Queen's Shadow || Kingdom at the End of the World - Book II

[23.2] Thread a Needle

When the Zero soldier appeared, Ira almost killed the man.

The violence was driven by instinct rather than reason. There was an intruder in her territory, at a time when someone in her care was most vulnerable. Ira would have sunk her teeth in the Zero's throat and ripped it out clean, had Valeri not struck first.

The brief interruption cleared Ira's mind. She saw what bloodlust had veiled: the Zero's startled, youthful face. The man cradled protectively in the soldier's arms.

Ira's objective shifted rapidly.

She slowed Valeri's downward descent as the man lost consciousness, her hand still tight over his neck. It took little effort to lift Valeri's unconscious body and deposit him back onto the naked bed. Ira stood in front of him, shielding the man from Zero's view.

"Name and rank," she commanded.

The Zero youth blinked dumbly. He had dropped his burden in his fright, and now darted hesitant glances between Ira's face and Dimitri's prone body.

By the gods, Dimitri.

Ira kept her eyes on the Zero soldier, refusing to give in to the anxious anger burning up her throat.

"Name and rank, soldier," she repeated, voice harsh.

"Zero seven-o-three," the boy answered. He then surprised Ira again by adding, "Rin - Rin called me Ian."

Ira did not know who Rin was. She had also never heard a Zero soldier sound this way before - scared and uncertain and young.

"What are you doing here, Ian?" she asked. Her tone did not gentle, but she no longer considered running the boy through a viable option.

"Captain Starr requested that I transport the prisoner to a location outside of the Capital. This was meant to be a halfway stop," the Zero explained.

Captain Starr - Kayla Starr. Ira did not know the woman personally, but had heard of her from Dimitri. The two were trained together. It was possible that Starr would aid the man if she had the chance.

It was also possible that this entire encounter was orchestrated, a trap waiting to spring.

Ira stepped forward. The Zero soldier made to grab Dimitri, but she was faster, and had the man secure and a blade at the Zero's throat before he could as much as brush Dimitri's skin.

"I have to take him away," the Zero said. He strained forward, unconcerned by the dagger digging into his skin. His eyes were unfocused.

"I am Ira Hale, Captain of Team three-seven," Ira said firmly. "Lighting is my responsibility now."

The Zero titled his head. He nodded at length, and made no fuss when Ira took Dimitri away and laid the man beside Valeri. The two made for a strange picture, lying side by side. Both looked nearly dead. Ira had the terrible image of lying corpses down on a pyre.

"What is Captain Starr's plan?" Ira asked, shaking the morbid thought away.

"I do not know," the Zero answered.

"Your part, then. What were you to do with him?"

"I was to leave the prisoner at a safehouse Captain Starr specified, and return to the Capital," the Zero said.

"Who was to receive him?" Ira asked.

"I do not know," the Zero repeated.

Ira expected that would be the case. Starr would not share critical details of a mission with agents of uncertain loyalty. The fact that she had placed such trust in this particular man was highly unusual, and greatly worrying. Ira did not for a moment think the boy some kind of double-agent.