the loser in one exchange. Why add insult to misery?
"Friend of yours?" Graydon asked.
Kira rotated the hand holding the light blade as she considered. "I'm pretty sure he sees me more along the lines of an enemy."
Intrigue touched Graydon's face. "You were only in the villa for a couple of hours. How did you upset an oshota from House Remie so quickly?"
Kira frowned at him. "I thought you saw the exhibition with Elena."
"It seems I missed a few parts," Graydon said. "I'll have to pay more attention in the future."
"You know there's a word for people like you." Kira turned away from the audience to face him fully, her expression taunting. "It's called being a stalker."
"Why did you call us over, Niland?" someone asked from the audience below the stage, interrupting Graydon’s response. "I thought we were here to watch Castle. Why waste time with stratagem?"
"I've found something much more fun." Niland tilted his head at where Kira and Graydon still stood on the stage waiting for the game begin again. "Remember the arrogant brat I caught pretending to be a seon'yer? That's her."
Kira jerked a thumb at Niland, making sure to keep her voice down. "Is he really an oshota?"
She simply couldn’t see it. The oshota she knew weren’t this arrogant—or dumb.
Graydon looked like he was trying to suppress his amusement. "You've been spoiled by the quality of Roake, coli. Not all oshota are created equal."
That was becoming increasingly clear. Picking fights just for the sake of having someone to push down to make yourself feel better was the act of a bully—a behavior she had never associated with the oshota.
"Wait. I think I know her," one of Niland’s companions said. "Isn't she the lost child of Roake?"
Niland's smirk widened. "You're right." He looked over at where Roderick stood stiffly to the side. Not really part of the group except through proximity. "Luatha, didn't your Overlord wipe her hands clean of this one?"
The question was meant to embarrass—whether Kira or Roderick was the question.
Kira looked over to find Roderick frozen in place, looking up at her with a complicated expression like he didn't know if it would be better to interfere or stay quiet.
He'd gotten smarter since the events on Ta Da'an. Back then, he would have cried insult immediately and made the entire matter worse.
Kira took pity on him, signaling for him to wait.
To her relief, he didn't say anything—good or bad.
Seconds later, an arm landed on Roderick’s shoulder as a stranger leaned into him. Very slowly, Roderick looked at the hand touching him, his face twisting in a disgust that made Kira struggle to hide her laughter.
"Don't tease the poor man. House Luatha has been through a lot lately. Fighting off an invasion is exhausting work,” the newcomer said, sending the others a charming smile.
"Lorcan, you're always so kind," Niland said.
Kira scoffed.
What kindness? The man managed to insult both Roderick and Luatha in a few simple sentences.
Eyes filled with a fiery impatience met Kira's. There was the Roderick she remembered. The hothead who took himself entirely too seriously.
To her surprise, he stayed quiet, his expression aggrieved as he held himself rigid.
Niland smirked at Kira. "Would you be interested in a bet?"
The side-eye Roderick sent Niland was filled with enough rage to strip the man's flesh from his bones if it had contained tangible heat.
"Yeah, Roddy. How about a bet?" Kira said, interfering before Roderick could act on the violence she could see brewing.
Some of the anger faded from Roderick's face as he watched her carefully.
"You're right. The zala is cocky." There was a sharp glint in Lorcan’s eyes that reminded Kira of Graydon for a moment.
She ignored the similarity, putting on an innocent expression. "You don't have to if you're afraid."
She wasn't entirely sure why she was playing their game. Maybe it had something to do with the careful restraint Roderick was displaying or the way they'd badmouthed Liara.
Kira might not have wanted to be stuck on Ta Da'an, but that didn't mean she'd let other people look down on House Luatha, the birth house of her deceased mother. After all, they were family—and supposedly protecting one another was what family did.
"What're the stakes?" Lorcan asked.
"You're the ones who offered the bet in the first place. Shouldn't you be in charge of the stakes?" Kira asked.
Lorcan's arm dropped from Roderick's shoulders as he straightened.
Triumph flashed in Niland's eyes. He opened his mouth but before he could speak, Lorcan interrupted. "A favor that doesn't clash with either House's