"This enemy has proven unexpectedly cunning," Harlow rumbled. "Much more so than we had previously predicted.”
"Do we know what they want yet?" Already Graydon's plans were shifting to take into account this new information.
Harlow shook his head. "Only time will show their true goal. I suspect my niece will play a role in the events to come."
Graydon gave him a sharp look. Harlow's assessment was accurate and fit with Graydon's perception.
The Tsavitee had shown a continued fascination with Kira. From what he'd picked up through conversations with her and his observations during the invasion, the two were connected. It was clear the Tsavitee wanted something from her. They either saw her as a weapon to be reacquired or a threat to be eliminated.
Either way, staying close to her would likely bring the Tsavitee plans to light.
"Kira isn't weak. She might not be an oshota, but her skills put her on par with them. She outran Baran in their human station. I have no doubt she would have escaped if the humans hadn't intervened," Graydon said.
"You sound admiring."
Graydon let a thin smirk play along his lips. His old mentor wasn't going to get any heartfelt revelations out of him.
"She took out a Tsavitee war drone in a simulation within thirty seconds. She can hold her own against nearly all of my oshota," Graydon finished.
To say nothing of the lower form Tsavitee she'd cut a bloody path through during the battle in the Nexus.
Kira might not have been raised Tuann. She might be weakened from her ki poisoning and lack of training, but underestimating her would be a mistake. She was a force in her own right.
"Has the Little Storm found his calm at last?"
"Would you object if I had?"
That canny old gaze was assessing. The corners of Harlow's lips tilted up. The only expression on the otherwise somber face.
That's what Graydon thought.
Harlow thought he needed to save Kira, but from what Graydon had seen, she rarely needed saving. It would be best if Harlow learned that sooner rather than later.
"What is your assessment of my niece?"
Graydon considered his words carefully. "She's strong. Stubborn. In that, she's exactly like both her parents. She has a strong martyr complex. She'll sacrifice herself for her humans without a thought."
"Loyal to a level that can be a detriment to herself."
Graydon grunted an assent. "I'm not sure what happened in the human's war with the Tsavitee, but it's marked her. I get the sense from her friends she disappeared for a time and is only now reintegrating."
"We're not built for solitude," Harlow murmured.
No, they weren't. The Tuann relied on social bonds, needing a connection with others, both mentally and physically. It's why they lived in Houses. Without those bonds, they withered and faded.
When others learned of the years she'd spent with only a drone for company, they'd point to it as evidence of a sickness of the mind.
Only the wanderers roved alone. Most were thought to be slightly insane as a result.
Graydon made to stand. "Now that I’ve returned, my duties to the emperor will take priority."
Harlow reached for a small disk, no bigger than a fingernail, and handed it to Graydon. "About that, this came for you."
Graydon frowned, taking the disk. It carried the insignia of the emperor, marking it as an official message. While it would look like an ornate coin to some, heavy and solid in the hand, it was anything but.
Encoded to Graydon's DNA and ki, it would open for no one but him. He pressed a finger to the top, unsurprised when the faint halo of the emperor's emblem flashed.
The message unlocked; he pressed the coin against a slot on the forearm of his suit. The emperor's message scrolled across his arm.
Graydon felt surprise spark through him at the information contained within.
"Interesting news?" Harlow asked, arching an eyebrow.
"When were you going to tell me the emperor's son was among the initiates?" Graydon asked.
"I believe I just did."
Graydon fought a growl. He'd forgotten how much Harlow liked intrigue. The disk on his arm drained of color, black spreading through it until it was no more than a lump of carbon again.
Graydon removed the disk from his arm and tossed it on the desk. “The emperor won’t want his son’s stay here advertised.”
Harlow had likely guessed that, but it bore repeating. The boy’s life couldn’t be left to chance.
Harlow sat back, resting an elbow on the arm of his chair. “Given what happened to the boy’s older brother during the Sorrowing, I can’t blame him. The emperor has kept his youngest and only remaining child close to him—done everything in his power to safeguard his wellbeing, including limiting those who’ve met him or even seen his face.”
Graydon waited, knowing Harlow wasn’t finished.
Harlow speared him with a matter of fact look. “It’s not possible to keep his presence here a total secret. There are those in my House who will recognize him, despite the emperor’s precautions.”
Graydon waved Harlow’s concerns away. “He understands that and even expects it. This isn’t meant to hide him entirely. It’ll be enough if his presence here doesn’t become common knowledge.”
Harlow smiled. “That I can guarantee. It would do us no good to draw notice from the other Houses.”
“Good.” Graydon stood and prepared to leave.
“I’m going to assume this changes your plans.”
Graydon stopped and aimed a toothy smile at his former mentor. “You would be right. I think perhaps I should stay close, after all. See for myself how the initiates’ training is progressing."
Harlow leaned his chin on his fist. "That might be best."
*
"Couldn't have picked the easy way," Kira muttered to herself as she leaned against the wall and stared at the infinite stairs ahead. "No, you had to do things the hard way—as usual."
She'd thought this was the last landing. Not so much.
"When will you learn?"
She peered down the steps she'd traversed over the last several hours. Another person's spirit might have broken at the latest false summit.
"Not me, though. No, I'm too stubborn for that," Kira griped, setting one foot on the next step.
The Tuann and their stupid games. She was tired. Her body hurt. The headache she'd had since shortly after stepping through the gates increased with every step.
She yearned for Graydon's presence. Pushing him off a cliff would have gone a long way to improving her mood right about now.
She blamed him for this. If not for his maneuvering, she'd be sleeping in her bunk on a ship somewhere. Not testing her limits on a climb that felt like it would never end.
The bag she carried pulled at her arm. She paused, switching it her other shoulder before resuming her trek. One stair by laborious stair.
Kira glared at the bag in question, cursing the urge that had caused her to take it from Raider. She still wasn't fully recovered from her last fight, and carrying something that seemed to get heavier and heavier as time went past was severely taxing her resources.