Kiera's Moon

Chapter Six

“You may use the command center this afternoon,” he said.

“You and the Council will be somewhere else?”

A curt nod.

“I assume it’s not a woman’s place at the Council.”

“It is not,” he agreed. Before she could be irritated by his words, he continued, “We will discuss matters later.”

“What matters?” Kiera asked. “Good matters? Bad matters?”

 “Are there bad matters to be discussed?” he asked, an edge to his voice. He raised an eyebrow, his chin lifting in what she recognized as a look very close to commanding.

“I have nothing to discuss,” she said. “But if there are issues, I’d like to discuss them now.”

 “We will discuss matters later,” he said once again. “I find nothing alarming in what we will discuss. And I thought you had a matter you wished to tell me as well.”

She frowned. She doubted anything would alarm this man if tricking a woman into wedding him and discovering the news of his sisters’ impending children did not. There were a great many things she could think of that would be dramatic issues to her. She wasn’t about to tell him what she’d overheard Ne’Rin say. No, telling him that she didn’t like his most trusted friend seemed … petty.

“I go now to the Council,” he said, and strode to the swords. “I will send for you when I am ready.”

Kiera grimaced at the distasteful wording. She said nothing as he disappeared into the house, wondering what surprises he had in store for her.

* * * * *

A’Ran listened to the Council members, uneasy. The Council had been excessively cooperative the past two days, a sign he didn’t like. Ne’Rin sat to his right at the largest table within the command center with the Council members arranged by rank to his left.

He didn’t like the politicking that accompanied any Council meeting, but he had to be patient with men who might be willing to help him. Today his gaze fell to the white-eyed, small man that had addressed nishani the prior day. While he had given them permission to speak to her, he found opportunists distasteful, however loyal they were. Jetr met his gaze with a small smile and deferential bow of his head. A’Ran responded by tipping his chin, and Jetr’s attention returned to Opal, who had been speaking too long already.

Jetr was one of the only champions A’Ran had on the Council. A’Ran forced his attention away, certain that this ally was as true as any despite his haste in addressing nishani.

Anyone addressing nishani irritated him. It was abnormal in Anshan, even if her society held no such apparent boundaries. He’d spoken to his sisters in depth and learned quickly just how different she was, their tales ranging from those that ought to anger him to those that amused him. He understood better the tension between Ne’Rin and nishani after several hesitant stories from Talal of their discussions. Nishani had a tongue and habits that shocked all three sisters and did nothing short of aggravate Ne’Rin.

He suspected Ne’Rin didn’t care for nishani. Having been raised to serve his dhjan within the boundaries imposed on him, Ne’Rin would have little patience with one who trounced the boundaries that should have been emplaced upon her.

A’Ran hadn’t yet addressed Ne’Rin’s own failing, that of impregnating his sister without making her a nishani first. It was very unlike his friend and second-in-command to allow his control to slip in such a drastic way. He hadn’t yet discovered who Talal’s mysterious man was. It was part of the reason he wished to speak to nishani later that day.