Only on their actions.
He arched a brow as Jullien grabbed a glass of Tondarion Grade-A Hellfire from the tray of a passing server. “Should you be drinking that in your current condition?” Depending on what the boy had taken, it could prove lethal.
Jullien knocked it back in a single gulp. “Why not? It’s a celebration, right? If the family’s lucky, they could get a twofer out of this. Your wedding. My funeral.”
Okay, then …
Jullien’s human bodyguards retreated into the crowd as his father approached them. Similar in looks to Bastien’s mother, Aros Triosan was the same height as his son, but lacked Jullien’s massive Andarion size.
And that regal pissed-off aura of rebellion that was only undercut by an overt ennui that said Jullien was resigned to his unwanted place in the universe.
Aros grabbed Jullien’s arm in a grip so tight that Bastien winced from the bruise he was sure Jullien would have over it. “Shouldn’t you be heading home now?”
With a fierce grimace that exposed his fangs, Jullien jerked out of his father’s grasp. “Don’t worry, Paka. I shall take my inebriated ass out of here before I intentionally expose it and further embarrass you. Besides, my jailors won’t like it if I fail to report back by curfew.”
When Jullien started to leave, Aros splayed his hand across Jullien’s chest to stop his retreat. “For the love of God, could you sober up? Just once?”
Jullien snorted derisively. “And deal with all of you without the benefits of being chemically numb? Are you out of your minsid mind?”
With a smug sneer directly in his father’s face, Jullien flipped his hair back with an affected bored nonchalance that was no doubt designed to piss his father off.
And judging by Aros’s features, it succeeded.
“But no fears, Paka. I shan’t urinate in Bastien’s pool tonight. My fury isn’t for him.” Jullien tucked his cane under his arm before he turned back to Bastien. “Word to the wise, kyzi. Take your bride and get as far away from the family as you can.” He jerked his chin at Aros. “They’re treacherous bastards. The whole lot of them. Never trust them at your back. Triosan or Cabarro. They’re all selfish to the bitter end. Trust me. Sooner or later, one of them will find the nerve to come for your ass and take you down. Birth order doesn’t matter. We eat our own. One child at a time. It’s just a matter of time, drey.”
And with that, Jullien left.
Aros let out an audible sigh of relief. “Sorry about that, Bastien. I don’t even know why he came.”
“I invited him.”
Aros scowled. “Why would you?”
Wow … no wonder Jullien was so cynical. But then he’d once had a twin brother who’d died when they were children—some claimed in a fire set in his school at their own grandmother’s orders—as Jullien had stated, his mother’s entire family had murdered themselves down to only her and her sister, with his grandmother serving as the Andarion queen only after slaughtering her own husband. The Andarions were a brutal, bloody race.
Thank the gods, his own family wasn’t like that. And it was why Bastien refused to be a shit to Jullien. The boy needed compassion from someone. He certainly wasn’t getting any from his parents.
“He’s my cousin.”
Aros let out a scoffing laugh. “You heard his parting words about family. He is his grandmother’s child. Treacherous to the core of his brutal Andarion soul. Cares for nothing and no one, except himself. I tried so hard to save him from that when he was a boy, and every time I did, he insulted me and refused to do anything I asked of him.”
Bastien arched a brow at that recitation of facts. Strange, that wasn’t how he remembered their childhood. “All I recall, Uncle Aros, was Jullien trying to keep his head down and getting his ass kicked every time he dared to look up.”
“You weren’t there for his tantrums and lies. Believe me, you can’t trust anything Jullien says. He’s the real snake in the grass.” He paused to shake his head. “You know, I once had an innocent boy arrested because of a lie Jullien told when he was in school. Poor kid would have gone to prison for something he didn’t do had Dancer Hauk—Jullien’s best friend—not had the temerity to come forward and tell me the truth about the matter.”
“Which was?”