Nine
Kira
“Howdidyougethere anyway?”Kira asked.
It was hard to imagine Luatha allowing a child to roam free in the aftermath of the attack.
Ziva’s guilty expression made Kira’s stomach sink.“They don’t know you’re gone, do they?”
The girl’s silence was all the answer Kira needed.
“That’s gonna be a problem.”
With Kira’s luck, Luatha was going to assume she’d kidnapped the girl.There would be consequences.Great, terrible consequences.
As if Roake wasn’t in enough trouble already.
“Let’s go,” Kira ordered.
Ziva started.“What?Why?”
“Why do you think?To return you to Luatha.”
Finn was going to kill her.Round trip, it would take an hour or more to deliver Ziva to Luatha’s stronghold.That wasn’t accounting for any possible delays.Like Luatha forcing Kira to wait around as a power play.Or a Tuann deciding to pick a fight as part of some big plan for vengeance.
Ziva stepped back, avoiding Kira’s reach.“No!I want to stay with you.In Roake.”
“And exactly how do you think that’s going to work?”Kira nodded at the barrier behind Ziva.“It’ll take time to get you the clearance necessary to pass through Roake’s defenses.Until then you’re safer with Luatha.”
Kira knew what kind of trouble Ziva could find without even trying.There was no way she was leaving the girl loose to wander the city alone.
She wasn’t like Luatha.There were boundaries she expected Ziva to obey.
Safety, always.
“Why are you smiling like that?”Kira asked, not liking the entirely too mischievous look on Ziva’s face.Or the way she was edging backwards as if she didn’t think Kira would notice.“What are you doing?”
“Oh, nothing,” Ziva responded with an innocent shrug that didn’t work on Kira any better than Elena or Jin’s did.
Kira’s tone lowered in warning.“Ziva.”
“You worry too much, seon’yer.Since we’ve entered into this sacred union, it’s my duty as your yer’se to anticipate any needs or requirements that you might have.”
Kira scoffed.“Sacred union?What is this, a marriage?You’re far too young for that.Also, you’ve been my yer’se for exactly two seconds.”
Not nearly enough time to understand or anticipate anything.
Ziva continued as if Kira hadn’t spoken.“As such, I went ahead and petitioned the Overlord.”
“You did what?”
Ziva hopped backwards, the barrier swallowing her before Kira could do anything.She popped out the other side none the worse for wear.
“I joined Roake,” Ziva exclaimed proudly.
“How the hel—” Kira checked herself before she finished that curse.Ziva might not understand, but as her seon’yer Kira should probably be setting a good example.“How did you manage that?You weren’t my yer’se until just now.”
“Like me, the Overlord understood the inevitability of our relationship.”
