She lifted her chin proudly. "That I'd had enough of Talyn being punished for nothing."
Morra's green cheeks darkened. "Sorry, my lord. I didn't realize when I showed Felicia the files we unencrypted that she'd run off half-cocked to the media. She seems so laid-back and sweet. Innocent, even. Who knew she was a sleeping lorina?"
"I could have warned you," her father scoffed. "She's her mother's daughter."
Felicia opened her mouth to remind her father that he liked that about her mother, when all of a sudden, the elevator pinged. Expecting it to be another attack, she spun, ready to fight.
It was Talyn and his mother. With a happy shriek, Felicia bolted off the sofa to assault him.
Talyn let out a slight groan as Felicia literally launched herself into his arms and wrapped her body around his. He staggered back at the unexpected reaction as she rained kisses over his face. Closing his eyes, he savored the sensation of holding her. Of feeling her body pressed flush to his.
Until she pulled back and saw the bruises. She gasped before she gently fingered them. "What happened?"
"Nothing, but I am seriously pissed at you."
"For?"
"Putting yourself in danger. What were you thinking?"
Rolling her eyes, she slid out of his arms and groaned out loud. "Oh my God, you sound like my paran!" She sighed heavily and pulled Talyn into the room. "Talyn meet my paka. Paka, Talyn."
Talyn hesitated as he finally saw the elder nobleman. For some reason, he'd forgotten how much younger Felicia's mother was than her father and the fact that Lorens was older than Talyn's mother. He gave a slight bow to the politician who had the bearing of royalty. "My lord."
Saren snorted. "Please, don't be so formal." He patted Talyn on the back. "We're practically family. Especially given what all you've done for my Felicia, who should never have put you through any of this."
She hung her head.
Talyn's temper snapped. "She's done nothing, other than bring utter happiness to my life." He cut a teasing glare at her. "Maybe not right this moment with the death threats on her head ... everything else was never her fault."
She smiled at him and hugged him close. "Love you," she whispered in his ear.
He inhaled the scent of her hair and trembled at the fear and love he felt for her.
His mother's link went off. Excusing herself, she went to answer it.
Saren turned the sound up on the monitors where the news was playing. "I do have to give her credit ... we were never able to get anything into the hands of the media. By hijacking your press conference, Felicia accomplished more in five minutes than all of our members combined, over the last fifteen years."
Talyn frowned. "Excuse me?"
"My father is the leader of WAR," Felicia whispered in his ear. "He took over after Rhys was arrested."
Talyn gaped at that unexpected nugget. Apparently, Lorens was as good at keeping secrets as he was.
His mother returned to the room. "Tylie just heard about the civil unrest. She and Cairistiona are off-planet. They were on their way to rendezvous with Emperor Aros at an undisclosed location, when all this started breaking loose. Given the current political climate, and those demanding royal heads roll, Tylie intends to remain in the Triosan Empire until the dust settles."
Talyn didn't like the sound of that, or what it would mean for his mother. Although, it might be for the best to get her out of the empire until this ended. "Are you being recalled?"
She nodded. "Cairie's hysterical about everything. Tylie's hoping I can calm her down before they sedate her into a coma. I need to leave immediately."
Saren narrowed his gaze. "What she's planning to do about her mother?"
"Knowing Tylie, she'll try to stay out of it and keep her sister safe. You have to remember that all their siblings murdered each other, and their children. The only one who ever protected Tylie and risked her own life to do it was Cairie. Now, Tylie is done with the senseless violence. All she wants is an Andaria where she and Cairie can live sanely and in peace."
Galene sighed heavily as she slid her link into her pocket. "You wanted the monarchy destroyed, and I can understand your disgust. But let me ask you this, aseseran. Who will run this empire when the Anatoles are gone? Have you any idea of the bloody civil war all of you are about to ignite between the high-Vest families? Do you really think the other ten noble bloodlines are going to step down peacefully for an appointed plenumus? Or what of the twelve high-Vest warrior clans? What if one of them rises up to seize power in the wake of this upset?"
Saren shook his head. "You're a Batur. You know what the Anatoles did to your entire family. They slaughtered them down to your direct nest because they feared the strength of your warriors. The same for the Hauks and the Xus. I refuse to stand by and let them do to my family what they've done to yours."
Morra whistled. "Tempers, guys. C'mon. We're not at war here. And remember that some of us aren't Andarion. Could someone please explain this blood clan thing to me?"
Felicia moved over to Morra's link to pull up the family crests of the highest-ranked noble and military lineages. "Centuries ago, Andaria was divided into unorganized tribes who fought each other for territory and resources."
"Like most worlds. That I get." Morra gestured at the crests. "I take it these were the main tribes?"
"What's left of them. Back then, the warrior clans were our leaders. Until the Oksanans attacked and we had our first invasion from an alien race. Sadly for them, they marched through a family farm of War Hauks."
Morra cocked her brow. "Hauk?"
"Yes," Talyn said. "The same family tribe of The Sentella member you're thinking. Dancer Hauk is named for the sole Andarion survivor of that battle. His family single-handedly saved our world."
Morra nodded as she digested it. "Sounds like the Hauk I know and love."
"While the father and children fought," Felicia continued, "their mother ran to warn the other tribes of the invading army. It was the first time Andaria united as a single nation."
Saren nodded. "Knowing that we could be invaded again, at any time, we held our first plenum shortly thereafter."
"He means bloodbath," Talyn said with a bitter note in his voice. "Not the council meetings they hold today, where the first families pitch the laws that govern us all to our tadara."
Morra screwed her face up as she tried to follow. "Bloodbath, how?"
Talyn glanced to Felicia's father before he explained. "It was a melee where the strongest of each clan fought to see who deserved to be our leaders. There were twenty-four survivors of that match, who then drew lots to see who would become a politician and who would create our military. The caste order of bloodlines and families was then determined by where their ancestor had finished in the match."
Lorens nodded. "Until they got to Dancer Hauk, who had won every match. He drew a politician's lot and refused it. He ended up trading his lot with the first Anatole, who had drawn a military slot ... Anatole had finished second in the battle."
Her father sighed heavily. "And that began the feud between the first family of the aristocracy and the first family of the military that lasts to this day."
Morra's scowl deepened. "Why?"
Talyn clenched his teeth as age-old bitterness choked him. "Because every Andarion knows that Dancer Hauk and his descendants are the ones who should have been our ruling family. And the Anatoles have spent the last four thousand years waiting for one of the Hauks to rise up and throw them out, and take the throne they're technically entitled to."
"But they haven't."
"No, but they, alone, could, and the Anatoles know that. Most of them fear it."
Morra glanced at Saren. "So where does your family fall in this mess?"
"My lineage is the third of the noble clans. Anatole is first, Nykyrian, then Terronova."
She looked at Talyn. "Yours?"
"We're military. The Baturs are ranked second only to the Hauks."
"So te
chnically the Terronovas are the biggest threat to the queen?"
Lorens shook his head. "No. Because Andarions are warriors, the direct descendants of the Hauks and even the eldest Batur socially outrank the noble bloodlines, except for the ruling family of Sovereign Anatoles."
Morra pressed her hands to her temples as if fighting a headache. "It's like playing shuffle cards."
Felicia laughed. "To you, maybe. Since this is our heritage, we know it intimately. And now you understand why the tadara and Chrisen are so hot for my bottom. My paka is the eldest child of the third noble family. My mother is second-born of the ezul Nykyrian lineage and it was her cousin who married the tadara and fathered Cairistiona and Tylie. So I'm a paternal cousin to the tizarahie, while Chrisen and Merrell are nephews of the tadara herself. With me involved with a Batur ... For them, it's a social nightmare waiting to happen. And because I'm of the Nykyrian and Terronova lineages, if Talyn and I had a legally sanctioned union, our children would be in line for the throne over even Chrisen and Merrell."
Talyn met his mother's gaze and smirked. Until now, he hadn't known the lineage of Felicia's mother. Given her birth caste, if he could claim his father's bloodline, their children would be higher than anyone's, other than the royal heirs. They would even have been styled as honorable tizirans and tizirahs.
"Nykyrian, huh?" There was a strange note in Morra's voice.
"Yeah, why?" Lorens asked.
"Nothing. Just weird ... we have a Nykyrian who works for The Sentella. He's the only one I've ever known who had that name."
Felicia arched a brow at that. It made sense. Nykyrian wasn't a common name, even on Andaria. "Really?"
"Yeah, but it's his first name. And he's part human."
Galene paled. "Come again?"
"What?" Morra blinked innocently.
Her jaw slack, Galene met Saren's puzzled gaze. "What are the odds of there being two human-Andarion hybrids named Nykyrian?"
Saren sat down slowly as the news sank in.
"What?" Morra repeated.
Saren shook his head. "It's not possible ... Is it?"
Morra looked back and forth between them. "Andarions, really. Could you catch the off-worlders up?"
Galene let out a nervous breath. "Cairistiona had a son who supposedly died in a fire when he was a boy. She swears that he lived, and that he'll return one day to claim the throne. He was a hybrid--half human, half Andarion--named Nykyrian."
Morra exchanged an exaggerated drop-jaw expression with Qorach, who gestured at her. "Good question. Who was Nykyrian's father?"
"Emperor Aros of the Triosan Empire."
Morra typed it into her link, then let out a nervous laugh. She handed it to Qorach. "It's him ... I mean, the emperor's older, but that's our Nykyrian. Same facial structure. Same blond hair. I'd bet my life on it."
Nodding, Qorach handed it back to her and gestured more.
"What Qory said. Nyk is even the same height and build as the emperor. At least if these stats for the emperor are correct. As you said, Commander, what are the odds?"
Talyn let out a nervous laugh. "Cairie was right, then. Her son is still alive ... somehow." He met Morra's gaze. "Where is your Nykyrian?"
"I don't know. I answer to him, not the other way around. But he's a close friend of Jayne's. She'd have to know how to reach him. They've been close friends for years."
Galene gaped. "You're kidding me?"
Talyn ignored the question, since it was a typical Jayne thing to do. No doubt Jayne had been protecting her friend. "You think she knows he's the missing heir?"
"Heir?" Morra choked.
Galene nodded. "Nykyrian was firstborn. He is the legal heir to both the Andarion and Triosan empires."
"Bullshit! For real?"
"If he really is Nykyrian eton Anatole. Yes."
Morra continued to gape.
Galene approached Saren. "We have to get to him. If we restore him to the--"
"Wait!" Saren said sternly. "We know nothing about his character. What if he's worse than the tadara and Jullien combined?"
Morra bristled at his question. "Please! Nykyrian Quiakides is one of the fairest men I've ever known. Loyal. Decent."
Qorach signed to her.
"Yeah, okay, he is a lethal SOB. And was a trained League assassin. But he went rogue when they ordered him to murder a mother and child. I don't know of anyone else who'd throw away the sterling career he had for his morals. He doesn't have many friends, but the few he has, he's known for years and they'd all lay their lives down for him. What does that tell you?"
Galene nodded in agreement. "If it's the same one, I knew him as a boy, and he had a good, fair heart. Not to mention, Jayne wouldn't be his friend if he was anything like Jullien. She's very selective with the individuals she lets near her children and husband."
Saren took a deep breath. "I don't know about this. On the one hand, it'd be easier to put another Anatole on the throne. Especially if it was the firstborn son. But I'm not sure I want to risk it." He looked at Morra. "What was his League rank?"
"Command Assassin, First Order."
Talyn let out a low whistle. Very few assassins lived long enough to make any Command Assassin rank. First Order ... less than one percent of one percent made that rank, and given the fact Nykyrian would have to be younger than Lorens ... "Impressive."
"Yes, he is. I've seen him plow through enemies like the Iron Hammer in the Ring with his Warsword." She winked at Talyn.
Lorens folded his arms over his chest. "A true, full-blooded Anatole heir would keep the others from rising up. But Cairistiona would have to be sober to identify him. And Tylie would have to concur. As well as a DNA test to confirm it."
"There wouldn't be a problem with that." Galene locked gazes with Saren. "If he really is the tahrs, we have Eriadne by the throat. If we can prove she sent him off to die as a child ... she'd be exposed as a liar who turned on her own grandson. A child who isn't just our heir, but the Triosans' also. The political backlash on her would be horrendous."
"She'd be forced to abdicate." Saren glanced to Lorens.
Galene nodded. "I'll call Jayne and find out where this Nykyrian is and what she knows about him while I rendezvous with Tylie and Cairie."
Talyn moved to block her from leaving. "It's too dangerous."
Morra stood up. "I'll go with her, and once she's safe with them, I'll return."
"You sure?"
She gestured toward Qorach. "Felicia can communicate with Qory without me, and you'll need him to protect her. I won't be gone long. Be back in two shakes of a frog's tail."
Talyn laughed. "Thank you, Morra."
As Galene started to leave, Talyn stopped her again. He couldn't speak past the fear that was knotted in his throat.
Her gaze softened as she reached up to cup his cheek. "I'll be careful. Tough times never last. But tough Andarions do. It'll take more than an Anatole to bring down a Batur. You know that. We weren't given our caste standing. We earned it."
"Don't make me have to slaughter the entire royal family, Matarra. You know if anything happens to you, I will."
"Ever my dutiful soldier." She pressed her cheek to his. "I love you, Talyn. I wish your father were here to see what a magnificent son he gave me."
Instead of soothing him, those words only agitated him more. He hated whenever she complimented his father. "May the gods go with you."
"And with you."
Talyn swallowed as he watched his mother and Morra leave.
Felicia moved to hug him. "She'll be fine, Talyn. She's the strongest female I've ever known."
Her father let out an offensive curse before he handed his link to Lorens for her brother to read. His expression dark and lethal, he met Talyn's gaze. "The Anatoles have responded to your challenge."
Lorens's curse matched their father's.
Dread choked her. "What?"
Shaking his head, Lorens looked as green as Morra. "Both Anatoles and Jullien have ch
allenged Talyn to the Ring."
"Good."
"No, Talyn," Lorens said in a deep, earnest tone. "It isn't. As royals, they're invoking their right of proxy. You're not fighting them. You're fighting the Mortician, Widowmaker, and Slaughterhouse. In one night."
CHAPTER 24
Felicia couldn't breathe as her father's words slammed into her. "What?"
Talyn moved toward them to see the link. His features stoic, he gave a solemn nod. "As long as they agree to the historic terms of the Ring, I've got no problem with that. I win, the Anatoles submit to the court and pay the tithe."
Felicia was aghast at his blithe acceptance. "Talyn ... you can't. There's no way you can fight all three of them in one night. Are you out of your mind?"
"I can do it."
"Your mother will kill you. I'm going to kill you!"
Qorach gestured at him.
"And Qory says he'll sit on you until you see reason."
Scoffing, Talyn pulled her against him and rested his chin on her head as he held her in the shelter of his arms. "I can do it," he repeated.
She wanted to beat him.
Her father sighed irritably. "Arrogance like that will get you killed."
Talyn shook his head at her father's dire warning. "They have no idea what I'm capable of when motivated. You want them removed from power, this will do it. Trust me. What they're too stupid to realize is that I come from the Open league. Marathon matches were routine there. Not to mention what Anatole did to me while he was my CO ... Unlike my Vested opponents, I'm trained for this and I am motivated by a personal grudge."
Felicia stared at her brother. "Lorens! Talk sense into him!"
Lorens locked gazes with Talyn. "I wouldn't want to walk into that Ring with that lineup. But having seen you fight ... I still think you're an idiot."
Talyn snorted. "Thanks."
"What do you want me to say? I agree with Felicia. This is suicide. I can think of a lot less painful ways of killing yourself than this."
"I challenged them. They accepted. There's no way I can bow out."
"You challenged one of them," Lorens reminded him. "Not all three. At once."
"Doesn't matter. I will not back down."
Lorens let out a frustrated breath. "You survive this noble act of blatant stupidity, and I'll foolishly reward it by making sure you get a commander's rank out of it."
Felicia was aghast. "You're not seriously going to reward his idiocy, are you? Really?"