Graydon’s grin was slight even as his glance at the doorway betrayed his restlessness.
“You should go,” Kira said. “I’m sure the emperor is waiting for your report.”
She didn’t bother asking him to keep the conversation they’d had with Aeron secret. For one thing, she knew he wouldn’t. She had to trust that Graydon understood what information could be shared and what would become a noose around her neck.
It was a dangerous line to walk. One Graydon managed to make look as effortless as everything else he did.
Graydon moved away after a faint squeeze of reassurance. “I’ll find you later.”
“I’m counting on it,” Kira said, watching him prowl toward the door, his oshota appearing as if from thin air.
A woman named Amila winked at Kira in solidarity before falling into step with Graydon.
“It was unnecessary to involve him. I told you I would have found a way in,” Odin pouted from behind Kira.
Sometime in the last few minutes Odin’s features had developed a more feminine cast. Her lips slightly plumper. The line of her jaw a little softer.
The change was subtle but unmistakable.
“You also said the chances of getting caught were high,” Kira pointed out.
“Better that than the emperor being privy to all our secrets.”
“Not all.” Kira looked out the view port at the stars. “Besides, we need allies.”
It was becoming increasingly clear to Kira that they needed someone powerful on their side. The attack on the Haldeel empire and those present at the quorum had changed the game. War was coming. Chaos would follow.
They would accomplish nothing except maybe dying if they went at this solo.
“Are you sure you need to leave?” Kira asked Odin.
Her friend hesitated before giving a reluctant nod. “Yggdrasil is the only place where I can run the calculations I need.”
In old Norse mythology, Yggdrasil was a sacred tree that was said to exist in all the worlds, its roots and branches spreading along the fabric of their realities.
Outwardly, Odin’s lair held little in common with the myth, but there was still an essence of truth to the name. It wasn’t a stretch to say the “Allfather”, as Odin was known to some, had a presence throughout the Haldeel and Tuann empires as well as humanity’s Consortium, making the name Yggdrasil rather appropriate.
“I have all the necessary star charts. It won’t be long until I can locate the Tsavitee home worlds,” Odin assured her.
“I’ve heard that before.”
“This time I’m right.” There was a certainty in Odin’s expression that was rare. A confidence unmasked by Odin’s mischievous teasing and sly smile.
Kira offered her hand to shake. “Alright. I’ll wait to hear word.”
“What will you be doing until then?”
Kira tilted her head at the pattern they’d used to appear in Aeron’s cell. “You heard him. Elise will come looking for me. It’s best if I don’t make myself too hard to find.”
Which meant a return to Ta Sa’Riel and House Roake, her father’s House, and all the problems she’d left behind when her niece decided to abscond with her ship.
The cloak rustled around Odin’s legs as the Sye moved toward the door, drawing the cloak over her head as she did so.
Kira didn’t ask how Odin planned to get off the ship. The Sye had her own methods, and she wasn’t about to share them with Kira.
“Not going to say goodbye to him?” Kira asked.
Odin was there for Jin when he needed her the most. The two shared a connection Kira didn’t pretend to understand.
