It was with mixed feelings that she stepped into the hallway. In any situation where you were facing a superior force, the element of surprise couldn’t be overstated. An element she’d just shot to hell by giving the emperor warning.
Call it a sign of respect to the man lying comatose in that bed or some vain hope that the emperor had even the smallest iota of empathy for his firstborn.
Either way, she’d let him know her intentions. What he chose to do with that knowledge was in his hands.
Kira found Finn standing at attention outside the door. No greetings were exchanged as they made their way toward Roake’s avenue by silent agreement.
Since Finn had woken up after his injury, the mood between them had been uncharacteristically strained. More so than could be explained by Kira’s actions of heading to the sanctum alone.
Of Finn and Raider, she was the least injured.
Still, he was quiet. As if he was wrestling with something only he knew.
Kira left him to his silence, more preoccupied with memorizing every detail of their journey to be worried about what was going on inside his mind. The way the sun’s rays slowly faded from the sky. The golden tinge of the horizon. The flags flapping in the wind. The salty smell of the ocean and the brisk breeze against her face.
A cold front was coming. There’d be snow soon.
Too bad Kira wouldn’t be here to see it. She’d have liked to have experienced a snowfall in Roake’s fortress. Snug in the warmth of her room drinking a cup of laug as nature decorated the world with white.
They reached the entrance of the fortress all too soon.
Finn stopped at the door, his expression unreadable. He gave her an abrupt nod. “I’ll let you go alone from here. There are a few things I need to take care of.”
Kira didn’t think she was imagining the unspoken goodbye as Finn bent in a respectful manner and touched his chest.
He looked up. His eyes catching hers for a long moment before he strode away without another word, leaving Kira staring after him speechless.
Where was he going? His room was in her suite.
As her near constant shadow for weeks, it was hard to wrap her head around his sudden departure.
She hadn’t realized how lonely it would be with him no longer at her side.
Feeling at a loss, Kira went inside the fortress, making her way to her floor where she found herself standing in front of a door that wasn’t hers.
The entrance to her parents’ bedroom beckoned. A silent reminder of the things she’d be giving up if she followed this course she was considering.
She owed it to herself and them to know what she’d be missing out on.
Kira gathered herself, searching for the courage to lift her hand and take that final step.
In the end, it was easier than she thought. Almost too easy as she set her hand on the knob. There was a pause as a hum of electricity swept through her, the ki contained in the lock reading her biometrics.
The door gave under her touch, opening a centimeter before stopping.
Kira’s heart pounded in her ears as she stared at the small gap of the opening. This was it. The last thing she needed to do before tomorrow came.
She wasn’t ready. Probably wouldn’t ever be.
Which was why she should just do it and get it over with.
Kira gave the door a push before she could talk herself out of it. The door creaked open, revealing a room much like the one Harlow had given her.
Kira hovered on the threshold, slowly taking in the furnishings. Though its inhabitants had been absent for nearly a century, the room looked like it had been empty for no more than a few days.
Harlow had kept it exactly how it was the day her parents died.
The bed was made but a robe had been tossed over the end of it. Its presence making the room’s emptiness all the more sorrowful.
