In recognition.
Against all logic, I picked up that damn glass of whiskey and took a small sip, needing it now more than ever. The liquid hit hard and slipped down my throat.
"She's still learning." Reo shrugged. "You don't hand someone fire while they're still learning how to stand near the heat."
Silence stretched between us.
I set the glass down, pushed off the desk, and walked to the window.
Outside, the morning sun cut sharp lines through the fog and ash that had come from the pyre. And somewhere along this island, the Lion was waiting.
I didn’t turn around as I spoke, "I hit you, because after my Tiger saw that pyre. . .she didn’t want me to touch her."
I had more to say to him, but that was all I could manage.
I heard Reo shift behind me. The soft creak of the chair as he finally lowered himself into it—an admission of pain he wouldn't have made if anyone else were watching. "I knew it had to be something like that."
I turned.
He sat with his elbows on his knees, glass loose in one hand. His posture was relaxed, but his eyes were steady.
No judgment.
No resentment.
Just the truth, laid flat between us.
I frowned. "The hit to your ribs. . .it won't happen again."
“Itwillif I test your Tiger again.”
“But you won’t be testing my Tiger anymore.”
Reo didn’t respond. Instead, he studied me for a long moment. Then, he lifted the glass and finished the whiskey.
Aww. So, you think you have more tests for my Tiger? But do you have enough ribs?
I smirked.
And how can you still be so smug, even through all that pain?
Reo rose from the chair and put the empty glass on my desk. "She's strong, Kenji."
“I know.”
"Stronger than you give her credit for. The fact that she's in the kitchen right now, preparing for a party, making sure morale stays high. . ." He shook his head slightly. "That's not a woman who's breaking. That's a woman who's choosing to rise. Perhaps, there is a solution there."
“What solution?”
“Give her power over our people’s morale. She’s already taken that job anyway.”
The words landed somewhere soft. Somewhere I didn't let many things touch. I looked away before he could see what they'd done to me.
“And you can figure out other ways, Kenji. Nyomi’s power is more in the realm of moral, emotional, and stabilizing but. . .not executive. Not in our world of blood and death.”
Reo's suggestion seemed logical. It was a part of the hierarchy my Tiger could naturally fit into, her strength as a woman being utilized to bring unity among the men and women who called me their Dragon.
Power, it seemed, had many faces, and some were not drenched in blood.
