18. CHAPTER 18
Kira
The Capital
Kallum, Ciondo
The first few days with Adelle wasn't simply a respite from the prison, but like coming home for the first time since losing Mom.
No wonder Zayne looked so alarmed to see them embracing that first night.
If the Phaedra wanted Kira to bond deeply to Zayne's mom, then resisting that plan felt hopeless.
Adelle was genuinely kind. Openly kind, with no attempt to hide it or excuse it away. She treated Kira like a family guest instead of a prisoner.
How could a woman married to a war criminal, raising the future leaders of this cruel empire, be kind?
It wasn't an act either. If Adelle were a master liar and manipulator, the Phaedra would pack her days full so there'd be no time for lunches and gardening. And Adelle never missed a day in her greenhouse.
This home was an oasis. Adelle was allowed to be herself here. Maybe Kira could be while this lasted.
Her third morning in the home, Kira awoke to the savory aroma of bacon cooking and found the kitchen door wide open, when Zayne said it needed to stay locked.
Adelle's voice called out to her. “Come in.”
“I thought I wasn't supposed to be in here.” She wandered into the doorway.
“The drawers are locked and need my fingerprint to open. It's paranoid to close you off from the kitchen.” Giving a mischievous grin, she lifted both brows. “Just don't tell my husband. We'll keep the door locked when he's home.”
“What about Zayne?”
“He knows you won't break into the cabinets and steal my knives. He'll grump about it but just ignore him.”
They sat together at the large marble island and ate breakfast as if they knew each other and Kira wasn't a prisoner.
Growing up, the kitchen staff prepared all the meals in the children's home.
Since then, she and her friends had cooked for one another.
This was the first time a mother had made her food since she'd come to Kallum.
The Phaedra gave Kira what she wanted most. He opened her deepest wound and shoved Adelle into the bloody center.
Should she try to keep her distance? Morning sunlight bathed the countertop and washed over Adelle, the sweet smile already on her face while she looked up at Kira. Always checking on her.
Zayne wanted her to stay away. Adelle didn't seem concerned.
“Does it worry you the Phaedra wants us to get close?” Kira asked. Adelle could be manipulating her. Could she rule that out just because the Phaedra underutilized her?
“It does. He understands the power people hold over each other. It can be used to destroy us.” Adelle refilled Kira's glass of water.
“It's also our greatest hope. We shouldn't protect ourselves by never loving, but by cherishing every moment we get with those we love.
To use the strength of that joy to be the kind of people we otherwise couldn't hope to be.”
Doubt fled Kira as she listened to Adelle, banished in the same way the morning light cast away darkness. “Your son needs to learn that.”
“I've tried. He isn't ready, not after the North.
Not when he thinks he's the reason his friends died.” That current of suffering mixed with the softness of her home again.
Adelle defied everything Zayne attempted to do in opening up to her, including discussing his time as a prisoner of war.
“They were targeted because they were his comrades, and he didn't give up information, even when they were killed.
I understand why he feels guilty. He's convinced his love is a poison. He can't allow himself to feel it.”
A poison.
That word kept taking on new layers of meaning with Zayne.
Maybe instead of avoiding trust, Kira should use the bond to Zayne and Adelle to strengthen herself and hurt her enemies. She should use the Phaedra's strategy against him.
“Was it the militias in the north?” Kira asked.
Adelle looked paler. “Yes.”
Militias ruled the bitter northern lands the empire failed to conquer.
They employed the same ruthless, lifelong training as Ciondian soldiers.
The loyalty of the militias ultimately fell to only themselves, but they always opposed the Phaedra.
While they fought with the United when it suited them, they just as often warred against them.
The entire empire feared them. Who else would take the High General's son captive but those brutal and fearless soldiers?
They ate without speaking for a few minutes, Adelle lost to the past, and Kira allowing her time to recover from remembering. But when the sound of the front door opening broke the quiet and Zayne approached, her eyes lit. The deep love she held for her son made Kira long for her own mother.
The feeling of Zayne's ire scratched at Kira though. Before even turning, she knew exactly how he looked.
That intense stare of his locked onto the food before shifting to Kira and settling on his mom. “You're already breaking rules.”
“I made enough for you,” Adelle said.
Zayne walked to the island, wearing his full uniform and hiding his limp like usual. “Security didn't clear this room.”
“What can she use in here to hurt herself or others?”
“The pan full of bacon grease you left out.”
“It's not hot anymore. The moment I scream, soldiers will come running. I doubt she'll kill either one of us with the pan before they get here. It'd take a few hard swings.”
This time Zayne said nothing, merely holding her gaze with his own smoldering.
“Would you sit and eat?” his mother asked.
Kira watched, content to allow Adelle to fight Zayne, because it gave her the opportunity to observe their power dynamic.
Hefting out a long sigh, he looked down at the counter and shook his head. “I'll convince Father to approve the kitchen if you lock the doors when you're cooking.”
That seemed too easy. “Thank you, son. Now, Kira will be here for a while. She's both a guest and a prisoner. You're both her liaison and my son. We're all in strange positions.” She pointed to the stool again. “Take off your coat, sit down, and eat. You're home, like it or not.”
If anyone saw Adelle cajoling Zayne into getting close to Kira, then they'd see it as a betrayal of his mission. Kira imagined Zayne seethed inside because he couldn't say no. He didn't trust the walls in this house. He said so himself.
“I'm not hungry,” he said.
Both Adelle and Kira watched as he walked to the back door—Adelle with the quiet satisfaction of winning and Kira with shock at seeing Zayne follow her orders.
He peeled his uniform jacket off and hung it on the third hook of the coat rack.
That must have been the one that he always used.
Zayne was too orderly to not put everything in its exact place.
The snake tattoo stared back at her from the base of his neck, churning her stomach.
What a terrible reminder of one of the worst things a person could endure.
Zayne didn't have to see it constantly, but his mom did.
It must have hurt terribly every time she remembered what happened to him.
While Kira knew nothing of that time, she did know what the snakes meant, and Adelle shared enough details for her to understand.
When Zayne sat without his uniform jacket, he still looked on duty.
His shoulders were too straight and his body too tense.
He wore a black shirt with sleeves that fell to just above the band on his arm, letting her see more skin than usual.
The faint scars circling his wrists evoked images of Zayne fighting against his restraints to save his comrades.
The back of her arms ached at the thought of ropes or metal cutting into his skin.
The way he looked that night in the kitchen flitted through her mind. How hard it was to look away from such an image of vulnerability and power in one conflicted soldier.
Dr. Cooper's taunting suggestion rattled her again, and she stared at her plate now.
How humiliating. Zayne was a stubborn, cold, and joyless man who ruined what would be beautiful eyes with his icy stare.
He was entirely unpleasant to be around, and Kira easily put him from her mind once the impulse passed.
“How are you sleeping?” Zayne asked it so gruffly that it sounded like it took all of his strength to pry each word from his mouth.
“Better. You?”
“Fine.” He looked away.
Stepping out of the room, Adelle left Kira alone with Zayne, and neither of them spoke. She refused to be the one to find something to say. He'd been rude to her constantly. So what if he gave her a bud off a tree last night and apologized? Too little too late.
Yes, he admitted he wanted to protect her from himself, but he was a jerk. A rude jerk who couldn't even pretend to be okay with exchanging basic pleasantries despite direct orders from the Phaedra to make friends with her.
By the time Adelle returned a full minute later, the veins in Zayne's hand looked ready to burst from his skin. So intense.
“I think it's time you met Ms. Pumpkin.” Adelle carried a gorgeous cat with long, pristine fur.
Excitement spread through Kira's chest, and she leaned across the table, drawn to the pet. “You have a cat?”
“Yes. I wanted to let you get settled before bringing her out.” Adelle passed Ms. Pumpkin to Kira, and all the stress vanished while she ran her fingers through the soft fur.
“She's beautiful.” Kira nuzzled her face against the cat. “You're beautiful. You know that?”
Kira's neighbors hated that she fed all the stray cats in the neighborhood. What were they eating without her? She held Ms. Pumpkin close, happy to see one baby safe and well-fed. A little too well-fed.
Setting the cat down on the counter, Kira plopped a kiss on her little nose. “We're going to be good friends, Ms. Pumpkin.”
Zayne rolled his eyes.
Oh, she wasn't even allowed to be friends with a cat?
Pumpkin waltzed across the counter to Adelle.
“Why do you call her Ms. Pumpkin when she's white?” Kira asked.
“My daughter, Andi, named her. We found her in a pumpkin patch.”