The League: Born Of Betrayal Part 3

She moved to answer her link. As predicted, it was Tadara Cairistiona.

"What happened?" she asked without preamble.

Galene bowed her head respectfully. "Forgive me, mu tadara. I was caught off guard and allowed my emotions to get the better of me. I had no idea that you had adopted a new son. You should have told me we had a new royal family member to protect, and that he would be arriving with The Tavali."

The look on the queen's face was stern and lethal. "It's just us, Galene. I want your side of this matter before I render verdict. And I want the whole story."

Galene's gaze went to Talyn. "Before His Highness was disowned by his Hauk birth mother, I was pledged to him."

Cairistiona sucked her breath in sharply. "Fain left you for the human he married?"

She nodded. "Because of his actions, I was abandoned by my own family and turned out in disgrace."

"Say no more, Commander. I understand. I would have shot him myself, in your place."

Thank the G.o.ds the tadara was so understanding. But then they had decades of history together. And an unbreakable loyalty to one another.

"I am sorry, Tadara. Had I some warning about Fain's ident.i.ty, I would have handled it better. But this is the first time I've seen him since the day he told me I failed to please him."

Cairistiona's speculative gaze went past Galene, to Talyn. "Is he Talyn's father?"

Galene clenched her teeth. Only two living beings besides her knew the ident.i.ty of Talyn's father. Talyn and his great-grandmother, who'd taken her in years ago when Galene had been living on the street, pregnant with him.

But it was a death sentence to lie to her queen. "Yes, Majesty."

"Does he know?"

"I've never kept such secrets from my son. Talyn knows. His father does not."

Cairistiona let out a bitter laugh. "Talyn?"

He cast a concerned glance to his mother before he stepped forward and bowed to her. "Mu tadara?"

"It appears you are now of royal vest.i.ture, child. My grandson. A tiziran of Andaria."

His jaw went slack. Until now, he'd lacked full lineage. As such, he'd been ineligible for many Andarion benefits, including marriage. It was something they'd both accepted a long time ago as a very bitter fact.

Now...

"What have you to say, Tiziran Talyn?"

He swallowed hard before he spoke. "I know not, Majesty."

"Yaya," Cairistiona corrected playfully, using the Andarion term for grandmother. She laughed at the stunned expression on his handsome face. "Breathe, child. Remember, you once sat in my lap to color and draw on paper, and do your homework for school... I know it'll take some getting used to. Your father is having the same trouble acclimating to the t.i.tle. But you will in time."

She returned her attention to Galene. "It appears I cannot punish my grandson for protecting his birth mother. Even from his birth father. And while I would normally have your head for this a.s.sault, the circ.u.mstances were extenuating. As such, and given the fact that Fain will live and is remarkably understanding of your motivation, I'll let this event pa.s.s unpunished. But let's not repeat it, shall we?"

"Never, Majesty."

"Cairistiona or Matarra, Galene. You are the mother of my grandson, after all. As such, I will send a contingency of royal guards for you both. And while Talyn, as tiziran, can be excused from military service, I'm going to a.s.sume that he has no intention of leaving your side while we're at war." She pa.s.sed a questioning look to him.

"My place is with my mother."

Cairistiona smiled proudly. "Spoken like a true Andarion." Her gaze returned to Galene. "If you can refrain from slaughtering the father of your child, we shall proceed as if none of this has happened. Is that acceptable?"

"Yes, Majesty."

"Cairistiona."

Galene hesitated before she spoke again. "Cairistiona... I'm a.s.suming you'll want me to step down as-"

"No. I'd like to see you continue on as the commander of our combined forces. You are still the most qualified to lead us. And I'd feel much more confident with you at the helm than a commander from one of the other nations."

"It will be my honor, Ma... Matarra?"

Cairistiona smiled in approval. "Very good. And have no fear that I will tell Fain about his child. That is your place." She sighed heavily. "For now, I will say that the additional guard is to make sure the two of you don't attack him. However, there are certain advantages our precious little lorina will have as a tiziran. I'm sure both of you will want them for him. When you're both ready, let me know and I will make a public announcement for Talyn."

Galene inclined her head to her. "Thank you. For everything."

"Don't thank me yet, Lena. This has all the earmarks for disaster. We are at war with The League. If we lose, all of us will pay with our lives. We have committed treason against the organization that has reigned over all our worlds for the last five hundred years. May the G.o.ds be with us all." Then, she cut her transmission.

Indeed. Galene turned toward her son. "Funny, this was not how I saw the day going in my mind when I woke up this morning."

Talyn laughed. "Nor I."

Her gaze softened as she digested his new place in their world. It was more than deserved and she couldn't have wished better for him. "Tiziran Talyn. It has a beautiful ring to it."

He scoffed at her words. "I'm not a tiziran, Matarra. This changes nothing."

"It changes everything. It silences all those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds who have mocked you for being a lack-Vest. All those spiteful b.i.t.c.hes who have turned their noses up whenever you've glanced their way and they learned you held only my lineage. I can't wait to see them choke on their own bile when they hear this news."

And still he shook his head with blatant disregard. "I've never cared what they thought of me."

That was sadly true and she knew it. But he had cared what they thought of her. She'd mopped too many tears from his beautiful face when he'd been a small child. Had tended too many b.l.o.o.d.y noses from the fights he'd been in with those who had called her wh.o.r.e and worse.

And she'd seen the silent hurt in his teenaged eyes when females had viciously spurned him because he had no paternal lineage. Only his mother's broken one. They had been so incredibly cruel to him.

Even his military rank had been viciously stripped from him at one time because of Fain and his family's feud with the Anatoles.

He'd suffered so much as a direct result of what his father had done. For Fain abandoning them. That, more than anything, was what she hated Fain for. She could handle her own humiliation. She'd chosen her path with her own free will.

It was what had been unjustly given to Talyn that burned bitterest.

What her son had been forced to endure that made her crave vengeance from his father. Her proud, precious baby had deserved none of it.

Tears choked her. "You have ever been my brave champion." When everyone else had abandoned her, Talyn had stayed by her side. Ever the dutiful son.

Maybe not verbally. He did have his father's limited fuse, and a smart mouth capable of lethal sarcasm that had tested her temper and restraint on many occasions.

But his heart had always been loyal. Always loving.

Always ferocious. Her fierce little lorina.

"You deserve to be a tiziran."

"t.i.tles mean nothing to me. You know that."

Only his rank as her adjutant had ever mattered to him. He'd worked insanely hard to achieve his rank as fast as possible so that he could be with her and watch over her. Something that had been twice as hard for him since he'd lacked his father's prestigious military lineage and had been under the direct command of his father's childhood enemies.

It was why he'd been forced to become a prizefighter for the Andarion Ring as a mere boy. With every t.i.tle he'd earned, his military rank was supposed to advance to match his proven martial skills. Yet he'd had so many boulders hurled at him that unlike other Andarions, it hadn't happened the way it should have.

But even without his father's lineage, even with her being harder on him than she was on her other soldiers, he'd risen to become one of the youngest officers in the Andarion military. Had attained his current rank at an age when most were only beginning their obligatory service. Had risked literally life and limb to keep them all safe.

He had done her proud.

"You may think nothing of those things, Talyn. However, that's not true of others, and I know how much you want to marry and start your own family."

He looked away, but not before she saw the bitter yearning that lived inside him for something he'd been denied all these years.

"Exactly. I do know you, my son. As tiziran, you will have your choice now of any female who meets your fancy."

He scoffed at her words. "If I wasn't good enough for them without a royal t.i.tle, I d.a.m.n sure don't want them because of it. Besides, I love my Felicia. I'm grateful and lucky to have her in my life."

Galene bit back a scoff at his words. While she adored Felicia for taking care of Talyn whenever he was allowed liberty, she knew the truth.

Felicia was still a paid companion a contracted mistress who lacked full lineage, too. One Talyn had been forced to pay top dollar to keep in a style that was unheard of for others of Felicia's birth standing. And the unfair terms of Felicia's original contract still sickened Galene. No other Andarion male would have been forced to sign such a travesty, or spend the credits Talyn did for her services.

Or to buy out her contract from her agency, as he'd been forced to do. Galene flinched as she remembered that particular nightmare, and what it'd cost Talyn.

But because of her and Fain, Talyn's social standing ranked below even that of a slave's. It didn't matter how many fighting t.i.tles he'd earned. How many citations and awards he gained as a military hero. He was still unable to legally marry.

Even a paid companion.

Worse? Only one companion brokerage in all of Andaria had been willing to contract with him at all. The rest had rudely slammed their doors in his face, leaving him with no other options for a female in his life.

t.i.tle and lineage were all that mattered to their race. The purer the lineage, the better, and the more choices an Andarion had.

Had Fain married her as he was supposed to, Talyn would have had all the pride and dignity of a military prince. Instead, Fain had abandoned them and taken his lineage with him.

But now that Fain had a new family lineage, Talyn might be able to salvage the rest of his future. "Your father's blood gives you everything I never could."

"You've given me the only things that matter."

Cupping his cheek, she shook her head. "You should have married long ago. We should be planning the Endurance for your eldest child by now."

He rolled his eyes at her. "I don't need a wife nagging me. I have a viciously overprotective mother for that."

Before she could respond, her office door pulsed open. She glanced past Talyn's shoulder to see the arrogant beast himself entering without being announced. Her lips curled involuntarily.

Talyn pulled her against his chest and held her so that she couldn't attack Fain again. "Don't kill him," he whispered in her ear. "Cairistiona won't forgive you that."

Laughing, she hugged him close. "All right." She kissed his cheek before she let go.

"I'll be just outside." Talyn pa.s.sed a threatening glare to Fain. "Call me if you need anything, Commander."

"I will, Talyn. Thank you." Forcing herself to remain calm, she faced Fain. "What are you doing here?"

Grimacing in distaste, Fain watched Talyn until the door was closed behind him. "You just can't keep your hands off him, can you?"

Galene arched a brow at the jealousy she heard in that deep, s.e.xy tone of his, and couldn't resist egging it on. "You should have been in here a few minutes ago when I was physically spanking his little a.s.s. I think you would have enjoyed it. I know I did."

He twisted his lips up in disgust. "You really live with him?"

"Yes. I have for years."

"And what? Do you have to burp him after you feed him, too?"

"I've been known to."

Fain gaped. Even though he tried not to judge others, he was nauseated by her and her lifestyle choices. How could she be so flagrant with a boy almost half her age? Did she have no dignity whatsoever?

"What happened to you, Galene?"

"I was stripped of my family and forced to live homeless on the street. You?"

That took some of the fire out of him. "I never meant to hurt you."

She gave him an arch stare. "Wow. If the damage you did me was without effort, I shudder at what you could do if you actually applied yourself. What did you think would happen when you left me for a human? That my parents would throw me a parade? Send flowers and celebrate the shame of it?"

"I a.s.sumed you'd pledge another male. Merrell or Chrisen Anatole. Actually."

Shivering at two names that revolted her, Galene looked away as old memories flared. Had she not been pregnant... had Fain not been disowned over a human... she might have survived the scandal. But once her pregnancy showed and after his mother had publicly disavowed him as a traitor to their race, no family would accept her. Not while she carried a lack-Vest baby of an Outcast father.

And no matter how much better her life would have been, she couldn't bring herself to destroy her child. Nor could she have given him up. Not with what happened to abandoned Andarion children. She'd refused to save herself by sacrificing Talyn. His conception had been her stupid mistake.

Not his.

While she regretted every minute she'd ever known Fain Hauk, she'd never once regretted Talyn in her life. No matter how hard or awful it'd been, one look at his precious face had made everything worth it.

"Well?" Fain asked. "Why didn't you marry Merrell?"

"Aside from the fact he was psychotic and cruel, Merrell wanted nothing socially acceptable to do with me after you left. I was a pariah to everyone, Fain. So deformed, they all claimed, that I drove the high-caste male I was pledged to into the arms of a pathetic human female... Instead of shoving you into that auditorium, I should have killed you where you stood. That would have saved my social status, and that is my sole regret in life."

"Really? That's all you regret?"

She laughed bitterly. "You're right. I do have one more."

"And that is?"