No.”

“But I made it for you. It’s the best fucking whip in the galaxy.”

“Keep it if you like it so much.”

That thing had been lodged in her fucking ass. Whatever he said about cleaning it, she wasn’t going to use it.

“I’ll take those instead.”

Kai groaned, grumbled, and even pouted, but, in the end, he gave her his deer horned knives and kept the whip.

She soon realized relinquishing the weapon to his custody had been a mistake, as he enjoyed using its hilt on her at the first opportunity.

Other than the disagreement over the whip-slash-dildo, fitting into Kai’s life was seamless, so natural she even questioned why she believed she might not have belonged there.

There was always work to be done amongst the cabinet. Questions that needed to be weighed and assessed; her opinion was paramount to any decision Kai made. They didn’t always agree. In fact, most of the time, they butted heads. But truth was, no one else could challenge his ideas and decisions as she did. He listened to her. And he compromised.

The sex was all so deliciously filthy after an argument in command. And in the mornings. In the evenings, too.

There weren’t many occasions that didn’t demand filthy sex, she soon learned.

Kai enjoyed controlling, dominating her, as much as he enjoyed having her tell him what to do. Remaining still and taking whatever she wanted to give. Letting her suck him without being allowed to touch her.

She always paid for such torture, but it was worth it.

Her third month in Vratis, he shocked the bejesus out of her one day. For the first time since her arrival, the Council of Ratna was gathering. Not just his cabinet, but every noble and senator would be there to discuss matters. She left their bathroom to find a white and gold robe in her size left on their bed.

“You mean to have me attend? Wearing this?”

Her astonishment amused him, but she saw nothing funny.

“Evi isn’t attending. Park isn’t attending. Wench isn’t attending. Ollie isn’t attending. Only the Coats, because they’re senators. I can’t just barge in there and….”

He was leaning against the wall, smiling in an infuriatingly gorgeous and sexy way, trying, and almost managing, to make her forget why she was so mad.

“You know when I asked you if you’d seen my wife a while back?”

She froze.

“That was because I saw her. Back the very first time we met. I mean, to be fair, there were fuckloads of visions running through those beautiful eyes of yours. But I caught sight of her, and everything else faded.”

Nalini frowned and, without meaning to, took a step back as she attempted to decrypt his words. When she failed to, she did what he did to her every day, shamelessly. She brushed against his mind, finding it completely open. Bared to her.

And she saw it, that vision he talked of. Her. In his arms. Smiling and pregnant and so fucking happy she cried, at a loss for words.

Feeling like someone had just punched her in the stomach, then pulled her up, given her a hug, chucked her at a wall, and started to sing her name, she sat, dizzy, disoriented, knocked off course.

“Obviously, I didn’t actually realize the cute little girl in front of me would grow into you. Would have made things easier. And it also took me a while to gather that you hadn’t seen that. Too busy paying attention to war, destruction, and all those pesky little details, I guess.” He tsked, biting back a smile.

“Get changed, Nalini. We haven’t exchanged vows. I haven’t even worked out how I am to ask you to spend the rest of your life bound to me. But there is an official gathering today, and I will have you by my side.”

He came to her, kneeling as he often did, and putting his head against her chest. Then he got up and went to the bathroom.

It was as well that he had felt that she was needed in council. If he hadn’t, she wouldn’t have been there when it all fell apart.

* * *

The council was held in a floating building, high over the city. Inside, it was circular, with rows upon rows of grandstands, so that every Coat could sit comfortably. Nalini noticed her parents, who gasped when they saw her. She kept her eyes forward, purposefully avoiding theirs. Not now.

Council, it turned out, was boring. No doubt, Kai had asked her to come so he could play footsie while they discussed taxes and trade routes. Long hours passed, and preventing herself from yawning was a hell of a challenge.

Then, all of a sudden, it started. An explosion, taking out rows of politicians, who screamed as they burned and fell into the skies of Vratis.

Kai and Nalini got to their feet, hands hooked.

It didn’t help. The next blast had them both unbalanced, falling away from each other.

It had been a precise, fast, practically suicidal attack.

First, came the bombs, sounding far too close for comfort; whatever technology had been used, it had hit their shield, she could tell.

Nalini froze, completely shocked; she hadn’t seen this. This time, she’d been looking. Every day, she took the time to meditate and yet this attack took her completely by surprise.

Nalini didn’t have the time to wallow in disappointment and guilt, however. Now it had all started, she could help.

She leapt to her feet. Kai was giving evacuation orders to his troops; rather than trying to explain herself, she just stood towards the left side of the chamber, and yelled, “All of you, get down on the ground immediately, arms covering your head.”

She was relieved to see that over half of the Coats obeyed. Seconds later, a bomb hit.

Most of those who had listened to her lived. Practically all of those who’d ignored her, however, were killed either by the blast or the fall of large pieces of ceiling and walls flying around.

Soldiers wearing black and purple exosuits, imperial colors, were flying down from the hole in their shield at high speed. Still in the sky, but close enough for her to read their minds.

These were their enemy’s best fighters, and they’d been sent with one goal, one single focus in mind.

She saw more.

No fucking wonder she hadn’t seen this coming.

She turned to Kai.

“Listen to me. You’re going to hate this, but you have to go now. I have to be alone. They’ll take me, and go. That’s their one mission.”

Nalini saw it in their minds. Knowing that they had orders to do whatever it took to bring her, her, alive, she did what she had to.

“No way,” Kai replied, shaking his head to emphasize his refusal.

“Yes, way,” she protested. “Trust me.”

He glared at her for a long time, before dropping his forehead on hers, and holding it there.

Then, he was gone.

The enemy soldiers were down in no time. Nalini held her hands up, in show of surrender, and let them take her.

Kai could have stopped it at any point. He was close, so close, watching them from the shadows. He could have destroyed them all. He wanted to

«You better be fucking right about this.»

She was.

While she was taken in a transport heading up to the imperial command ship, Nalini scanned every soldier within range. They really ought to train them to keep their thoughts to themselves, if they were supposed to fight against mages. She had no problem identifying the perpetrators of this attack; the soldiers thought of them constantly, wondered if they’d be rewarded for a job well done.

There were seven minds behind this. Six strangers and one person she knew. One person she and Kai both knew.

Ian Krane.

Everything Krane said or did was purposeful, she knew that now. He’d befriended Kai at the first opportunity, only to leave him and seek her out. Then, when he’d found her, he’d convinced her to follow him the only way she would have accepted. Then, he’d been wise enough to send her to Nimeria, first, rather than launching her into Kai’s arms. He was always one step ahead.

One thing didn’t make any fucking sense, however. He’d spent a thousand years away from the Wise; he’d said so himself. And suddenly, he was joining them?

Somehow, he all made sense.

What had he said again, when they’d parted ways? I’m going to be right in a viper’s nest, and I could use an ally.

The old male was moving pieces in a game, and only he knew the rules. The one question was, whose side was he on? Hers and the rest of their kingdom, or the Imperials’?

There was no indubitable fact that could have irrefutably proven his loyalty. And yet…

He was on their side. He cared about her, and about Kai. About them all. This was the one truth she knew about Ian Krane.

Now, it was just a matter of figuring out what role she was supposed to play in his deadly games.

She’d spent a year with him in Tejen, where there was so much for a mage to learn, so many different facets to explore. And yet, Krane had only been interested in two things: strengthening her shields and make her understand bonds.

Shields and bonds…

It all meant something. She strained against fear, disentangling the maze of her mind.

Shields and bonds….

And, quite suddenly, she knew.

Her shields would allow her to navigate amongst vipers. They’d never know her inner thoughts, her true loyalty. She could show them what they wanted to see and hide the rest. She could lie. She was strong enough to.

As for the bond...

Nalini had often had her shields in place, and yet, she’d somehow been able to communicate with Kai by sharing thoughts directly through to his mind, as clearly as if she’d spoken them out loud, yet only heard by him. Thoughts Evi and other psychics couldn’t get access to.

There was a strange bond linking them, connecting their minds, and it was impenetrable and inaccessible to anyone else.

The moment these two facts clicked, she knew what matter of pawn she was meant to be.

Once they reached the Imperial command ship, she was taken to a tall, beautiful, green-haired Wise, a member of the Council. Perhaps the most cunning amongst them.

“Nalini Nova. We meet at last.”

Nalini tested her theory out.

“Thanks for getting me out. I didn’t think I’d ever be free of these monsters.”

Her shields firmly in place, she thought of all the ways she’d dismember the smiling female in front of her. Kovak’s mind was scanning hers, they both knew it. Yet her smile never faltered.

“Oh, poor girl. Come, come. Tell me what happened to you.”

It had worked. Easily. She smiled, conveying her gratefulness, and followed the snake into the belly of her ship.

Telling her story took some time. Then she had to answer the questions.

“Yes, Master Krane recommended I seek the loyalists after Tejen,” she informed them. “He thought I’d be safe from them there.”

Kovak probed around her shields again. Nalini let her old memories pass through. Her fear of Kai, of being hunted and locked away.

The Wise smiled.

“But you weren’t. Kai Lor attacked the base.”

No, the Imperials had attacked the base, probably on Kovak’s order, she now realized. Killing hundreds, if not thousands, of innocents to lure Kai’s armies out. The Imperials had been behind the loyalists’ attack on the Dominion right after they’d come to help the survivors of Nimeria. They’d attempted to hide in the shadows while the Ratnarians took each other out, rather than officially getting involved. Pure hatred in her heart, Nalini nodded and managed to fake a sniffle.

And unbelievably, the ageless, all-powerful creature before her fell for it. For her lie.

«Kai.»

This was the ultimate test. Could she really speak to him from so far away, and without anyone else detecting it?

Immediately, she felt his presence. Concealing her relief and happiness took some effort.

«You’re alive.»

She didn’t simply hear his words; she could also feel his emotions, his fear and apprehension, his relentlessness. He hadn’t really doubted it. If she’d died, he would have felt it, known it to his core. Still, hearing her voice was a relief he desperately needed. She wished she could tell him she was coming back right away.

«I am.»

He’d just trust her because she’d asked, but she knew he was desperate for an explanation. She didn’t have much time, but she tried to clarify the situation.

«They wanted me, and they had that weapon they used on Nimeria at the ready. They would have used it on every single defenseless surrounding system while we hid behind our shield. This was the only way. They would have taken me, and used me as they saw fit. Now, it looks like I came voluntarily. That changes things.»

«How? What do they want from you?»

«I don’t know how yet, but I feel their intention. They mean to use me as a weapon. Against you.»

«How’s that working out for them?»

She hid a smile and kept on telling Kovak all she wanted to hear.

She couldn’t afford to start an onslaught on the elder’s mind, but she still brushed against it, ever so softly, almost teasing it, trying it for a taste.

Kovak felt victorious. She truly believed she’d won.

«Oh, it’s working pretty well, in their minds, at least. I’m serving shit and my minder is eating it up.»

«That’s my girl.»

Yes, she was.

«Nalini, where are you? I’ll come get you. We can take out their weapon.»

He wasn’t going to like her plan. Not at all.

«On their ship. They’re taking me to Magneo. And you can’t stop it.»

There was a short silence followed by a trail of curses that made her smile. Kovak smiled back, believing it was meant for her, an expression of gratitude after she’d saved Nalini from the big, bad Kai.

«Listen to me. I can talk to you. From the other end of the galaxy, I can talk to you. And no one realizes it.»

«So?»

«So, this is what we need, Kai. You could come save me, blow that bitch out of the sky, and then what? The Council will just send another crazy on our ass, and another one after that. Blood and fire, now until the end of time.»

«So be it.»

«Stop being such a guy! Kai, they trust me. For some crazy reason, they think I’m their key. I can get there and unravel them from the inside. Send you everything I know. The location of their weapons, their bases, their numbers. Everything we need.»

«You mean to be a spy.»

«I mean to be a weapon. This ends now, Kai.»

He knew she was right, and it was killing him to admit it.

His terms were simple.

«Check in when you can. If it’s risky, don’t. Don’t take unnecessary risks. You find yourself in danger, you get out and call for help.»

«Obviously.»

The tall, green-haired Wise was telling her about Magneo, the emperor, and a bunch of other shit Nalini didn’t give any crap about. But she let a memory of happiness and safety pass through her shield, and Kovak kept going, believing every single lie she’d woven.

“Everyone will be so delighted to have you with us, Nalini. With you, we have a chance to finally end this, once and for all.”

“Yes. Finally.”

This time, she wasn’t lying at all. She fully intended to end this war.