Galene had looked nervously to her father, then nodded.
Cairie unholstered her blaster and ejected the blast cartridge before she handed it over to Galene to hold. "Be careful, little one. The moving parts can still pinch your skin. And as small as your fingers are, they might eat one."
"Really?"
The tizirah had nodded.
And still Galene had carefully examined the blaster.
"Aren't you afraid of it?"
Galene had shaken her head. "It's very lovely, Highness. Like you."
"How old are you, Galene?"
"Three and almost a little more."
She'd smiled warmly. "After my babies are born, you'll have to come back with your father and help me watch over them."
It was a promise Cairistiona had kept. Those days had been some of the happiest of Galene's life.
Even after her boys had been born, Cairistiona had spoiled Galene. Until the day Nykyrian had died. The tizirah's descent into madness had come fast and furious. She'd refused to listen to anyone.
To keep Cairie from searching for her dead son, the tadara had ordered her sedated immediately.
She'd been sedated ever since.
Because Galene had been close to Nykyrian, her father had feared what the tizirah might do to her in her grief, and so she'd been banned from visiting the palace. Years had gone by before she'd been allowed back. And in a strange twist, she'd been the one in the uniform and Cairistiona had been the one dependent on Galene's kindness.
On Galene's visit to the palace for an assembly, Cairie had seen her among the Royal Guard. Even drugged, Cairie had recognized her immediately and grabbed her for a hug.
Arm in arm, she'd pulled Galene aside and asked her how Nykyrian was. When they'd tried to separate them, Cairie had become so uncontrollable that she'd been shot with a stunner and Galene had been sent back to her base.
Terrified of being reassigned and stripped of her rank, Galene had been shocked when, hours later, Tylie had shown up and told her that she would be Cairie's personal guard. That her sister had demanded it and refused to let another guard near her.
They'd been inseparable friends ever since.
Cairie reached into her nightstand and pulled out a drawing that she handed to Galene. "Do you remember when your Talyn gave that to me?"
Tears gathered in her eyes as she saw the drawing of her and Talyn together, waving at the tizirah and her boys. He'd been barely seven when he'd brought it to Cairie, the first time he met her. "I do. I'm surprised you kept it."
Cairie took her hand and held it in both of hers. "You have a good boy, Lena. I will make sure you keep your baby with you. Mothers should never be away from their children."
*
Stunned and infuriated, Merrell showed Jullien and Chrisen the footage from the pit where they'd dumped Batur. Bodies were strewn about like the killing fields left behind after a vicious battle.
His breathing ragged, Talyn, alone, stood.
Barely.
Though he was wobbly, he was on his feet while the rest were either dead, unconscious, or begging for help as they tried to crawl away from Talyn's reach. In all the years of military service, Merrell had never seen anything like this. It terrified him just how easily Batur had plowed through dozens of ruthless killers and predators. The most vicious criminals Andaria had.
Batur wiped at the blood on his face as he moved to stand in front of the camera to glare at them. When he spoke, it was a raw, feral growl that was even more terrifying than his reckless stance that dared them to come after him. It was also the words that had been spoken by the male who had founded Batur's paternal lineage almost four thousand years ago at the beginning of Andarion civilization. "A Hauk is not a politician. There is no room in our hearts to sit in peace with those who would do any Andarion harm. We are, and will forever be, protectors of our brethren, family, and homeworld. So long as a single War Hauk lives, no nation will defeat us. No race will dare to invade our air, lands, or sea. We will stand and we will defend. For we are not bred of mercy and we are not bred for peace.
"We are born of fury.
"Forever fear the Warring Blood Clan of Hauk." Talyn spat blood on the ground. "But most of all, you better fear me, you quivering quims! For every drop of War Hauk blood flowing in my veins, I am of the Winged Blood Clan of Batur and we are born of defiance. When I get out of here, and I will, I'm coming for you. And no one will be able to save any of your putrid lives from my vengeance."
Chrisen gasped. "We are in deep Andarion shite."
Jullien rolled his eyes. "You think? Saint Zaran, why didn't you tell us what he was capable of?"
Chrisen choked as he watched Talyn sit down to tend his wounds. "I had no idea he could do this. He's always been subservient."
"No," Merrell said between clenched teeth. "He was a conscientious soldier, taking orders from his CO. And a vicious Ring champion. Our mistake was to forget all that in our arrogance." He looked from his brother to Jullien. "We can't control him. He is the only fucking War Hauk of his generation, with all the insane skill and strength that goes with that untainted bloodline."
Jullien lifted his chin. "We're still tizirani. And I am tahrs."
Merrell gestured at the bodies scattered around Talyn, who sat with a terrifying calmness. "Yeah, that so stopped him. You're lucky he didn't make it to you before your guards stunned him unconscious."
Chrisen let out a heavy sigh. "As much as it pains me to say this, should we offer him a deal?"
Shaking his head, Merrell stared at the fallen bodies surrounding Talyn. "It's too late for that. He'll be gunning for us from now on ... like Fain and Keris, back in the day. We have to get rid of him the same way we got rid of them."
"It's not that easy." Jullien curled his lip. "Galene Batur hates me--she always has, and my mother loves and adores that minsid bitch for some reason. While my mom might be bat-shit crazy, she is the favored daughter of our tadara and Tylie pets her like a psychotic child. Even nuts, she still holds a lot of pull." Jullien kicked the chair he'd been sitting in across the room. "Not to mention, if my mother ever comes to her senses, she's going to ask questions none of us want to answer."
"We could kill her, too."
Jullien backhanded Chrisen. "She's my mother! I'd kill yours first."
"Stop it!" Merrell snarled. "We have a problem here. How do we fix it?"
"I can buy us time with Galene." Chrisen narrowed his gaze on Jullien. "If you're off-planet, she'll assume her son is with you. Can't you stay with your paka for a while?"
"Yeah. Why? What are you thinking?"
Merrell licked his lips as he caught his brother's line of reasoning. "We dump him where no one can find him."
Jullien wasn't sure about that. "Where?"
"Onoria."
That would do it. The magnetic fields there rendered all tracking and comm devices worthless. A slow smile spread across Jullien's face. "You're right. No one will ever find him there."
Chrisen shook his head. "I still think we ought to kill him."
Merrell pulled Chrisen's blaster from his hip and handed it to him. "Good luck with that."
Chrisen glared at him drolly.
"Your brother's right," Jullien growled. "Batur's too well known. If we order him killed, someone will rat us out. If we bring him up on charges publicly, his mother will defend him and my mother will have him pardoned and released. But, if we accuse him of treason and dump him before anyone knows what we've done, we won't be punished. No proof. No crime. Galene can scream all she wants. But he did attack us. That's not a lie and we can prove it with the guards who stunned him and video surveillance. We have every legal right to remove him to Onoria, based on that."
"And what if he comes back?" Chrisen asked.
Merrell snorted. "We'll break his legs before we dump him. No one, not even a Hauk bastard, can survive an environment that hostile with no working legs. He'll be dead in less than a week."
*
<
"Shh ... take deep breaths."
He was in so much pain his teeth chattered. Someone lifted his head and held water to his lips.
"Drink slowly."
He obeyed as the dimly lit cave and the eight Andarions around him came into focus. Confused and hazy, he tried to make sense of this. "Where am I?"
"Hell," the female who was holding the water murmured as she lowered his head back to the dirty pallet where he lay.
A male came forward to check Talyn's bandages. "We found you on the Dying Plains after you were dumped." He tapped the tattoo on his neck that was given to every prisoner, to permanently mark them with their crimes. Like Talyn, he was designated as a traitor. "Everyone in the colony has been falsely accused of treason and dumped on this shithole by the royals. We assume, especially given what was done to you, that you're one of us."
"Done to me?"
"They broke your legs," the female whispered. "They only do that to the prisoners they're afraid might make it home with proof of royal corruption."
"Viper was always getting himself into shit with the royals."
Talyn scowled at the familiar voice as another female approached from the shadows. "Nightdice?"
She came forward with a grim nod. "After Anatole shot you down, Syndrome and I tried to report him for what he did to you and to us."
Sure they did. "I was told you recanted your statements."
Impudent rage darkened her eyes. "You would have recanted, too, had they tortured you the way they did us. I promise you."
He dropped his gaze to the vicious scars on her neck that corroborated her story. In that moment, he felt like an ass for accusing her. "Sorry."
Self-conscious, Nightdice rubbed at the scars. "Yeah. Me, too. At least you tried to help us. That's more than most did"
Fat lot of good it'd done any of them. Trying not to think about that, he narrowed his gaze on their small group. "Where's Farina?"
Nightdice winced before she answered. "After we signed the papers to stop our torture, Anatole shot her in the head and then dumped me here before I could tell anyone about it. By your presence, I'm assuming you filed a report, too?"
Talyn nodded as anger went through him. Lorens would have been the only one who'd seen it, which meant he'd gone straight to Anatole with it. So much for thinking he had an in with command. He should have known better than to trust anyone. Even Felicia's brother. "I never meant to get either of you into trouble. Or hurt. I didn't even list your names in my final report. Just mine."
"Relax. You didn't cause this. You're the only one who ever tried to help us, and you got blown apart for your troubles." She glanced around. "And banished here, to boot." Nightdice, whose real name was Berra Altaan, knelt beside him and held her hand out in friendship. "Sorry we dragged you into this."
Talyn laughed bitterly as he shook it. "My mouth is what dragged me into this."
She snorted. "Pretty sure our mouths are what dragged us all into this."
Talyn slowly sat up and looked around. Counting himself, there were seven males and three females. "Are we all accused of the same crime?"
Nightdice nodded. "You and I are the only two who were active duty when dumped. They usually kill AD, but my father's a satrapehs to the tadara. They couldn't afford for my body to be found. Too many unfortunate questions would have been asked. I'm guessing with you being the Iron Hammer, they were afraid of an investigation."
Not really. "My mother's a personal friend to the tizirahie."
"Ah. That would do it, too."
The other female handed him a small bowl of porridge. "I'm Terisa. We call this place the colony. It's a hole, but it's relatively safe from the drones and others."
"Others?"
Nightdice clenched her teeth. "The real criminals. They roam in heavily armed gangs. There are too few of us to fight them or make a stand."
"It's why there are too few of us," the male broke in. "We've tried. They obliterate us or throw us in their pits to cockfight. The females, they take, but they never last long."
Talyn winced at what that meant. And all it did was fire his determination. "There has to be a way to get out of here."
The oldest of the males laughed. "We were all like you once, boy. Full of piss and vinegar. But in time, you'll adjust and accept it. Just like we all have."
Nightdice sighed. "He's right. It's easier to just roll with it and know that this is our lot." That attitude was what had led to her call sign. She rolled with everything, especially invitations to sleep with Vested males. "We'll never see home again."
Talyn refused to blithely accept that. "Bullshit. We've got to get home and let the others know what the Anatoles are doing. We owe it to our race to stop this."
She jerked her chin toward the older male. "Do you know who Rhys is?"
"No."
"I'm the founder of WAR," he growled out. "And you see what telling others about royal corruption got me. They slaughtered my son in front of my eyes. All I wanted was to make Andaria better for him and his children. Instead, my grandsons were taken by gangs the first week we were here and killed in the pit. My granddaughter..." He broke off into tears. "I'm sorry I ever started this shit. It's not worth it. No one wants to listen or care. So long as their status quo is maintained, they don't give a shite about anyone else. And nothing has changed. It never does."
Talyn refused to believe that. "Thirteen War Hauks drove back an entire invading army."
"And were slaughtered in the process," Rhys snarled. "Only one of them survived that battle and what did it get them? Nothing. Not a damn thing. There's not even a single young War Hauk left on Andaria today. And there's definitely not one here, with us. No offense, but I've buried enough. I just want to live out whatever amount of time I have left, in peace. I'm through fighting for a race that doesn't care about me."
Talyn scoffed. "I'd rather be a memory than a coward."
Rhys rose up to stare down at Talyn. "This isn't the Ring, Iron Hammer. There are no rules here. No refs to call your enemies off when you go down."
And that right there told him what a Vested piece of shit Rhys was. He'd started a rebellion, but didn't have the temerity to see it through.
In spite of the pain and the broken bones, Talyn rose to stand in front of him. He glared at him with every bit of defiant fury he possessed. "And I didn't earn my name in the Vested Ring, old man." He used the worst insult he could for an Andarion. It equated them to the weaker human race. "I earned it in the Open league. Fighting with everything I had.... I didn't start this minsid fight. But by every god of Andaria, I am going to finish it."
CHAPTER 14
Limping and in pain, Talyn threw the vorna carcass down for Nightdice and Terisa to clean and cook. After his last attempt at preparing a meal, he'd been banned for everyone's safety. His job was to make the kill. The others cooked it.
While they started prepping, he moved to check his legs. The pain was still excruciating, but it was slowly getting better. Between homemade braces and the handful of illegal drugs Nightdice had given him that could speed-heal his injuries, he was making good progress.
Satisfied, he headed outside the cave to where an old fighter had crashed years ago. For the last three weeks, he'd been working on the engines, trying to repair them. Rhys thought it was a complete waste of time, but Talyn was determined to prove him wrong.
In all things. Besides, it wasn't like he had anything better to do. And it just wasn't in him to give up.
As Talyn scraped at the rust and oiled the pieces as best he could, his thoughts turned to Felicia. She was what he fought for most. All that saw him through these shitty days of hell.
Right now, she was alone. With no one to protect her. No matter what, he had to get home and make sure nothing happened to her. Especially not because of him.
Closing his eyes, he summoned an image of her bright, sweet smile. For the merest moment, he was warm.
Until fear drove the peace away and left him terrified for what Anatole and the others might be doing to her in retaliation for his actions. What they might be doing to his mother.
Rhys's stories spurred him on with a vengeance. He had to get back and make sure they were okay. Without him, they had no one to defend them.
Please, please be okay.
"Talyn?"
He glanced over to see Terisa with a small, chipped cup in her hand. She held it out to him.
He declined it. "I can't take your rations."
She climbed up to stand by his side on the ship's wing. "You need them. We can't afford for you to go down."
"I'm fine." He returned to the rusted engine.
Terisa reached out and cupped his cheek. She turned his face toward hers. "I believe in you, Talyn. I know you're going to get us out of here." She moved in to kiss him.
Talyn pulled back immediately.
"Is something wrong?"
"I have a female."
Terisa scoffed. "She's not here."
"No, but she's here." He tapped his heart. "And I would never dishonor her."
"And if you don't survive to return to her arms?"
"I will die trying."
Licking her lips, Terisa closed the distance between them and brushed her hand along his jaw before she reached to stroke him through his pants. "You have to maintain your hormone levels. She'll never know you had help."
Catching her hand, Talyn stepped back. "I'll know." And he wasn't his father. He'd seen firsthand the hurt his father's infidelity had caused his mother. He would never harm Felicia like that.
"You're bastard-born, Talyn. You can't even marry her. Do you really think she's being loyal to you in your absence?"
Instead of weakening him, those words only solidified his resolve. If they were at home, Terisa would have no use for him. At all. She wouldn't have even looked at him in Eris.
But his caste had never mattered to Felicia. She'd welcomed him regardless. And he would not repay her love with cruelty. Not take it for granted when he knew she could have given it to anyone else in the universe, and had chosen to give her love and heart to his sorry ass.
"I am forever Felicia's male."
"You speak as if you're stralen."
"Stralen or not, I would never bring hurt to my Felicia. She only deserves my best, and that's what I intend to give her."
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