“Then you must realize, it doesn’t matter who the emperor appoints. If Kira is a beloved, the Mea’Ave will guide her to its resting spot regardless of what the rest of us might wish,“ Graydon pointed out.
The Mea’Ave’s will was a mysterious thing. Circumventing it was no easy feat. Tuann history was littered with stories of those who’d tried and wound up broken as a result.
If the Mea’Ave truly wished for Kira to act as its chosen, nothing Roake or the emperor did would change that.
“All we can do is have faith in Kira,” Graydon said.
“And if the emperor is right and our old enemies wish to stretch their hand out toward the Mea’Ave?“ Caius asked.
Graydon’s smile bared his teeth. “Then we cut that hand off and slaughter any who wish to threaten her.”
The Tuann manning the bar looked up as Kira pushed her way into the establishment.
Talon jerked his chin up in greeting as Kira lingered just inside the room, letting her eyes adjust to the change in light
At this time of day, the Sirav Rytil, a phrase which meant second chance in Tuann, was largely empty. In an hour or so that would change as the oshota who went off shift made their way here for a drink.
For now, Kira had the place mostly to herself.
Located outside of the fortress’s walls on the edge of the city, the Sirav Rytil had a bar that curved through the middle of the room. A set of wide-open windows along one wall overlooked the city below and the ocean beyond.
“Look who’s back,” Talon remarked as she and Finn moved in his direction.
Her oshota had been waiting for her the moment she stepped out of Harlow’s office and made no argument when she headed for the bar.
Talon was a little different than most of the Tuann Kira kept company with. Once an oshota, he now owned this bar. A watering hole for any Tuann who stepped through these doors.
His hair was shaggy. A little unkept. It matched the almost surly expression he had on his face each time Kira saw him.
“You’ve created quite the splash since the last time I saw you,” Talon said as she and Finn stopped in front of the bar. “People are talking about you.”
Kira leaned one arm on the polished wood surface of the bar. “What are they saying?”
“That you are impetuous for one so young,” Talon drawled.
Next to Kira, Finn was quiet as he observed his friend.
Talon and Finn went way back. Both had served in the same pod for a time but had since gone their own ways.
The two were as close as brothers. Kira suspected if Finn ever indicated he needed someone to watch his back, Talon would be the first to answer his call.
His loyalty made Kira like him a little more.
Perhaps that was why she wasn’t as prickly as she would have been if another stuck their nose into her business.
Finn didn’t strike her as the type who made friends easily. If this man had managed to become one, he was someone worth knowing.
“That’s not new,” Kira said.
Talon’s lips tilted up as he set down the knife he’d been using to slice fruit and picked up a bottle filled with an amber liquid the same shade as his eyes. He poured the alcohol into a short glass and slid it to Kira before doing the same for Finn.
“They also say you show signs of isolation madness.”
At that, Kira’s eyebrows rose. That was new. Someone had started a smear campaign against her.
It had been a matter of time. Discrediting her was the easiest way to prevent Roake from accepting her as its heir.
If that didn’t work, they’d try different methods.
