Whatever this was about, he was going to take the brunt of any fallout. Krystal didn’t deserve to be hauled over the coals for just trying to make things better. It was T’arq who lost the stealth ship. T’arq who had drawn the attention of the Xakul. T’arq, who had almost gotten them killed.
“The transporter would have been quicker.”
T’arq bit back angry words and nodded at his friend and commander. He braced his hands on the arms of the chair. He was angry with himself, not at Zac. And not at Krystal. He needed to apologize to her.
T’arq turned. “Krystal—”
“The Supreme Commander is on screen.” Tomas swiped at his comm and the screen that took up the entire wall at the end of the table flickered into life.
T’arq had missed it coming into the room, so fixated was he on Krystal. She was in a similar state to him, neither of them having time to change, but she had restrained her hair. She stared straight ahead instead of looking past him to the viewscreen.
Squaring his shoulders, he tensed, hands braced on the table in front of him, and waited for whatever was going to be thrown their way.
He forced himself to look at the viewscreen as the image of the Supreme Commander flickered into life. He was lounging in a large padded chair, one leg thrown over the armrest, his hand dangling as he looked at something off-screen and laughed. The size of the view screen made him look twice as large as he was in real life.
Karik Za’Rell was an infamous layabout, known for his over the top parties and excessive spending on the most frivolous of things. What he was not known for was his interest in military matters. Would Krystal see more in this man than the carefully cultivated facade? A facade so good that T’arq still struggled to accept it was fake.
But she wasn’t looking at the viewscreen, or T’arq. She was looking at the tablet in front of her on the table. T’arq craned his neck to read it, but she must have felt him doing so and tucked it away before shooting him a glare.
Obviously not forgiven… yet. He eased back into his seat and turned to watch the view screen once more.
Karik Za’Rell had not been the first choice for Supreme Commander. Or the second. And, according to palace gossip, probably not even the third. But his father had held the role before him and his elder brother had been groomed to ascend to the throne at their father’s death. According to Taurean tradition, Karik had not even had the same surname as his father and elder brother, instead, his surname had been equal parts of his mother’s and father’s surnames. Until his older brother’s death had meant Karik had become the new heir.
A tradition that T’arq would be glad to see disappear, but many were in disagreement, the Taurean Purists most of all.
It wasn’t only the Xakul that were a threat to humans. T’arq shot a look at Krystal, fingers biting into the flesh of his thighs at the thought of her getting into the hands of the secret organization that had sprung out of nowhere.
He did not envy Karik Za’Rell. Not one bit.
But that still didn’t answer the question that had been bugging T’arq. Why now? What did Karik Za’Rell want?
“Supreme Commander, Sir,” Zac said, and Karik Za’Rell finally turned to look at them through the viewscreen, a lazy smile on his face.
“Zac,” he drawled, “do we really need all these people here?” He gestured with a hand, dropping it by his side as he, once again, looked off-screen.
T’arq watched as Zac nodded, directing all but Tomas, Laila, Krystal, and himself to leave the room. When the door had shut behind the last, Zac turned back to the screen. “As you requested, sir.”
Karik’s posture changed instantly. The indolent sprawl disappeared, his eyes no longer sliding off-screen. He smoothed his hair back from his forehead and sat upright in the chair, reaching for a tablet, and flicking through the pages with ruthless efficiency.
If he hadn’t seen the change himself, T’arq would have thought this was a different person.
“What have I said about calling me that?” Karik said, head still lowered but eyes lifted and an eyebrow raised.
Zac chuckled. “Old habits…”
“Yeah, yeah. Laila, are you keeping him in line?”
“Always.” Zac scowled at Laila, fighting to look stern as she grinned at him.
“So, this cloak…? Tell me about it.” Karik sat back in his seat, elbows resting on the armrests and fingers steepled together.
Silence filled the room.
“That would be you, Krystal,” T’arq said quietly.
She jolted in her seat. “Me?”
“Yes, you.”
