by Shannon West
Mikos nodded. “I agree. The Farlians are criminals, the Athelonians are warmongers, and the Herkons are rebellious traitors. None of them are blameless. I say, keep the planet under martial law, enforce our rule over the people and suppress any political or military opposition. We can establish a base of operations in Wirlo, the capitol city of Herkos, since we already have men there in place, and we can bring in more. Once we have the insurrectionists under control in Herkos, establish new leadership in Athelon and get the corruption in Farlia taken care of, we can reassess the situation after a time.”
“Good,” Davos said. “That leaves the question of what to do about Larz.”
“Why not consult Larz?” Vannos spoke up softly. “He’s not a child anymore. He should have a say.”
“He’s had his say!” Mikos shouted. “He’s being unreasonable.”
Blake reached for Vannos’s hand and squeezed it. “I think Vannos had an excellent idea. Davos, let me talk to him. He hasn’t even met Rakkur yet, and besides, I need to speak to him alone.”
Davos nodded and rose to his feet. “Thank you for your comments, gentlemen. Mikos, take care of the situation on Laltana and do whatever you need to do to establish order. I’ll wait for your report later today. Blake, why don’t you go to our quarters? I’ll see if I can talk Larz into leaving our prisoner long enough to be brought to you there.”
Blake smiled at him. “Sounds like a plan, but don’t make him angry and don’t lose your temper. Promise me.”
“I never lose my temper.”
“Uh huh. Well, I’m getting out of here before lightning strikes.” He got up and moved to the door, with Anarr and Vannos trailing behind him. “I’ll see the rest of you later.”
As the door closed behind him, he could hear Davos asking, “What does he mean by that?” And he smiled all the way down to his quarters. Once inside, he flopped down in a chair and asked Anarr to fetch the baby for him.
He turned to Vannos and took his hand. “That was a sweet suggestion, dear. To ask Larz what he wants. I’m just afraid that all he wants is Janos.”
“He wants his family, too, but he was backed into a corner out there. And if he were to be with Janos, would that be so bad, Omak?”
“I honestly don’t know. Earlier, I would have said yes, absolutely. But now… What he said about his treatment at Beatik… it was awful. We caused that, Vannos. Oh, maybe not directly, but it happened under our watch. I’m still horrified and disgusted by it.”
“I know. And if it’s true what he says, he suffered greatly.” Anarr came back in with the baby and put him in Blake’s arms. The child was awake, and sucking industriously on a tiny fist. “That doesn’t make what Janos did right, though,” Anarr continued. “He should have told us Larz was there on his planet. And he put Larz’s life in danger by making him fight in their army.”
“True.” Blake sighed. “Why couldn’t just one of my children have found a nice person to fall in love with and just settled down to married life? Why does there always have to be so much drama?” The baby cooed up at him and Blake glanced down. “And you. Don’t smile at me—you’ve already been a lot of trouble.” He leaned down and kissed his cheek. “You’ll probably be the worst of the lot.”
The door opened and Larz stepped inside, giving the baby a surprised look. “Whose baby is this?” he said, glancing at his twin brothers. “This is a newborn, isn’t it?” He came over to stand beside Blake and put a finger down to brush against the baby’s head. “Blond hair? But that’s…” He widened his eyes at Blake. “Omak, did you and Father adopt a human baby?”
“No, darling. This is your brother—mine and Davos’s natural child. It’s a long story that I’d love to tell you if you’ll sit here by me. I’ve missed talking to you so much.”
He sank down in a chair beside him and listened raptly to the long, involved story of what Blake had been doing during the long years of his captivity. Both Anarr and Vannos, who had heard it all before, slipped away as they talked and left them there alone with the baby, who fell asleep.
“Never let it be said that I don’t know how to clear a room,” Blake said as he finally finished, and Larz laughed softly.
“I was interested, Omak. That’s quite a tale.”
“You had an adventure yourself. I’ve been reading the report. But tell me the truth, Larz. You weren’t…mistreated, were you? You’d tell me if you were?”
“I would tell you, but it simply didn’t happen. Janos is a much better person than you’ve given him credit for.”
“Darling, he held you against your will. He never notified us of your whereabouts and you were a slave, made to fight in his army.”
“I was called a slave, yes, but I was never made to feel like one after those first confusing weeks. The slave master, a man named Kelan, was almost kind to me. I was never beaten or mistreated. And Janos—he tried once at the very beginning to make me uncomfortable, but then he couldn’t go through with it. I forgave him for that later once I found out why he hated the Tygerians so much.”
“Yes, what happened to him was unspeakable. I wish we had known.” Blake sighed. “But that doesn’t absolve us, because we should have known, and I’m not going to make excuses. Still, Janos had to know you were just a young boy. He should have notified us of the kidnapping.”
“Agreed. But neither of you can go back and change the past. I know he regrets what happened.”
Blake was silent for a few moments, content to just sit beside his two sons. Finally, he sighed and smiled at Larz. “Janos was quite complimentary about your bravery as a warrior. It’s what you always wanted, wasn’t it?”
“It was. But being in a war made me realize I’d glorified it my entire life, and there’s not much glory involved in it at all.”
“True. I’m glad you learned that at least. But tell me, Larz. What do you want to do about Janos and Laltana, son? Mikos and your father think we should impose martial law and depose the monarchs of all three of the major countries. In fact, that’s what they’re arranging now.”
“I know. Father already told me when he came for me. He wants to put Janos back in prison, but I can’t allow that.”
“Leaving that part aside, what do you think about the rest of the plan?”
“I think it’s fair. The Farlian king, from what I’ve heard, is useless. The Athelonian king is corrupt. And Janos isn’t cut out to be a monarch.”
Blake angled a surprised look at him. “You surprise me.”
“He might have been before the war, but too much happened to him. His father was killed and he was sent to prison for all that time. His experiences there…damaged him. As they would anyone who lived through that.”
“Agreed.”
“He doesn’t need all the pressure of being a monarch and I don’t think he’ll be sorry not to be king anymore, and not to have the worry about his brother Tibiel succeeding him. He’ll worry about his people, but as long as he knows they’ll be all right, then I think it might be a relief to him not to be king anymore.”
“Would you bring him home with you as your mate?”
“Back to Tygeria? No, not right away. It would be traumatic for him. I’d like to stay here and help in the rebuilding of the government. I have good friends on the planet’s surface, and there are many good people down there. Some fellow soldiers I served with and also a boy who helped me and Janos escape. His name is Taran, and I think he kind of adopted us. Or maybe it was the other way around.” Larz grinned. “I’d like to go back to Laltana with my mate. At least for a while. Maybe later on, when it’s time for a new government for the people, maybe then I can come home and bring my mate for a visit at least. I might even be able to talk him into staying.”
Blake was silent for a few minutes, thinking about what he’d said. “But no punishment for Janos? I’m not sure I could talk your father into that.”
“What was Father’s punishment for keeping you on Tygeria against your will?”
&nb
sp; “What?”
“Omak, when you first came to Tygeria, you came as an Alliance soldier. I’ve heard the stories. Father kept you there against your will at first as a captive, until you eventually fell in love with him and decided you wanted to stay. What did your family think of that?”
Blake smiled. “They thought I was crazy. They didn’t understand how I could fall in love with someone who had held me as his prisoner. But that was during the war.”
“Still, nothing much ever changes, does it? The war wasn’t over for Janos and may never be. That’s why he kept refusing to sign the peace treaty. Technically, he was still at war with Tygeria. And it was the same for Vannos too, at first, and I remember how furious you were at Stefan, who refused to let him go. But Vannos is happy, and there was no talk of punishing Stefan. Omak, I’m happy. I love Janos and he loves me. I’m angry at him for not telling me the truth, but not angry enough to forget him or just leave him to his fate. I can’t do that.”
“Is he in love with you?”
“He hasn’t said so.” Larz smiled. “Not in so many words. But he will. It’s hard for him to trust enough to love. But I plan to change all that.”
“Suppose I can convince your father to go along with all this—what do you see as your role in the restructuring of the planet?”
“I’m King Davos’s son and a prince of Tygeria,” he said arrogantly, looking at Blake like he didn’t have to ask. “I should be the Governor. I’d be excellent at it, and if I needed advice, I’d have my nobyo and my advisers to help me.” He held up a hand. “Don’t worry. I know not to say that to Father or Mikos. I’m sure they want Janos kept far away, but he’s my nobyo, so he’ll be there beside me. At least in the privacy of our rooms.”
“I hate to leave you behind here. I wanted so much to take you home.”
“I wouldn’t be happy there now. Not without him. My future is here. At least for now.”
“All right. I’ll talk to your father. But I can’t make any promises.”
Larz grinned at him. “He can’t resist you. Not for long, anyway. I have every confidence in you. Things are going to work out for us. I just know it.”
Epilogue
Ryan turned toward his husband on the bed. Mikos patted his chest with a little smile and Ryan moved over to rest his head there and sighed. They were finally on their way home to Tygeria, and he hoped that once they were there, things would somehow get back to normal again. Mikos had been angry for weeks, it seemed, though Ryan knew that a lot of his anger came from misplaced guilt over not finding Larz quickly enough. He’d even been snappy with his omak, and for Mikos, that was almost unheard of.
Ryan knew he’d done everything he could to locate Larz. Everyone knew it. But that didn’t help the guilt. And too, Mikos had been a little disappointed, he thought, that when he finally came to rescue Larz, he didn’t really need rescuing anymore. Like his parents, they had all still thought of Larz as that young boy, playing in the palace halls, arguing with Nicarr and getting into trouble, But he’d grown up a lot in the time he’d been missing—so much he’d been almost unrecognizable—and he no longer wanted or needed to take Mikos’s or anyone else’s advice.
In the end, King Davos had made the difficult decision to leave Larz behind on Laltana as the Governor, and he’d left the former King Janos in his custody to be “punished” as Larz saw fit. Ryan thought Blake had a lot to do with that decision.
He’d spent a long time talking quietly to Larz before they left, touching him frequently and saying goodbye. Larz had been clingy with him too, and with his father. But he declared himself to be absolutely sure he wanted to stay on Laltana. At least for now.
Having restored order once again, and leaving a large contingent of soldiers behind from each of the ships until they could get back home and form a relief team that would be permanently stationed there, the family had all left for their various homes. Unfortunately, there were still issues to be resolved between Larz and Mikos. Time would take care of some of those and Ryan knew Blake probably wouldn’t rest until they’d made up their differences. He didn’t like his boys to be at odds, and they all liked to be in his good graces.
As for Ryan and Mikos, they had finally arrived at the point in their argument over having a new baby where words had lost a lot of their meaning and become limp and lifeless, their power used up and dulled. They had agreed to table the discussion for now, and Ryan knew that Mikos was relieved, hoping the matter was settled and Ryan would forget about it. Maybe he would. Or maybe he wouldn’t. Only time would tell.
The fact was that he did feel a bit old to start over with a new child, and Ryan was tired of arguing over it with his husband. He knew a baby would be mostly his responsibility, anyway, just like Mikol had been, and besides that, he liked his body just fine the way it was. He’d had a difficult time having Mikol, so it really was probably for the best as far as his health was concerned, and that was Mikos’s prime objection, after all.
As for Mikos having a child—that was almost certainly never going to happen. Not in a society like Tygeria’s and not unless Mikos had a personality transplant. Neither Mikos nor the people would accept such a thing. So, they were at a stalemate, as before, but this time they at least agreed on one thing. They were tired of fighting each other. It was much nicer to make love instead of war.
With that goal in mind, he insinuated his leg between Mikos’s and felt his big, warm hand come down to caress his bare ass. Since they’d first married, they always slept naked together, a practice that made it difficult to stay mad once they went to bed.
“Did you need something, nobyo?” Mikos rumbled in his ear. Ryan answered by cupping his hand around Mikos’s balls.
“Yes,” Ryan was saying. “I want you to fuck me. If we’re both going to lie here awake, we may as well make the most of it.”
Mikos smiled. “I always did like the way you think.”
He rolled over on Ryan and held him down with his muscle and his heat. Taking both of their cocks in one big hand, he fisted them together, starting up a slow stroking. Ryan pressed his forehead to Mikos’s shoulder. “Oh God!” he cried, shamelessly thrusting his hips upward. When Mikos picked up the pace a bit further and added a little twist to the downward stroke, Ryan sank his teeth into Mikos’s shoulder, and bit down hard.
Mikos took his mouth again, crushing it under his, and Ryan made a sound so sweet it made Mikos groan. It was a low moan, his cock hard and leaking, so Mikos rubbed his thumb over the head. He lowered his mouth to Ryan’s and kissed him long and deep as Ryan suddenly released in blazing pulses of heat, harder and longer than he could remember doing in a while. Though it was embarrassingly soon, Ryan’s hips jerked and thrust, and it went on and on, like it would never stop. He yelled out his pleasure in a voice that was hoarse and exultant. Mikos soon cried out too and followed him in only seconds.
When the orgasm finally stopped and they both recovered, Mikos slipped reluctantly away from Ryan’s body and fell down beside him on the small bed. “You must have needed that. Perhaps now you can sleep,” he said smugly.
“What about you? Will you be able to stop tossing and turning and thinking about Larz?”
“I’m not thinking about Larz. If he wants to throw his life away, and refuse to let anyone help him, then there’s no use in my losing sleep over it.”
“And yet, here you are.”
“Hmmph! I said, I’m not losing sleep over him.”
“You should have apologized and made up with him before we left.”
“No, he should have apologized to me.”
“For what? For beating up his mate and telling him he was making the worst mistake of his life?”
“I didn’t beat anybody up.”
“Okay.”
“I didn’t. I simply expressed my annoyance at Janos’s refusal to tell me the truth. Though if I had beaten him, he would have deserved it.”
“Okay, now you’re getting tense again.”
&
nbsp; “No, I’m not.” He took a deep breath and blew it out. “See? I’m fine. Nice and relaxed.”
“Mm-hmm. Then let’s go to sleep. Roll over here and hold me.”
Mikos did as he asked, wrapping Ryan up in his arms. “I love you, nobyo,” Mikos said softly against his ear. “Thank you for being there with me…on Laltana. I needed you. I think I can’t do without you anymore.” Ryan made a pleased little sound and snuggled into his pillow, ready for sleep. Then so softly he almost missed it, he heard Mikos whisper. “You make me better. I can’t risk losing you, nobyo. Not for anything. Not ever.”
Mikos nudged the side of his face and Ryan turned, finding his mouth for a hard kiss that turned almost unbearably sweet. As roundabout apologies went, it wasn’t bad, and typically Mikos. Ryan sighed with resignation and contentment. This was the man he married and he wouldn’t trade him for anyone. They rested together then, warm and drowsy as the motors of the huge ship hummed beneath them and carried them back home across the vast distances of space.
****
Laltana, three months later
The new Governor of Laltana woke up slowly, stretching his arms over his head. It was almost morning and he had meetings scheduled for most of the day with his new aides, half of them Tygerian military and half Laltanan citizens. He had carefully chosen men from each of the three major countries, all former military themselves, but not necessarily high-ranking soldiers. Some were sergeants and lieutenants, and one was Luc, his friend and former, fellow slave. He needed people around him that he could trust implicitly, and with that in mind, he’d made Kelan, the former slave master, one of his new personal aides. Since all slavery on the planet had been abolished—Larz’s first act as governor—Kelan needed the employment. And many of the former slaves had come forward to speak for him—for his kindness and compassion toward them, much as he’d shown to Larz in those first days.
The kings of each country had been deposed. For now, they were on house arrest, held in their own palaces. Later, when he had enough soldiers, Larz planned to send them to their country estates, without their former aides and followers. Tygerian soldiers would oversee their activities and make sure none of them participated in any kind of rebellious behavior. Each of them would also be brought before him and given a chance to swear their allegiance. They had one chance to impress him with their obedience of the new laws. If they didn’t, they’d be banished from the planet.
