Rules of Redemption

by T. A. White

"You know I was in the military. Why the shock that I know how to handle myself?" Kira asked.

  "I've seen humans fight. They're not that impressive."

  Then he hadn't been watching the right humans. It was true most humans couldn't compete one on one with Graydon or any of his men, but given enough training and incentive anything was possible.

  Any one of her old team could have set Graydon on his ass. Even Jace and Raider wouldn't go down easily.

  "That's not arrogant or anything," Kira said.

  He shrugged, not seeming bothered about her words. "I call it like I see it."

  Kira shook her head. The more time she spent with this man, the more he irritated her.

  Graydon's teeth flashed in a dark smile. He knew he was getting to her, knew it and liked it.

  She didn't know what to make of that. Few had ever challenged her in such a way. That he did, someone who wasn't an ally but also couldn't yet be considered an enemy, was unsettling.

  "You don't like humans, do you?" Kira asked.

  He reclined onto the grass, resting his weight on one elbow as he angled his body to face her. His expression thoughtful as he considered her statement. "Not particularly."

  It was truthful enough to startle a small sound from her. Of course, he didn't. The sentiment shouldn't surprise her. More surprising was the fact he'd admitted to it. In her experience, most preferred to lie to themselves. Pretend they were less judgmental and prejudiced than they were.

  "You realize my loyalties are with them, right?"

  He didn't seem particularly bothered by that statement, his lips curling up for a reason only he could know. "For now."

  "Cocky."

  He chuckled, the sound whispering across her skin like velvet. She suppressed an involuntary shiver.

  There was an awareness in his eyes, one echoed within her. It had been a long time since she'd had such thoughts about another, and definitely never about one who saw her as a duty and a liability.

  "I have reason to be," he said. "Becoming the Emperor's Face is difficult. You don't get to my position without understanding things."

  Kira gave him a deadpan look. "Please. Regale me with your wisdom. I don't know how I made it this far in life without it."

  His teeth flashed again at her sarcasm, the look in his eyes saying he enjoyed their banter. Kira wasn't sure that was a good thing. It was kind of like being the sole focus of a tiger. You didn’t know if it wanted to eat you or just maul you a little.

  He leaned forward, his eyes half-lidded. "Try as hard as you want, but you'll never be one of them. They'll never fully understand you, not like we would."

  This time her smile was dry and humorless. "You assume I want someone who understands me."

  The playful seduction in his expression faded, and this time the look he gave her was strangely sympathetic. It made that tight feeling Kira carried around with her all the time worse.

  "We all want that," he said simply. "We're not meant to traverse this life alone."

  Kira lifted her chin. Maybe not, but that's exactly what she was doing. The time for companions had passed. She'd found a balance in her life. She wasn't sure she wanted to disrupt that for maybes.

  "Kira, I found a flower you need to see," Jin shouted, zooming out from the underbrush and breaking the fragile moment. "It looks exactly like cat ears!"

  Jin's flight stuttered when he caught sight of Graydon.

  Kira was grateful for the distraction and rose. "Let's see this flower."

  "I'd be interested in seeing what could so shock your drone," Graydon said, uncoiling as he rose.

  Kira hesitated but couldn't think of a way to politely decline. "It's your ship."

  He could go where he wanted

  "Indeed, it is," Graydon said, with a small smile Kira couldn't decipher.

  Graydon followed her as she ducked around trees and under branches as Jin zipped through effortlessly, his smaller size and ability to ignore gravity allowing him to take advantage of passageways they could not.

  It didn't take long until they were standing under a canopy of tree branches dotted with thousands of small lilac-colored flowers.

  Jin lowered to several flowers growing from dead logs on the ground.

  "The azira aliri," Graydon murmured when it became clear what had so fascinated Jin. "I'm surprised he found them."

  Jin crooned as he flitted from flower to flower like a giant hummingbird. He'd been right. They looked like cat's ears perched on round stamen, if one ignored the fact they were all bright orange and blue.

  "They normally hide their faces when strangers near." Graydon’s shoulder brushed Kira's as he leaned forward. "They must not sense a threat from your machine."

  "Jin has a way of putting people at ease," Kira said.

  "You've named it?" Graydon asked.

  Kira was silent for a long second as she debated the best response. It wasn't like she hid what Jin was, but she didn't advertise it either. Too many people had tried to call her a liar.

  Jin wasn't a typical artificial intelligence. His metal body was more accident than anything else. He'd been a person once; flesh and blood like her. When he'd been hurt beyond healing, his soul had somehow ended up in that drone. While his outsides were metal, the thing driving him was as human as she was.

  "He picked his name," Kira finally said. That was close enough to the truth without bringing up any sticky questions she'd prefer to avoid.

  Graydon didn't say anything, turning his attention to Jin.

  A small chittering sound from above caught Kira's attention when she would have joined Jin. She jerked as a small creature sailed from the branches to land on her shoulder.

  "Easy," Graydon soothed. "It's a chaterling. It won't hurt you. It's just saying hi."

  The chaterling stood on its hind legs and scolded her before settling down. The size of her palm, its fur was a light shade of blue with stripes of darker blue along its back and legs. Two mini horns curled away from its forehead, and long flat ears stuck out from its head.

  Two pools of dark brown regarded her as it cocked its head, its tiny wings rising and then settling along its back. Its long tail whipped to circle her neck before it rubbed the side of its face against hers.

  Kira held still, not wanting it to bite her. Who knew what sort of diseases it might be carrying.

  Finished, it let out a high warble before springing from her shoulder, gliding the small distance to land on one of the azira aliri. The stalk containing the round bloom with the cat ears quivered, small bits of fluff burst from the center as the entire flower seemed to perk up.

  The chaterling curled up on the top, settling its wings over its spine as it let out a high-pitched squeak. From the trees, others appeared, filling the air with small bodies as each found their own flower to perch on.

  "There are so many of them," Kira said, impressed.

  Graydon's chuckle was warm. "All of our ships carry pieces of home with us. To have a flock of chaterlings join your vessel is considered good luck and a sign of an auspicious voyage. Their presence helps keep the garden healthy which in turn keeps those traveling healthy."

  It was a complete reversal from the ships Kira had known. Many had hydroponic gardens of some sort but unless you were part of the botany unit, you weren't allowed in. There was too much danger of a careless hand damaging the plants. Since most ships relied on them for oxygen in some small way, contact was kept to a minimum.

  Those gardens had nothing on this. They were dim imitations of the real thing. Standing here almost felt like she was planetside again in a strange and old forest, wild but welcoming at the same time.

  "We should get one for the Wanderer," Jin said enthusiastically, forgetting himself in the excitement of small, living creatures.

  "Absolutely not." The Wanderer had no plants or garden for these creatures. It would be wrong to subject them to its sterile coldness.

  "You never let me have what I want," Jin said sulkily.


  Kira rolled her eyes as she bent to peer closer at the plants and their passengers. The wizards were strange. That was for sure.

  *

  Graydon watched the young woman intently. She was different than he expected. Much different.

  She held a self-possession startling in one so young. He suspected it had been hard-won on many battlefields, something their own young wouldn't have any experience with. War had a way of changing you and it was almost impossible to escape its grasp unmarked in some way.

  Her scars might not be on the surface, but they were there. It made him curious to know what had so shaped her.

  What had she been like before all this? Had her smiles come faster? He saw glimpses of the person she'd once been when she engaged with him, but when she thought no one was watching, sadness and loss clung to her like a cloak.

  When the humans had told him she'd been part of their military, he hadn't thought much of it. They preferred a type of warfare the Tuann disliked, shooting their enemy from great distances, the further the better. Unfortunately for them, their weapons were weaker than their enemies’ defenses.

  However, the way she moved made him doubt his former beliefs. She'd taken down the war drone in less than two minutes. Rarely had he seen someone dispatch one so cleanly. It had been like watching moving art, unbearably beautiful and deliciously lethal. He suspected it only took that long because of her shock at its realism.

  Yes, she was not as he believed. He'd do well to remember this lesson. Humans had proved deceptively capable in the past, and for all that she was Tuann, her time with the humans had left its stamp.

  "Tell me about these people you claim are my family," Kira said, not lifting her gaze from the chaterling.

  Graydon tilted his head. It was the first time she'd expressed interest in her people. Baran and Amila had kept him informed of her movements and any conversations she had. They'd said she avoided the subject of the Tuann any time they brought it up.

  "They are your family," he said.

  "Says you."

  He arched an eyebrow. He was not used to such doubt in his word. "You bear their mark. Also, several of their children were taken many years ago."

  Her head jerked toward him. "Taken?"

  He hesitated, unsure how much of his people's private pain to share with her. It was a dark spot in their history that had affected many. That still affected them.

  "Yes, around the time of what we suspect was your birth. We faced great betrayal. The young of many Houses were stolen, you among them. Until we found you, we assumed they'd all been killed." His voice was flat and unemotional as he relayed the information.

  She blinked at him, her thoughts hidden and her expression guarded. She held his gaze for several long beats before she turned to the chaterling.

  "It was a bloody period. Many died. Among them my friends and those I considered as close as family."

  There was silence between them as they watched as one chaterling tackled another, both crashing off their perches to roll around on the ground as high-pitched squeaks filled the air.

  "I'm sorry to hear of your loss," Kira said softly.

  He inclined his head. "It was a long time ago."

  "You believe I'm one of these children," Kira stated.

  "We know you are. The mark on your forearm proclaims your birth House; there are no other marks like it."

  "Are my parents alive?"

  He hesitated, falling quiet for a moment. "I don't know. We know you are from that House, but your exact lineage is in doubt."

  Her eyebrows climbed. "Can't you do a DNA test to find out?"

  Graydon gritted his teeth. She didn't know what she was asking. He could forgive her, her ignorance. It wasn't her fault she'd grown up separated from them

  "It's more difficult than you assume."

  She looked taken aback, her mouth opening before shutting on her questions.

  Graydon felt regret as she withdrew. He probably should have found a better way to put that.

  "Each House safeguards the secrets locked in the blood of its members. For me to take yours even if it is to confirm your lineage would be considered a grave insult. Wars have been started for less," he said quietly, an apology in his voice. It was the easiest explanation he could think of without revealing too much of their history to her, a Tuann outsider with dangerous ties. "I'm sure your House will make confirming your familial relationship a priority when we arrive."

  "Tell me about these Houses. Humans don't have them and I want to understand," she said.

  Graydon hesitated, struggling to put into words what most intuitively knew. "There are five Great Houses and countless smaller ones. Many small Houses pledge their allegiance and fealty to more powerful Houses in exchange for protection. These are considered branch Houses."

  "Is everyone part of a House?" Kira asked.

  "For the most part. There are exceptions. A very few elect to become wanderers, their allegiance to themselves. It is a very difficult path. The rest have been exiled from their Houses and are ostracized, deemed too untrustworthy to have dealings with."

  Kira made a humming sound as she thought over his words.

  "It's a system set in place a long time ago when Houses feuded with one another. Once your loyalty is given, it is nearly impossible to withdraw without your House's permission."

  "Sounds restrictive," she observed dryly.

  Graydon allowed himself a slight smile. She was not wrong. His people were slaves to tradition and exceptionally slow to change. It could make for a stifling environment at times.

  He slid a sidelong look her way. He was curious to see what effect she would have on them. She didn't strike him as the type to bow to tradition for tradition's sake. He'd been named for his ability to see a storm coming before it arrived. Many in their society considered him a danger because of it. But he believed storms were necessary at times.

  "Jin, stop playing with your friends. It's time to go," Kira called as the machine swooped and ducked among the chaterling, avoiding the young as they fought to land on his housing.

  Kira dipped her chin in a nod before the two disappeared through the trees.

  Graydon stayed where he was. Solal appeared beside him, his gaze on the flowers that had so fascinated Kira.

  "Send Baran and a couple of our warriors into human space to find out everything they can on our Kira," Graydon said, his hands clasped behind him.

  Solal turned toward him, a slight surprise on his face. "You would leave her with one guard?"

  Graydon flicked an irritated glance at his second. "You know I wouldn’t."

  Solal's cheeks creased with humor. "Who will you assign to her then? After her demonstration earlier and the way she gave Baran the slip, every one of the oshota would volunteer for the honor."

  Graydon wasn't surprised. His warriors admired strength, and Kira had demonstrated she had that in spades.

  "We need someone whose presence will not be questioned when she is within her House," Graydon said.

  Solal's expression turned curious. "That will be difficult. Every one of us falls under the emperor's authority. Our loyalties are owned by him. They will not trust us and it might affect how they treat her."

  "Finn will work," Graydon said.

  Solal's eyebrows rose. "He's Roake. They won't let him past the front doors."

  "His great-grandmother was of Luatha. His line has roots in that House. They’ll accept him if only for the chance to bring his bloodline back into alignment with theirs,” Graydon said.

  “Why him though?”

  “I suspect she's not just Luatha but Roake as well," Graydon said.

  This time shock crossed Solal's face. "You think she's dual House? You think she's the missing heir for Roake?"

  Graydon grunted, giving his second a long look. "Do you know any among the Luatha who could take down a Tsavitee the way she did?"

  Solal's expression turned contemplative as he thought over Graydon's statement. "Tr
ue. They aren't known for their warriors. But you're forgetting, there is no mark indicating Roake and without it you’ll have a battle on your hands to get Luatha to share her with those they consider enemy."

  "The mark of their House rarely presents before they pass their adva ka. If she has one, it'll be hidden. Only another Roake elder would be able to reveal it until then," Graydon said.

  Solal considered him, his second's gaze contemplative as he calculated the possibilities and their possible outcomes. "Of anyone, you would know given its your birth House. If you're right, House Roake must be informed. This could cause another war if not handled correctly."

  Graydon grunted.

  "How are you going to get Finn to agree?" Solal asked.

  It was a legitimate question, given Finn's tendency to act as a wildcard. After the disaster with his last charge, he'd refused to take another. Convincing him to protect Kira wouldn't be easy.

  "I'm going to appeal to his better nature," Graydon said.

  Solal sighed. "You mean you're going to threaten him."

  Graydon shrugged. Same difference.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Kira took a deep breath and released it, trying not to let the round blue orb floating outside the star deck intimidate her.

  They were finally here. Only hours lay between her and meeting people who shared her blood.

  No pressure or anything. Just a reunion with a long-lost child everyone assumed dead. Nothing major or anything.

  "I thought it would be more impressive," Jin said, moving closer to the window.

  "We're still thousands of miles away," Kira said in a distracted voice.

  "You know what I mean," he rebuked. "I thought I'd feel different seeing it."

  Kira made a wry expression. She'd forgotten. If this was her home, it was Jin's too. When he'd been alive in the traditional sense, he'd been like her, his abilities different but strange. Almost magical.

  Her expression turned pensive as she returned to staring at the planet they were fast approaching.

  She knew what Jin was trying to say. She felt the same.

  There was none of that connection she thought she'd feel upon seeing the planet where she'd been born. She'd felt more nostalgia walking through the conservatory than what she felt for the approaching planet.