Free Whispers of the Skyborne (Devices of War Book 3) by SM Blooding Page A

men caught Ino civilians being secreted onto my ship? What was she planning? I had to hope she expected nothing more than the stupid boy she’d always thought me to be. What if…
    What if. I could not afford to travel down that path.
    The metal grate of the elevator platform finally sounded, her slight steps clicking on the blue tiles.
    I kept my back to her, my hands clasped behind me as I stared into the large, empty room.
    Mother’s steps slowed as she approached. She walked into my line of sight and stopped several metres away. “El’Asim.”
    I kept as much emotion removed from my expression as possible. “Ino Nami.”
    It didn’t pass my notice she did not offer the welcoming greeting of Family.
    She raised her chin. “What is your purpose here, Synn?” she asked in Sakin.
    I noted the insult of language choice as well. “I was informed Ino City was under attack. I am here to see how the city fares. Why does Ino Nami greet the El’Asim when Ino Oki should be here in her stead?”
    She narrowed her slanted eyes. “Are you here in an official context or as a brother and son?”
    I studied her still, round face. “You tell me. Mother.”
    She stood quietly unmoving, for a long moment. “I am sorry to hear about the loss of your tribe.”
    I watched her every breath. No remorse. No empathy, sympathy, pity. Her dark eyes were empty of emotion. Cold. Calculating.
    “I am, however,” she said, pacing away in the small steps her kimono allowed, “disappointed in how you handled their deaths.”
    My hairs stood up. Had she killed them to drive me to initiate war? If so, why? What did she gain? “You would discuss this with me when you are supposedly under attack?”
    “You scared most of the attackers away. They fled as soon as they saw your massive ships enter our radar.”
    Except that I’d heard her say she couldn’t see us. Lies and bluffs.
    She faced me. “Have you nothing to say?”
    “Not yet.”
    Her right eye ticked. “Have you no wish to honor the lives of your Family? Your second-in-command, your sister?”
    “I will.” Oh, I would. But I had to be smart about it. Destroying her here, now, would get me nowhere.
    Or would it?
    A cool, interested expression softened her features, her lips parting. “What are you going to do, Synn?”
    We were alone. No guards. Just her and me.
    She’d ordered the destruction of my Family.
    “How stupid do you think I am, Synn?” Her voice was a bare whisper as she stalked toward me. “Do you truly think I am unarmed, without protection?”
    Saliva pooled at the back of my jaw and my gut dropped as I felt the bars of the trap snap into place. “Do you think I am so helpless, so inept?”
    She raised a single eyebrow, her wrinkled lips pursing as she regarded me. “These months in solitude have done you well.”
    “I have not been in seclusion.”
    “You have not shown your face.”
    “Publically, no.” Resolve blanketed my lava rage like a glacier. It settled through my shoulders, down my arms, my chest. The objective was to free Oki.
    But I may never have a chance like this again in my life.
    It would be so easy. My Mark could slice her open, burn her, wrap around her until she was nothing more than a husk.
    She raised her chin, her round cheeks glistening in the pale letharan light.
    She was my mother.
    It hadn’t mattered to her. She’d thrown me away as though I were nothing more than trash.
    But my father had instilled a sense of family, of belonging that I could not shake.
    A triumphant smile slid along her lips.
    I needed to delay her for another fifteen minutes. “Why?”
    She tipped her head to the side with a chuckle. “What do you mean, why?”
    “Why did you destroy my Family? Why did you kill hundreds of my people?”
    Her smile turned into a smirk. “How did you discover it? Well, it’s of no matter, is it? No.” She shook her head, pacing in a small circle around me. “For reasons your mixed blood will never allow you to