“I suspect Harlow will send you somewhere soon.”
Kira glanced at Wren, finding Liara’s echo of his earlier words a little disconcerting.
“The emperor ordered us to stand down.”
Liara’s snort was surprisingly unladylike.“Please, cousin.Don’t insult my intelligence.Luatha may have never been friends with Roake, but we’ve made a point of studying its Overlord.Harlow will not leave one of his people out there.He’ll send someone he trusts to investigate.That means you.”
“There are plenty of Tuann under Harlow’s command that he trusts more than me.”
Oshota with centuries more experience too.
“They’re not family.You are.And that means something.You’ve also proven to be uncommonly loyal and resourceful.He’ll send you.When he does, I want Roderick to go with you.”
“Why?”Kira asked in a voice rife with suspicion.
“That’s none of your business.”
The hell it wasn’t.
“Or I can accuse Roake’s heir of kidnapping a child under my care.Your choice.”
“Look at you—playing hardball.”
“One doesn’t become Overlord by playing nice.Do we have a deal?”
Kira glanced at Wren and Auralyn, hesitating for only a moment.“Yeah.We have a deal.”
Harlow wasn’t going to like it though.
“Is there anything Roderick should know before departure?”
“Tell him to bring simple clothes.Things that will blend with non-Tuann if necessary.”
“Understood.”
Liara cut the connection an instant later.
“I take it my yer’se has a yer’se,” Wren drawled as soon as Kira handed the stone back to Zoella.
“It wasn’t my idea,” Kira grumbled.
Wren’s expression was more thoughtful than disapproving.“It’s unconventional to be sure, but then Ziva strikes me as a rather unique child.”
Auralyn didn’t seem as convinced.“She’s young for this path.”
“Unfortunately, life doesn’t always wait until we’re of age to shit on us,” Kira pointed out.
Auralyn acknowledged the truth of that statement with a small grunt.
“Don’t worry about Elena and the rest.We’ll take care of them,” Auralyn promised.
“I might need to ask you to add one more to that number.”
In retrospect, this may not have been the best time to accept Ziva as her yer’se.She hadn’t expected Luatha to wash their hands of her.Now that they had, it put Kira in a difficult position.
It was too dangerous to bring Ziva along, but the girl also needed more supervision than Harlow or the other adults in Roake were going to be able to give her with everything else going on.
“Ziva’s welcome.I think she and Elena may even end up being good for each other,” Auralyn assured her.
