Kira's gaze shifted away from him as she stared unseeing at the wall.
"Deprived of the emotional and physical links to others can cause a Tuann to fade. The Mea'Ave sustains us as we sustain it. You'll always be tied to us. Accept it as your due and adjust your goals to take that into account," he told her.
Her gaze snapped to his. "I'm ninety-two. For a human, that's not half bad."
He studied her, judging her seriousness. After a moment, he shook his head. "No, you're not the sort to give in. You've seen too much of death to be any other way." Hie expression filled with certainty. "You'll keep fighting because to do otherwise would dishonor those you've lost."
Quiet fell between them.
"Tell me I'm wrong," he challenged.
"You're wrong." There was no hesitation in Kira's answer.
"Liar." His chin dipped as a faint smile touched his lips.
Kira's jaw flexed, hating he knew her that well. He was right. She could no more let death take her than Jin could resist a challenge.
Her uncle reached out and touched the disrupter. "This can help you learn to manage your ki, but it can't change reality."
Kira held his gaze, unable to hide the stubbornness that refused to accept his words.
He sat back. "I'm sure you'll need time to come to terms with this."
There was no coming to terms. Kira wouldn’t let her life be derailed. Even if what he said was true, she'd find a way around it. If she had to make regular visits to Tuann worlds to get her dose of Mea'Ave that's what she would do.
Her uncle's face was thoughtful as he considered her. "You've caused a stir. No one, not even an oshota, has ever attempted that course alone and walked away. You took a risk. The drones might not cause death, but they can burn out your mind."
"Maybe now you and yours will stop treating me like I'm a child in need of saving," Kira suggested.
His lips twisted. "I'm nearly two thousand years old as humans measure it. You'll always be a child to me."
Kira blinked, unable to compute the magnitude of his age. He looked maybe middle-aged, if she stretched it. The only clue to his long years was the press of experience hiding in his eyes. The sort that said he'd seen and done everything and lived to tell the tale.
"Didn't expect that, did you?" He seemed amused by her surprise. "The Tuann are an old race. Our children are rare and precious because of it."
The way he said it caught Kira's attention. "How many children did you lose to the Sorrowing?"
Harlow didn't answer, a blend of rage and pain, sorrow and sadness lingering in his expression. It was a cocktail Kira knew intimately.
"All of them," he finally revealed. “Every child we had. Over seventy in our House alone. The other Houses weren’t as hard struck as ours, but they suffered losses as well. Until you were found, we thought all the children had died shortly after they disappeared.”
No wonder they refused to let her go. To do so would be like reliving the Sorrowing all over again.
“Your father was so happy when he learned your mother was pregnant with you,” Harlow said.
Kira quelled her instinctive desire to leap on his words and demand more. Her parents were little more than figments to her. Not quite real. Stories about fictional people that had little to do with Kira.
Despite that, she couldn’t help wondering who these two strangers were. What they had been like.
“He called you his little miracle.” Harlow’s expression held a faint note of reminiscence. Memories of her father were happy ones.
Harlow focused on Kira. “Neither of your parents expected to fall in love with each other. Their union was a political match, arranged by the emperor to foster peace between Luatha and Roake.”
“Did it work?” Kira asked.
Harlow’s head tilted. “After a fashion. Liliana’s sister, Leigha, was the Overlord, and from what I saw the two loved each other dearly. Leigha wouldn’t have lightly considered an action that would have led to putting your mother in danger.”
Kira read that as Leigha would act in the best interest of her House against her sister’s new husband, even if it made her feel like crap inside. Such was the responsibility of being a leader. You didn’t always get to act according to the needs of your heart.
“I’m guessing they managed to fall into something,” Kira said.
Harlow inclined his head. “Against all odds. My brother and Liliana were a surprisingly good match. Harding was the gentler soul of the two. Not to say they weren’t both warriors. Liliana was surprisingly well versed in the art of the blade given she came from a House comprised primarily of artisans.”
“She was your friend,” Kira guessed. The way he talked about her was too familiar for that of a near stranger, brother-in-law or not.
Harlow’s lips quirked. “That surprises you.”
Kira lifted a shoulder. “Roake hasn’t exactly struck me as a warm and welcoming sort of place, and from the way you talk, it’s obvious she would have had difficulty fitting in here.”
“You’d think, but Liliana had a way about her.” Harlow’s gaze sharpened. “She dumped your father on his ass during their first meeting.”
That startled a laugh from Kira, interest sparking.
Harlow put an elbow on the arm of the chair. “I thought Leigha was going to kill Liliana for that stunt. I’ve never seen an Overlord so torn between pride and fury. When Leigha told her to apologize, Liliana got this stubborn look on her face and refused. Said he’d got what he’d deserved.”
“What had he done?” Kira asked.
Harlow paused, then shook his head. “I’m not even sure I know. That was Liliana, though. She had a code that only she understood. If you crossed it, she was always quick to let you know.”
“I’m surprised your brother married her.”
Harlow got this secretive smile on his face. “I’m not. Harding always said Liliana made him look at the world in a different way. She was his balance, and he hers.”
Harlow focused on Kira. “He got her back in the end for dumping him on his ass. He spread piri dye on the handle of her en-blade. She managed to leave several streaks all over her face before she realized. It stayed there for nearly a month.”
Sounded like something one of her old squad would have done to get back at someone.
“Harding used that time to work his way into her heart. It didn’t stop the pranks, however, which became legendary,” Harlow said. “They were both extremely competitive. Neither was the type to let something go.”
“How long were they together?” Kira asked.
“Nearly a century.”
Kira raised her eyebrows. She tensed as a thought occurred to her. “Did they have other children?”
Did she even now have a sibling running around Roake?
Harlow’s gaze was steady as he considered her. “No. As I said, children are rare and precious for us. Since we live a very long time, there often isn’t a strong urge to procreate. It’s not uncommon for a couple to wait centuries before attempting to have children.”
Kira plucked at the sheet covering her legs as she debated continuing this line of inquiry. There were questions she could ask. Questions she had thought often about, if she were honest with herself.