If he could make the emperor's Face remain behind, she'd stand on her head and sing the Consortium's anthem backwards.
Graydon offered Alexander a genial smile that didn't soften the stone cold stare that came with it. "Where she goes, I go. Was I not clear in my earlier actions?"
Kira snickered lightly, unsurprised when Alexander was the first to back down. He turned on his heel, stalking through the mammoth door.
"Your siblings seem to be a little hard headed," Graydon observed.
"You could say that again."
Kira tilted her neck back to look up at Graydon. Once upon a time, his cockiness had made her semi-homicidal. Who would have ever thought there would come a day when that arrogance was used for good?
"You should be honored. You're the first outsider to ever meet all of them face-to-face like this,” Kira teased.
"Oh, I am. You can't imagine how hard my heart is beating with gladness."
Kira snickered as she took the lead, entering the same door her siblings had disappeared through. They walked through a short hallway, entering a large, circular chamber that reminded her of the ruins of a colosseum.
Most of the roof was missing, allowing moonlight to stream onto the floor. Its soft light cast the majority of the audience stands into shadow.
She stopped in the center of the room, carefully studying the darker shadows sitting in the tiers above.
"The forty three," she told Graydon softly.
The first people she'd cared about. And the ones who'd never forgiven her for choosing Jin over them.
Petty bastards.
Sensing her anger, Graydon's hand slipped into hers, the rough calluses on his palm oddly comforting. "You don't have to talk to them if you don't want to. Fighting our way out of here is always an option."
One side of Kira's lips tugged up. "Shouldn't you be ecstatic to meet the Tuann's long lost children?"
"You forget—I'm not here in my capacity as the emperor's Face."
Ah, yes. That's right. He was here as her shield.
"Don't tell me. Is this him?" a woman declared excitedly, her voice seeming to come from everywhere.
Graydon dropped Kira's hand, his en-blade appearing in his palm as he went on the alert.
A woman appeared, crouched on thin air directly in front and above them. She balanced on her toes, seemingly on nothing. Her face was painted with heavy, theatrical makeup that obscured her features. Except for her eyes which were wide and fascinated as she focused on Graydon.
Kira caught Graydon's arm. "Don't react."
From the looks of things, the forty three had decided to test Graydon. Kira remembered it from her times in the camp. It's what they did on the rare occasion someone new entered the group.
They were learning his limits. What made him tick. What made him angry.
"They won't hurt me."
Though there was that one time they'd broken her arm. And her leg.
"I'm reasonably sure they won't," Kira added.
Graydon gave her a look as if to ask if she was kidding.
Kira shrugged. "They're unpredictable."
"Don't tease the poor man. The Tuann aren't known for their humor." The woman lay on her stomach in the air, her knees bent and her feet kicking lightly behind her. "Of course, we're not going to kill you. We went to a lot of trouble to invite you here."
