Chapter 30
"My lady, it is late."
"I'm almost done." She attached the last of the dozen wires she had replaced, then grasped the openings of the panel and hoisted herself out to find both Danlaer and Keldar waiting, their heads hanging and since they had gotten used to seeing her in the battle suit so they were not averting their gaze, she remembered belatedly that they had been hauled into Taeron's trance and were still exhausted from that experience.
After telling them they could leave, she decided to get some sleep as well. She was filthy and tired and needed rest so she could finish repairs tomorrow. Fortunately her parents were more concerned with Taeron and after the initial shock of seeing both her and Amyr alive and greeting them with effusive hugs, they turned all their attention to him since he looked on the verge of death. Quynn knew what his problem was and soon enough they would too. She was just glad they had not even asked about Yori who had remained close to Jeshed. Since Yori resembled Amyr, they probably assumed he was a child Amyr had sired in his travels. Her father was not going to react well to the news that she was Yori's mother and that she was pregnant again without the benefit of the blood bond with Amyr.
After leaving Taeron in her mother's care, Quynn had returned to the ship to make necessary repairs after the attack near the pirate satellite and the rough landing on the moon. She had managed to avoid any populated areas and no one was hurt on the ship. She knew the flight to the planet was going to be anything but routine, so she had to leave Taeron behind to deal with their father's wrath on his own so that she could work on the damage.
During the day, Stryfe had stopped by to tell her that the Edgeland Fortress had been overrun and was in the hands of rebels calling for the end of Emperor Trey's reign. The emperor's planetary air defense was located at the Edgeland Fortress along with interplanetary communications so Quynn concluded that Staefyn had acted quickly to keep her from reaching the surface to keep his father from learning what a treacherous bastard he had for a son.
Having returned to the palace, she now headed to her chamber, passing through and dismissing the maid waiting to assist her. She did not know where Yori was, but she assumed that he was still with Jeshed. Jeshed adored her child and while Amyr probably thought he was giving him an unpleasant duty by demanding he take care of him, Jeshed enjoyed it. Since it was late, Yori was probably sleeping, so she would look for him in the morning to reassure him. She could introduce him to his grandparents and while she was sure her mother would be delighted, she could not predict the reaction of her tyrannical father.
Planning to relax in the bath, she went to the bathing chamber and was glad none of her siblings had beaten her to the water. Taeron was probably still in his bed, loopy from whatever noxious weed her mother forced him to drink in the form of tea, and she could easily imagine that Stryfe had sought one of the many women in their father's palace whom he knew intimately. To make her bath more enjoyable, she closed her eyes and whispered a spell to heat the water. No more lukewarm baths for her!
As she was finishing, she felt arms slip around her waist and she smiled and leaned back against a hard chest, already recognizing the scent of her mate. She raised her head so that he could press his lips to the pulse at her neck and she shivered from the sensation his kiss sent through her body. Thanks to his powers, the Guerani rascal knew exactly what she enjoyed.
"What have you been doing?" she murmured as his hands moved over the skintight suit she had yet to remove. It had been an inconvenience when her co-pilots refused to look at her, but it made crawling around in the wiring panel much easier than when she was wearing a skirt.
"Picking herbs for your mother, and then waiting for your father to come for my head." He found the zipper to her suit and began to drag it downward. "Thinking about doing this." He had exposed the upper part of her back and he pushed her hair aside so that he could kiss the nape of her neck as he slipped his hands inside her suit and brought them around to the front.
She gasped with pleasure. "Why don't we get in the bath? I am sweaty from crawling around in greasy old wires."
His tongue traced along her spine, and he was tugging the zipper further down when a voice in her chamber made him freeze.
"Quynn!" Her father's voice seemed to bounce off the walls and she gasped as Amyr quickly ducked into the door opposite her room which led to Stryfe's suite. "Put something on, I am coming in there."
She had barely gotten the zipper pulled up before her father stepped into the bathing chamber.
He frowned at her battle suit and she knew that he disapproved, but he did not comment on it. "I saw Keldar and he told me that you had gone to bed, but I need to speak to you now."
She swallowed nervously, knowing that he had discovered the truth about Yori, but before he could chastise her or say something that would upset her, she rushed ahead before he could speak. "I...I am sorry father! I know what you must be feeling, but Amyr and I didn't realize what was happening." She knew she sounded like a silly little girl confessing to stealing a cookie and not a woman facing dishonor.
"What are you talking about? I have just spoken to Taeron..."
"None of this is Taeron's fault! And Amyr did not realize he even had that kind of power..." Her father's brows were raised and she saw that he had no idea what she was saying. But Quynn knew that he would find out sooner or later, so she blurted, "Yori is my son!"
"Yori? Who is Yori? That boy? Amyr's...?" The look on her father's face might have been comical if she wasn't expecting him to explode with fury.
He did not disappoint her. "Are you telling me that you and Amyr...?" He was sputtering now. "That boy is old enough..." Lord Duo took a step back from her and she felt deep guilt even though she had not done anything to feel meit it. "Does your mother know what you were doing with him behind my back?"
Quynn hoped that Amyr did not come in to rescue her from her father's wrath because she was afraid her father's imperial sword would appear and the child in her belly would not have a chance to know him.
"Let me explain."
"Let you explain?! Explain what? That you are one of his many empty-headed conquests?"
She opened her mouth to deny it, but he was right, that Amyr had adequately proven that she had been one of his empty-headed conquests. Only time would tell if she was more to him than that. But she and Amyr could not be blamed for what happened in the trance that gave them Yori. Yet her father had every right to be angry with her. Since leaving Norvana, they could not keep their hands off each other, doing what only bonded mates should do, and frequently at that. They had been about to do it again in her father's home!
"By the gods!" he thundered furiously. "Between you and Taeron, my house has been ruined. Is there anything that Stryfe has done that has shamed me?" He turned away from her and paced for a moment, then his gaze was drawn to the steaming water. "How did that happen?"
"I did it,"she told him anxiously. "I … I have been taught to use magic."
"Magic?" He choked on the word. "You mean like Dagan?"
"I seem to have an affinity to fire," she told him, and with a wave of her hand, she demonstrated by making the torches flare.
His eyes widened and he looked at her speechlessly for a moment, then he shook his head. "The binary gets stranger and stranger. My own daughter is a sorceress."
"I am not a sorceress. I can use fire magic and a little healing, but not the kind of healing that Amyr and Yori are capable of."
Lord Duo shook his head. "I did not want to believe Taeron. So it is true? We suspected Amyr had received his powers, but Staefyn has full, strong Guerani power? Your mother returned this morning after spending the last few days at Edgeland Fortress taking care of sick trainees and he never gave her any indication that he had healing powers. Now I find out that he has orchestrated some scheme to take you from Amyr using those powers."
"Father! I did not encourage Staefyn. And if his intention was to take me, why would he try to remove Taeron? He grew up with Taeron. They were once friends and he surely had no reason to believe Taeron would object. If he had asked, Taeron probably would have pushed me into Staefyn's arms to keep me away from Amyr."
Her father rubbed his hand over his face and shook his head. "If what you say is true..."
"Father, Staefyn purchased me from Lord Mordrad! And when I could not be delivered, he surely arranged for his Varoonyan allies to attack my ship near Teralon and then again with gliders hiding at the pirate satellite so that I could not reach Calabria to report what he had done."
Lord Duo grunted. "He is a clever bastard. He could blame the attack at Teralon on the trouble we are now having with them, and since preying on damaged ships was a hallmark of the pirates, having your ship attacked near the satellite would make us suspect that the activity has started up again although I guarantee that the satellite is uninhabitable."
He sighed deeply. "Trey did confide in me that he was worried about Staefyn, that he was secretive, and discovering now that he was in love with you, I am not surprised that the female he claimed he was courting does not exist. We have to get to the surface to speak to Trey, to warn him before Staefyn shows up and stabs him in the back. After all that he has done, I doubt he intends to face him in an honorable duel."
"I will have the ship ready to take you down tomorrow."
"Does Staefyn know that Amyr is alive? He may be our ace in the hole. With Amyr's return, Staefyn may lose any support he might have gained from the warlords who would like his father's reign to end. Staefyn could never control them and is a fool if he plans to try."
"Staefyn would not challenge his father, would he?" Quynn knew how the reign on Calabria had passed from father to son for many generations, but she believed the tradition had ended with Arora killing Zeno after Trey had defeated him and chose to spare his life. She could not believe there were still Calabrians who would support Staefyn's primitive bid to become emperor.
"I think we can all safely say that we do not know what Staefyn is capable of." He sighed again and looked at her. "So you have made me a grandfather?"
Her father had been distracted by Staefyn and what she had to tell him about how Yori came to be agitated him even more.
"Staefyn planned for Amyr to die in that trance?"
"But Amyr pulled me in without realizing it," she told him.
"How? How could he call out to you from so far away?"
So she told him about the rose and the blood bond, and he stared at her impassively as she spoke, and when she told him that Carrinda had healed the bond, her father erupted in anger again.
"That rutting canyon beast is on the loose in my palace again without the benefit of a bond?"
She cringed at his crude comparison and she wondered if Amyr was listening or whether he had escaped to the far corners of the palace. "Father, Amyr suffered for years with that bond." Quynn cringed as she realized she was defending him.
"Serves him right after his behavior! Don't pretend you do not agree. It was the reason we did not want you to join with him. The only thing that made the match palatable was the knowledge that once you shared the bonding he would bond with you and we would not have to worry about him hurting you with his infidelity."
Quynn would not admit that she worried about his infidelity now that they had returned and he could have any woman with a snap of his fingers. "We have agreed to make this marriage work," she told him. "We will go through the ceremony..."
"What makes you think Trey will want you for his son now? Do you have any idea how appalling the circumstances of Yori's birth are? Not only was Amyr not with you when the child was born, he was not even physically with you when he was conceived!"
Her cheeks blazed with anger and embarrassment. "He agreed to our match! Yori is his grandson!" she exclaimed, furious that the emperor might reject her child.
"You don't really know what kind of hell your mother had to go through to be my wife, do you? You and I know that she was not to blame, that I was fully at fault for our separation, but that does not change how Calabrians perceived her, even Trey, for bearing my children without a bond. He was at least bonded to Arora when he gave her Shamara."
"Are you kidding me?" She could not believe what she was hearing. "Do you think that his behavior on L10 isn't still legend? He was worse than Amyr ever was and he was bonded!"
"Don't you dare say that to his face! Trey did not know who he was or why he was acting as he did. Amyr is fully cognizant of all these facts." He narrowed his eyes at her. "Have you and Amyr...?"
"Father!"
He threw up his hands in disgust and marched away from her. "I know exactly what that means." He paused at the door, but he did not turn to look at her and she felt so much shame that she wanted to cry. "Get some sleep. Tomorrow we will head down to the planet and try to liberate the Fortress. The rebels will know we are coming and they will have all the guns aimed at us. Only your skill will keep us from being incinerated."
She gave him a nervous smile. "I know what is expected of me. The god of death is my father, afterall."
His response was a grunt before he left her.
She stared at the doorway where he had disappeared, and when she felt hands on her waist, sliding up to cup her breasts, she gasped in surprise and turned to find herself in Amyr's arms.
"I didn't think he would ever leave."
Furious, she slapped his face, then shoved him back. "You heard everything he had to say? And yet you come in here and expect that I will have sex with you under my father's roof?"
"You are my wife!" Amyr ran a hand through his hair. "I have been waiting all day for this."
"You are acting as if we are bonded!"
"No," he said with assurance. "We are not bonded."
"How...?" The bottom seemed to drop out of her stomach and she grew cold. "Have you been with another woman?"
"Don't be ridiculous! Why would I want another woman? Is this how it will always be with us? I wanted to bond with you and you refused."
"So this is my fault? Get out!"
"Very well, I will go." He strode to the door to Stryfe's room.
"And don't pull me in a trance!" She did not trust him.
He threw up his hands in exasperation before he disappeared through the door.
"I hate him!"she muttered. She did not believe for a moment that he had not been flirting with another woman. He was incapable of fidelity, just as her father had said. Her own behavior with him sickened her, but she was stuck with him for better or worse. He was Yori's father and she was carrying another child, something she did not have the courage to tell her father. What was the sanctimonious emperor going to think of that?
After removing her suit, she checked it over carefully to make sure there was no damage before setting it aside. The water had cooled to that aggravating tepid state, but she did not bother heating again because she did not feel up to relaxing. Amyr had spoiled that enjoyment for her, so she washed quickly and when she finished, she pulled on a soft robe and went to her room. Seeing the bed suddenly made her realize how tired she was. She had thrown herself across the mound of cushions and pillows on the floor when the door opened and she lifted her head to tell Amyr to get out or she would set his hair on fire, but she saw a faint golden glow and she moved to sit up as Taeron came into the room.
"I am sorry that I told Lord Duo about Staefyn."
She realized he might have been able to hear their father yelling at her because his chamber was joined to the bathing chamber as well. When she stretched out her hand to him, he took it and she pulled him down on the bed with her and for a moment they held each other. They had both grossly dishonored their father. She had known Taeron less than two years and yet she loved him as much as she did Stryfe with whom she had shared their mother's womb.
"We are both idiots," she told him.
"I wish I had some weed to smoke," he admitted. "Your mother uses it all in her medicines."
"If she didn't, the emperor would probably smoke it all up," she muttered and was amused to feel him shaking with laughter. "What are we going to do, Taeron? What are you going to do?"
"For now, I must fight for the emperor. Father has commanded that I lead the men on the assault at Edgeland Fortress. That is something I can do without bungling, at least I hope I can. Staefyn must have wanted to be rid of me so that he could attack his father when I was gone."
"Then he wasted his opportunity." She would have said more, but the communication device in the wall began to beep. Quynn did not like the hologram communication of Calabria, especially now that she was sure Amyr was calling to apologize. She was in a weakened state and probably would beg him to come to her bed to hold her. Her father was right. She was one of his empty headed women.
"I don't want to talk to Amyr," she told Taeron.
He released her. "I will talk to him and then I will go to his room and be sure that he does not disturb you. It is my place anyway. I am still his imperial guard."
Taeron crossed the room and pressed the button to project the hologram.
Quynn gasped when Staefyn appeared in the room. Taeron turned to see the image and Quynn noticed that Amyr was in the doorway to the bathing chamber. He stepped back in the shadows so that his brother would not see him.
She went to stand with Taeron who took and squeezed her hand.
"Why am I not surprised to find Taeron in your chambers, my lady?" drawled Staefyn.
His insinuation disgusted her. "Taeron is my brother!"
"I think we all know that is not true."
"What are you talking about?" demanded Taeron furiously.
Staefyn shook his head in sympathy. "Poor Taeron, all these years you have been lied to. Did you never wonder why my father took such a special interest in you? Larya was his whore. You are his bastard."
Taeron sucked in his breath and Quynn saw Amyr clenching his fists, eager to come into the open. But they did not want Staefyn to know that Amyr was alive yet.
"You should thank me for disposing of Amyr for you, Quynn. He was Dilan's bastard. Everyone knew it and my father only tolerated him because he did not want to expose my mother's shame."
"You are a liar!" blurted Taeron furiously. "Emperor Trey is Prince Amyr's father. My mother told me exactly what happened. That despicable bastard Dilan did not violate Lady Arora."
"You rely on the word of that whore?" Taeron tensed and Quynn suspected that Staefyn knew exactly how to manipulate her brother. The love he felt for his mother made it difficult to hear her maligned. "She lied to you, Taeron. Why do you think Lord Duo never claimed you? He was waiting for my father to do it. I suppose he finally decided that one of his duties as his imperial guard was to cover up his mistakes. That is all you are, Taeron. A mistake."
Quynn's heart ached for Taeron who had been frozen by his words. She hoped he did not believe what Staefyn said.
Staefyn was now smiling grimly. "It is unfortunate that Taeron has returned. I had not expected to have to face him. I was hoping that Lord Duo would be sufficiently riled by the loss of his son – I do mean Stryfe, Taeron, not you – that he would refuse to help my father. I do thank you, Taeron, for making such a mess of Teralon. My father will never trust you again."
Quynn was shocked by the man speaking to them. His disdain and arrogance was unbelievable. "You are completely mad!"
"I think it may take a madman to rule these people,"he told her. "Taeron realizes he cannot stand against me, doesn't he? I have power he cannot fight."
She glanced at Taeron and remembering how he had glowed in the darkened room, she almost laughed at Staefyn. He might find facing her paladin brother more difficult than he could imagine. "Ask the gods for some understanding tonight, Staefyn, because I am bringing Taeron to the planet tomorrow and you will lose the Fortress. Once the emperor finds out you are behind all this, there isn't a place this side of the frontier where you will be safe from his wrath."
Staefyn shook his head sadly. "I am disappointed, Quynn. When I purchased you from those vile slave traders, I thought you would be grateful. I was going to treat you with the respect you deserve. Amyr never would have done that. That selfish bastard was spreading himself thin from one end of Calabria to the other. Is that what you wanted, Quynn? To share him with all those other women?"
His words drove straight to her heart and she knew exactly how Taeron was feeling. She glanced at Amyr who was looking away, his face betraying his shame. She imagined him seducing her mother's servants while she toiled on the ship, free of the bond that had held him to her. Now he raised his head, probably able to discern her feelings if not her exact thoughts and she wondered if he thought she would betray him to Staefyn.
"My sister is right," said Taeron as he stepped towards the communicator control. "You have lost your mind." He ended the communication.
Amyr stepped from the shadows. "I came to apologize. Because I tried to dishonor you in your father's home, not because I was cavorting with the females in this palace. More than one came to test my resolve, but I don't need a bond to reject them when I have you."
She wished she could believe him.
"I love you, Quynn." When she did not reply, Amyr turned to Taeron. "Can his ravings be true? Can I be Dilan's bastard and you my father's?"
Taeron shook his head. "Staefyn is delusional. Lady Trynity used her human technology to determine that I am Lord Duo's son. If you wish, she will do the same for you, but if you wish, you can find out for yourself." He held out his hands to Amyr. "If you need more proof, Shamara told me that she had known all along that I was his son. Don't you think she would have known about Dilan as well from touching you?"
Amyr stared at Taeron's hands for a moment, then he took them, surprising Quynn with what she believed was his lack of confidence. But Amyr squeezed Taeron's hands. "I am sorry that my brother hurt you with his spiteful words."
"I have lost my honor," sighed Taeron. "He knows it."
"Honor!" huffed Quynn irritably. "We would not even have this discussion on Earth. Father would say to you, 'I am so happy you found a woman to love, Taeron.' And to me he would say 'Quynn, the circumstances are not ideal, but I think you will make the most of your life with Amyr.'"
"Will you?" asked Amyr earnestly.
"I don't know," she smiled sadly at him. "I am frightened that I can never trust you."
"I will make you trust me," he assured her.
"Will you stay with me tonight? I don't want to be alone."
He lifted her and she laid her head on his shoulder as he carried her to the bed where he laid down with her and drew her close. When she felt the bed sag, she raised her head to see Taeron on the other side of Amyr.
"In the first place, I am still his imperial guard. I am not leaving him here alone with you." Her brother raised a brow as he looked at her. "He is in grave danger of you losing your temper since he is an idiot. Secondly, I have no intention of sleeping on the floor. I am weary and sore."
Amyr chuckled. "Where were you when she slapped me?"
"Probably weeping over the shame I caused my father."
"We are a miserable trio," said Amyr with a deep sigh. "Is this the plan of the gods for us?"
"The gods don't like us very much," commented Quynn.
"Tomorrow you will see that the gods are with us," said Taeron earnestly.
Amyr grunted. "What makes you think the gods aren't going to favor Staefyn?"
"Jeshed told me that I will always know what is right and what is the will of the gods. Tomorrow we will do what is right."
"What were the gods doing when you were biting Sharisse like some crazed rutting chieftain on the second moon?"
Taeron was silent for a moment and Quynn wanted to kick Amyr for bringing her up when Taeron seemed to be controlling his sickness for her. But Taeron responded calmly.
"It was right and it was the will of the gods."
Quynn laughed. "Keep telling yourself that, Taeron." She yawned and snuggled closer to Amyr. "We had better get some sleep. I have to pilot that craft and if I actually land it at the fortress, you guys have to brandish your swords."
"I would rather be brandishing my sword now," grumbled Amyr.
She heard Taeron chuckle and Quynn smiled as she closed her eyes. She might not be able to put her trust in the gods, but she could put her trust in the paladin.