Page 30 of The First Spark
“After her sentence…” a guard prompted.
“Ah yes, the best part. How could I forget? After you serve your sentence, you’ll retire to a convent of our choosing and take religious vows. Do we have a deal?”
She wanted to protest, to slam her fists into the armrests and say no, she would never agree to that deal. But her mouth was painfully dry. Krii’s expression was cold, and the legionnaire beside him leered. She scanned the other legionnaires’ obsidian armor, the heavy assault rifles crossed over their chests, the gleaming knives on their bandoliers.
Kalie crumpled into her chair.
There was no way out of this. Not even death.
She would never see Dali again. She would never wear Aunt Calida’s crown, never see justice for the murders of Marcus and her family. She would rot in a Federation cell until she was too old to have heirs. By then, she would have drifted into oblivion.
But Aunt Calida would never let them see her panic. Nor could she.
I am Kalista Hannover, eldest daughter of the Etovian Emperor and niece of Calida Amador. I am the rightful Duchissa. I will not be intimidated. I will make him pay.
As Kalie silently repeated the mantra, the repetition eased the panic hammering in her chest.
“No, we do not have a deal. Thank your master for his generosity, Admiral, but I am not going to take the fall for the man who murderedmy family. And if that’s his story, you might want to rethink it, because my fleet was slaughtered too?—”
“By Governor Roth, of course.”
Kalie gaped at Krii.
His lips twitched upwards, but for the third time, he tugged at the tip of his pointed ear. Her eyes narrowed. There was the tell she needed, a nervous habit. He had something at stake. The way he was sitting was casual, deliberately so, but his stooped posture wasn’t at all typical for a career military man like him. His type was always on alert, with a stiff spine and eyes that gleamed in anticipation of a kill. There was no gleam in his eyes, though.
Krii was afraid.
But ofwhat?
“The jealous niece and the ambitious uncle conspired to take the Dalian throne,” Krii went on, without betraying an ounce of fear. “But Jerran Roth wasn’t happy being your right-hand man. He wanted the crown for himself, so he double-crossed you and framed Carik for slaughtering your fleet. Tell me, should I go on? Or do you think the public will have heard enough?”
Kalie shook her head. No one would believe that. Uncle Jerran had waged war against his own sister to put Aunt Calida on the throne; he would never betray her.
But the people wouldn’t see it that way.
Uncle Jerran’s motives for betraying Grandmother Madeleine had always been dubious. He insisted it was for the good of Dali, removing a tyrannical ruler from the throne, though rumors alleged he’d done it for power. He’d stabbed his own sister in the back—itwouldn’t be hard for the public to believe he’d betrayed his niece too.
“That’s ridiculous,” she said weakly. “What, are you going to frame my father next?”
“Perhaps. Maybe the Emperor supplied the drone strike that killed the Duchissa. His airstrikes wiped out several Dalian nobles in your civil war, didn’t they?”
Kalie opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Pressure crushed her lungs, cutting off air. She was trapped. Well and truly trapped. Carik had murdered her family, and he was just going to get away with it. There was nothing she could do.
“Here are your options, Princessa. One, you accept my offer, and we let you live. Two…” Krii braced his elbows on his knees. “We can make your life very difficult.”
Her throat swelled shut. They wouldn’t just kill her.
I am the rightful Duchissa. I will not be intimidated.
If only she could believe that.
She swallowed hard. Ariah’s soothing voice drifted through her memory, urging her to breathe.In, out. She forced herself to inhale. Exhale.Breathe.
I will not be intimidated.
Mustering up her courage, Kalie fixed him with a lethal glare. “I’ll pass. I don’t think I’d be a very good priestess, Admiral.”
Krii hissed, sprang to his feet, and marched towards her. Kalie’s heart leapt into her throat. As Krii yanked her out of the chair, a strangled yelp tore from her lips, and her pulse pounded impossibly fast. Krii jammed his pulser into her ribs.
