Born of Legend (80 page)

Jullien had even bought matching gaming chairs with surround sound that vibrated in sync to Vas's console. The poor boy was quickly becoming terribly spoiled.

And she loved every minute of it.

While she put the linens away, her link rang.

It was Trajen.

“Hey, boss.”

“How's it going?”

Knowing Jullien had supersonic hearing, she pulled the door closed before answering. “Fine, I think. How about on your end?”

Trajen snorted. “Your little psycho husband went up against some pretty damn impressive and powerful players during his walkabout. No wonder Chayden called to warn us. Jules single-handedly wiped out his grandmother's personal wetwork team. He got all but three of them.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. Her entire pet Nizari squad that she'd personally picked and licensed.” Trajen's tone was one of awe, and that impressed her. She'd never heard anyone inspire that from him before. “Thrāix said that Jullien's managed to fully integrate into his ship, and we still haven't figured out how he managed to do
that
on his own either. So keep an eye on him. Make sure that he's really okay. We don't know if what Thrāix did had any lingering effects, or not.”

There was an odd note in his voice. “What do you mean?”

“I don't mean that he's dangerous, Shara. Calm down. We're worried that he might have hurt himself. Done some kind of internal damage he may not even be aware of yet. You know him better than we do. He's not one to let anyone know if he's been injured. Just keep an eye out and let us know if he has any sign of illness.”

“Tell Grandma I'm fine.”

She jumped at the sound of Jullien in the room behind her. “Oh my God! Make some sound when you move!”

“Sorry. Been hunting assassins. Stealth is a hard habit to break.”

Trajen laughed in her ear. “I'll leave you to him. Remember what I said. Make sure he hasn't burned out any of his three remaining brain cells.”

She turned her link off and slid it into her pocket. “He's just worried about you.”

“I know. I'm worried about me, too.” He crossed the distance between them.

“So where did your Warsword come from?”

“My grandmother. It was in her hotel room. I'd planned to kill her with it, but it didn't quite work out.”

Ushara's jaw went slack at the implication. “It's the Anatole sword?”

“No.” He put the linens up in the top of the closet for her. “My mother has that one. It's kept in a vault under the palace. I've never even seen it, except in photos and official portraits. They only bring it out for coronations.”

Which he'd never attended, since he'd been in exile when his mother had been crowned tadara. Though his tone was emotionless, that had to burn and hurt.

“This Warsword belonged to Edon Samari.”

Okay, she gaped again and even more so at
that
bombshell. “For real? Are you sure?”

“Yeah. It's why I took it. I was going to return it to Matarra at temple, since it's rightfully hers. I couldn't stand the thought of it being in Anatole hands.” His features paled as soon as he finished his sentence. “She's standing behind me, isn't she?”

Biting back a smile, Ushara nodded. “She just came in.”

Jullien turned slightly to find Unira in the doorway, standing with tears in her eyes.

“You found my family Warsword?”

“Stole it more than found it, but yes.”

Shaking her head at his dry tone, she tsked lovingly at him. “You can't steal what rightfully belongs to you,
m'tana.
”

He didn't respond to that. Rather, he excused himself to leave the room.

Ushara let out a heartfelt sigh. “His humility makes me want to cry for him.”

Unira nodded. “I can't believe he found the Samari
Anurikriega.
It's been missing for decades.”

“What happened to it?”

“The stories, if you believe them, say that Faran eton Anatole challenged Edon in a test of arms and defeated him, then took possession of the sword as punishment against our family. We assumed he destroyed it for spite.”

Jullien snorted as he returned to the nursery. “It wasn't a fair contest. Faran murdered him in cold blood. He would have never possessed the skills to take Edon down in a fair fight. Edon had been raised on a battlefield. Faran had never been in a real fight, not even a Ring match.”

Unira frowned. “Didn't he defeat Dannon Hauk in a Ring match to take Eriadne's pledge from the War Hauk family?”

“Again, not a fair match. He drugged Dannon before the fight. It's why Eriadne hates the War Hauk lineage to this day. She was in love with Dannon, at least as much as she could be. And it was one of his family who took the bribe to drug him—she holds that act against all the Hauks. They tried to placate her wrath by offering up Ferral Hauk as a pledge to my mother, and you know how that turned out.” He looked first to Unira, then Ushara.

Ferral Hauk had allowed himself to be seduced by another Anatole cousin the night before he was to be formally pledged to Cairistiona. Needless to say, Cairistiona found out and refused him, then ended up sleeping with Jullien's father and conceiving Jullien and Nykyrian a few years later.

Ushara winced. “You know, you almost have to feel sorry for Eriadne. Every time she fell in love, she had to watch her beloved die.”

Jullien screwed his face up into a painful grimace. “You can if you want, but I reserve the judgment that she's incapable of any real emotion. You have to remember, this is a bitch so cold that when she was a young female, she had a rival's aging process sped up so that her rival died of old age in her mid-twenties.”

Ushara sputtered. “Why would she do that?”

“She overheard one of the courtiers make the comment that she was prettier than Eriadne.” He held his hand up. “I swear it's the truth. She is
that
merciless.” Then he turned to Unira and gave her the case in his hands. “For you, Matarra.”

Unira opened it so that she could see the ornate hilt of the Samari Warsword. Tears glistened in her eyes. “It's as beautiful as I knew it'd be.” And when she touched the grip, it lit up the same way it'd done when Jullien touched it. She gasped and laughed.

Ushara moved forward. “That's incredible. I've never seen one do that before.”

Unira let go and the light went out.

When Ushara touched it, it remained dormant. She scowled. As did Unira.

Jullien smiled at them. “It appears that it only lights up in the hands of a Samari.” He touched it and showed them that it glowed under his grip as well.

“Amazing,” Ushara breathed.

“Agreed.” Jullien released it to Unira. “Anyway, I'm glad I was able to bring it home to you, Matarra.”

Wiping at her eyes, she closed the case, then held it out to him. “And I bestow it on you and your Ger Tarra, my precious boy. As the last Samari son, it's only right that you should carry it now. You've more than earned the rights to it.”

“Unira—”

“No arguments,” she said, cutting off his protest. “You are the last of our bloodline. Closer to it than even I am.” She took Ushara's hands and placed the Warsword in them. “I'm entrusting our precious Fyreblood legacy to you, daughter, as the new Ger Tarra of our lineage. While I may be older, I'm not the one who will be carrying our future generations. So long as the gods allow, I will be here for both of you, but I gladly cede my matriarchal status as the Samari Ger Tarra to you, Ushara Samari.”

Jullien swallowed hard at what she was giving them both. To be entrusted as the male who carried the family Warsword … There was no higher honor for any male in their society. To be the designated matriarch, especially when you weren't a blood daughter, was even more sacred and coveted. She was entrusting them with the care and keeping of her entire family legacy.

No. With the entire Samari family legacy and history.

“I will never bring dishonor to your lineage, Matarra.”

Unira smiled. “
Our
lineage,” she reminded him. “And I know. I'm very proud to have you as my son.” She kissed his cheek. “Now, if you two will excuse me … I'm actually here to see to the younger Samari of the home. He and I had a date tonight.”

Alone with Ushara, Jullien set the sword case down and grinned roguishly at her. “Ger Tarra Samari.”

Smiling up at him, she nipped at his chin, sending chills all over him. “So, are you excited about the babies?”

“Mostly scared shitless.”

She laughed. “At least you're honest.”

He rubbed noses with her before he pulled back to scrutinize the nursery. “Would you be opposed to my painting a mural in here for our girls?”

“You can do anything you want.”

He snorted. “You might want to reconsider that.… I made some notes while I was gone.” Pulling out his link, he turned it on to show her sketches he'd made.

Ushara gasped at the different layouts he'd done for the girls' room. Not just as a nursery, but for several stages as they grew older.

He'd even done some for Vasili's room.

“These are incredible. Have you shown Vas?”

“Not yet. I wanted to make sure it was all right with you first.”

“Absolutely. Though I think that double-layered castle bunk bed for the girls has to wait until they're quite a few years older.”

“Okay, but I would like to do the mural. And the best part? The dragon's eyes light up with the switch.”

She laughed at his giddy excitement. “That might scare them, you know. They will be little girls.”

“Yeah, but they're
our
little girls. It'll take more than glowing eyes to scare them.”

Unira stuck her head in the room. “Is it all right if Vasili and I go out for dessert? We'll only be gone about an hour, maybe two?”

Ushara smiled at her kindness, knowing exactly what she was doing. “Yes—and thank you, Matarra.”

“No problem. I'll text you before we head back.”

As they left, Ushara leaned the sword case against the wall. “We have an hour, my lord … whatever should we do?”

He was already unbuttoning her shirt as he gave her a warm, wicked grin. “I'm sure I can find something warm and delicious to get into while they're gone.”

*   *   *

Six weeks later, Jullien had awakened with a bad feeling deep in his gullet, and it stayed with him all day long. “Are you sure there's nothing on the long-range scanners?”

Unira shook her head. “Nothing.”

He glanced over to Davel, who was seated in the captain's chair.

Davel gave him a hostile grimace. “Ask me again, Dagger, and so help me gods, I will shoot you.”

Gallatin laughed, then coughed to cover the sound.

Jullien held his hands up and backed off. Honestly, he would have felt better had Thrāix or Trajen come along for this mission, but it was just a short run that Davel had needed him for.

So here he was.…

Feeling unsettled. Something was wrong—he knew it. And it wasn't just because he'd taken out two of Nyran's Porturnum spies a week ago.

His link buzzed.

Jullien's scowl deepened as he saw his mother-in-law's frequency listed on it. Katira almost never called him. “Matarra? Is something wrong?”

“Ushara's in labor.”

Davel cursed as Jullien unconsciously brought their ship to a screeching halt with his mental powers and reversed the engines. “What the hell,
drey
?”

Blinking, Jullien separated his thoughts from the ship and released the control back to Davel. “Sorry. I have to get home. I need a fighter.”

Davel went pale. “Ushara?”

He nodded. “She's in labor.”

“She's not due yet.”

“I know. It's why I need the fighter.” Jullien turned his link up so that Katira could speak to her son. “She's in labor right now. They just admitted her.”

Davel reversed course on his own and called down to his engineer. “Boost the drives. Get us back to base as fast as possible. Burn us out if you have to.”

*   *   *

With Davel one step behind him, Jullien met Trajen in the hospital waiting room, which was packed with Ushara's family and a terrified Vasili. He hugged his son reassuringly before he faced Trajen and Thrāix. “Where is she?”

“In the back. They won't let me through.” Trajen took him to the nurses' station while Vas remained in the waiting room with his grandfather and great-grandfathers. The Trisani glowered at the head nurse. “This is Ushara's husband. Will you let
him
back there to see her?”

The sour look on her face said that she and Trajen must have been having a few choice rounds since Ushara's admittance. “Follow me,” she said coldly.

Jullien was shaking as they went down the sterile hallway. He'd always hated hospitals. They brought back too many bad memories of his childhood.

Too many bad memories of his adulthood, for that matter. Nothing good ever happened to him in these places.

The nurse took him into a room and made him scrub down and change into a surgical cap and gown before she showed him into the delivery room, where Ushara was screaming and crying out in agony. Horror filled him as he saw her, and for a full minute, he couldn't move.

Or breathe.

What have I done to her?

Katira let out a relieved breath when she finally saw Jullien in the doorway. “Look, Shara! He made it like he promised!”

Panting from her labor pains, she glanced over, then smiled. “Jules!” She held her hand out to him.

Completely dazed, he stumbled forward to take her hand into his.

Katira laughed as he remained by her daughter's side. “No matter how much we drill them, they always forget what they're supposed to do.”