Born of Defiance

“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.”

“Then I hope you make it back to her and that she appreciates what an incredibly rare male you are.”

“Incoming!”

Talyn sucked his breath in at Rhys’s shout as he moved for a weapon. It was either scavengers or another drone. Not that it mattered. Both groups would be after their blood. And they would kill them if they could.



Felicia bit her lip as she called her brother. She’d been debating for days whether or not to do so, but as each one passed with no word from Talyn, she became more worried.

“Commander ezul Terronova.”

“Lorens, it’s Felicia.”

“Hey. What’s wrong? You sound really stressed.”

“I… um. I’m sorry to disturb you. I haven’t heard from Talyn since he reported for duty at the palace over three weeks ago, and I didn’t want to scare his mother needlessly. He hasn’t called or e-mailed or texted. And that’s not like him. He doesn’t do this. I haven’t seen hide nor hair of him, and his inboxes are full. He hasn’t even called his trainer about missing practice. When I go to the palace, they won’t admit me past the gate. They say he’s off-world and for me to go home. No one’s heard anything, and Erix and I are extremely worried. But when I call his DO, they keep saying it’s normal. That he’s off on assignment and can’t be contacted for security reasons. They promise they’ll tell him I called and came by, and yet I never hear back. I wanted to check with you and see if this really is normal.”

“Maybe. I know the tahrs has been off-world, and it is SOP to keep the exact details of his whereabouts classified, at all times. But hold on and let me check Talyn’s reports and assignments. As you know, he has check-ins he has to make, regardless of his post or AD.”

Biting her lip, Felicia waited impatiently while he checked on it. “How are the kids?”

“They’re fine. Gavarian and Brach have gone on and on about how much fun they had with you. We’re all excited about Talyn’s… son of a bitch!”

“What?”

“You need to call his mother. Fast.”

Her heart stopped. “What’s going on?”

“They arrested Talyn for treason. He’s not off on assignment. He’s been exiled and deported.”



Felicia paced the small palace office with her heart in her throat as she waited for Galene to arrive. The soldier kept eyeing Lorens, who’d driven her over. For something this traumatic, the last thing she’d wanted to do was call Talyn’s mother and dump it on her.

She still couldn’t believe what Lorens had told her. There was no way Talyn had committed treason. It wasn’t possible. He was too much in control of himself at all times.

Galene drew up short as she saw Lorens.

“Commander ezul Terronova.” Galene saluted him sharply.

He returned the salute. “Commander Batur.”

Looking from him to Felicia, Galene scowled. “What’s going on?”

“Have you heard from Talyn?” Felicia asked.

“No. I was told he was off-world and under secure assignment protocols. Why?”

Unsure of how to break the news to her, Felicia glanced to Lorens.

He sighed heavily. “You need to check his duty roster with my pass code.”

Galene’s frown deepened at Loren’s serious tone. “Okay.” She moved to the soldier’s desk and bumped her off her computer before she allowed Lorens to log in.

Felicia knew the moment Galene saw the report. All the blood faded from her face. Eyes wide, she met their gazes.

“Is this for real?”

Lorens folded his arms over his chest. “It appears to be. I tried to get more information, but I was told – by my own CO, in no uncertain terms – that it wasn’t a military matter. It’s civil and criminal, and that I should keep my nose out of it if I wanted to maintain my rank.”

“When did this happen?” Galene breathed. “Why wasn’t I notified?”

“I have no idea.”

Tears stung Felicia’s eyes. “Because I’m not family, they wouldn’t tell me anything. I was hoping you could learn more.”

Galene blinked back her own tears as she stared in horror at the report. “Who did you call?” she asked Felicia.