Kira waited, wanting to see what the oshota would do.
Isla smirked as she moved her gaze back to Sariah.“That is not within the scope of my orders.”
Sariah’s eyes widened incredulously.“Her House attacked the palace!”
“I’m not here to protect the palace.My duty is to the emperor’s son.No one else.”
With a respectful nod at Kira, Isla prowled back into the room to check on Jin.
“Sucks when no one listens, doesn’t it?”Kira put a little more weight into the foot resting on Sariah’s arm, letting the other feel the pressure and how easy it would be for her to break it before letting up and stepping back.
“I’ve never seen an oshota abandon their sword in a situation as dire as this,” Jarek observed from the balcony, his attention on Finn and Raider’s retreat across the avenue.
“And you still haven’t,” Kira corrected.
“Is there some other way to describe what just happened?”Jarek inquired, sounding honestly curious.
“There’s a saying among humans.Retreat to advance.”
Better for Finn to go where he could do some good rather than join Kira as a prisoner.
A deafening explosion drowned out Jarek’s response.
“No,” Kira whispered, forgetting Sariah and Jarek as she rushed to the balcony to stare in disbelief.
Smoke billowed from a massive hole at Roake’s heart.A portion of one of its towers had collapsed into the crater.As had several of the surrounding structures.Flames licked the stone of the Fortress’s walls.
Behind her, Sariah laughed.“Looks like someone destroyed Roake’s Nexus.”
Bile filled Kira’s throat.
Oh, God.
Her family.The oshota standing guard.
All gone.
“That sounded more like a self-destruct.Not a lucky shot from one of the other Houses.”Noticing Kira’s shock, Jarek wiped away the analytical look on his face as a trace of sincerity replaced it.“I’m sorry.”
“This isn’t real,” Kira whispered.
That sick feeling was back.Only this time, it was worse.
This was a nightmare.It had to be.One that sprung from the deepest parts of her subconscious.A place formed by past scars and heartbreak.
This couldn’t be happening.Not again.
Preoccupied with the devastation in front of her and what it meant, Kira forgot for a split second about the danger lurking behind.
It wasn’t until the temperature abruptly plummeted that she realized the magnitude of her mistake.Ice froze the breath in her lungs.Black spots danced across her vision.Then all went dark.
Four
Graydon
Obeyingtheordertohalt, Graydon glanced beyond the oshota standing guard to the vast chamber that served as the emperor’s audience hall.Great pillars supported the roof high overhead, and the walls were carved in ancient motifs that dated back thousands of years.An impression of wealth and power reverberated throughout.
“You’re back early,” Erna, one of the emperor’s personal oshota, observed neutrally.
