In response, Captain Malik swung his visored gaze her way. However, he didn’t answer. That didn’t surprise her. He’d served her family for years now, and she’d only ever heard him utter a handful of words. Not that she and the captain had spent any time together—they hadn’t.
Stepping into an elevator, Jenna fought the urge to sag against the golden wall behind her. Everything glowed gold in Mir-Brennan Tower—it was their clan color.
The adrenaline that had pumped through her while she’d faced Tian down ebbed, and her legs suddenly felt wobbly. He’d been furious when she left him, but it didn’t matter. His days in Mir-Brennan Tower were numbered.
Anxiety tightened Jenna’s stomach then. Now, all she had to do was tell her brother.
Don’t worry, Cathal will understand.
Closing her eyes, she did lean back against the wall then, listening to the whoosh of the elevator as it descended to the ground floor. She was about to undo everything her father had worked so hard to achieve—an alliance between the Mir-Brennans and the Mir-Ferrins—but the past two years had proved that this marriage had done nothing to bring the two clans closer together.
All it had done was place Tian, the Mir-Ferrin clan-lord’s youngest son, amongst them—making it easy to cause trouble from within. Surely, Cathal realized he’d been played?
“Are you well, Your Excellency?”
Jenna’s eyes snapped open to find Captain Malik watching her. Staring up at the gleaming visor was disconcerting; it made him seem like a cyborg rather than a man.
Shifting uncomfortably, she dropped her gaze. His formality with her—and his insistence on using her ambassadorial title rather than calling her ‘Lady Jenna’—was unsettling. “Yes, thank you,” she replied coolly, “I’m fine.”
2. CAREFUL, YOUR EXCELLENCY
THE ELEVATOR CAME to a smooth halt then, the doors springing open.
The captain stepped back and gestured for her to move past him.
Gripping her suitcase’s handle, Jenna nodded, striding out through the entrance hall and another set of doors into the cavernous space beyond.
The landing bay took up the entire ground floor level of Mir-Brennan Tower. Great metal beams arched overhead like the ribcage of a massive beast. At the heart of the vast, echoey hangar reared the building’s central core—a gilded column covered in ventilation hatches and climate-control panels.
A narrow, fenced walkway with several service corridors leading off it lined one side, and a number of craft—including the clan-lord’s fleet of gleaming shuttles—sat on platforms facing closed doors. Outside, the temperature was already climbing; they’d keep those hangar doors closed until a shuttle needed to depart.
A mid-sized, gilded vessel sat ready to go. Her aide for this diplomatic mission, Pelicon Mir-Barus, robed in black and gold, stood before the ramp, flanked by black-armored figures: members of the Lord’s Watch.
A few yards back from the shuttle, Jenna’s brother, sister-in-law, and niece waited.
“There you are,” Cathal greeted Jenna with a grin. Clad in flowing gold, with a black cloak hanging from his shoulders, her brother sported their clan insignia upon the breast of his tunic: a shooting star above a clenched fist. “I was beginning to worry you’d slept in.”
Jenna pulled a face. “I was on my way … but Tian delayed me.” She paused then, summoning her courage. “I’m divorcing him.”
Her brother’s broad shoulders tightened, his dark-brown eyes widening. “What?”
“I can’t pretend any longer, Cathal. I hate him. I’ve told him to leave.”
Her voice carried high into the metal rafters above, causing a technician working on a nearby shuttle to stop work and turn to stare at her.
Surprise rippled across the clan-lord’s face. “But the alliance we—”
“This marriage was supposed to bring peace, but all Tian’s ever done is agitate. I know you no longer trust him … isn’t it time we ended this farce?”
Silence fell, and Cathal’s gaze narrowed.
Jenna tensed. Gods, she hadn’t wanted to be so blunt, but it was the only way to get through to her brother. She’d hoped to have a quiet moment alone with him to say all this, but in the end, she’d blurted out her personal business with an audience. She could feel the gazes of everyone upon her.
However, her attention never wavered from her brother.
Moments passed, and then Cathal sighed heavily. “Very well, sister. You’re right about Tian … I regret that I ever took his counsel.” His expression softened then. “And I would never force you to remain wed to someone you loathe. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of him.”
“Thank you,” she murmured, her voice growing husky as her throat tightened.
