Chapter 5 #3
There was always going to be a time when his duty and hers conflicted. Where choices would have to be made and loyalties either discarded or redefined.
Seeing Graydon’s slightly lost, bereft expression, so at odds with the confident man she’d come to know, Kira took his hand and squeezed it. “Graydon, it’s okay. I understand.”
She wasn’t some naive twenty year old who expected unquestioning faith and devotion. Loyalty, at least the kind that lasted, was neither simple nor straightforward.
Besides, if Graydon were to so easily forsake his vows, he wouldn’t be the man she both loved and respected.
There was also the small fact that Graydon’s support would only hurt Kira and Roake at the moment. The tiniest hint of favoritism would backfire, leaving the other Houses more incensed than they already were.
Ultimately, the best thing Graydon could do was to step aside.
No doubt that was all included within the emperor’s calculations when he made his suggestion.
Graydon caught Kira’s arm. “I’ve told you before, cheva nier, you are mine. The same way I am yours. Nothing will change that.”
His gaze held hers as if to impress on her the full depths of that truth.
Kira touched his wrist. “I know.”
Graydon’s grip lasted another moment before he reluctantly released her.
Kira tried not to mind the cold sensation that crept over her as he stepped back, his features returning to their stoic mask.
“After you,” Kira said, ignoring the feeling of having just lost something precious and irreplaceable.
Spotting the books Jarek had left, Kira hesitated for a brief moment before taking them with her. Jarek probably hoped reading them would make Kira question Jin and their bond, but that didn’t matter. She knew what Jin was. That wouldn’t change.
Information was information.
Good or bad, everything lay in how that knowledge was used.
To hurt—or prepare.
Leaving the prison with Graydon as her guide was much easier this time. No one challenged them as they stepped out of the cell and made their way through the long, dark hallways of the Inquisitor’s Hold.
Without the stress of having to avoid patrols, Kira could actually take in her surroundings. Not that there was much to take in. The Hold was as austere as you might expect of a monastery from Earth’s long ago past. Nothing adorned the walls or floors.
Unlike Roake’s Fortress of the Vigilant that still managed to maintain a sense of warmth despite its spartan design, this place was as cold and unfriendly as the order who resided within it.
No one said anything as they climbed several flights of stairs to the ground level where Jarek and Sariah were waiting for them.
Sariah had a look of dissatisfaction as she watched their approach.
Jarek’s expression remained neutral as he acknowledged their arrival with a dip of the chin. “I’m glad to see you’ve figured out what the front door is for.”
If Kira felt the dig regarding her last visit and the prison break she’d helped stage, she didn’t show it in her expression.
“Enough games,” Sariah interrupted. To Kira, “I still don’t trust you. But it looks like I was overruled.”
The angry look she shot at Jarek let Kira know just who had played a part in that.
“If it was up to me, I’d throw you in the deepest, darkest cell I could find and then forget about you,” Sariah continued.
“I guess it’s good that it’s not up to you then.”
“However, I was able to win at least one concession.” The inquisitor crooked her finger at another standing against the wall.
He glided forward, holding a small box in front of him like an offering.
When he stopped in front of Sariah, she touched the opposite sides of the box with her forefingers.
There was a snick before the box’s lid turned to dust, revealing a small wrist cuff inside.
Graydon stiffened at the sight. “You overstep.”
“Others didn’t think so. Including your emperor,” Sariah said with a smug little smirk that made Kira want to give her face a good smack.
Rather than do something that would land her back in a prison cell, Kira studied the cuff. “An inhibitor?”
It looked different from the one she’d worn previously as part of her treatment plan for ki poisoning.
Designs had been etched in gold on top of the black metal.
It looked like a sun had collided with a crescent moon. The sharp points of the sun extended down one side. A line rose out of the moon on the opposite side.
If Kira squinted just right, they almost looked like swords. All pointing at the sun and the moon as if prepared to pierce their hearts.
If not for the unnatural feeling emanating from it, Kira would have thought it was a pretty piece of jewelry. As it was, there was an intangible sense of wrongness coming off it that made her incredibly uncomfortable in a way that was hard to explain.
Graydon glared at Jarek. “This wasn’t part of the agreement.”
The inquisitor’s expression remained bland. “There were some among our number who felt that we’d given you too big a concession. This was their solution.”
Pallas’s lip curled as he plucked the cuff out of its bed to examine it more closely. “They wish to collar our sister like a dog. Can you believe that?”
He wasn’t careful as he tossed the item back into the box.
“No, I can’t.” Alexander fixed a cold gaze on Sariah. “I thought we made our position adequately clear.”
“You’re in no position to make such demands.
You have no House nor the power to back up your position.
You also haven’t completed the rite of passage that would allow your voice to be heard.
” Sariah swept a defiant gaze over Alexander and Pallas.
“You may have been Tuann once, but you are no longer. If it was up to me, your genes wouldn’t be allowed to muddy our ranks. ”
Kira sucked in a harsh breath.
This right here was why the forty-three had been so reluctant to make themselves known to their former people.
The bigotry and intolerance that undermined so much of Tuann society.
They’d feared they’d never gain acceptance due to what the Osiri had done to them as children.
From what Sariah just said, it looked like they were right.
“A purist. How fucking stereotypical,” Pallas sneered before glaring at Graydon. “And your emperor wonders why we’ve kept to ourselves.”
Sariah’s chin lifted arrogantly. “She will wear the shackle or she will remain here. That is the deal. Take it or leave it.”
Alexander clamped a hand on Pallas’s shoulder when he would have gone for the inquisitor’s throat.
“Get your hand off me,” Pallas snarled, a wild look entering his eyes.
“Easy there. You know what we’re after.”
Pallas shoved Alexander’s hand away.
Sensing the impending violence, Kira glanced at Graydon, hoping he would say something to stop it.
No help there.
Graydon looked as incensed and on the brink of bloodshed as Pallas.
“I suggest you tread carefully,” Graydon threatened.
“It’s not me who has forgotten their place,” Sariah retorted. “The emperor may be your master, but for how much longer when your loyalties clearly lie elsewhere?”
Graydon’s jaw flexed as he ground his teeth so hard that Kira was surprised when they didn’t crack.
“We don’t have time for this,” Kira snapped, grabbing the inhibitor and slapping it on her wrist. A barrier slammed down between her and her soul’s breath. It felt like being cut off from one of her senses.
She was forced to take a moment to stabilize herself as a chasm yawned in front of her at the loss.
Just a tiny one though, since there were still things to do.
“There. Happy now?” Kira asked. “You got what you wanted.”
“I wanted you locked away where no one would ever hear your name again, but this is a start,” Sariah admitted.
Kira shook her head. “You’re such a stupid woman.”
Sariah’s smug smile dropped from her lips.
Before she could respond, Kira grabbed her wrist, yanking the inquisitor into her side so she could speak directly into her ear.
“Enjoy your power trip while it lasts. As the man next to you can attest, the fall that is coming is steep and long.”