Some parts of him hoped for the latter. If the Brotherhood collapsed without him, it would prove what he'd always known—that he was irreplaceable, that his vision and his iron will were the only things holding the empire together. But another part, the more practical one, hoped that Losham was holding things together so when Navuh finally found a way to escape and return to the island, he would not find his life's work in shambles.
Losham was clever enough to maintain order, at least temporarily.
At some point during his musings, Navuh must have fallen asleep, and the hissing sound of the door opening jolted him awake.
The footsteps didn't belong to Areana. They weren't light enough, nor were they accompanied by the whisper of silk or the familiar scent of her. They weren't the doctor's brisk, high-heeled clicking either, or the nurse's soft and efficient strides.
These footsteps were distinctly male, even though they weren't heavy. A warrior's footsteps. Careful and measured, and at the same time confident and deliberate. The small hairs at the back of Navuh's neck began tingling, confirming his assessment of the intruder. It was a warning signal that immortal males felt when encountering an unfamiliar immortal male. A potential rival. A potential threat.
"Who are you?" Navuh asked, hating that he couldn't turn his head to see who it was.
The male who appeared in his field of vision was as handsome as he was fearsome. A warrior through and through, despite the tailored business suit and the light brown hair that was long enough to brush the male's shoulders—probably hiding those damned compulsion-filtering earpieces.
The hard look in his eyes gave him away. The cold assessment. The hatred, the loathing that was barely concealed beneath a thin veneer of civility. The gloating was unmistakable and deliberate. The male wanted Navuh to see the satisfaction he felt seeing his enemy diminished and humiliated.
"I'm Kian. Annani's son."
Of course. That was what Navuh had already deduced.
"You were always a thorn in my side," Navuh said, his lips twisting in a smirk. "I still don't know how you pulled off some of those stunts against my men. Had the Fates been whispering in your ear where to find them?"
Kian's expression flickered with surprise that was quickly suppressed. He was trying to maintain a neutral façade, but Navuh had caught it.
"I didn't expect you to open with that," Kian admitted.
Navuh allowed himself a full smile. "What did you expect? Groveling?"
"No." Kian shook his head. "I didn't expect that either. Frankly, I don't know what I expected."
He moved to sit down, disappearing from Navuh's field of vision. The loss of visual contact was immediately disorienting, leaving Navuh staring at the ceiling while his enemy sat somewhere to his left, studying him at his leisure.
"I can't see you when you're sitting down," Navuh said, keeping his voice even. "I can't move my head."
"That's a disadvantage." Kian's voice came from below and to the side. "To you. Not to me."
The words were delivered without malice, simply a statement of fact, and somehow, that made them worse than if they'd been spoken with glee.
"I see," Navuh said. "So, you are going to sit there and enjoy my predicament. Is that the motive for your visit? Did you come to gloat?"
"In part." There was a hint of humor in Kian's voice. "I wanted to see for myself the great Navuh, leader of the Brotherhood, the big bad wolf himself, paralyzed from the neck down, and at my mercy. I have to admit that it feels good."
"Enjoy it while you can. I will heal."
"Of course. Bridget says you're making impressive progress, healing almost as fast as a god. But not quite."
Navuh filed that information away. "Bridget strikes me as the type who follows orders. What did you tell her to tell me?"
Kian chuckled. "You are wrong about Bridget. I have no jurisdiction over her when it comes to medical issues. Besides, why would I want to deceive you about your medical condition by overplaying your progress? It would have been more logical for me to convince you that you were never going to recover and crush your spirit. Defeated people are easier to interrogate."
"Everyone has their own reasons to deceive. Perhaps you want to raise my hopes only so you would have more to crush later."
Kian was silent for a moment. "You are even more paranoid than I am. That's no small achievement."
"Paranoia implies irrational fear. My fears are entirely rational, given my circumstances, and given that you've been fighting me for centuries, yours are justified as well."
"Fair point."
Another silence stretched between them. Navuh waited, letting the quiet do its work. Kian had come here for a reason, and he would eventually get to it. In the meantime, Navuh would learn what he could from whatever scraps of information Annani's son let slip.
