Word: ulterior adj. 1a: lying farther away : more remote b: situated on the farther side, 2: going beyond what is openly said or shown
Leona clasped her hands tightly as she waited for Kayle to arrive. Though they had been spending time together intermittently since Leona had come to the League, Kayle had never requested her presence before, much less by sending an official summons through one of her attending Solari.
The meeting room didn't help. While the massive picture windows framed the surrounding forests, the setting sun just made the room loom even larger. The lavish decorations only served to make Leona more uncomfortable.
Beating wings signaled the angel's arrival. Leona stood, turning to greet her. The Judicator's armor shone red in the fading light, making her even more imposing.
"Good evening, Kayle," Leona greeted her, bowing slightly. "I appreciate your summons, though I admit I was a little concerned by it."
Kayle nodded, gesturing at the pair of plush chairs. "Sit, child. We have much to discuss."
Kayle's wings stilled, and she landed lightly in the seat across from Leona. She sat stiffly, but no more stiffly than usual; off the battlefield, Leona did not envy her massive suit of armor. Though never having seen her without it, Leona wasn't sure she'd be any less uptight without it.
"Diana." Kayle had never been one to beat around the bush. "What are your plans concerning her?"
Leona swallowed, biting her lip. It had only been a little over a week since she heard of Diana's murders. She had spent most of that time running back and forth between the Institute and Mount Targon, fielding endless questions, and trying to figure out what the hell had happened. None she talked to in the Solari would give her a straight answer; all she knew for sure was that the elders were dead, Diana had killed them, and the moon might have been involved somehow.
That, and that the new council wanted her to kill Diana.
She shook her head. It didn't fit. She was hardly a detective, had never had the head for such things, but she simply could not believe it was that simple.
Raising her head, she looked Kayle straight in the eye. "I don't know yet. I would like to talk to her before making a decision."
"That is unwise. Dissension breeds dissension. Kill her now before she can infect the rest of your people."
Leona's brow furrowed. "That would be unfair to her. If I talk to her and find that she is a threat to the Solari, I will take that into account, but-"
The waning light emphasized every hard shadow on Kayle's helmet. "Depending on the crime, fairness can be an acceptable casualty. What I hear is that you will let the murder of your sect's leaders go unpunished because of some misplaced sentiment."
"No." Leona's fingers dug into her thighs, clawed gauntlets piercing her skin. "I simply wish to solve this without any more blood shed."
Leona could feel the disappointed disapproval radiating off the other champion. "Shed blood is a necessary response to shed blood. Anything less invites your enemies to continue degrading your power until you are nothing.
Kayle stood, striding over to the window. Her wings trailed behind her magnificently. Lit by the silver light of the rising moon, she struck an imposing figure, an unmovable pillar of metal and flame.
"Truly the best course of action would be to destroy her deity along with her. Then there would be no further possibility for dissent."
Leona stared at the angel, horrified. "Of course not! Who even knows what disasters that could bring? Why would you even suggest that?"
A flap of her wings brought Kayle airborne. She loomed over Leona, her shadow falling over the seated sun champion. "Apparently I have misjudged you." Her voice echoed through the too large chamber. "If you are that determined to live in your happy fantasy world, so be it. But when your sect is destroyed and that world in shambles around you, remember my words and do what needs to be done."
Kayle swept from the room.
In her absence, the moonlight shown down on Leona accusingly. She put her head in her hands, trying to figure out what to do.