Kira nodded. "You could say that."
"If by interfere, you mean she scuttled two chariots in the process," Jin added.
Kira sent him a cool look.
"What? They said they wanted the truth," Jin argued.
Kira shook her head, aware of how the rest of them stared at her like she’d sprouted two heads.
"I didn't know a Haldeel chariot could be destroyed. That class of ship is said to be indestructible,” Wren said.
"Not if you work from the inside,” Jin said. “And if you want to get technical about it, we only destroyed one. The second simply got too close to the first."
Jin said it like it was no big deal, but they’d barely escaped with their lives.
The chariot class ship had earned its reputation. Both had belonged to a faction in the Vertier order. When they’d taken Tierni, Kira had gone and gotten her out.
She’d bitten off a little more than she could chew, but the ending had worked out, even if it was a bit flashy for Kira’s tastes.
“I don’t know how she ended up a royal or when her Ascension was,” Kira confessed.
That hadn’t been anywhere on their radar then.
After they’d destroyed the ships, they left Tierni and Lieven somewhere safe and skedaddled for fear the Haldeel would try to arrest them for wanton destruction of property.
Yukina’s head lifted. “Eight years ago? In the Fieri sector?”
Enlightenment filled Graydon's expression. "If I remember correct, wasn't that the source of a minor scandal?"
Yukina’s stare drilled into Kira. “Yes, a Haldeel higher echelon family was caught trying to pass the offspring of a distant branch as a candidate for the Ascension using the scores of another.”
Yukina’s lips curled in a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “When the deception was discovered, the child responsible for those results deposed the imposter. It was a bloody affair, I’m told.”
That would explain Tierni’s current position—and perhaps some of why Kira and Jin weren’t arrested for their actions.
“Your royal made quite the splash on her return. Her first act was reforming the laws around the Vertier,” Yukina added.
“She’s garnered a reputation since her Ascension,” Torvald said, sounding approving.
Yukina's stare drilled into Kira. "You’re lucky you didn’t die. The Vertier has a warrior sect within it."
“I’m aware,” Kira said.
They’d sent those warriors after Tierni and Lieven. Never again did she want to face a Haldeel in battle.
"What could have possessed you to be so reckless?" Wren asked.
Kira lifted a shoulder. "It involved a child."
For her, that was the only reason that mattered.
She could never walk away from a child who needed her help. It was a weakness she knew the Tsavitee might one day try to take advantage of. Even so, she had no desire to fix the chink in her armor. It was what made all the rest bearable. It made her feel clean.
Ignoring Tierni’s situation had been impossible—especially in those days.
Raider stretched one arm across his armchair and leaned back. "You found Tsavitee meddling, didn't you?"
"There was the suggestion of their hand in the mix," Kira allowed. "No proof however."
