Chapter 32
Taeron was checking his weapons before boarding the ship when his father's wife came to him. She hugged him and kissed his cheeks, and as she did, he felt her slip something into the pouch he carried beneath his tunic.
"What I gave you this morning should last until tomorrow. You must take more tonight or you will be in distress by first sunrise." That morning when Quynn helped him to the chamber her parents shared, he had been afraid that his father would answer the knock at the door, but she had appeared and knew immediately what he needed. Without waking her husband, she had dressed and taken him to her clinic where she prepared him a medicine by mixing water with a powder that worked quickly to ease the pain from being separated from his mate.
Taeron thought of Trynity as another mother although he had already come of age and received his sword before he had come to know her. When he first met her in the human system he had felt threatened by her on behalf of his mother because he had always secretly hoped Larya would entice Lord Duo to become her mate.
He did not want to think about what his ambitious mother was going to say about his dishonor now after all that she done for him.
Sighing, he glanced at his father who was speaking with Meridon. Lord Duo had not spoken to him since his brief report about Staefyn. His stomach knotted and he willed back the tears that threatened to shame him even more in his father's eyes. Imperial warriors did not weep before going into battle.
Lady Trynity hugged him again and he instantly felt better so he suspected she was using her weak magic on him. "You are his son, Taeron. He loves you."
"I have shamed him." The depth of the dishonor he had brought upon himself overwhelmed him. How could something that had seemed so right to him be so wrong?
His father's wife took his face between her hands and her green eyes met his. "Do not go into battle with these thoughts, Taeron."
He covered her hands with his own and he managed to smile down at her. "I wish you could be there with me when I must face my mother."
She laughed. "Forgive me, Taeron, but that is a battle I do not want to witness."
"It is time to go!" barked Lord Duo in his direction although he did not look at him as he turned to join the men now mounting horses to head to the field where Quynn had managed to land the ship with minimum damage to either the ship or the landing area.
"I know that voice. I would get going if I were you." Lady Trynity gave Taeron one last kiss on the cheek. "My the gods protect you, Taeron," she murmured in his ear before stepping back.
Taeron left her and went to a horse that Darlac was holding, and when he mounted he saw that his father had guided his horse to his wife and pulled her up to give her a kiss that made Taeron wish Sharisse were here so he could do the same. Instead she was suffering because of his actions and he could not help her even if he was free to do so. His father had made quite clear that he could never have Sharisse.
When they reached the ship, Taeron entered with Darlac and his men and helped to secure them in the cargo bay for what would probably be a turbulent trip to the surface. He was in the process of strapping himself in when his father entered the cabin and his glare of disapproval made Taeron lower his head. He was aware of Darlac's eyes on him and he knew the other man wondered at the silent exchange.
His father spoke. "You are the hero of Varoonya. Come up to the control room so that you may be the first off the ship because when you do, I am quite certain that more than one man will wet himself to see your sword raised over his head."
"Your sword invokes fear as well, my lord," said Taeron in earnest.
Lord Duo grunted but said no more as he turned and left.
"Your lord father is angry with you?" Darlac was surprised. Taeron and Darlac had fought together during the entire Varoonyan campaign, but he would not share his dishonor with him now. He did not want to see his disappointment.
"I have displeased him," was all he said before moving forward to join his father in the control room.
Quynn had removed the garb she had worn for the blessing and was wearing her shocking battle suit with which she controlled the ship. Taeron had begged her to find something else to wear, but she insisted it was necessary, and now he looked away although the first time he had seen her she had been wearing something similar. He had gawked at her then, shocked that a female would expose herself in public, and while she had impressed upon him the necessity of wearing it now, his sense of propriety was still horrified by her attire. By the downturn of his father's lips when he glanced at her, he felt the same.
Stryfe took the seat next to Taeron. "You aren't going to puke again, are you?"
Their father snorted. "Is he still doing that?"
"And fainting," his human brother added with a chuckle although Amyr shot him a glare.
Taeron felt deeply ashamed when his father shook his head, believing that Lord Duo was disgusted with what he perceived as weakness. Lady Trynity had given him an explanation for his debilitating behavior in space, but Taeron only saw it as a failing. He was determined this time not to lose consciousness when his sister maneuvered the ship off the moon.
The ship started humming as Quynn ran her fingers over the control panel and Taeron's heart began to beat faster. "You had better be strapped in," she announced, "because once I reach the atmosphere, we only have about thirty seconds before the fortress starts firing on us."
He took deep breaths in an attempt to calm his nerves and he stared straight ahead at the viewer as the ship lifted away from the moon. Taeron knew that Amyr was watching him with concern, but he was strapped in on the other side of Stryfe so he would not be able to reach him. Taeron needed to remember his own lectures to Amyr, to focus on the battle, not the sickening fear of shaming himself on the trip to the planet.
"Calm down!" barked his father who seemed to be aware of his distress.
Suddenly all the weight of his dishonor was crushing him, and he knew no matter what he did, he could not redeem himself in the emperor's eyes, nor his father's. And yet he did not want to be redeemed. He wanted Sharisse! The last thought he had before he blacked out when the craft shot straight up to leave Ulfynaeus was that life without her was no life at all.
The first blast from the surface glanced off the ship's shields, and when it rocked the ship, Taeron's eyes snapped open to see streaks of light coming towards the them which Quynn deftly guided the ship to avoid.
"Sorry about that guys!" His sister was laughing! "I just wanted them to think they had a chance." She turned her head and her gaze met Taeron's. He nodded in gratitude, knowing that she had allowed the hit to wake him.
"Don't do it again," barked their father with annoyance. "I would rather not be incinerated by your sense of fair play."
The ship spun and Taeron was proud that he did not pass out again, but the following movements almost did him in again. The energy blasts from the fortress came one after another and while she managed to dodge them, Taeron's stomach heaved and he was glad the only thing he had put in his stomach that morning was the medicine Lady Trynity had prepared for him. Quynn weaved the ship back and forth, up and down, and Taeron closed his eyes tightly as she took it through the atmosphere, now with the nose down and headed rapidly toward the surface at a speed he was sure would kill them all.
"Cupcake, are you going to bring it up a bit?" Taeron heard his father's concerned voice as if from far away. In another moment, Taeron was going to pass out again. His head was spinning and he could not breathe as his heart raced with as much speed as the ship.
"Are you wetting yourself, father? " she tossed over her shoulder with a laugh. "I know what I am doing."
The ship lurched to the side and Taeron gagged.
"Did you do that intentially?" demanded Lord Duo, and Taeron raised his head to see that his father was white-faced.
"I just wanted to see what this old thing is still capable of," she told him and Taeron wondered if she was still talking about the ship. His father was glaring at her back, but she did not give him a chance of respond before she called out, "Hey! Do you think the emperor will be pissed if I blast his cannons?"
"That is the least of his problems now." Her question had apparently been rhetorical because Lord Duo had only said a couple of words before Taeron saw the missiles she fired at the planetary defense battery. They were close enough now that the explosion was visible and she had to veer away from the debris that shot into the air.
"I think Taeron is still with us," remarked Stryfe.
Taeron blinked in surprise, for the first time believing that he could somehow salvage his honor.
"Rough landing!" warned Quynn just before the craft hit the surface, bouncing several times before coming to a stop.
He didn't remember doing it, but Taeron must have unlatched his restraints because he was dashing for the hatch, the hilt of his sword in his hand. He faintly heard Quynn's laugh and his father's surprised shout, and Quynn must have activated the hatch because it quickly opened and he leapt out, somersaulting high in the air, drawing his sword and when he came to his feet, he held the sword before him to challenge his enemy.
Dozens of men – creatures from the looks of their red eyes and the grayish tint of their flesh – had been rushing forward to challenge the occupants of the lead ship, but they fell back from him. Taeron was sickened to see that someone had turned so many Calabrians into battle thralls, men that had lost their will, who could only be killed by removing their heads and even then their corpses had to be burned.
"What in the name of the gods is that?" he heard his father shout.
"Battle thralls," Darlac answered him. "The Varoonyans masters …"
"I am not talking about that! Why is my son glowing?"
"Long story, father," he heard Stryfe say. "I'll tell you later."
"Is every one of my children a freak?" demanded Lord Duo. "What amazing powers do you have?"
"The power to annoy," Amyr responded for Stryfe.
As for Taeron, he did not wait for anyone to join him.
"Shamara!"
He shouted the imperial battle cry and charged forward with his blade swinging. He heard echoes of the same shout behind him from Amyr and his father, before Darlac and his men emerged from the opening of the cargo bay. After that, Taeron lost himself in the battle, swinging his sword to attack, bringing it before him to defend, again and again. He did not regret destroying the Calabrians into whose bodies his sword sliced with ease as he darted among them. Their essence had long since gone to the gods and only the empty husk remained to do the will of their creator.
The battle seemed to last for hours. The creatures poured out of the fortress in waves, many of the men probably recently having been turned into thralls in the capture of the fortress. The two ships following theirs from the moon landed, one with imperial warriors under Lord Duo's command and another filled with more tribesmen. At some point their own forces were joined by reinforcements that came from the direction of the imperial city, but Taeron only had time to notice their arrival to see who commanded them.
He did not stop swinging his sword until there was nothing left to fight, and that was when he realized that his body was aching, his arms were throbbing and he was covered in what appeared to be soot. On Varoonya such a battle would leave him soaked in the noxious rotting blood of the creatures, but he realized now that they had been easier to kill. Turning, he saw the trail of where he had been by the ashes left in his wake. He wondered if these were different creatures than those he had fought on Teralon and Varoonya, but then he saw his father standing in a group of men, their clothing filthy from the sludge their swords had flung into the air.
"Take it down a notch," remarked Stryfe with a chuckle when he came to his side.
Blinking, Taeron turned to look at his brother. "I am sorry." He didn't know what else to say when he did not know what he was talking about.
Stryfe was smiling as his gaze swept over Taeron. "Do you think I will get burned if I touch you? Father's blaming Amyr for turning you and Quynn into sideshow freaks. I think he is waiting for me to exhibit some divine powers."
Taeron looked back towards his father and he was both surprised and horrified to see that the emperor himself had joined in the battle and was covered in the dark muck from the creatures he had killed. Although he knew Trey had fought many battles to keep his reign, the last of his opposition had been vanquished and exiled to the moons before Taeron had been born. He had never seen the emperor holding the wicked sword that had once belonged to Zeno before today and he was awed by the sight.
"Does he know about Amyr?" he asked his brother.
"No. Father doesn't think we should tell him until we have reached the safety of the palace. Amyr is helping the men collect the bodies that you didn't incinerate with your sword."
To keep from looking suspicious, Amyr would have to do such work in order to remain hidden among his new clansmen. Taeron had a hard time imagining him doing it so he looked around to see where he was, but he could not tell him from any of the other dark-clad men who were dragging body parts to piles. Quynn was stepping around puddles of the vile ooze that had once been their blood. She paused to speak to one man and by the way he moved protectively towards her, Taeron knew it was Amyr. He bent to say something to her, and she stretched out her hands towards a pile of mangled corpses. Within seconds hot white fire shot from her hands to engulf the pile.
"By the gods, Duo, is that your daughter?" The emperor had taken notice of her, so Amyr moved away from her and quickly found a corpse to haul to a more distant pile.
Taeron wished he could dodge the emperor as well, but he would have to face the consequences of what he had done.
"It is a long story that I am sure Stryfe will regale you with," he heard his father respond. "I have every intention of listening with you since not a single one of those ungrateful wretches will tell me anything." He was lying, of course, but Taeron was glad because this battlefield was no place for Trey to find out that his son was plotting against him and had caused the deaths of so many of his people. "She will come to the palace when she has finished. Meridon's men will be sure of it."
"As long as she doesn't hop in that ship and fly away again," muttered Trey.
Taeron watched as the emperor mounted a horse and Taeron's father mounted another before the two headed in his direction. Swallowing nervously, he dropped to his knee and lowered his head as they drew closer. He started to raise his sword, but the emperor's voice stopped him.
"Don't bother, hero of Varoonya." Emperor Trey's voice was cold. "After what you have done here today, I dare not make your dishonor public. I have enough insurrection to deal with. I don't need to add the rebellion of my imperial warriors when they do not understand what you have done. Oversee the clean up of this mess, then present yourself at the palace. I am not the only person that you failed. Queen Neria managed to escape Teralon and arrived here several days ago. She awaits the man who has probably caused her daughter's death."
He urged the horse forward and Taeron's father did not even look at him.
"Well, that could have been worse," remarked Stryfe as he came to stand by Taeron to watch them leave. "At least he didn't cut off your head."
"Scribe!" shouted Trey over his shoulder. "Return now! I will hear what you have to say."
Stryfe sighed. "I suppose it was inevitable."
Taeron put his hand on Stryfe's arm to stop him from taking the horse that one of the emperor's men hurried to bring him. "Please let him know that what happened was my fault, that Sharisse was not to blame."
His brother swung up on the horse, but he looked down at Taeron. "Brother, we are all to blame. What do you think our father and the emperor will say when I tell them that I was masquerading as you?"
"That no one in their right mind would believe you are the hero of Varoonya?" Although he was very well disguised, Taeron recognized Amyr who had come with Darlac and Quynn.
Stryfe frowned at him. "You know what my favorite part of the story is? The part where Taeron rammed your own sword through your heart – not once, but twice. That was entertaining and fulfilling at the same time."
Before Amyr could respond, Darlac exclaimed, "What is that creature?" He was staring in the sky, his mouth wide open.
"That is Jeshed," Amyr told him.
Darlac stared at the creature with wide eyes. "But … but I sat near him on the ship!"
The men scattered as the huge dragon that Taeron recognized landed on the battlefield. Yori was riding his neck behind his head and his eyes were wide as he viewed the carnage left on the ground.
"Not on your life, dragon," snorted Amyr, responding aloud to something Jeshed had said that only Amyr could hear. "I am not riding you and I forbid my wife..."
Quynn had stepped into the dragon's claw, ignoring her mate's obvious displeasure and Jeshed put her on his neck near Yori before Amyr could finish his interdiction. The dragon sprang into the air, then dived down to blow fire over the battlefield that passed over the warriors harmlessly but turned the bodies into piles of ash.
"I suppose that means we have to go to the palace now rather than later," commented Amyr, watching with a frown as the dragon flew away with his wife and son.
Jeshed flew towards the fortress and Taeron worried that there might still be rebels hiding within. Giving the order for the men to follow, Taeron hurried across the battlefield to Edgeland Fortress. The gates were wide open and the dragon was perched atop the highest tower, but Taeron saw that Quynn and Yori must have dismounted. There were rebels in the training grounds waiting to attack, but Jeshed suddenly roared and while the sound only made Taeron pause, the rebels became stone still, giving the imperial warriors time to rush into the fortress. Taeron looked up and saw that the dragon had disappeared, so he concluded that Jeshed must have shifted back to his human form.
The remainder of the day, Taeron and his men swept through the enormous fortress, rooting out thralls that were scattered in the many rooms of the former palace of Dax the Demon. Following Trey's ascension as emperor, Amyr's uncle, Apolo, had lived there for many years raising the daughters he had saved from exposure in the Wastelands until he had taken Taeron's mother as his mate. He resided at Edgeland only occasionally although he was still the Wastelands governor, preferring to live with Larya on Dagmaeus.
The Edgeland Fortress once stood at the edge of the great desert known as the Wastelands that stood between the oasis where the imperial city was built and the mountains that could be seen far in the distance. When Trey had defeated Dax in a trance, the gods had shown their favor by bringing the rains that made the Wastelands the fertile plain that it was today. As Taeron stood on the highest walkway of the fortress and stared across the plain towards the mountains were he knew the Guerani Palace was, he felt a tug in his heart and he thought he heard sorrowful murmurings from very far away, but he could not make out the words. Shaking his head, he stared intently in the direction of Guerani Palace, too far away to be seen in the mountains. He could not believe that the gods would cause their favored emperor pain from his son's betrayal.
Amyr joined him and for a moment they stood silently staring in the distance before Amyr said, "There are no survivors."
There had been a large squadron of imperial warriors at the Edgeland Fortress, along with many young recruits who came to train from the same venerable masters that Taeron and his father had learned from. Some of the recruits were only children, and now they were all gone because of Staefyn's lust for power.
"Where is Quynn?" he asked Amyr. He was heartsick at the senseless loss of life and he could see that the Guerani crown prince felt it as well.
"She is working on the communication systems," Amyr told him. "I think her skills are better put to work on that than coming to the palace to listen to my father's rebuke. She feels responsible for what happened because of Staefyn's obsession with her."
"She is not responsible." Taeron took his eyes off the mountains and turned to look at Amyr. "What is out there that would do this to your brother?"
"Nothing," said Amyr. "A few mountain tribes, some goats, plenty of rabbits and a canyon beast here and there. He can hardly claim to be wanting anything when he has been living in Guerani Palace as crown prince. I cannot even believe that Staefyn could do such things among the strongest presence of the ancestors."
Yet something had made Staefyn turn against those that loved him, something that was in those mountains. Taeron did not believe that the creatures that Shamara and Dagan had fought five years ago had returned. Nor did he believe that Kai could have turned him so quickly if someone else hadn't already begun the process long ago. But when Taeron tried to recall their youth together, his head began to ache and he realized that he had overtaxed his body this day. He did not know when he was going to be able to rest when he was expected at the palace.
Darlac joined them. "Lady Quynn requests your presence in the communications room."
Taeron took the lead while Amyr walked behind him with Darlac. He was still disguised so he looked like another clansman in case anyone saw him. They could not be certain that Staefyn did not have spies who would report that Amyr was alive and when Staefyn found out, he would not rest until he had removed the obstacle standing between him and the emperor.
When they arrived in the communications room, they found Quynn all but buried in a tangled mass of cords that she was sorting through, panels pulled off several walls where the heart of Calabrian space communication was now exposed.
"I don't know what he is planning," she said over her shoulder after they had entered and closed the door leaving them alone, "but if he is counting on help from his Varoonyan friends, he will have a hell of a time contacting them with this mess."
"There is interplanetary communication at Guerani Palace," Taeron told her. "And since Staefyn has control of that palace, by disrupting communications here, he prevents the emperor from calling for aide from his warlords and allies on other planets. They do not even realize what is happening on Calabria and by the time they do, Staefyn may have already seized power."
"He can't be too happy that you have returned, Taeron," remarked Amyr.
"He will be even less happy that you have returned," Quynn pointed out. "Even though he is demented enough to believe that Taeron is your father's bastard..."
"That is outrageous!"barked Darlac. "Where would he have … ?" He suddenly fell silent and Taeron guessed he had an idea of where Staefyn had come up with his conclusions. Staefyn could not have believed the malicious rumors at the palace, not when his parents had never made secret their intent for taking Taeron into their house.
"If you know something, share it with us," prompted Amyr.
Darlac frowned and then he said, "I was a small boy when we left the surface, but I remember an old woman who lived in the hills that often sorted through our refuse for rags to wear or items she could use. She claimed to know secrets of the imperial family that would destroy them, but no one paid her any heed."
Taeron exchanged looks with Amyr. "I guess she found someone to listen."
"I never thought Staefyn was a fool," commented Amyr. "She must have been very persuasive."
"We may need to pay a visit to the witch if she is still in the hills," said Taeron.
"It has been many years since we have been on the moon," Darlac reminded him. "She may be dead but her lies live on among the rebels in the hills."
Amyr looked at Quynn. "Where is Yori?"
"Here I am, father!" The boy was hiding in a pile of wires and his head popped out, a wide grin on his lips. "You knew where I was!"
Amyr laughed and dragged his son from the pile to kiss his cheeks. "Are you learning something useful from your mother?"
Jeshed's head suddenly emerged from the same pile of wires. "We are locating a blue wire for her."
"If she can spare you, I think it is time for Yori to meet his grandfather."
"I already met him," said Yori. "Grandfather Duo let me ride upon his shoulders."
"You are going to meet my father, your other grandfather. You can ride on my horse with me."
"Now that I can turn into a dragon in this plane, I can take him..." offered Jeshed before Amyr cut him off.
"He will come with me." As he propped Yori on his hip, he took Quynn's hand and drew her to him. He did not seem to care that his display of affection made Darlac uncomfortable, but Taeron could only think about what he had lost, that he would never hold a woman like Amyr now held Quynn.
Amyr bent his head to speak in low tones to her, conveying his love for her in gentle warnings to remain at the fortress with the warriors and take the ship back to the moon at the first sign of danger. Taeron felt a wave of heat wash over him, reminding him that it was late enough in the day now that he should ingest the powder Lady Trynity had given him. But when he reached for the pouch beneath his tunic, he could not find it and realized it must have fallen off on the battlefield. He swallowed nervously and pushed back the panic threatening to undo him. He was only feeling mild symptoms so he should be able to face the emperor with some dignity if they rode at breakneck speed to the imperial city.
Unfortunately, the ride to the palace was not without incident. Halfway between the fortress and the city, his force of a couple dozen men was attacked, but this time the attackers were not battle thralls, but fully trained imperial warriors. Normally, they would not have posed much of a threat to Taeron, but as he fought, he became weaker and he lost focus several times. By the time the fight was over, he could barely lift his sword and he did not realize he had been injured until Darlac forced him to sit and he ripped open his tunic to expose a wicked slash across his back.
"My lord, you are burning with fever," said the clansman as he dabbed at the wound. "Could they have poisoned their blades?"
Amyr came to them then and Taeron tried to push him away, but he was in no shape to fight him. "I can heal the wound, but I cannot do anything about the other problem."
"Other problem?" Darlac asked. He narrowed his eyes at Taeron who lowered his head, hoping that he did not guess his affliction. But the other man was older and more experienced. ""You have recently mated. Why are you not with your mate?"
Because Amyr's healing power was new, it felt as if he were searing his back, but Taeron did not flinch despite the pain. "I have been separated from my mate," he told Darlac.
Fortunately Darlac did not question how that came to be. "I remember those first days,"he said with a shake of his head. "Even with my wife at my side, it was distracting. When she sickened with a fever, Lady Trynity came to heal her and she helped me was well with her potions until we could resume our relations."
"She is a miracle worker," agreed Taeron, wishing he could have a dose of her miracle now. His flesh had knitted but still ached and Amyr told him it would remind him to focus on the battle. Taeron managed to laugh when Amyr threw his own training words back at him although it cause him some discomfort. He needed help mounting his horse and refused when Jeshed, who had taken Yori to a safe distance when the fight began, offered to take him the rest of the way on the back of the dragon. Since Jeshed had difficulty controlling his horse, he returned Yori to Amyr who hid his son under his cloak.
They reached the palace at dawn, and by that time Taeron was feeling his illness acutely as well as the irritating ache from the wound on his back. He had barely come to a stop in the courtyard when his father came out.
"Where have you been?" He demanded tersely and then he noted Taeron's torn tunic. "Is that blood? Are you injured?" Taeron could barely remain in the saddle and Amyr and Darlac both came to help him dismount, but Lord Duo shoved them aside and Taeron was overwhelmed with emotion when his father held out his arms and then held him to his chest briefly after he managed to slide from the horse's back.
His father ducked under his arm and steadied him with an arm around his waist below the wound. "I don't think you have ever been injured."
"Stryfe injured me on Mars Colony." Taeron was able to laugh although the sound was weak and ended with him catching his breath from the pain. He did not tell his father about the time Amyr had tried to kill him on Norvana. That admission would not end well for Amyr who now lowered his head as he must have thought of the incident as well.
His father grunted. "Ah, yes, I remember him punching you in the nose. You were quite shocked by his dishonorable actions."
"Taeron has since realized that beating others with his fists is gratifying," remarked Amyr.
"Only gratifying when I am beating you," Taeron said.
His father frowned. "When Amyr is recognized again as crown prince, you may wish to curtail those activities. I don't think one of the duties of his imperial guard is physical chastisement."
"It should be," grumbled Taeron and he saw Amyr smile. Was he remembering the sound beating he had given the crown prince after he had betrayed Quynn and she had fled. Amyr had not denounced him then; he would not denounce him in the future because he knew that he would be on the receiving end of such a beating again only if he earned it.
Yori poked his head out from under Amyr's cloak. "Good morning, grandfather."
"Good morning, Prince Yori. Are you ready to surprise your other grandfather?"
"Is he really an emperor?"
"He likes to think he is," snorted Lord Duo.
Jeshed came forward. "Do you want me to take Yori?" he asked Amyr.
Lord Duo looked at him with his brows drawn together. "You look familiar even though I know it is impossible because you have come from beyond the frontier, but …." He peered past Taeron to Jeshed who stared at him without blinking. "Those eyes..." He shook his head. "Trynity will be arriving later today and she will be able to help you then, Taeron. She may have some information about your white-haired friend. I think she was planning to study his DNA today."
"She said that I made an excellent lab rat," remarked Jeshed with pride.
Remembering her clinic with many small white rodents that had been sent from the human colonies to aid in her research, Taeron smiled and he guessed that Amyr was trying not to laugh when Jeshed seemed so pleased with himself.
Instead, Amyr asked, "Does my father know about me? Did Stryfe tell him everything?"
"Stryfe only told him about Quynn and what she has been doing, leaving out details that I don't think Trey will want to hear from anyone but you."
Even though he had not actually dishonored Quynn, he had, point in fact done so in the trance they shared when he knew they had not gone through the bonding ceremony. Yet, how could Amyr be blamed when he thought he was having a dream? Lord Duo seemed to have forgiven them, but he was human and had not had the customs of Calabria impressed on him all his life. The emperor was raised a Calabrian imperial, so his forgiveness could not be as easily gained, not for Amyr and certainly not for Quynn. Looking at Yori, Taeron feared the future that awaited him because he had lived through it, and if Staefyn's vile accusations were any indication, he would never be free of the stigma of his father's rejection. Fatherless males had to work so much harder to overcome their mother's shame.
"He doesn't know about Amyr," Lord Duo said, "And he doesn't know about Yori, but I don't know how Arora could not know that Amyr has returned and she must have sensed Yori's presence. Alas, I did not get a chance to talk to her. Trey kept me at his side all day and I did not see Arora."
"She knew about Amyr," Taeron said. "I didn't understand until Quynn told me that he was alive why she gave me Amyr's sword. She meant for me to return it to him."
Lord Duo's lips pursed together in thought for a moment and then he said, "Now that I know you have Guerani powers, Amyr, I think you bonded to your mother shortly after your birth." He rubbed his face with his hands and scratched his head, proving to Taeron that the memory was disturbing to his father. "We did not know she was laboring during the attack on the palace the night of your birth, not when she fought like a lion to drive back Caron and his warriors, and when the battle was over and I went to her to report that we had cleared out the bastards, she was holding you in her arms."
Something about his father's story did not ring true to Taeron although he had heard it many times and had admired Lady Arora for her bravery in defending the imperial palace from house Caron.
"I don't think she did not knew about Amyr until I brought Amyr's sword back and she held it in her hands." Taeron told his father. Why would his father lie about the attack on the palace? And yet Taeron felt that he had.
"Ah, yes, a little magic in the sword." His father shook his head. "Over the years she has become as powerful as Dax although I do not often see her use her powers."
As for his father's story of Arora's bravery, Taeron did not want to point out that not having her mate with her when her child was born made the circumstances of Amyr's birth suspicious. He wondered if Amyr was considering the same thing in light of Staefyn's wild claims. A male who did not attend the birth of his mate's child did not claim it. Why had Arora not waited for Trey to be with her and why had Trey not made every effort to be with her, leaving her instead with his imperial guard? How many Calabrians questioned Amyr's right to follow his father? Did they believe Staefyn to be the true heir because he had been born into the emperor's hands?
As they got Taeron to a room so that he could clean up and change his clothing to meet the emperor, he thought about his own birth and how little he knew of it. His earliest memories were of the imperial palace, but he must have been born on the first moon where his mother had governed. Taeron had never thought about what his mother had done when the man that had fathered her child did not step forward to claim him, but he suddenly needed to know.
A guard came to escort them to the emperor, and after Amyr exited with Jeshed, hiding Yori under his cloak, Taeron hung back, closing the door so that he could speak privately to his father who stood behind him.
Reluctantly, knowing that the following discussion would be difficult for them both, he turned to face him. "I know that you cannot forgive me," he began, but Lord Duo cut him off.
"I would gladly forgive you if I believed that female cared anything for you. But I am sure that Sharisse was Balak's last hope of destroying the pact his queen made with Trey. She used you, Taeron, and it shocks me that you could fall prey to such a female. Trey believed that you were incorruptible, that the honor that the gods blessed you with would not permit you to stray from your duty. If he had thought it possible, he might have told you why the marriage was so important, but he did not want you to feel as though you were being used."
"I do not feel as though I have been corrupted," Taeron told him, pushing back the resentment that the emperor had bartered him to Teralon. What gave the emperor the right to determine the future of his house? Taeron wanted to make his life with a woman that he loved, and he could not have loved Princess Dijana.
He would never believe that Sharisse was the duplicitous creature they believed her to be. She had suffered too much, and if she was as they claimed, then she was a very dangerous woman. He deserved any punishment given for having been fooled, but it would not change his feelings for her.
Lord Duo sighed deeply. "When you fall in love, you lose all sense of right and wrong, Taeron. Can you even imagine the insanity of Trey challenging his father when he had only just come of age? His love for Arora drove him to it."
Trey had defeated Zeno on that occasion, so Taeron could argue that his love for Arora had made him stronger. Taeron would not say that to his father, especially not in light of his own circumstances. The gods surely had no hand in his feelings for Sharisse because they must be wrong when he had betrayed so many people.
"Let us get this over with. Trey is waiting and Queen Neria wants a pound of your flesh." Taeron wondered if that meant she would remove parts of his body, but then he realized it was one of those human sayings that probably meant she was going to punish him in some terrible way that would be worse than extracting a pound of his flesh. He deserved no less for being a fool.
But Taeron balked at leaving and Duo looked at him with his brows raised. "I have never believed you to be a coward, Taeron."
He felt like a coward now because he was embarrassed to ask the questions to learn what he suddenly considered important. "I need to know, father, who was with my mother when I was born?" Taeron knew in his heart that his mother would have sought Lord Duo at the most important moment of her child's life.
He was surprised to see his father's cheeks redden. "You have never asked."
"I am asking now."
"Now? Why would you ask such a thing now?" He reached for the door, clearly unwilling to answer.
"Staefyn told us that he believes the emperor is my father."
He turned slowly and met Taeron's eyes. "I am sorry, Taeron, but I was not with Larya. You know that I long maintained that you were not my son. That I refused her that last time when she came to me is a shameful act that I must live with for the rest of my life."
"Was I born on the moon?" This conversation hurt more than Taeron thought it would. If Queen Neria insisted on taking his life, he would go to his death knowing the circumstances of his birth.
"Now is not the time for this conversation."
Taeron had a sick feeling in his stomach. "I was born in the palace."
"Trey is not your father!" insisted Lord Duo, running a nervous hand though his own hair. "I was on the surface and despite her exile, she followed me and came to the palace that night, angry that I refused to acknowledge the child she was carrying."
He met Taeron's gaze and he saw as well as felt his deep sorrow. "I am sorry, Taeron, but how could I when doing so would have destroyed all hope of ever being with Trynity again? How could I take that woman into my house? She was just a whore that had used my loneliness against me."
Taeron ached as he realized that he was the product of his mother's desperation and his father's despair. Why would the emperor's imperial guard want anything to do with the whore that had tried to kill the emperor? Larya had seen Duo as a means to an end, but she had not gotten the end that she had envisioned.
His father continued. "I told Trey to throw her out, and then I found a bottle of brandy that Trey's mother cooked up and I drank it until I was puking drunk."
Taeron felt light-headed, and not just because of his condition. "The emperor was with my mother when I was born."
"Arora was there too," said Lord Duo defensively. "After everything Larya did to them for Xuxa, Arora knew you were my child and she did not want you to suffer. They both knew that Trynity was carrying Stryfe and Quynn when I left her behind, and Trey hoped that he could give you the protection of his house until I came to my senses. You were born into Trey's hands in my stead."
Taeron should have been proud of the honor the emperor had given him by bringing him into his house until Lord Duo accepted the responsibility, but now it was causing Trey trouble in ways he could not have foreseen. "Staefyn must have found out what happened. He thinks I am Trey's son."
"I don't give a gods' damn what Staefyn thinks! He is a conniving wasteland swine that I will gladly butcher for what he did at the fortress. There were dozens of boys there training, boys barely old enough to lift a sword and he had them killed!"
"The warlords may blame Trey for the deaths of their sons."
His father shook his head sadly. "It seems like only yesterday that we put down the last of the imperial rebellions. I did not want to see my children fighting other Calabrians." His gaze rested on Taeron. "I did not want them spilling their blood."
Taeron would not have spilled his blood in the first place had he not allowed a female to burrow under his skin. As he walked weakly behind his father in the direction of the emperor's private receiving room, he understood now why females had been placed in the Wastelands. Their power over males was dangerous despite their necessity for the survival of their race.