TWENTY
AN HOUR LATER, Kiraclimbed out of the shower. Steam escaped from the stall, curling around her body as she reached for one of the fluffy towels on the counter.
Her motions were quick as she dried off.
She paused as she caught her blurred reflection in the mirror. The condensation that had formed distorted Kira's image, veiling her features until they were indistinct.
With one smooth movement, she wiped the moisture away.
Her eyes stared at her. Penetrating and deep. Their color hard to pin down. They were a shade between gray and purple, seeming to change based on her mood and clothing.
Once upon a time, those eyes had set her apart, making her feel like a freak.
Then she met those from House Luatha and found out they weren't that original after all.
Strange how things had changed in such a short time.
What had set her apart was now something, if not ordinary, at least not unique.
"Not alone anymore," Kira told her reflection.
Her gaze dropped to Luatha's mark on her forearm, three crescents over a circle with smaller lines joining those crescents.
The mark of her mother's people.
She rubbed a thumb over the band of tattoos rimming each wrist, only the inhibitor she wore hindering her movements.
The Overlord bands. The mark of her father's people. At least one of them anyway.
Kira raised her head. "One more night."
Time and the full strength of the Haldeel royal guard were all that separated her from answers.
Impatience thrummed beneath the surface of Kira's skin.
Maybe when she was young and reckless, she would have chosen to act without thinking of the consequences.
This Kira, however, was older and wiser. She knew the taste of defeat, the hopelessness of loss.
She'd learned patience. She'd absorbed the lesson of endurance.
"You've waited this long," Kira told herself. "You can wait a little longer."
No mistakes. Kira couldn't afford them.
Turning from the mirror, Kira dropped the towel and grabbed the long, silk robe she'd found mixed in with her belongings after she'd returned.
It was a work of art, far nicer than anything she'd ever owned. Made from the silk ofzantiworms, it was beautiful and made her feel feminine.
The color of the midnight sky in the brief moments before night changed to dawn, it was a deep blue. Silver accents made it glitter.
