Chapter 47
Waking after a disturbed night of sleep, Taeron frowned as he realized he was trapped in his bed. Jeshed was laying next to him, his head on his shoulder while Amyr was sprawled across the foot of his bed snoring loudly. Stryfe lay on the mat on the floor, his arm curled around a half-clothed female.
After they had left the previous evening for the banquet that Amyr forbade him from attending so that he could continue to recover in bed, Taeron had difficulty resting. He wanted to see Dijana, to apologize for what he had done to her in the council chamber, but Stryfe convinced him that the proud princess would probably not attend and Taeron knew he was right because Dijana had not come out of her room since his arrival except to present her petition to the council. He managed to doze, but he was awakened by Jeshed's sudden entrance in the room as if the denizens of the netherworld were on his heels.
Taeron had his daggers in his hands instantly to protect him, but no one was following him, so he relaxed and watched Jeshed pace erratically, trembling and wringing his hands. He wondered if he was worried about Quynn again.
After several moments, he realized Jeshed was not going to speak, so with an inward sigh he asked, "What troubles you, brother?" Calling him 'brother' seemed strange to him, but he could not look at him without seeing both his mother and his father in the shapeshifter, so it was beginning to feel natural to him.
Jeshed stopped mid-stride and he looked at Taeron. "When I see her, I cannot breathe and I have a disturbing feeling in my chest, as if it is going to burst."
Her? He was going to ask who he was speaking about, but Jeshed continued.
"Gracious Queen Neria," Gracious? Queen Neria? "told me about the interactions between males and females."
Taeron groaned aloud. "Jeshed, what did that woman tell you?" At least Taeron had not had to hear Neria's advice although she made it very clear that he needed it, but now Jeshed was going to have to hear it again from Larya.
"She explained how males and females fit together," Jeshed told him and Taeron could see that Jeshed was not sure about the mechanics but Taeron was not going to give him any further instruction. "And when I saw her coming towards me, this body reacted in preparation of mating!"
Taeron winced at the blunt description he gave of his arousal. "Whoever this female is, do not let her know." Was he really giving Jeshed advice? The gods knew he had little experience in such matters! "Keep this information to yourself, and for the love of the gods, do not act upon your urges unless you are bonded." Did shapeshifters bond?
"Stryfe acts frequently upon his urges," argued Jeshed. "I have seen him many times with females with whom he is not bonded. And I know that Prince Amyr …"
"I would not use them as examples," Taeron interrupted him. "Our brother cannot bond with a female and Amyr was a selfish bastard interested in only his pleasures." He also suspected that his excessive need for females had something to do with the emergence of his healing powers, given what he knew about Apolo's shameful experiences with females in his youth.
Jeshed sank down on the edge of his bed, and he sagged forward until he put his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. "I am not worthy of her."
"Queen Neria?" Was he attracted to her? She was a beautiful woman, but Taeron thought Roehan might have an objection. The warrior did not like him as it was, so he did not want his brother snooping around the man's mate.
"I cannot even speak to her!"
No one could speak to that woman once she had something to say. How had Roehan spent the last twenty years with her?
"I have come to realize that people defer to those who have royal blood, and I do not have royal blood. Does that mean she will not consider me as a mate?" Jeshed seemed to be agitated by the thought.
Taeron sighed. "Jeshed, you belong to two powerful Calabrian houses. You are a worthy mate for any female, but you should wait until you have proven yourself before trying to take a mate. And Queen Neria already has a mate, so you should consider another female."
Jeshed turned his head to look at him. "I was speaking of Princess Chaela."
"Chaela?" Taeron was relieved because he had no idea how Neria would react to the attentions of his shape-shifting brother.
"She is the mate the gods have chosen for me."
Taeron doubted that Chaela was in the frame of mind to commit to another male after what had happened with Avar. "She has been badly abused," he told Jeshed. "She will need time to heal."
"I have felt her anger and sorrow," Jeshed responded with a nod. "Do you think, with time, that she would look kindly upon me?"
Since he did not know how the emperor would react to Jeshed, Taeron could not reassure him. "When we return to Calabria, you will begin your imperial training and you will not have time to think about females. In the meantime, you can get to know Princess Chaela."
This advice seemed to relax Jeshed, so he began to question Taeron about the man and woman that he considered their mutual parents. They spoke for some time before Jeshed began to yawn and soon enough his brother was lying beside him snoozing peacefully. His deep breathing lulled Taeron to sleep, but he awakened again later when Amyr and Stryfe stumbled in, the latter supported by a laughing female. Amyr collapsed across Taeron's legs and he knew immediately that he must have had a cup of wine, but Taeron managed to shove him to the foot of the bed. As his personal guard, his diligence was lacking. He should have been on the mat on the floor that Stryfe was making use of with the female he had brought in with him. Taeron was about to scold him and send him from the room, but judging from the female's complaints, his brother had imbibed too much wine again and had passed out.
Taeron did not know how he managed to fall asleep again, but now he was awake and the room was illuminated by the light of the first sun. Since he was trapped, there was nothing he could do but think about where he would rather be and regretted that Dijana would not wish for him to offer his blood again after he had taken her into the trance without her consent. He should have listened to Chaela and not Amyr, and in retrospect, he could not believe he would take any advice from Amyr concerning Dijana. Now he cringed as he imagined what Stryfe would be writing about that episode and he could almost hear the emperor laughing.
He would not laugh long, especially when he saw the scar that Kai's attack would leave. Reaching up now he touched the bandage covering the flesh that had been cleaved by Kai's sword and he frowned as he remembered Dijana's arms wrapping around his legs and the anger he felt to realize that his bonded mate was helping another man kill him. What made him think that her feelings would overcome Kai's control? His overwhelming need to kill the man that had tortured Dijana had made him careless, made him forget his training, made him forget anything but the need to leave warlord Kai a twitching pile of flesh that he would relish lighting afire. But Kai had proved a formidable opponent, and the other man had not balked at using Dijana to prevail. Only Taeron's instincts had saved his life. This time his arrogance and his overpowering need for vengeance had been his downfall, but next time he would be prepared.
A soft knock at the door preceded Chaela's entry into his room. Taeron was surprised to see that Dijana was behind her and he looked around the room in panic that she would see it in the state it was in. Amyr had tossed clothing about before dressing for the banquet the evening before, there were snoring men everywhere he looked and a half-naked female sprawled out on the mat across the room. Worse, he had not had his medicine so his body reacted with painful swiftness to seeing her.
"We are not disturbing you too early, are we?" asked Chaela. As she approached the bed, Dijana moved to the window and his breath caught as the light from the first sun fell upon his mate. He barely felt the sagging of the bed as Chaela sat on the edge near him and busied herself with something on the table beside his bed that was covered with all manner of healing items. His attention was completely focused on Dijana's slender form, curved where she would cradle their children and where she would cradle him in the making of those children.
"I thought Amyr would be in no shape to care for you this morning," he heard Chaela say, and when she took his hand, he wanted to pull his away when her touch drew his attention from Dijana. There was a jolt from her hand, and he looked at Chaela, finding her holding a cup for him. "You need this, I presume."
Since he was beginning to burn for need of the woman across the room, he gladly took the cup and drained it so fast he choked and Chaela had to slap him on the back. Was Dijana smiling? The sight of her curving lips almost made him choke again.
Now Chaela noticed Jeshed sleeping deeply at his side, and since Jeshed had told him that he often entered his dragon form in his sleep, he reached out to stop her from touching him, fearing what might happen. Jeshed might bring her into a trance, and once she was in there, knowing what he did about Jeshed's interest in the female and his complete lack of guile, Jeshed would be unable to keep from blurting his thoughts to Chaela.
"You look like your father," Chaela told Taeron, "but Jeshed looks more like Lady Larya."
Taeron chuckled. "My mother is pleased by that fact."
Chaela continued to look at Jeshed and Taeron wondered if she might be interested in the shapeshifter. "Is he frightened of me?"
"He would not be the first male frightened by you," Taeron said with a smile. Chaela was as beautiful as her mother and every bit as strong willed. Where Shamara had been the biddable first princess, Chaela was the rebellious second princess. Unfortunately, her strong will had landed her a brutal husband that had tried to crush her. Taeron did not need to be Guerani to sense her vulnerability now.
Sighing, she turned her attention back to Taeron. "Dijana did not come here to watch the sunrise." Chaela must have been speaking more to the woman at the window than she was to Taeron because Dijana made a sound of irritation and turned to look at them. Chaela looked back at Taeron. "She wishes to speak to you."
Taeron wished the medicine would take effect faster because he wanted her badly to join him in the bed. The fabric of the gown she wore caught and clung to her curves as she crossed the room, but he almost laughed when she stepped on Stryfe's back. He jerked awake and his female, seeing Dijana and Chaela, squeaked an apology and hurried out drawing her clothing back around her where Stryfe had managed to undress her before succumbing to his excessive drinking.
"What a night! I think I am going to be sick!"
Dijana paused to watch Stryfe stumble to the window where he proved himself a prophet. The sound of his retching out the open window was not pleasant. By the gods! This was no way to make a favorable impression on one's mate!
Chaela sighed and poked at Amyr who grunted and turned away from her but did not wake until she grabbed his hair and gave it a twist that made him yelp in pain. "What kind of guard are you?" she demanded. "I doubt Taeron ever slept like this when he was your imperial guard."
Amyr rubbed his red, watery eyes, and Taeron wondered if he had more than one cup of wine. "I knew you were in here," growled Amyr irritably. "I heard you come in and I sensed who you were, so I had no reason to protect him unless you are planning some sinister act." He glanced from her to Dijana and then to Taeron, his gaze thoughtful, and then his lips quirked in a smile that made the hairs at the back of Taeron's neck rise. This was the feeling he had before battle!
"Come along, Jeshed." Amyr slapped Jeshed across the backside which made his brother jostle Taeron painfully against a part of him that had yet to be eased by the medicine Chaela had given him. The brew had never taken so long to dampen the urges of his body, so he blamed Dijana's nearness although she was viewing the males with open annoyance. "We need to gather the men to hunt flowers."
"Flowers?" Taeron reluctantly dragged his gaze from Dijana to look at Amyr in question.
When he shrugged, Chaela laughed and Taeron felt Jeshed quiver in response. "Queen Neria has demanded that the imperial warriors should go into the marshlands to retrieve flowers for her wedding celebration this evening."
"It is the least your men can do," said Dijana sharply. The first words to leave those lovely lips were a reprimand. So, she was her mother's daughter. Even that sobering thought did not cool his ardor.
Amyr moved to the table and picked up the pot of healing ointment and Taeron felt anxious as he headed to Dijana. When he grabbed her hand, Taeron almost leapt from the bed to protect her, but the touch of both Jeshed and Chaela made him fall back calmly and he watched as Amyr thrust the pot into Dijana's hand. "And the least you can do is apply this to the wound you caused."
Dijana stared at the pot of ointment in bemusement.
Chaela laughed and released her hold on Taeron, and then she looked at Jeshed. "You have not allowed me to thank you for saving my life."
"It has been my greatest honor," Jeshed told her, surprising Taeron with his ability to keep his voice even when Taeron knew that Jeshed's nerves were as frayed as his own.
"My father will reward you for your actions," she told him and then turned her attention to her brother who had grabbed Stryfe's arm and was tugging him away from the window.
Taeron could see that Jeshed was disheartened by her casual dismissal. There was much Jeshed had to learn about the interactions of people, things he would have learned observing as a child. Emotionally he really was little more than a child.
"Let's go, Stryfe. I think the princess wants a few moments alone with her prince."
Dijana put one hand on her hip and Taeron thought she was readying the other to hurl the pot of ointment at Amyr. "I do not like the implication of your words."
"I could use other words, but you might not like them any better," retorted Amyr with a chuckle.
Dijana opened her mouth to speak, but Stryfe belched loudly, so now she looked thoroughly disgusted, but at least she wasn't looking menacingly at Amyr any more.
"Although I am still seeing two of the lovely Princess Dijana," said Stryfe after rubbing his face, "I am sober enough to know that the emperor would want to know the details of this meeting."
Chaela laughed and went to grab Stryfe's arm. "Not these details, scribe. They are not for my father to hear."
Seeing her touching another man, Jeshed's lips formed a pout and Taeron frowned at him. "Help her," he advised in a low voice with a meaningful nod. A male with any sense would find the opportunity to get close to a female in this situation. Jeshed seemed to read his mind and he climbed eagerly over the bed, jabbing Taeron with his knee, making contact again where he would least want it now. He had to bite his lip to keep from yelping in pain.
Shouldn't that medicine be alleviating the problem by now? He wondered if he should order Amyr to remain because once Dijana came to him with the pot of ointment, he would not be able to control his actions. By the gods, if her present mood was any indication, he was going to get the pot smashed against his skull if he tried to touch her.
Dijana watched the departing group with her lips pursed in annoyance and then she turned slowly to look at Taeron and his heart began to race as she approached the bed. "What am I to do with this?" she asked, her voice anything but alluring, but his body reacted as if she huskily asked what she could do to please him.
After a deep, cleansing breath, he said, "Amyr usually applies it to my wound." Amyr had gently applied the ointment as he used his healing powers the previous evening before covering it with the bandage. He thought that in a few days nothing would remain but the scar, and he had taken the opportunity to scold Taeron for not allowing him and Chaela to join their powers to heal him so that he would not have the scar. But Taeron needed it, not to remind him of Dijana's betrayal, but of his own arrogance in believing he was invincible. A man like Kai was feared for a reason and Taeron had underestimated him.
Sighing, she came to the bed, and while she was obviously reluctant, she sat on the very edge and when she reached up to touch the bandage, she lost her balance and nearly fell off her perch. But then she moved against him to put her backside on the bed so that she would not fall and he moaned aloud to feel her even with the blanket between them.
"Did I hurt you?" she asked, straightening abruptly.
What could he say? Maybe she would appreciate some truth. "I hve need of you and your nearness is not helping me repress that need." Taeron was uncomfortably reminded of Amyr begging Quynn at Norvana. Would he be reduced to such behavior? Chaela had given him the medicine, hadn't she?
Now he looked at the table beside the bed and he spotted the packet of powder that Amyr had set out the night before. That conniving imperial snake! He glanced at Dijana quickly to see if she were guilty of conspiring with Chaela, but she was frowning at the table as well. Now she reached out to pick up the packet.
"Is this what you need, my lord prince?" Without waiting for his confirmation, she poured the powder into a cup and as she added water from a pitcher, Taeron mindlessly watched the movements of her body, raising his hand to touch her, knowing that if he did, he would not be able to stop at just a touch.
Dijana turned with the cup and she saw his hand reaching for her. "You are the epitome of a mindless, Calabrian brute at the moment."
"I am a mindless, Calabrian brute at the moment," he told her, his mouth watering as if she were a delicious meal. He tried to distract himself by remembering that green beetle the imperials had discovered in the marshland, of how delightful it had tasted, and that Amyr would bring some back for him. That would be nothing compared to how Dijana would taste and he wanted to taste every inch of her flesh.
To his surprise, Dijana set aside the cup. "Perhaps later."
She was torturing him now and he could see it in her green eyes. She reached up to the bandage again, her fingers gently searching for where Amyr had fastened it. He felt eased where she touched. Taeron should not be surprised that his mate's touch could comfort him as well as excite him, but he and Dijana had only experienced one facet to mating on Norvana, a facet he wanted to resume as soon as possible. There was more to being a mate than producing children. In the bonding ceremony a female vowed to honor and comfort her mate. Then why hadn't she given him the medicine? Should he reach out and take it?
"I shall have to cut it and I do not have anything to do it. I will get a servant."
Before she could rise, he produced one of his daggers, and she frowned as she took it from him, and he sucked in his breath when she brushed his hand with her fingers. "You are, indeed, as fast as the wind, even injured as you are."
"Lady Trynity says it is because the gravity on Calabria is stronger and imperial training to work against that gravity makes us faster elsewhere." Taeron wondered why he was explaining such a thing with his beautiful mate sitting against him on a bed, now handling his dagger in such a way that had him wishing she was handling him. She had tried in the ill-fated trance, but his body had not cooperated. That part of his body was eagerly anticipating her touch now and he was prattling about gravity.
"What is gravity?" she asked as she brushed her fingers over the stones in the hilt of the dagger.
He tried not to think about how her fingers would feel on him. "She told me that it is the force that binds us to the ground."
Dijana looked up from the dagger. "Lady Trynity is your mother?"
"Not my mother, but the beloved mate of my father," he told her as he watched her curl her hand around the dagger. Part of him throbbed painfully.
"I would like to meet her," said Dijana. "Chaela told me that she is a learned, intelligent woman."
"I told her about what happened to you," he admitted. Taeron had wanted to know if she knew anything about blood thralls and Lady Trynity told him that she did not, but she would be interested in studying one. "She wants to help you."
"She does not even know me," said Dijana, her brows drawn together. "Why would she wish to help me? I grew up in this palace and no one ever helped me."
His heart ached for her. "I am sorry, Dijana."
"I do not want your pity!" She was clenching the dagger in her hand now so his erotic thoughts became subordinate to survival and the other dagger was suddenly in his hand.
Her eyes widened in surprise, and then she seemed to realize how she was holding the dagger, poised over him and she laughed nervously as she lowered it. "You have two! You are like my mother, with armaments covering your body."
He opened his mouth to deny it, but he had left Calabria with two daggers and two swords. "The dagger you hold was given to me by my father. This dagger was given to me by the emperor before my departure."
"You do not mind me holding the dagger," she told him. "I remember on Norvana you would not allow me to touch your sword." She laughed softly as she glanced further down the bed to see the cause of his distress since the moment she had walked into the room. "Now I think you want me to touch your sword."
"Dijana," he warned. "You should not tease me."
She set the dagger aside and short of leaping from the bed, which he would not do because he might harm the healing of his wound and he did not want to stop her anyway, he could not prevent her from sliding her hand beneath the covers.
"Is this what you need, my lord prince?"
By the gods! His eyes rolled back from the pleasure her touch gave him as she handled him as she had the dagger. They had been together enough on Norvana for her to know exactly what she was doing, and if she continued just a moment longer ...
"Dijana!"
She squeaked in dismay and tumbled from the bed and Taeron's vision returned to see her father filling the doorway, his wings snapped out, his features rigid with anger. He suppressed his groan of disappointment in the face of her father's fury.
"What is happening? Roehan, why are you blocking the door with your wings?" Queen Neria was trying to push past her mate, but he was preventing her from entering. The feathers of his wings effectively acted as a curtain.
Taeron took the opportunity to seize the mug of medicine which he gulped down quickly and Dijana scrambled to her feet where she smoothed out her gown and ran her fingers through her hair. The gods were not favoring him this day, except, perhaps a few moments ago. At least the medicine had begun to work its magic before Queen Neria managed to push her mate into the room and move around his wings to see her daughter standing beside his bed, her cheeks flaming as she avoided her father's furious gaze.
Neria glanced from her husband, to Taeron and then to her daughter and her brows rose. "Am I to assume my daughter has been engaging in swordplay again?"
"Neria!" Roehn took a step toward her, but she shrugged.
"They are mates, Roehan. Prince Taeron should be angered that we have invaded his privacy."
"I will not consider my daughter his mate until he proves his worth."
"He proved his worth on the battlefield," Neria reminded him.
Dijana looked at Taeron. "I came to apologize for what I did in the trance," she told him. If not for the medicine, her blush would arouse him further.
"My daughter is not a prize for battlefield feats!"
Taeron grimaced. "I am sorry that I shamed you before the council."
"Your daughter will be the wife of the lord prince of Calabria! Do not compare her with a battlefield trollop."
Dijana had turned her attention completely away from her arguing parents and she returned to the bed where she took up the dagger to cut through the bandage. "I shamed myself before the council," she told him with her eyes downcast.
"Is that all you care about, Neria? He is a vicious Calabrian butcher!"
Peeling the bandage gently away, Dijana let out a ragged breath when she had completely revealed the puckered red flesh running diagonally across his torso. "I caused this! How can you ever forgive me?"
"He is the warrior we demanded of the emperor!" Neria snapped at Roehan.
Taeron gently took her wrists and pulled her to him. "I love you, Dijana. Forgive me for failing to kill him when I had the chance."
She burst into tears and buried her face in his neck and as Taeron held her, he realized that her parents had ceased fighting. Queen Neria's blue gaze was glistening with tears and Roehan was watching with his lips pressed together in disapproval.
"You will make her miserable," he predicted after a moment. "But I insist that you court my daughter, and since Prince Amyr could not think of any Calabrian courtship ritual that was not akin to purchasing a female from a slave market or clubbing her male relatives insensate before hauling her away on the back of a horse, you will court her as a Teralonian male courts a female."
Dijana pushed away from Taeron, wiping her eyes. "Father!"
"It pleases me to hear you call me father, but not in that tone. I will not suffer your defiance in this matter!" He held out his hand. "You have spent more than enough time in his presence already!"
"Mother?" Dijana looked at her mother, but Neria crossed her arms over her chest.
When Neria did not respond, Taeron was afraid that Dijana was going to childishly stamp her foot as she had in the council chamber, but she straightened her spine and marched past her parents, leaving without looking back.
Neria watched her leave and then glared at her mate for a moment in tense silence before saying, "You expect something of Lord Prince Taeron that you have not done either."
Roehan huffed. "Just what are you talking about?"
The queen raised her chin. "I was denied a courtship, but I did not hear you argue for mine before the council. I think you take me for granted, Roehan. If you want to be my mate, I would like to be properly courted."
The giant warrior stared at her incredulously for a moment and then spun on his heel to head to the door.
"You may present yourself along with the others," Neria said to his back before he strode out.
Taeron did not know which of them was more frightening. When he had gone, Neria turned her attention to him and he cringed in anticipation of what she would say, but she surprised him. "My daughter is in love with you, despite everything, and that pleases me greatly. I never imagined that Trey would send a warrior that could conquer her heart as easily as he could conquer her enemies."
Taeron shook his head. "I did not conquer her heart, my lady. She conquered mine."
Neria laughed. "Where is the scribe? You may have need of him to help you prepare your courtship. Remember to use those words in the song." Without further explanation, she left him.
Only moments later, Chaela returned and she did not look at him as she took the pot of healing ointment to apply to his wound to which she added her own healing magic. After several moments, she burst out, "I am sorry, Taeron!"
"Why do you apologize? Have you done something that I am unaware of?" He knew what she was apologizing for, but he did not think it necessary. If Dijana's parents had not barged in, he would be spending an enjoyable morning with his mate.
Chaela reached out to touch his hand. "Dijana wanted to apologize, and when I saw the state you were in ..." She blew out a breath. "Avar was never bonded to me, so he was never that frantic to be with me, and since I know how Dijana truly feels..."
"Do not betray Dijana's confidences to me," Taeron warned her. "She needs you to be her friend, Chaela ,not my ally."
Chaela looked away for a moment, obviously feeling guilty, and then she said, "I thought I was helping both of you."
He took her hands. "In the future, Chaela, worry only about doing what is best for Dijana."
She smiled at him. "I see the golden light around you."
Taeron frowned and released her. He felt no different and he saw no light. "You are imagining it."
"I will be Dijana's friend and protector," She vowed. Seeing the dagger that Dijana had set aside, Chaela picked it up. It was the dagger that his father had given him and Taeron remembered with fondness how overjoyed he had been when Lord Duo handed it to him, hilt first to show him the stones of his house. Chaela now took the other dagger and he watched her do a few practice moves with them before she sighed and set them aside. Chaela had been an apt pupil in imperial training, but she had not been strong enough to wield a sword so she had become adept at using daggers.
Taeron took the dagger he had received from his father and held it out to her. "Use this to keep my mate safe."
Chaela stared at it for a moment and her eyes went to the dagger with the stones of her father's house. "I noticed that Amyr carried your father's sword and you carry the sword of my father's house."
"Your father has taken me into his house," Taeron reminded her. "He has the right and I am honored."
She looked at the dagger he offered her and then she threw her arms around him. "Thank you, Taeron, for the honor you have given me. I will guard Dijana with my life."
Long after she left with the dagger, Taeron wondered what the emperor would think of his daughter wishing to be Dijana's guard. Trey would probably be as shocked as Taeron that Chaela would do such a selfless thing when she had been Trey's most selfish child after Amyr. The two of them had been bitterly envious of Shamara, of the the Guerani powers she had from birth, of her place as first princess. Taeron wished tragedy had not been necessary for them to realize they had no reason to envy her.
The second sun was setting before Amyr returned with Stryfe, Jeshed and Darlac, the three in a good mood and bringing with them the edible delights they had gleaned from the marshlands. Once they had all enjoyed a meal, although Taeron guessed by their lack of appetite that his brothers had snacked prodigiously while finding flowers, Taeron fixed Amyr and Stryfe with the most fearsome gaze he could after filling his belly with such delicious food and inquired, "What is this I hear about a song?"
All the men laughed and Taeron feared that he was not going to like what the courtship entailed, especially when he saw the anticipatory gleam in Stryfe's eyes.
Gods, this debacle would entertain Trey for years to come!