One
Kira
“Nothing is ever really truly gone.”
Inrest,Elise’sfeaturesheld a peaceful repose that had been missing for as long as Kira could remember.Gone were the sorrow and pain that had been chiseled into each line of her face.
She looked young.Shockingly so.
It was a reminder that in terms of age Elise was seen as barely entering adulthood among the Tuann, a race who could live thousands of years.To them, the one hundred or so years that Elise had existed in this universe was a mere drop in the bucket.Not even worth mentioning.
It had been five months since Kira found Elise comatose.Five months of one medical test after another, each one as useless as the last.
Physically, Elise was fine.A perfect picture of health.Outwardly, at least.
She just wouldn’t wake up.
And therein lay the problem.
As a method of last resort, the healers of House Roake had decided to take drastic measures.Their idea—to place Elise in stasis and inter her with Roake’s other sleepers in a chamber right off its Nexus.The House’s seat of power.A place where the planet’s Mea’Ave, its soul, was closest to the surface.
Roake’s healers hoped theki-rich environment it offered would promote Elise’s natural healing abilities.
Kira prayed they were right.Even with all that Elise had done, she wasn’t ready to say goodbye quite yet.
Elise needed to survive.For that, she needed this place and Roake.
In preparation, Elise had been dressed in a dark blue body suit that would monitor her life signs in her prolonged slumber.It and the stasis cylinder that looked disturbingly like a glass coffin would keep her alive and provide all essential nutrients while ensuring minimal muscle atrophy.
Not including Elise’s stasis pod, there were twelve coffins in total.All already submerged in the deep, glowing azure pool.Their occupants highly trusted members of Roake who’d fallen in service to the House.With injuries so extensive that their healers had been forced to turn to this method of last resort.
It was considered an honor to be interred in this chamber.Something a criminal like Elise normally never could have aspired to.
Kira had her uncle to thank for this grace.Just one more debt in a whole slew of them.
If she wasn’t careful, there would come a time when her debts outweighed her ability to repay them.
He’d own her.
Her loyalty.
Her life.
Maybe he already did.
A quiet voice pierced the hush.“Heir, the others have arrived.”
Kira looked up to find one of the oshota tasked with guarding the sleepers observing her from a few feet away.A surprising amount of empathy in his features.As if he understood the pain and struggle of saying goodbye to someone who was still alive.
Kira’s already straight back got even straighter.“Thank you.Could you give me just one more moment?”
The oshota bowed his head respectfully.“Of course, Heir.”
He faded away, giving her privacy to do what she’d come here to do.
With a weary sigh, Kira set a hand on the glass, wishing it was Elise’s cheek she was touching.“Sweet dreams, Sunshine.”
God, she hoped they were sweet.
