Page 54 of Bearing Secrets
Klebra turned to talk to his followers. “Don’t you think it’s convenient that just as Kirell here is nominated to a Title Holder’s position, he magically produces a mate none of us had ever heard of or even had an inkling about? What a coincidence.”
She went still as seedy black eyes focused on her, looking her over from head to toe. Klebra leaned to the left and right, evaluating her from all sides. Then he gave her a twisted smile that sent fear racing down her spine.
“You’d better hope, for your sake, that things are what they seem,” he said in a soft, predatory tone. “Because if they aren’t, if I get the slightest whiff that the two of you are making this up, then I won’t hesitate to invokeInvalidat.And you might not like that.”
Natalia could feel the fear coiling in her belly. Her instincts were screaming out to her, telling her to back away, to get out of danger. And there was no doubt about it, Klebrawasdangerous. But she didn’t step back.
Weakness wasn’t something she could show, she realized. Not to this man. Not to any of them. They were part animal, after all, and they would respect toughness. This was a charge, a territorial thing. Klebra was coming at her full speed, and if she wavered or ran, he would win.
“And you might not like being made a fool of in front of everyone, but that’s exactly what’s going to happen if you keep questioning the two of us and our feelings for one another,” she snapped, letting her anger flow through her words.
Klebra paused, and then his mouth twisted into another grotesque smile. He stood up straight, looking at Kirell this time. “She’s got some spirit to her, I’ll give you that. But we’re not fooled. Many people doubt the legitimacy of this. I will prove it too.”
“Whatever you say, chump. Now get the fuck out of my way,” Kirell growled, also standing his ground, not even bothering to acknowledge what Klebra was saying.
Natalia looked up at him, letting admiration at his toughness shine through even while she leaned in closer, giving Klebra a little show of herdevotionto Kirell.
After a long standoff, the three men facing them backed away and wandered down the hall. Everyone in her party, including herself, sagged slightly in relief.
“Thank you,” Kirell said to Kedd, then walked down the hall a bit and opened up a panel, motioning for her to head inside.
She followed. They had to go a round-about route to join up with his room, but the instant they were both inside, she wheeled on him.
“What the fuck is going on in this house, Kirell?” she snarled, fury boiling over as she advanced on him, finger upraised and pointed in his direction, hair billowing behind her from the sharpness of her movements. “Just what have I gotten myself involved in? You owe me some answers, and you owe them to me right now!”
24
He was backed into a corner, figurativelyandliterally.
Natalia had pursued him across the room as he backed away from her, until there was nowhere else for him to go. He could push past her of course—she couldn’t stop him, not physically—but the truth was, he didn’t want to do that. Telling her everything would be difficult, but after her display of loyalty to him in the hallway, he owed her something.
“Very well,” he said, motioning to the nearby couches. “I’ll tell you everything I can.”
They sat down on the same couch, but there was a marked space between them, an indicator of her level of anger and potential distrust in him.
“Several days ago, there was an attempted uprising in Ursa. A rebellion. A coup. Call it whatever you want. A large contingent of the House wanted to overthrow the King and Queen and take control for themselves.” He closed his eyes, remembering the shock when he’d first heard the news. When he’d seen with his very eyes one of the traitors ripping the throat out of the guard next to him.
Violence wasn’t new to Ursa. Or Canis. Or any of the shifter Houses really. They fought all the time, for dominance, for women, for money. It was how a shifter honed their skills if they weren’t in the military. Experience.
Fighting was one thing. Killing though…while it was not rare, it wasn’t a common occurrence either. There was always a reason for it, and it was usually done as a punishment. Wholesale slaughter of his people, by their former friends? By the men they thought of as brothers? That had shaken Kirell to his core.
“It was bad,” he said at last, trying to maintain a neutral, dispassionate tone. “Very bad. A lot of people died. A lot of my friends died.”
“I’m so sorry,” Natalia said softly.
He felt her hand on his leg, and knew she wasn’t consciously reassuring him, that she was still too mad to do that. That should tell him something, but he couldn’t figure out what it was. His mind was too distracted.
“We fought back. Those of us loyal to the Queen.” He didn’t have to say that the King had been killed. Natalia understood.
“That’s why Klebra called you a traitor earlier when he stormed in here.”
“Yes.” Kirell hung his head. “The term has been thrown around liberally since it happened. Mostly people like Klebra using it to try and further their own agendas.”
“Is this a normal thing?” she asked.
“No. I’m not aware of such an organized attempt to overthrow a legitimate ruler in the history of all the Houses. It was unprecedented, and unexpected. We weren’t ready for it.” He growled angrily, the sound filling the room.
“I don’t understand then. Why would they do it in the first place?”
