their triumphant return.
Wren and Maksym flanked Kira, in an unmistakable gesture of protection. If anybody tried to snipe her from a distance, one of them would intervene first.
It was only when she neared the royal that they fell back a step, allowing Kira to close the remaining distance with only Graydon at her side.
"I see you haven't fixed your habit of rescuing lost souls," the woman said in a warm tone that carried over the sounds of celebration.
Kira paused in mid-step.
"Kira Forrest, Scourge of the Tsavitee, the protective Phoenix of the Consortium, and now prodigal daughter of the Tuann. Don't tell me you don't remember me."
Kira sucked in a harsh breath, finally able to place where she'd heard this voice before.
Eight years ago. The edge of Haldeel space at an often-overlooked outpost.
She'd hoped her actions there had been forgotten. To be truthful she was kind of counting on it.
What she did on that outpost should have seen her arrested and dumped in a deep dark hole as soon as the Haldeel realized she was the same person who’d orchestrated the destruction of several of their most elite ships.
Of course, if they did that, they’d also have to arrest the person standing before her. The real reason Kira had gone to the lengths she had.
"Ah, you do remember. I was worried."
Kira felt the side of her face burning from the heat of multiple stares. Graydon, Raider, Wren. The oshota standing next to Devon whose face was once again hidden behind a disrupter field.
Pretty much anyone who had just overheard the royal's statement.
"My cherished za na ri, there is no cause for such concern. I simply wished to greet my friend again."
Kira didn't respond, struggling to reconcile the individual in front of her with the one she'd once known.
Back then, Tierni had been about Elena’s current age and height. She’d worn her fear and poor self-esteem in the same way she’d worn the ratty clothes she’d used to cover her body.
At the time, she’d been malnourished and barely surviving. The rare genetic disorder that caused her blindness in a society whose technological advances could cure damn near anything, isolating her far better than any cell ever could.
"Come now, will you not greet an old friend?" the royal said, startling Kira out of her thoughts.
Kira knew behind her veil, Tierni’s eyes would be a milky white, the nerve fibers that would have routed behind the retina in another Haldeel missing.
What should have been a handicap had turned into a strength for the other woman, allowing her empathic senses to compensate. Tierni didn’t perceive the world in the same way other Haldeel did.
In the short time Kira had known Tierni, the other woman had discovered how to use those senses in a way that gave her the advantage.
Deceiving her was impossible. She could read feelings like they were an open book.
Not only that, but as long as someone was around her, she could use their perception of the world to navigate, “seeing” it through their eyes.
In the time since their last encounter, it seemed Tierni had managed to rise to one of the Haldeel’s highest positions.
Tierni’s veil fluttered as her head tilted, recalling Kira to the present.
She’d been rude.
As surprising as Tierni’s new status was, Kira was happy to see the scared little girl she’d once known succeed in a way Tierni hadn’t been able to conceive of when Kira first met her.
Kira let that feeling flush through her, the pleasure and warmth. The joy and pride. The happiness at seeing her friend again.
"Tierni," Kira said softly, holding those feelings close.
"You do remember."
"Yes."
Tierni's gaze swept up to where Jin hovered above Kira's head.
"Little Jin, I see you're as dapper as always," Tierni said.
"And you are wearing much nicer clothes than the last time I saw you," he responded.
Tierni inclined her head. "This is true."
With a deliberate movement, the royal turned, sweeping her train out of her way in a practiced gesture.
"I'm glad we got to meet again," Tierni said before she disappeared into her crowd of guards.
The leader of those guards remained behind as the rest marched away, giving Kira her second shock of the afternoon.
She blinked at the Haldeel, noting the familiar markings on his arms and face.
His lips lifted in a smirk as he made a gesture that when translated would mean her legs were showing. To a Haldeel, the saying was the equivalent of the human saying that she was wearing her emotions on her sleeve.
"When it rains, it pours," Jin