Page 115 of Stars in Halo

Katya clapped her hands together in delight. ‘He’s is? Oh my. Is he -,’

‘A fierce, winged Sab?r Hawk warrior? Naam,’ Riv said with a quirk to his lips. ‘Which is why we were all so amused when you mentioned them. He’s facing rebellion and mired in politics in the court because of many things. He’s a rogue monarch. So we understand and sympathise with your experience on Iccythria.’

‘The question is, what are we going to do about it?’ Kainan asked, ever the pragmatist and strategist.

Xion and Katya exchanged glances.

‘We have some ideas.’

At Kainan’s chin jerk, they shared.

Later, they received their Riders’ blessing for their proposed daunting task.

Much later, Katya and Xion lay tangled on his bed, nestled in a stunning apartment with 360-degree views of Eden II, chests heaving, panting after their lovemaking.

The four-bedroom condo, set on one of the topmost floors of Sable HQ, featured a striking facade of horizontal concrete layers and blackened metal, which matched Xion to a T.

Its entrance had private elevator access, and its contemporary frontage celebrated brutalist design, softened by cascading gardens and a welcoming water feature upon entry.

The same wall greenery flowed over the terrace partition outside Xion’s room.

‘I think you passed the official Rider interview, test, and freakin’ examination,’ Xion murmured, stroking Katya’s face. ‘My kakas loved you.’

‘Who wouldn’t?’ Katya teased with a glint in her eyes.

She propped herself on his chest, gazing at the blooms and vines inter-tangled and woven together. ‘I can’t believe I missed this stunning interior when we came in.’

‘We were busy khaliya. It was eyes on me and not on the furniture and plants.’

‘This is heaven when you compare this to Iccythria, where no plants grow above the surface. Everything we cultivate and eat is grown in underground hydroponic farms that are more functional than designed or imported, ’ Katya told him. ‘How did you conceive all of this?’

‘Zane asked us to design the homes of our fantasies, and I came up with this. We wanted the interior styling and the outdoor flow to reflect the quality of the architecture and our particular aesthetic. Remember khaliya, not so long ago, we were poor kinais living on the streets, hoping for a life like this. To have achieved it still blows our minds.

She lay her head on his chest, and their eyes locked. ‘You blow my mind.’

His lips turned up, eyes soft, and lids half mast with desire and devotion. ‘Woman, you undo me.’

She stared into his eyes until she couldn’t stand the sweet any more.

Slicing her eyes away, she focused on the base of the plant trellis outside, where golden fish were frolicking in a small pool.

‘Are those koi I see in the pond?’

‘Naam, they’re fantastic.’ He extended a lazy arm and pointed to a plant wound around the vines. ‘That’s an apple tree. ‘I’m attempting to grow enough fruit next season to make cider and wine.

‘It’s so you, kodan.’

‘Naam,’ her man drawled. ‘I was born by the sea on Earth, and this is my tiny way of bringing that memory to life.’

She turned to face him. ‘You’re a sentimentalist at heart.’

‘I am,’ he grunted, stroking her hair over her back. ‘Which is why one thing about you blows me away.’

What’s that?’ she asked.

‘How much you care for others, those kids who were abandoned and discarded. Yet you saw their potential and need for love and risked your life to nurture them.’

She sliced her eyes away and took a ragged breath. ‘Someone once said every child deserves to feel unique. My mother loved me, but I was fodder for my father, who put to work as a thief and pick-up artist at a young age. I never fit in; I was an outsider and, under all the glitz and glam, a thief. I still am. So when I met one of the outcast children my father was attempting to recruit, I made it my mission to save as many of them as possible. For many were being pulled into the same life that I was. It was the least I was able to do for them - use my skills to safeguard them from the life I knew.’

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