Born of Legend (95 page)

“You were naïve.”

“Blessedly so. Sheltered, even though I didn't know it. So when it all came crashing down on me, and those I thought were my family and friends turned out to be backbiting enemies … I lost all faith. In everything. But this—” He gestured at the pictures of their family on the wall. “It helps more than you'll ever know. It restores some of the faith I'd lost. I'm glad you saw in Julie what I've always known.”

She smiled at him. “I can't imagine my life any other way.” Rubbing his arm, she motioned for him to follow her down the hall to the girls' room, where she cracked the door open so that he could see their bedtime ritual.

On top of the covers, Jullien lay on the queen-sized bed the girls shared with his ankles crossed, propped against a stack of stuffed animals. The twins were tucked under each of his arms, beneath the covers, and draped on his chest while he read to them.

His deep voice brought a smile to her lips and made the girls giggle. “And then the lorina tackled her sister and went
rawr
!” With a guttural sound effect, he grabbed Mira and tickled her until she squealed, then he turned and did the same to Viv.

“Jules,” she said chidingly, “you're supposed to be putting them down, not winding them up.”

Eyes wide, he gasped at the girls. “You got me into trouble again with mama.”

They giggled and snuggled deeper into his side as he returned to reading the story.

Ushara headed back toward the living room.

Bastien lingered a moment longer before he rejoined her. “That's what I mean, Ushara. I wish you could see what a miracle
that
is.” He gestured toward the hall with his thumb. “Julie didn't learn that from his parents. I've never known him to be so open and happy as he's been since he found you.”

Embarrassed, she cleared her throat and changed the subject. “So you were with his brother before you came here?”

“Yeah.”

“What's he like?”

Bastien shrugged. “I barely know Nykyrian, really. He was assumed dead my whole childhood. I was twenty-six when he returned and was reinstated as heir.”

Anger darkened her vision. “And you didn't help Jullien when they threw him out?”

“I tried. Believe me. But you have to remember that it was only three months after Jullien was disinherited that my entire family was slaughtered and I was convicted for it and sentenced to being a Ravin. In retrospect, my father did him a favor. Had Julie been on Kirovar, he'd have been murdered, too.”

She sucked her breath in sharply. “I didn't realize that happened so close together.”

Bastien nodded. “So no, I never had a chance to get to know Nyk. At all. Not until a few weeks ago, when they showed up on Oksana. He seems decent enough. But I don't have the war stories with him that I share with Julie. Nyk never had to suffer through one of our grandfather's interminable parties.”

She laughed. “So I've heard.”

“I'll bet you have. To the day he died, my brother Quin counted Julie among his heroes for having the nerve to do that.”

“Are we back to the pool pissing?”

Bastien turned at Jullien's question. “I could always count on you to make things interesting.”

Jullien rolled his eyes. “Let's not go there.” He pulled his jacket out of the closet. “I have the files you need stored on my ship. You want to stay here or come with me?”

“As much as I enjoy your wife's company, I'll come with you and give her a break from my boorishness.”

“You're anything but a chore to put up with. And you're welcome here anytime.”

“Thank you, Ger Tarra.” Bastien took a minute to say good-bye to Vasili, who actually hugged him. It was obvious by the way Bastien held him that it meant a lot to the Kirovarian prince. “Take care, sport.”

“You, too.”

Ushara watched them leave, her heart light as she whispered a prayer for Bastien's protection. It meant a lot to her that Jullien had someone in his family who treated him with regard. If anyone deserved success, it was definitely Bas. She wished him all the luck in the universe and hoped that everything worked out for him.

She checked on the girls, who were sound asleep, then went to take a long bath and relax.

Two hours later, Jullien still hadn't returned. Concerned, she tried his link.

He didn't answer.

Which only worried her more. Her heart racing, she called Trajen. She expected him to be at home, but instead he was in the middle of what sounded like a cheering crowd. “Trajen?”

“Uh … hey. Yeah?”

“I'm looking for Jules. Have you seen him?”

“Mmmm … can I plead LASI?”

Law Against Self-incrimination? That didn't sound promising. “What's going on?”

“Not sure I should answer that. You won't like it.”

Oh yeah, not promising at all. In fact, her anger rose at those words. “Trajen!”

“We're in the east gym. That's all I'm saying.… Ow! Shit! That's going to leave a mark!”

Cutting off the transmission, she rushed to Vas's room, where it took a second to get his attention off the game and on to her. “I'm going out for a few minutes. Do you mind watching your sisters until I get back?”

Vas looked up from the game console. “They're asleep, right?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. Just leave the doors open so I can hear them if they get up.” He pulled his headset completely off his shoulders and set it on the floor, then switched the sound to the speakers so that he could listen for the twins.

Her boy was ever responsible.

Ushara closed the distance between them to kiss his cheek. “Thank you,
m'tana.
You're a wonderful brother. And you do me proud.”

He scowled at her as if she were feverish. “You okay?”

“Not sure yet.” And with that, she headed off for the gym to see what was going on.

The minute she arrived and saw the giant, cheering crowd that had gathered around two maniac fighters, her jaw went slack. Both Jullien and Bastien had stripped down to their waists and were now attempting to kill each other inside a training ring. At least that was what it appeared at first, until she realized they were both laughing and urging the other one to hit harder.

Gaping even wider, she moved to Trajen's side. “What is this?”

“Did you know Jules could fight like that?”

Not really. She watched as he ran at Bastien, wrapped around him in an impressive hold, and brought him down like a toppled tree. Bastien twisted and flipped, expertly escaping the hold. When he went to pin Jullien, Jullien lifted his legs to catch him around the neck and unbalance him enough that Jullien could roll out of his grasp and twist, then flip to his feet.

Yeah, it was impressive.

“I knew he had to be good to survive the Ladorian hell we found him in. But no … I've never seen him actually take on anyone this skilled before. Like
that.
” And Bastien
was
talented. If she didn't know better, she'd swear he was an Andarion Ring fighter. He had moves she'd never seen anywhere outside of their sport.

And the gods knew Jullien had
never
been this rough while training with her or Vasili. Honestly, she hadn't realized just how much he'd held back in their matches until now. No wonder he'd torn through her cousins so easily.

Trajen shook his head as he watched, and the crowd cheered even louder. “Like you, I had no idea when I sparred with Jullien that he was pulling back.” He sucked his breath in as Jullien landed a staggering punch on Bastien that Bastien returned with an equal amount of force. “I will
never
spar with that bastard again, lest he have some kind of psychotic episode and decide to hit me like that.”

“Could you stop them, please?”

Trajen snorted at her. “I don't want to get in the middle of
that.
Are you out of your mind?”

She glared at him before she headed toward the two combatants. On the side of the ring, she stood with her hands on her hips.

Jullien started for Bastien, then glanced at her. The minute their gazes met, he skidded to a stop. Until Bastien approached with another attack. How he saw Bastien, she had no idea. But he whipped around, grabbed him, and slammed him to the mat, then kissed his cheek. “We have to stop now.” He jerked his chin toward her.

Bastien looked over and laughed. “Ah crap. Now I'm the one who got you into trouble with your female.”

Grinning roguishly, Jullien got up and offered Bastien his hand to help him to his feet. Both of them were bruised, sweating and bleeding. Yet neither seemed to care. They actually appeared elated. How? She had
no
idea.

Males … she'd never understand them.

Ushara shook her head. “Really? This is how you wanted to say good-bye to each other?”

Jullien rubbed sheepishly at his neck while Bastien went for towels. “We were just going to practice a bit. Then we got a little carried away.”

“A
little
?” She glanced to the blood all over the mat, which looked as if someone had been murdered there and their body dragged away to be hidden.

Trajen joined them. “I'm impressed with you both.”

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.

“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.”

“Good call. 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?”

“Nah, I was going to head on, especially after 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. Then I'm after Barnabas.”

Ushara cringed at the thought. “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 at him. “Why don't you hit the showers before you leave?”

“What? 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 died. How Ushara can stand being this close to either of you while pregnant, I have no idea.”

“Fine. I can take a hint.” Bastien 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 smiled 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 her crew 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.”