Born of Defiance

“Why hasn’t he used you to blackmail her?”


“Anatole can’t. Her family is equal in status to your father’s. For that threat, she could have him arrested. He’s hoping if he abuses me enough, I’ll say something to my mother and her guilt will force her to negotiate with him.”

“He doesn’t know you very well, does he?”

Talyn shook his head. “They spanked my ass the moment I was brought into this world. Why the hell should anything change after that? I’m not his pampered, pansy ass. Beatings I can take. Even being a lieutenant. I survived it once. I can survive it again.”

But there was more to it than that. He was sugarcoating it for her and she knew it. She’d heard her half brothers laughing about the hazing that was done to low-ranking officers. Hazing that was mitigated depending on the families the officer was tied to. She could only imagine how horrific it would be for someone like Talyn, who had no lineage protection at all.

“Who is your father, Talyn?”

“What difference does it make?”

He was right. But…

“Can’t you go to his family? His mother could adopt you as hers.”

“She won’t. My mother tried that when I was an infant, and she threw my mother out of her house, insulting her the entire time. The only one who was willing to do it was his grandmother, but his grandfather refused to allow me their name. He said I wasn’t worthy of carrying their lineage. If my father was such a disappointing son, he could only imagine how much worse I’d be.”

“Your mother told you that?”

He shook his head. “She would never hurt me that way. I was in school when my mother was wounded and couldn’t come get me. My gre yaya showed up, and just as I got into her transport, my gre paran arrived, yanked me out of my seat, and threw me to the ground with my things. He told her to leave me in the gutter where I belonged. The rest, he sneered in my direction while they screamed at each other in the parking lot.”

She was aghast at the horror he emotionlessly described. “He did that at your school? How old were you?”

“Eight.”

Appalled, she stared at him. “Your great-grandfather told your great-grandmother to leave you at school, alone, with no one to care for you, while your mother was in the hospital?”

He nodded.

“Please tell me your great-grandmother didn’t do that.”

“She had no choice.”

Oh dear gods… “What happened to you?”

“My teacher took me home with her and kept me until my mother was released.”

Felicia ground her teeth as fury seethed deep inside. How could anyone do that to a child? How? It made her feel selfish and bitchy for everything mean she’d ever said to her father for his actions that were nowhere near on par with this.

“So, no, Felicia. My father’s family despises him for shaming them, and me because I come from him. As far as they’re concerned, whatever happens to me is no concern of theirs. All I have in this entire universe is you and my mother.”

And Galene had no idea how bad things were for her son. For the love of his mother, he said nothing to hurt Galene’s feelings.

Never had she loved Talyn more than she did right now. Rising up on her knees, Felicia pulled him against her and held him tight. “I think you’re wonderful, Talyn. You’re more Andarion than anyone I’ve ever known or met. Or even heard of. You have the heart of a mighty War Hauk.”

Talyn flinched at her choice of words. In her mind, she thought she was complimenting him. After all, his father’s bloodline went straight back to the most heroic legend of their people. What it really did was slap him in the face and remind him of the heritage that should have been his.

But right now, none of that mattered while Felicia held him. She didn’t see a worthless bastard. She didn’t see a victim or a mongrel. The one they’d all thrown away.

In her beautiful eyes, he was still honorable.

Taking her hand, he led it to his cheek and closed his eyes so that he could savor the softness of her flesh on his. “You are and will always be munatara a la frah.”

Felicia choked on a sob as he called her the most precious lady of his life. In Andarion, it was the highest avowal of love. Something no male said lightly.

Tears filled her eyes as fear tore through her. As much as she loved him, she couldn’t tell him the news she’d been given earlier that day from her agency, that they were refusing to allow her to contract with Talyn when their probationary period ended. Even though she was no longer a virgin, they had a new patron for her.

One with more money and a much stronger lineage that Talyn wouldn’t be able to fight against. Because of her contract with the agency, she was going to have to leave Talyn forever.

But how could she tell him that after this blow? It would devastate him. He had no way of fighting their decision. No way of keeping her contracted to him.