Birthright

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

(A/N: Much thanks to you guys for your support! I've made a change to the last chapter that should be reflected in future chapters. A couple of people felt that Masso's big revelation was ill-timed and after thinking it over, I realized it's true. Plus it doesn't fit in well with what I have planned in the future. I'll include it in a future chapter. Kray's memory of it has been wiped, so when he hears the revelation again, try to sound surprised too!)

Before Kray left Masso, his instructor told him that he would give him private lessons beginning tomorrow night. He spent the rest of the day restlessly, eating lunch out on the bench by the lake and then he met up with Shane in the evening. Together, they went for a jog in a trail that wound through the surrounding woods. Since they were housed in the same dormitory building, they agreed to meet up the following morning before heading off to Physical Training in Fitness Center A.

Violet didn't seem too happy when she saw Shane with Kray the next morning. He glimpsed annoyance on her face before she smiled brightly at both of them as they walked past the gardens near their dormitory.

"Shane," she began as she fell into step with them. "You placed twenty-two in the Sanser rankings, right?"

"Uh, yeah," he said, shrugging. "Average is my middle name."

"I noticed." Her tone told Kray that she didn't think Shane had any hidden potential. "Why do you want to become a Sanser Enforcer?" she asked him.

"My host family told me it would be more rewarding than life as a bodyguard. They told me to accept the invitation to Calsin Foundation."

"You did it because they wanted you to? That's it?"

He shrugged again. "What's the point in fussing over decisions when you don't have much of a choice?"

Violet's hands were fisted. "If someone hands you a Sen-reinforced blade and orders you to kill a fellow Sanser, you'll just do it without fussing over that decision?"

He thought it over. "I'll do my best not to hurt anyone. Human or Sanser."

"Wow. Who knew life was so simple?"

"That's enough," Kray finally interjected. She was angling for something, and he didn't like that she was pressuring Shane into saying things that clearly made him uncomfortable. "Leave him alone, Violet. You don't know what he's been through."

She threw up her hands in defeat. The walk over to the fitness center was quiet: Shane to his left and Violet to his right, both of them so different it was like he was walking between night and day. Like he was walking a line between two people he could become.

The pacifist or the warrior.

They reached the classroom about ten minutes before class started. Violet went off to join Thamdan and Jassea in a corner. Kray stretched with Shane while studying the rest of the class. Alex stood about five feet to his right, talking in hushed whispers to Shane's warden. He caught some of their words—something about a Rebel strike early this morning on the other warden girl's hometown in the Outskirts of Rivyena.

". . . haven't heard from my brother since yesterday," she said. She rubbed her mouth. "He's a contractor at the steel company they targeted. He's not answering his calls."

"They knocked out communications in that whole sector," Alex answered. "It's no surprise he can't get in touch with you."

"I know, but . . ."

Alex rested a hand on her shoulder. "I thought I lost my brother, too, a long time ago, but he came back to us. Think positive thoughts, Marline. It'll be okay."