[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/v73aK69.png[/img][/center]
[center]Collab between [@The Muse] and [@SpicyMeatball]
[sub]Location: Eye of the Beholder[/sub]
[i][h1]Part I[/h1][/i]
[hr][/center]

[color=lightgray][i][color=DC561E]And you’re supposed to be in the capital, [b]Cricket.[/b][/color][/i]

Katherine’s posture stiffened as the nickname left Kira’s lips. Her breath caught in her throat, as if a cold, dead hand of the past brushed across the back of her neck. It took every bit of willpower to keep her outward appearance calm as the memories flooded back.

Once, the name had been gentle. Figments of her mother entered Katherine’s mind, when the two of them would share the balcony of their home and watch the stars come out. [i]My little cricket,[/i] she would say, brushing Katherine’s hair in the otherwise silent evening air. 

But after her mother’s disappearance, her father had tainted it with his cold demeanor. No longer was it a pet name, but a brand. A name for his tool. A title that took quickly among the inner circle of the King’s Eye and all but replaced her real name during assignments. 

She’d never wanted the name, not from them. But no one had asked. It shadowed her in every coded message and every whispered order, and reminded her that she’d stopped being someone’s daughter and had become their asset.

Kat was exactly as Kira remembered her—blonde, brown-eyed, beautiful. She’d always had an inviting face, despite the darkness that lurked beneath the surface. Attractive enough to get herself into places she didn’t belong… but not striking enough to stand out in a crowd—to be remembered.

A chirping cricket, falling silent—[i]listening[/i]—when others drew near.
A little, unseen weapon. 

Another colleague with blood on her hands. 
At times, a friend. A confidant. 
And yet—

Kira’s firelit eyes trailed over the religious robes draped around Kat’s body. An eyebrow arched. [color=DC561E]“Did you come at the clergy’s request?”[/color]

After a moment of lingering silence, Katherine’s eyes raised to Kira’s with their usual practiced composure. [color=19CACA]“Something like that.”[/color] she spoke, the hint of a cold smile playing at the edge of her lips, [color=19CACA]“They had a need and I… … was available.”[/color]. As the last words left her mouth, Katherine shot Kira a knowing look that brushed dangerously close to a warning.

One she hoped—no, she knew, Kira would recognize.

Kira’s expression didn’t shift. 
She let the silence stretch, gaze fixed on Kat’s face—quietly assessing.

Kat had always answered to a higher power. Her father. Seluna. The King. 
Kira was no better. She’d bent the knee, too. 
But which of them had sent her to Dawnhaven? And why? 

Her attention dropped to the coin. Dread crept in, cold and familiar. 

She [i]was[/i] supposed to be dead. 

And if Kat was still reporting to those higher powers… 
Then Kira’s freedom was fleeting fast.

A flicker of heat surged through her blood, each nerve set on edge. The beast she kept locked within began to stir—restless, sensing its cage beginning to crack. 

[color=DC561E]“Why do you have this?”[/color] she asked sharply, nodding toward the coin. 

Though her outward appearance hadn’t changed, Kat sensed the shift in Kira’s demeanor. It was the hint of an emotion that she hadn’t seen from Kira before. A hint of feeling threatened. 

Katherine loathed the shift. She hated that her presence now stirred caution instead of trust.

Placing her steps carefully, she slowly took a seat opposite of Kira and placed her hands flat on the table. A simple gesture, but one that showed she meant no harm. 

[color=19CACA]“When you were presumed dead, our superiors had me clear out your remaining belongings,”[/color] she admitted, nodding her head, [color=19CACA]“It was the only memory of you that I could pocket while under a watchful eye.”[/color]

Kira studied Kat’s face in silence, weighing each word with suspicion. After a few beats, her gaze dropped to the coin. 

Long ago, it had filled her with warmth. Given her hope.
It was the only item from her homeland that she’d managed to sneak past her captors—for a time. 

When she’d been nervous, she’d hide it in her pocket and turn it over in her fingers for comfort. 
At night, she’d curl beneath her blanket and clutch it like a lifeline, whispering prayers to Aelios and pleas to a family she could no longer picture.

Now, it only summoned memories of blinding migraines and the metallic taste of blood. 

Katherine’s calm, brown eyes remained fixed on Kira’s until she was confident that she had her former co-worker’s attention, before they flicked to her own right hand, now turned palm-up on the table. Her fingers bent in quick succession, a subtle invitation.

Kira knew what she was asking. She’d placed her hands in Kat’s countless times before. 

But it was different now. 
They no longer played for the same team—and camaraderie meant little to someone who lived with a hidden blade pressed to their throat. 

Kira wouldn’t have blamed Kat for turning on her. She knew the deal. And the cost. 

Despite the potential risk, she reached across the table and loosely curled her fingers into Kat’s. Close enough to resemble affection and trust—loose enough that their fingers could still move, free and discreet, in a language only they knew. 

[color=DC561E]“I didn’t know you were so sentimental.”[/color] she said dryly, eyes lifting to meet Kat’s. 

The corner of Kat’s mouth lifted in reply, her eyes smiling ever-so-slightly, [color=19CACA]“Some might call me soft for saying it, but I’ve missed having you around.”[/color]

With the quick motion of her fingers—a mixture of taps and tracings barely visible to any onlookers—Katherine began to form the message she was so desperate to hide from the presence within. A simplified message of broken up words that withheld the pleasantries of conversation but nonetheless was effective at transferring information.

[color=19CACA][i]Possessed by blood magic. They are watching from within me. I am not your enemy, but they now know you are alive.[/i][/color]

She stopped a moment to let the message sink in, her eyes never leaving Kira’s face. 

Kira didn’t blink as she held Kat’s gaze, betraying nothing. 

But inside, she’d gone cold and hollow where her heart had sunk straight through the floor. Each movement of Kat’s fingers had carved gouges into her palm, burning into her skin and radiating throughout her body like a slow poison. 

[color=DC561E]“I’ve missed you, too.”[/color] She forced the words past her lips, voice calm and steady, keeping their exchange natural—careful not to draw suspicion from the presence that apparently had its talons buried in Kat.

Then, one more quick set of gestures.

[color=19CACA][i]I’m sorry.[/i][/color]

The Inquisition, and to a certain extent, the King’s Eye, now knew that Kira was still alive. What had started as a reunion between lost friends had turned into a likely death-sentence. 

For both of them, if Katherine didn’t play this right.[/color]