Born of Defiance

“There’s a reason they time us in the mess hall, and why we eat really fast.” Talyn took a bite of his vorna breast.

“That explains the mad rush at dinnertime that made me so glad I got a command position early in my career.”

Talyn snorted. “What? You don’t miss getting shoved aside by the giant gunners?”

Gavarian laughed at his words. “Yeah, I’d like to see one of them try to shove you aside.”

“Believe me, they’ve tried.” Talyn flashed a devilish grin at her nephews. “Food is another thing you’re allowed to shed blood for. Especially when you’ve just come back from maneuvers and are starving. There’s always the one moron who wants to be cute. But remember, the more time you waste pounding on him, the less time for eating. So drop him with one punch, grab your food, and go.”

Felicia winked. “And now you know why his call sign is Pit Viper.”

Lorens snickered. “Yeah, we’ve all done that. Nothing like a herd of hungry Andarions.”

“The real reason humans fear us.” Talyn thanked his server for the plain, steamed vegetables she set down by him.

Felicia didn’t miss the hot look the female passed to him before she went back toward the kitchen. Lucky for the server, Talyn did miss that look.

She glanced to Gavarian.

“Planning her funeral?” he asked her with a wicked gleam in his eyes.

“No. Just a new hairstyle.”

“Hairstyle?” Lorens asked, scowling. “What?”

Felicia jerked her chin toward the kitchen. “If she gives Talyn another beckoning look that says she wants him on her platter, I’m going to snatch her bald.”

Talyn choked. Reaching for his water, he swallowed before he spoke. “What?”

She patted his hand. “It’s okay, Major Oblivious. I’m extremely happy and proud that you took no notice of her overt ogling.”

“Yeah,” Gavarian chimed in. “She’s been pretty obvious about it every time she comes out here.”

Lorens snorted. “How long have I been married that I didn’t even realize our server was female?”

“Given the fact that Felicia handles my food out of my eyesight, glad I didn’t either. Spit sauce is not something I enjoy.” Talyn kissed her hand.

Lorens eyed them for several minutes before he spoke again. “Talyn, you really study every fighter you go up against?”

“Yes, sir. When you’re going to battle, you have to know your enemy. I have extensive dossiers on everyone I’ve ever fought against.”

“So what’s Death Warrant’s biggest handicap?”

Talyn wiped at his mouth. “He took a bad blow to his right eye two years ago that dug his mask into it. It left him with limited peripheral on that side. He also has a bad tendency to kick instead of punch. When he does that, he throws his balance off and is easy to plant. That being said, his stinger is that vicious right hook. He hits with approximately fifteen hundred PSIs, provided he’s properly grounded, weight evenly distributed. No one can survive that kind of hammering for long. But if you keep him off both legs, and kicking, his punch PSI is halved. Still not fun. However, you can survive and win against that. Just don’t let him hit your chin or kidney.”

“Wow… you really do know your opponent.”

Talyn shrugged. “I don’t want to lose. And I definitely don’t want to die or end up maimed. They didn’t name him Death Warrant because he sings in a band.”

Chuckling, Lorens sat forward in his chair. “Out of curiosity, Major, why the hell are you a pilot? Why didn’t you ever go into command?”

Talyn cocked his jaw and let out a tired sigh as he toyed with his water glass. “It was never from lack of trying on my part, sir. I put in for a Command position every year, as soon as I’m eligible, but it always gets kicked back with a rejection.”

Her brother’s face was a mask of disbelief. “Why? Do they ever say?”

Talyn glanced away sheepishly. “I didn’t go to the right schools.”

“From where did you graduate?”

“Brunelle Academy.”

“Is that in Eris?”

“No, sir. It’s a Hyshian school.”

Lorens passed a shocked stare to Felicia before he returned his attention to Talyn. “Hyshian? Why in the name of the gods were you in a Hyshian academy?”

Talyn cringed inwardly as he saw this disaster coming and couldn’t avert it. He hated answering this question more than anything. “It was the only one that would take me.”

“I don’t understand. What’s your lineage?”

Heat suffused his cheeks as he cringed over that inevitable question. “My mother’s the third daughter of the Winged Blood Clan Batur.”

“Impressive. And your father?”

Here it comes…

“He’s an Outcast, sir.”

“Oh.” Yeah, there it was. That sound of horror and condescension.

Talyn glanced to Lorens’s sons. “I can understand if you need to leave now.”

Lorens hesitated. “If either one of you breathes a word of this to your mother or grandmothers, I’ll beat you till you bleed.”

They held their hands up in quick surrender.