Born of Defiance

Talyn kicked it and lifted it up again. “I weigh three hundred and twenty pounds. As of his last weigh-in, Death Warrant is four hundred and eight pounds. And I practice a lot. As I said, you haven’t been punched until you stand toe-to-toe with a pro.”


They both tried to kick the bag and neither could move it at all. It just hung there, taunting them with its rude inertia.

Felicia moved to stand by Lorens while Talyn coached the boys on how to hit and kick so that they could actually move the bag.

“You all right?”

Her brother glanced down at her. “Having a weird moment while I reevaluate my way of thinking about things I once held sacred and true.”

“What do you mean?”

“Talyn’s not what I expected. At all.”

“He’s amazing, isn’t he?”

Lorens nodded. “Thank you so much for this. You have made Gavarian’s life.”

“Thank you for saving Talyn’s with that transfer to the palace.”

“Yeah,” he breathed. “Now that I’ve spent an evening with him, I know how doctored his report files have been. Anatole must really hate him. I just can’t figure out why.”

“His mother went to school with Anatole. She thinks it’s a personal grudge from back then.”

“That actually makes a lot of sense. The gods know Talyn isn’t the disrespectful, reactionary moron his evaluations claim. Believe me, I’m around those idiots daily. Damn, I hate that I gave him over to the palace after I read his file. I really meant what I said earlier. We could use someone like him in my division.”

“Can’t you transfer him again?”

“It’s not that easy. If he was above an O-4 in rank or -12-6 in lineage, yes. There wouldn’t be a problem. But he’s just high enough in rank to stay in protective detail and not rise to command level.”

“Can he not buy a promotion?”

“Again, it’s not that easy, Felicia. Anatole’s bullshit has really done a number on the kid’s advancement potential. And while I can pull strings for Talyn, Anatole can pull just as many, if not more, against him.”

“That’s what his mother said. I was hoping she was wrong.”

“She wasn’t. You wouldn’t believe the favors I had to call in to get him transferred to the palace. No one wanted to touch him because of his negative reports and disciplinary strikes.”

“Hey, Paka! Did you hear that?”

Lorens arched a brow at Gavarian’s shout. “Hear what?”

“Talyn said that we can come to his fights anytime we want. Ringside!”

Lorens smiled. “That’s really nice to offer, but I know those seats are limited and I don’t want to shove his family out.”

“It’s no problem,” Talyn said as he handed water bottles to the boys. “We always have seats to spare. My mother and Felicia refuse to watch me get punched – no idea what’s up with that. You’d think after putting up with me, they’d be paying my rivals to kick it for them. And my trainer rarely has his friends come – he’s afraid one of them might poach me from him. As for his daughter, she hates Ring fights. So just let me know at least two hours in advance, and I can get you added to the list for the seats any time you want them.”

Lorens gaped at her. “You really never go?”

“I’m there. I just stay in the locker room. Like Talyn said, I don’t want to watch him get hurt. It pains me to see him get hit. Even in old video clips.” She shivered at the memory of when she’d mistakenly thought she could watch a former match of his from years ago. Unable to deal with what he took without flinching, she’d turned it off forty seconds in.

Lorens grinned. “Then I have to say that I’d love to come see your fight with Death Warrant.”

Talyn looked over at the boys. “How many seats? We have six allotted in total.”

“You don’t have friends who want them?” Lorens asked in disbelief.

“Yeah,” Talyn said with a laugh. “They’re clubbing each other in the head for them. All none of them… You want all six?”

Lorens smiled so wide, his fangs showed. “Hell, yeah. You’ll make me the most popular Andarion on my shift. Thank you.”

“No problem. Just don’t forget your ID. You’ll need it to pick up the tickets.” He went back to coaching the boys.

Felicia froze as Lorens hugged her. It was the first time in her life he’d ever done that.

“Thank you, Felicia.”

“Don’t thank me. He obviously likes you and the kids or he wouldn’t have offered. Trust me. He’s not social or insincere. And he doesn’t expect anything in return.”

He tightened his arms around her. “I know I’ve been a giant asshole to you all your life. I’m really sorry about that. I should have had dinner with you a long time ago. For no reason.”

She patted his back. “It’s okay. I’m the bastard child who wasn’t supposed to be born. You and your family aren’t the only ones who get pissed off about it.”

He scowled at that. “What do you mean?”