Page 44 of The First Spark
“And the ring?”
Mira stumbled but caught herself mid-step. Her face turned to stone. They walked in silence, accompanied by the hum of the vents and the thud of Mira’s combat boots.
“It doesn’t matter,” she said gruffly.
So the ring had a story. They always did.
From the depths of her buried memories, a crowded ballroom emerged. Nobles exclaimed in surprise, fireflies flitted through the hall, and aromas wafted off her favorite white lilies. Wincing, Kalie pushed the memory of the sparkling diamond aside.
“Do you trust him?”
Mira smiled. “Yeah. He’s the only person I trust, really.”
“Why?”
As they rounded a corner, Mira frowned at her. “You look at Zane and see a sleazy, arrogant ass, don’t you? But deep down, there’s an honorable man in him. A man that wants to do good. It was his plan to rescue you, you know.”
Kalie scoffed. “He didn’t want anything to happen to his money, I’m sure.”
“I mean, yeah. But that doesn’t mean he’s a heartless bastard.” Mira sighed. “You don’t see it. Okay. The day I met him, I was working a score. A bounty, you know. I caused an accident on the hoverway to buy myself time to escape. No one was supposed to get hurt.”
Mira held open a door to another passageway, and Kalie stepped through.
“A kid dropped her toy in the street, and she ran back for it. Zane didn’t think twice. He tackled her out of the way, and when my hovercraft exploded, he used his body to shield her from the blast. Then he chased after me, to stop me from getting away. Ended up helping me instead, but he wanted to do good. And trust me when I say he was a lot worse back then than he is now.”
“Worse?”
“He wasn’t just a mess.” A frown twisted at Mira’s lips, and she breathed out slowly, shaking her head. “He was a walking disaster.”
They were skirting closer to the truth she sought. Kalie could barely keep the anticipation from her voice as she asked, “Why?”
Mira opened a door. Her smile made it clear she wouldn’t say any more.
Inside the conference room, a man with dark skin and salt-and-pepper hair sat behind a round table. His military uniform was neatly pressed. Screens covered the left wall, displaying diagrams, images of star systems, and maps with planets colored either red, green, or gray. Dali was green. Oeksa, the Federation’s capital, was red.
“Please, take a seat.”
As she sank into a cushioned office chair, the scars covering theman’s face became clearer. Blotchy, discolored skin surrounded his left eye, and the pupil was dramatically enlarged. A black eyepatch with a scarlet ‘X’ covered his right eye. He must’ve seen serious combat. She’d met Dalian veterans with wounds and scars a few times before, mainly those who came back from the mess on Oppalli, but never with injuries to this extent.
“My eyes?” The man chuckled. “Got hit with a toxin during a battle. I was around your age.”
Heat flooded Kalie’s cheeks, and she muttered a hasty apology. He flicked his hand.
“I can tell you’re nervous, Duchissa, so I’ll forgive you for staring.”
He continued with a formal greeting, but Kalie was hardly listening.Duchissa. A lump swelled in her throat. He shouldn’t be calling her that. Aunt Calida was the Duchissa, and when she died, the crown should’ve been Lexie’s. Not hers. Never hers.
The room had fallen silent, and Mira raised her eyebrows.
Kalie winced. She’d missed the man’s greeting. And possibly his name.
“Thank you, sir. But, if you can forgive me for asking, who are you?”
“You can call me General Akron. But I suspect you’re asking about all of this, aren’t you?” He swept an arm around the room.
There was no point in lying, so Kalie nodded. Of all the heads of state she’d encountered, she’d never met one named Akron, and a veteran soldier like him couldn’t be the suit Wells had warned her about.
The General clasped his hands. “Mira tells me you want revenge, and that you believe Carik is responsible for the murders of your family.”
