Kira flicked him a look. Why did she have a feeling he found that prospect highly entertaining?
"As the highest-ranked here, you should handle this," she suggested.
Graydon's lips curled. "Oh no, I wouldn't dream of taking this honor from you."
Some honor. All this would bring her was unnecessary attention.
From the sympathy in Devon's expression and the way he made no moves to intervene, Kira could already tell there was no way out of this. You'd think after saving his life on two separate occasions he'd be a little loyal.
But no. He was as willing to cast her to the wolves as Graydon and the rest of his oshota.
Traitors. All of them.
Graydon leaned closer. "Besides, we're not the one she wants to speak to."
There was a tension in the air and a hushed atmosphere as Kira disembarked, followed by Devon, Graydon, and the rest.
Kira may not have won the race, but her dramatic actions during the rescue had overshadowed the rest.
A loud cheer from those still waiting in the stands marked their triumphant return.
Wren and Maksym flanked Kira, in an unmistakable gesture of protection. If anybody tried to snipe her from a distance, one of them would intervene first.
It was only when she neared the royal that they fell back a step, allowing Kira to close the remaining distance with only Graydon at her side.
"I see you haven't fixed your habit of rescuing lost souls," the woman said in a warm tone that carried over the sounds of celebration.
Kira paused in mid-step.
"Kira Forrest, Scourge of the Tsavitee, the protective Phoenix of the Consortium, and now prodigal daughter of the Tuann. Don't tell me you don't remember me."
Kira sucked in a harsh breath, finally able to place where she'd heard this voice before.
Eight years ago. The edge of Haldeel space at an often-overlooked outpost.
She'd hoped her actions there had been forgotten. To be truthful she was kind of counting on it.
What she did on that outpost should have seen her arrested and dumped in a deep dark hole as soon as the Haldeel realized she was the same person who’d orchestrated the destruction of several of their most elite ships.
Of course, if they did that, they’d also have to arrest the person standing before her. The real reason Kira had gone to the lengths she had.
"Ah, you do remember. I was worried."
Kira felt the side of her face burning from the heat of multiple stares. Graydon, Raider, Wren. The oshota standing next to Devon whose face was once again hidden behind a disrupter field.
Pretty much anyone who had just overheard the royal's statement.
"My cherishedza na ri, there is no cause for such concern. I simply wished to greet my friend again."
Kira didn't respond, struggling to reconcile the individual in front of her with the one she'd once known.
Back then, Tierni had been about Elena’s current age and height. She’d worn her fear and poor self-esteem in the same way she’d worn the ratty clothes she’d used to cover her body.
At the time, she’d been malnourished and barely surviving. The rare genetic disorder that caused her blindness in a society whose technological advances could cure damn near anything, isolating her far better than any cell ever could.
"Come now, will you not greet an old friend?" the royal said, startling Kira out of her thoughts.
Kira knew behind her veil, Tierni’s eyes would be a milky white, the nerve fibers that would have routed behind the retina in another Haldeel missing.
