Bastien handed a towel to Jullien before he wiped at the sweat and blood on his stomach where he still bore his League Ravin mark. “Yeah, I had no idea Julie could do all that. I’d love to see him and Fain Hauk go at it. Julie’s the only one I’ve ever fought who could drag my ass around a mat as much as Fain did.”
“War Hauk Fain?” Jullien scowled.
Bastien cringed as he realized what he’d let slip. But he wasn’t about to lie to his cousin for anything. “Yeah. I used to train with him when he lived on Kirovar.”
Jullien wiped his face. “I had no idea you knew him.”
“Small universe, right? I figured you two probably knew each other, since he and his brother went to your school when you were kids, but given how Anatoles feel about War Hauks, and War Hauks feel about Anatoles, and the long-standing feud between your lineages, I knew to never, ever mention to him or his brother that we were related or knew each other in any capacity. Andarions are a highly territorial and volatile species.” Not to mention the story Aros had once told him about Jullien and Dancer.
Honestly, he didn’t know what to believe there, but he was sure there was a lot more to the story than Aros had given him. Because nothing and no one could ever diminish Jullien in his mind, especially after his kindness to Bastien over the last couple of years.
As far as he was concerned, Jullien was a saint.
Jullien nodded at Bastien. “Good call, kyzi. They’d have killed you.”
“Exactly.” Bastien wiped at his face and shoulders. “Sorry about this, Ushara. Please don’t harm my cousin. It was all my fault.”
“Hardly. I’m the one who started it.”
When they began to argue over blame, Ushara stopped them. “It’s fine.” She gently wiped at the blood on Jullien’s lip. “I’m glad that your arm’s working so well. But you shouldn’t be stressing it so soon.”
“I wasn’t using it too much. I don’t have precise control over it yet, and I didn’t want to kill him.”
Ushara sighed in bitter amusement. “So, Bas, since it’s now so late, are you staying until morning?”
How he wished he could, but … “Nah, I was going to head on. Since I got Julie into trouble, don’t want to risk wearing out any more of my welcome.”
Jullien dried his hair. “Where are you headed?”
“Starken for supplies and more intel. Then I’m after Barnabas.”
Ushara scowled at his words. “Alone?”
He nodded. “I don’t have anyone else I trust, really. Don’t want a stranger at my back. Not about to drag Julie or Fain into this. So if I fall, it’s only on my ass. And there’s no one to really grieve over it.”
Ushara wrinkled her nose. “Why don’t you hit the showers before you leave?”
“What?” Bastien asked in an offended tone. “You saying I stink?”
Trajen snorted. “Well, you did just spend two hours beating the utter hell out of my field admiral. You both smell like something rotted and dead. How Ushara can stand being this close to either of you while pregnant, I have no idea.”
Bastien laughed. “Fine. I can take a hint.” He headed for the locker room.
As soon as he was gone, Ushara dug out her link.
Jullien scowled at her. “What are you doing?”
“Hailing someone. Obviously.”
Jullien met Trajen’s gaze. A cold feeling went through his gut at her unexpected vague answer. He was usually the evasive ass, not her. “Who?”
She ignored his question. “Hey, this is Admiral Samari. I know you requested reassignment yesterday and that we were meeting about it tomorrow. Believe it or not, something interesting came up tonight. It’s an outside mission. For Kirovar, but it’s something I think you might be interested in.” She paused to listen. “Yeah. You want to meet us in the North Bay in a few minutes?” A smile curved her lips. “Great. I’ll see you then.”
Trajen growled low in his throat. “Do you know what you’re doing?”
“Yes.”
Completely confounded as his powers failed him, Jullien turned toward Trajen. “Could someone clue me in?”
Ushara tucked her link away. “Jay has grounded herself for a few months. She wants to spend more time with her kids, and let her husband do the runs. So some of her crew has requested temporary reassignments.”
“Okay…”
“I’m thinking one of them would make a perfect point for Bastien.”
While Jullien appreciated the thought, he knew that wouldn’t play well with his cousin. Bas was even more paranoid than he was. And with good reason. Once you’d been through the kind of betrayal they’d suffered, it tended to stay with you.
“Shara … Bas isn’t going to put someone at his back he doesn’t know.”
“Yeah, but she has Gyron Force training. He has to respect that.”
It wouldn’t matter. In fact, that could be worse. If they knew each other, it could even anger Bas.
Jullien pulled his shirt on and groaned out loud. “Trajen, tell her what a bad idea this is. For all we know, they could be enemies.”
“I don’t think so,” Ushara insisted. “She left Kirovar and joined The Tavali because of the overthrow.”
“What was her rank?”
“Major.”