Son of No One (32 page)

Fain swallowed hard as he met Dancer's gaze before he answered Chay's question. “I broke off our engagement to marry a human.”

The medic sucked her breath in sharply at his words.

As a human, Chayden had no idea what a slap that was, and what it would have cost Galene in their society. “Yeah? So?”

The medic snorted. “She must have really loved you at one time.”

“Why?”

“She didn't shoot you between the eyes.”

*   *   *

Galene swallowed hard
as the door to her office closed, and she moved to call the queen. She'd no more than reached for the controls before Talyn finally spoke to her.

“So that's my father.”

“Excuse me?”

He sighed heavily. “There's no other male you'd attack like that. Only Fain Hauk.”

Tears choked her at his emotionless tone. “If you knew, why did you attack him?”

“He came at my mother. No one does that. I don't care who or what you are.”

She could kill Talyn for his own recklessness … that he'd inherited from Fain. “You shouldn't have endangered yourself for me. You know better.”

He shrugged nonchalantly. “You didn't hesitate to protect me.”

“I'm your mother.”

“And I'm your son … as you raised me.”

She was torn between the desire to hug him for that, and spank his bottom like she'd done when he was a boy. “I told you to be a doctor, didn't I?”

He gave her an impertinent grin. “You raised me to be fierce. Like you. Not to don a medic's robe and serve others.”

“Careful,” she warned him, “you're not so big or old that I can't still take you over my knee.”

He laughed playfully at her threat. “I'd like to see you try.”

She popped his butt. “Impudent boy.”

His smile faded as her link buzzed. “Is that the queen?”

“Most likely.”

Talyn gave her a sincere look that said he would be more than willing to die for her. “I won't let them harm you, Matarra. Not for that worthless piece of shit.”

“He's your father, Talyn. I won't have you insult him.”

The tic returned to his jaw as he looked away.

She moved to answer her link. As predicted, it was Queen Cairistiona.

“What happened?”

Galene bowed her head respectfully. “Forgive me, my queen. I was caught off guard and allowed my emotions to get the better of me. I had no idea that you had adopted a new son. You should have told me we had a new member of the royal family to protect.”

The look on the queen's face was stern and lethal. “It's just the two of us, Galene. I want your side of this matter, before I render verdict. And I want the whole story.”

Galene's gaze went to Talyn. “Before His Highness was disowned by his birth mother, I was pledged to him.”

Cairistiona sucked her breath in sharply. “He left you for the human he married?”

She nodded. “Because of his actions, I was abandoned by my own family and turned out in disgrace.”

“Say no more, Commander. I understand. I would have shot him, myself, in your place.”

Thank the gods the queen was so understanding. But then they had decades of history together. And an unbreakable loyalty to one another.

“I am sorry, Majesty. Had I some warning about Fain's identity, I would have handled it better. But this is the first time I've seen him since the day he told me I failed to please him.”

Cairistiona's speculative gaze went past Galene, to Talyn. “Is he the father of your son?”

Galene clenched her teeth. Only two people besides her knew the identity of Talyn's father. Talyn and his great-grandmother, who'd taken her in years ago when she'd been living on the street, pregnant with him.

But it was a death sentence to lie to her queen. “Yes, Majesty.”

“Does he know?”

“I've never kept such secrets from my son. Talyn knows. His father does not.”

Cairistiona let out a bitter laugh. “Talyn?”

He cast a concerned glance to his mother before he stepped forward and bowed to her. “Majesty?”

“It appears you are now of royal blood, child. My grandson. A prince of Andaria.”

His jaw went slack. Until now, he'd lacked full lineage. As such, he'd been ineligible for many Andarion benefits, including marriage. It was something they'd both accepted a long time ago as a very bitter fact.

Now …

“What have you to say, Prince Talyn?”

He swallowed hard before he spoke. “I know not, Majesty.”

“Yaya,” Cairistiona corrected playfully, using the Andarion term for grandmother. She laughed at the stunned expression on his handsome face. “Breathe, child. Remember, you once sat in my lap to color and draw on paper, and do your homework for school.… I know it'll take some getting used to. Your father is having the same trouble acclimating to the title. But you will, in time.”

She turned her attention back to Galene. “It appears I cannot punish my grandson for protecting his birth mother. Even from his birth father. And while I would normally have your head for this assault, the circumstances were extenuating. As such, and given the fact that Fain will live and is remarkably understanding of your motivation, I'll let this event pass unpunished. But let's not repeat it, shall we?”

“Never, Majesty.”

“Cairistiona or Matarra, Galene. You are the mother of my grandson, after all. As such, I will send a contingency of royal guards for you both. And while Talyn, as prince, can be excused from military service, I'm going to assume that he has no intention of leaving your side while we're at war.” She passed a questioning look to him.

“My place is with my mother.”

Cairistiona smiled proudly. “Spoken like a true Andarion.” Her gaze returned to Galene. “If you can refrain from slaughtering the father of your child, we shall proceed as if none of this has happened. Is that acceptable?”

“Yes, Majesty.”

“Cairistiona.”

Galene hesitated before she spoke again. “Cairistiona … I'm assuming you'll want me to step down as—”

“No. I'd like to see you continue on as the commander of our combined forces. You are still the most qualified to lead us. And I'd feel much more confident with you at the helm than a commander from one of the other nations.”

“It will be my honor, Ma … Matarra?”

Cairistiona smiled in approval. “Very good. And have no fear that I will tell Fain about his child. That is your place.” She sighed heavily. “For now, I will say that the additional guard is to make sure the two of you don't attack him. But there are certain advantages Talyn will have as prince. I'm sure both of you will want them for him. When you're both ready, let me know and I will make a public announcement.”

Galene inclined her head to her. “Thank you. For everything.”

“Don't thank me yet, Commander. This has all the earmarks for disaster. We are at war with The League. If we lose, all of us will pay with our lives. We have committed treason against the organization that has reigned over all our worlds for the last fifteen hundred years. May the gods be with us.” She cut her transmission.

Indeed. Galene turned toward her son. “Funny, this was not how I saw the day going in my mind when I woke up this morning.”

Talyn laughed. “Nor I.”

Her gaze softened as she digested his new place in their world. It was more than deserved and she couldn't have wished better for him. “Prince Talyn. It has a beautiful ring to it.”

He scoffed at her words. “I'm not a prince, Matarra. This changes nothing.”

“It changes everything. It silences all those bastards who have mocked you. All those bitches who have turned their noses up whenever you've glanced their way. I can't wait to see them choke on their own bile when they hear this news.”

And still he shook his head with blatant disregard. “I've never cared what they thought of me.”

That was sadly true and she knew it. But he had cared what they thought of her. She'd mopped too many tears from his beautiful face when he'd been a small child. Had tended too many bloody noses from the fights he'd been in with those who had called her whore and worse.

And she'd seen the silent hurt in his eyes when females had viciously spurned him because he had no paternal lineage. Only his mother's broken one.

He had suffered so much because of his father's actions. That, more than anything, was what she hated Fain for. She could handle her own humiliation.

It was what had been unjustly given to Talyn that burned bitterest.

What her son had been forced to endure that made her crave vengeance from his father. Her proud, precious baby had deserved none of it.

Tears choked her. “You have ever been my brave champion.” When everyone else had abandoned her, Talyn had stayed by her side. Ever the dutiful son.

Maybe not verbally. He did have his father's limited fuse, and a smart mouth that had tested her temper and restraint on many occasions.

But his heart had always been loyal. Always loving.

Always ferocious. Her fierce little lorina.

“You deserve to be a prince.”

“Titles mean nothing to me. You know that.”

Only his rank as her adjutant had ever mattered to him. He'd worked insanely hard to achieve his rank as fast as possible so that he could be with her and watch over her. Something that had been twice as hard for him since he'd lacked his father's prestigious military lineage. It was why he'd become a prizefighter for the Ring as a mere boy. With every title he'd earned, his military rank had advanced to match his proven martial skills. Most of the time, anyway.

But even without his father's lineage, even with her being harder on him than she was on her other soldiers, he'd risen to become one of the youngest officers in the Andarion military. Had attained his current rank at an age when most were only beginning their obligatory service.

He had done her proud.

“You may think nothing of them, Talyn. However, that's not true of others, and I know how much you want to marry and start your own family.”

He looked away, but not before she saw the bitter yearning that lived inside him for something he'd been denied.

“Exactly. I do know
you
, my son. As prince, you will have your choice now of any female who meets your fancy.”

He scoffed at her words. “If I wasn't good enough for them without a royal title, I damn sure don't want them because of it. Besides, I love my Felicia. She is everything to me. I am grateful and lucky to have her in my life.”

Galene bit back a scoff at his words. While she adored Felicia for taking care of Talyn whenever he was allowed liberty, she knew the truth.

Felicia was a paid companion. A contracted mistress who lacked lineage, too. One Talyn had been forced to pay top dollar to keep in a style that was unheard of for others of Felicia's birth-standing. And the unfair terms of Felicia's original contract still sickened Galene. No other Andarion male would have been forced to sign such a travesty, or spend the credits he did for her services.

Or to buy out her contract from her agency because they hadn't wanted Felicia tainted by Talyn's bastard status. Galene flinched as she remembered
that
particular nightmare.

But because of her and Fain, Talyn's social standing ranked below even that of a slave's. It didn't matter how many fighting titles he'd earned. How many citations and awards he gained as a military hero, he was still unable to legally marry.

Even a paid companion.

Worse? Only one companion brokerage in all of Andaria had been willing to contract with him at all. The rest had rudely slammed their doors in his face, leaving him with no other options for a female in his life.

Title and lineage were all that mattered to their people. The purer the lineage, the better, and the more choices an Andarion had.

Had Fain married her as he was supposed to, Talyn would have had all the pride and dignity of a military prince.

Instead, Fain had abandoned them and taken his lineage with him.

But now that Fain had a new family lineage, Talyn might be able to salvage the rest of his future. “Your father's blood gives you everything I never could.”

“You've given me the only things that matter.”

Cupping his cheek, she shook her head. “You should have married long ago. We should be planning the Endurance for your eldest child by now.”

He snorted. “I don't need a wife nagging me. I have a viciously overprotective mother for that.”

Before she could respond, her office door pulsed open. She glanced past Talyn's shoulder to see the beast himself entering without being announced. Her lips curled involuntarily.

Talyn pulled her against his chest and held her so that she couldn't attack Fain again. “Don't kill him,” he whispered in her ear. “The queen won't forgive you that.”

Laughing, she hugged him close. “All right.” She kissed his cheek before she let go.

“I'll be just outside.” Talyn passed a threatening glare to Fain. “Call me if you need anything, Commander.”

“I will, Talyn. Thank you.” Forcing herself to remain calm, she faced Fain. “What are
you
doing here?”

Fain watched Talyn until the door was closed behind the brat. “You just can't keep your hands off him, can you?”

She arched a brow at the jealousy she heard in that deep tone of his, and couldn't resist egging it on. “You should have been in here a few minutes ago when I was physically spanking his little ass. I think you would have enjoyed it. I know I did.”

He twisted his lips up in disgust. “You really live with him?”

“Yes. I have for years.”

“And what? Do you have to burp him after you feed him, too?”

“I've been known to.”