Kalina was already used to the cooling feeling of her blood inside her veins whenever she felt the evidence of another woman in him. However this time there was something in Irion's countenance that nearly destroyed her.
¡Hells! She had to clean-cut her feelings off once and for all. But how many times had she already repeated the same thing to herself? How many times had she already considered the same thing? The result had been the same. Thinking that way, Kalina took a seat while trying to keep her poker face off. ¡Damn it! With this thought, she gave him the slyest smile of hers.
"Kal, I hope you enjoyed Kandam Sacra."
Kalina smiled wider and sat back in the elegant seat. The damn office was filled with the strange sweet aroma. That perfume, Kalina already hated it. Her lunch practically jumped in her stomach. At that rate, she would get her first indigestion.
"As much as I could, Irion. How about you?" Instantly she knew it hadn't been the right question. Irion's gaze became dreamy, and Kalina froze again. Unable to help it, she compared her reflection in the glass display case with her memory of the beautiful Eriá dancer.
Gods! She wanted to blow up every single expensive bottle in the damn display case, one after the other or all at once. Control Kalina… She told herself. Terrible things could happen if she lost control. Much less for something like that. Her silly idealized, one-sided, secret love. If only she had dared to tell him... Maybe it would have been better. He would have rejected her, and she would have been able to get over that whole damn crush on her.
"It was my best celebration of such a glorious day."
Oh…
"Glorious day?" Kalina knew she must stop her tongue. Yes, she knew. Even so, she didn't: "The day Sacra Terra finished ravaging the north in search of its white hematite deposits?"
Instantly his look changed. The relaxed posture of Irion's broad shoulders tensed and he inhaled softly:
"I hope you didn't speak in that way in front of anyone else." Kalina looked at him trying to put on a relaxed expression. Until he adopted the older brother tone that she hated so much: "Those are dangerous words, Kal."
That was the naked truth. Kalina thought. Honor and courage. Glorious day? It was all part of the costume. The plot they woven to justify the actions. Wild menace from the north? Bullshit. A simple invention concocted with the sole purpose of deceiving people. And, damn it, he had to know that.
"¿Kal?"
"Irion."
What was she doing? Kalina said to herself. Now, she was ready to stop anything she could have started.
Irion raised a golden eyebrow. He was like a golden vision. The most complete and pure eriá. His skin said it. His eyes, hair, his impressive physique, and, above all, his strength said it. Kalina could feel the taboo energy from him, now meek as a sleeping tiger as huge as a mountain. He was power and control. She, on the other hand, was Chaos.
After the fall of their kingdom at the hands of the Andai, the Eriá people sought refuge in Sacra Terra, famous for welcoming any immigrant who crossed its borders. Perhaps that was where Irion's firm loyalty to the empire had come from.
After the mixing of various ethnicities over the years, it would be hard to find an Eriá with such marked features. The only thing that had lasted in his people, as an inevitable constant in any descendant, was the color of their eyes: golden like polished gold. It was a constant. Well, except for Kalina.
"I hope you don't talk that way about Kandam Sacra again, Kalina. Honestly, it can only put you in peril."
"Be at ease, Irion. I know what to say and who I say it to."
Irion looked at her with worried eyes for two seconds before getting up. Then he went through his spirit collection for some ridiculously expensive liquor.
"Now, let's talk about the mission." He said with a smile.
Oh, Irion... Smiling in response, Kalina let aside everything about the hidden truth. At least for the moment.