Page 13 of The First Spark (Dynasty of Fire #1)

His lips twitched upwards, but for the third time, he tugged at the tip of his pointed ear.

Her eyes narrowed. There was the tell she needed, a nervous habit.

He had something at stake. The way he was sitting was casual, deliberately so, but his stooped posture wasn’t at all typical for a career military man like him.

His type was always on alert, with a stiff spine and eyes that gleamed in anticipation of a kill. There was no gleam in his eyes, though.

Krii was afraid.

But of what ?

“The jealous niece and the ambitious uncle conspired to take the Dalian throne,” Krii went on, without betraying an ounce of fear.

“But Jerran Roth wasn’t happy being your right-hand man.

He wanted the crown for himself, so he double-crossed you and framed Carik for slaughtering your fleet.

Tell me, should I go on? Or do you think the public will have heard enough? ”

Kalie shook her head. No one would believe that. Uncle Jerran had waged war against his own sister to put Aunt Calida on the throne; he would never betray her.

But the people wouldn’t see it that way.

Uncle Jerran’s motives for betraying Grandmother Madeleine had always been dubious.

He insisted it was for the good of Dali, removing a tyrannical ruler from the throne, though rumors alleged he’d done it for power.

He’d stabbed his own sister in the back—it wouldn’t be hard for the public to believe he’d betrayed his niece too.

“That’s ridiculous,” she said weakly. “What, are you going to frame my father next?”

“Perhaps. Maybe the Emperor supplied the drone strike that killed the Duchissa. His airstrikes wiped out several Dalian nobles in your civil war, didn’t they?”

Kalie opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Pressure crushed her lungs, cutting off air. She was trapped. Well and truly trapped. Carik had murdered her family, and he was just going to get away with it. There was nothing she could do.

“Here are your options, Princessa. One, you accept my offer, and we let you live. Two…” Krii braced his elbows on his knees. “We can make your life very difficult.”

Her throat swelled shut. They wouldn’t just kill her.

I am the rightful Duchissa. I will not be intimidated.

If only she could believe that.

She swallowed hard. Ariah’s soothing voice drifted through her memory, urging her to breathe. In, out . She forced herself to inhale. Exhale. Breathe .

I will not be intimidated.

Mustering up her courage, Kalie fixed him with a lethal glare. “I’ll pass. I don’t think I’d be a very good priestess, Admiral.”

Krii hissed, sprang to his feet, and marched towards her. Kalie’s heart leapt into her throat. As Krii yanked her out of the chair, a strangled yelp tore from her lips, and her pulse pounded impossibly fast. Krii jammed his pulser into her ribs.

His rancid breath was hot on her face. “I will pull the trigger right now, you stubborn bitch, I swear I will!”

Kalie gasped as the pulser dug deeper into her skin.

Krii’s hand shook on the pulser.

Oh, gods, oh gods , she was going to die.

“There will be war,” she wheezed. Sweat dripped down her face, stinging her eyes and leaving a salty tang on her tongue. “You see it, don’t you? Kill me, and—and Dali will declare war on Carik?—”

Krii went rigid .

She’d meant it as an idle threat. Dali was one of the wealthiest worlds in the Federation, but it was only one planet against a tyrant who ruled hundreds of star systems. They wouldn’t stand a chance. But the Admiral’s lips pinched into a thin line, and his skin blanched.

He couldn’t actually fear war, could he?

But Krii stood there, his finger hovering on the trigger, hardly breathing…

Kalie’s eyes widened.

It wasn’t Dali he was afraid of, and it wasn’t her death that would trigger war.

“The—the whole Federation loved Marcus Pool. The people think Carik ki—killed him—” Krii dug his pulser into her rib cage.

Cursing herself for her stammer, Kalie raised her free hand in surrender.

“They’re rioting, Admiral. The passengers on the Chimaera saw me alive.

If I die now, in your custody, it’ll confirm the Federation killed my family. ”

“Or it’ll confirm you’re a murderer who tried to escape custody.”

Kalie trembled, but she forced her voice to stay steady. “Do you want to take that chance? With Carik’s history, I think the odds are in my favor.”

Krii twitched, but he didn’t speak.

She loosed a shaking breath. He hadn’t pulled the trigger yet, so she had to be on the right track.

“Governor Roth knows I’m alive. If I die, he and my father will declare war, and I wager all of Sector Four and beyond would rise against Carik. Are your forces prepared to withstand that?”

The room had gone deathly silent, save for the blood rushing in Kalie’s ears. A vein popped out in Krii’s neck. Rage contorted his features, but he didn’t shoot.

She could see the fire and fury Father and Uncle Jerran would rain down on Carik.

Sectors Four through Eight easily numbered five hundred planets, most of which had suffered under Carik’s elitist reign.

The planets that supported Carik in Sectors One and Two didn’t even number a hundred and fifty; even if Sector Three threw its weight behind Carik, he would be fighting an uphill battle .

Others would lead the charge. Her death would have a greater impact than anything she could accomplish while she lived.

But as his pulser dug into her ribs, a whimper escaped her.

She didn’t want to die.

She wanted to watch a Dalian sunset again. To see her friends one last time.

His finger twitched on the trigger, and Kalie flinched, squeezing her eyes shut.

Krii shoved her into her chair.

Sinking into the thin cushion, Kalie pressed a trembling hand to her heart.

Krii’s footsteps thundered across the room as he paced. Sweat shone on his creased forehead, and he swiped it away, glancing at the cameras.

He was afraid of whoever was watching them.

Carik.

Kalie straightened in her chair. Of course Krii was afraid. He was on his way out, if recent intelligence was anything to go by.

It’d been... two weeks ago? Three? His fleet had been tasked with occupying an outpost in Sector Eight, but he’d taken his fleet to pursue pirates causing chaos nearby.

While his post was undefended, radicals had stormed the outpost and seized it.

Krii hadn’t been able to retake it. Now, rumors said Carik planned to replace him.

“I understand you need a win.” Kalie raised her chin. “I can give you one.”

“What do you propose, then?”

Kalie opened her mouth, but her voice failed her. Her body betrayed her by shaking. She’d negotiated countless deals, but Aunt Calida or one of her advisors had always guided her. Now she was alone, and one misstep could end her life. No one was coming to save her.

Everything rested on her shoulders. Everything .

If she failed, if she died, a war of revenge was not the only outcome.

Carik could install a puppet on Dali and raze the world so many called paradise .

Or Selene would become Duchissa, and her greed would plunge the world into ruin.

She needed to think quickly. She had to keep Dali, that was non-negotiable.

No puppet of Carik’s would ever sit the throne while she lived.

There was no way in hell she was letting Carik call her the murderer of her family.

But the vow she’d made was what he feared, and if she had any chance of saving Dali, she’d have to sacrifice her revenge.

Kalie clenched her teeth.

Someday, she would make Carik pay. But that would not be today.

“I—I’m willing to?—”

Her voice cracked, and she dug her nails into her skin. Normally, this was where Uncle Jerran would take over. But he wasn’t here now, so she forced herself to take a deep breath and start again.

“I’m willing to recognize Carik as the Prime Minister of the Federation if he recognizes me as Calida’s heir and the rightful Duchissa of Dali.

The bogus charges against me will be dropped, and I will return to Dali at once.

If any harm has come to the people on the Chimaera , they’ll be freed; they committed no crime.

” Kalie gave Krii a quick once-over, taking in his military-grade watch, his polished boots.

“For your leniency, Admiral, I will grant you ten million credits. And, of course, you can take full responsibility for the success of our negotiations.”

Krii pivoted. His agitated pacing slowed.

Kalie inhaled deeply, wishing she could avoid what came next. As she exhaled, she forced the words out. They tasted like poison, acidic and bitter.

“I will, as you demanded, issue a formal deca—declaration—” her nails bit into her palm at the stumble— don’t think about it, just don’t think — “that the Federation and Prime Minister Carik had no role in the deaths of Senator Pool and my aunt the Duchissa.”

An acid taste burned her mouth. Aunt Calida had raised her. Lexie was like her sister. The idea that she’d never get justice for their deaths was a dagger to the heart. It wasn’t fair .

But if she wanted to walk away from this alive, she’d have to let it go. For now .

“And,” Kalie continued, as a knot formed in her throat, “I will declare that the attack on my fleet in Sector Five was not led by the Federation, but by pirates or rebels, your pick, who wanted to rob my convoy and hold me for ransom.”

Ariah.

That was the worst blow of all. Her best friend, her sister, the one she’d cried to, fought with, and sought advice from.

Ariah was loyal to the end, and this was how she repaid that loyalty: by agreeing to let her memory die in the darkness of space.

No one else would mourn her sister, not like Marcus or Aunt Calida or Lexie.

No one would remember Ariah, because no one had ever truly known her.

Carik would never pay the price for Ariah’s murder. That wound would never heal.