The faces of the crew paled further, fear permeating off them in the face of Graydon and Harlow's regard.
Kira had to hand it to the two. They did intimidation well.
Graydon looked over, a smile tangling his lips as if he'd heard her thoughts.
She rolled her eyes. Yes, yes, he was very scary. That was never in doubt.
That smile died as soon as his attention returned to the captain and crew. "On behalf of the Emperor of the Tuann and standing in for your Overlord, I excommunicate all of you from your former House for grave crimes."
There was an immediate outcry from the Tuann in front of them.
"You can't do that," the captain shouted.
Graydon's jaw was set and hard, mercy nonexistent in his gaze. "I can, and I did. My status as the Emperor's Face gives me that power. I'd tread carefully. I hold your fate in my hand. Be careful not to tempt me to a harsher sentence."
Kira wasn't sure, but excommunication from one's House sounded pretty harsh to her. She'd seen how seriously the Tuann treated the bonds to their House, was living proof to how far they'd go in pursuit of them. She knew how lonely and difficult it was to be an outsider, and she suspected for the Tuann it was much worse.
Humans understood the need to walk alone at times. Not all of them fit in pretty little boxes. Sometimes you became a loner by choice, as she did; sometimes, it was the only path left to you.
Kira didn't regret the captain's fate so much as his crew. For most of them, they were probably only following orders. Now they were going to lose everything.
Still, she didn't speak on their behalf. Graydon was in the right. Sometimes you had to be harsh to protect the many. That they had had a Tsavitee shapechanger in their midst pointed to a rot far greater than she could ever forgive.
"Our House won't stand for it," the captain argued, the veins in his forehead popping. He looked beside himself with rage, his face red and his hands clenched.
"They will," Graydon assured him with a rumble. It was like listening to the crash of mountain ranges. Slow, slumberous, inevitable. "Especially when I open up an investigation into your former House."
The captain sucked in a harsh breath. "You wouldn't."
Graydon's head tilted. "You keep telling me what I will and won't do. That is a mistake.Your Overlord is ultimately answerable for the actions of those in their House. Your casual disregard for our laws points to a dangerous mentality being fostered in your leadership. That is something neither I nor the emperor will stand for."
Shock rendered the captain mute. If he'd been furious at being excommunicated, this proclamation terrified him. Kira couldn't help but wonder if the captain had reason to fear his Overlord, or if there was something she was missing.
The captain's gaze moved to Kira, his expression frozen. When his eyes landed on her, all that emotion he couldn't take out on Graydon found an outlet. Rage spilled into his face.
"You," he breathed. "This is your fault."
Kira braced, knowing what was coming. He needed someone to blame. She was his chosen victim.
Kigathered around the captain, building as Kira prepared to spring. She needed to disarm him before he could release hiski.
She didn't make it more than a step before Makon appeared next to him like a ghost, his sword sweeping up and separating the man's head from his shoulders.
Kira stopped abruptly, blinking at the sudden carnage as the rest of the crew lost their collective minds. Graydon and Harlow snapped into motion, subduing them in seconds.
Blood pooled under the captain's body, spreading until it nudged the tips of Kira's boots.
"I wish you hadn't done that," she told Makon.
He cleaned his blade with a quick flick of his wrist. "Mercy is not always wise, child."
"Maybe not, but I have a feeling he could have told us more about where that one came from." She nodded to the other headless body on the deck.
The marshal's gaze was contemplative as he took in the body of the shapechanger. "You have a point. Pardon my overzealousness."
He inclined his upper body in a small bow.
Harlow hauled one of the crew up, holding him in an implacable grip. "You will return to your House and tell them they are banished from these waters and every ocean on a Tuann planet."
