lead beside her.
Together, they passed through the arched walkway into a living room surrounded with ceiling-to-floor windows and too many expensive decorations for her to register.
How much did all of this cost? Did anyone sit on the leather couches or use the glass tables? It all looked untouched.
“You should call me Adelle,” she said with another smile. “This is a strange and unorthodox situation. Forget about formalities.”
Behind them, Zayne groaned.
As Kira walked with her, the overwhelming riches of the estate blurred in her vision. She tried to act polite by smiling and nodding at appropriate times, anything to swallow down the sobs welling inside of her, but Adelle slowed to a stop in the middle of a long hallway.
Concern creased the fine lines around Adelle's eyes. “Let's explore the house tomorrow. Okay? You probably want to see your room.”
Kira tried so hard to open her mouth and say they could continue, but if she spoke, she'd cry.
All that compassion filling Adelle's eyes broke through the strength and courage Kira relied upon in the prison. She was drifting back into her body, into feeling it all.
“I know you're terrified,” Adelle whispered. “I can't take that away from you. While you're with me, you're safe. We'll do everything we can to keep you here.”
Hot tears slinked down Kira's cheeks. Adelle opened her arms the same way parents did when their little ones fell, and Kira willed herself to stay away. To stay strong.
But for the first time since the soldiers dragged her from the market, she didn't feel confused or lost. Adelle wanted to comfort her. Kira knew it, and she never questioned herself before her imprisonment.
So, she stepped into the embrace of this woman she didn't know, closing her eyes as Adelle swayed with her lightly. A lifetime separated Kira from the last time she cried in the arms of her own mother. Tonight, she glimpsed all she lost on the day the soldiers separated them forever.
Just because Kira didn't know whether to trust Zayne didn't mean she shouldn't trust herself. She wasn't letting anyone steal that from her.
Opening her eyes, she saw Zayne staring at them with straight lips and haunted eyes, like he saw the future playing out between them. Saw the Phaedra twisting all that care and closeness into a weapon.