Born of Legend (57 page)

He shook his head. “Don't worry. I have a high tolerance for pain.”

“Yeah, you must. Anyone else would be crying like a baby, given the extent of your injuries. And I wouldn't think any less of you if you did. You took some hard hits.”

Jullien sat up slowly and pulled his shirt from her hand. “Sadly, I've taken worse.”

She glanced at the scars on his body as she put the medicine away. “Yeah, I guess you have.”

He settled his shirt over his chest without comment.

After she cleaned up, she returned with a small cold pack for him. “Twenty on, twenty off.”

“
Paktu
.”

“Pardon?”

“Thanks,” Jullien said as he realized he'd responded habitually in Andarion and not Universal.

“You're welcome.” She hesitated. “How would you say that in your language?”

“To you, I'd say
lützul
. To me, you'd say
lützil
.”

“
Lützil
?”

Jullien smiled at her attempt to roll her ls and pronounce the Andarion monothongs and umlaut. It wasn't an easy language for any non-Androkyn speaker to pick up, especially his Erisian aristocratic dialect and accent, and he gave her credit for even attempting it. Most humans didn't bother. “Very good.”

“Yeah, right. Thanks for not mocking me.”

“Hey, it's better than my first attempts at Universal. I promise you. Took me forever before I could make a human understand anything I said to them. For the longest time, all I got were peculiar frowns and a lot of pointing to the bathroom when what I'd said to them was
good day
or
hello
.”

She laughed. “I don't know about that. I love Andarion accents. It's very sexy, the smooth way the words roll off your tongue … like music. I could listen to yours all day long.” She took the ice pack from his hand and activated it, then placed it against the bruise on his cheek. “You really need to keep this on your eye so the swelling won't be so bad.”

When Jullien put his hand on the bag, he expected her to step away.

She didn't. Instead, she dropped her hand to finger the bruises on his throat below the collar of his shirt. “This has to be killing you. Are you sure there's not something I can do for your pain?”

Before he could answer, she dipped her head to nuzzle his neck.

He shot off the bed and collided with the tray. “I'm married.”

She arched a brow at him. “Why aren't you wearing a wedding ring, then?”

Mainly because he was Andarion and they had a different custom with rings since it was a given most any legitimate or free-born male would be spoken for as soon as he entered puberty.

Unlike humans, they didn't exchange rings automatically, or see them as a universal sign of matrimony. Since marriages were arranged between matriarchs, a familial matriarchal pledge ring was given to the female at the time a contract for a future unification was negotiated as collateral to guarantee that the male would fulfill his promise to marry her. Females only gave rings to their husbands on anniversaries or at the birth of their first child, and then strictly as a show of extreme affection.

Because it was rarely done, it was a mark of high honor for an Andarion male to own a wedding ring. But it was not a given, nor customary. Males were naturally deemed either the property of their parents or their spouses and therefore they didn't need a ring to prove ownership. It was simply assumed by all.

Plus he had a natural feature that told the universe he was taken.

Jullien pointed to his red eyes. “I'm stralen.”

She gave him a blank stare.

“Means I'm married and rabidly in love with my wife. It's an Andarion condition that's unmistakable. Don't need a ring when you have stralen, as it's far more obvious.”

She swept a wistful pout over his body. “For the record, cutie-pie, you might want to rethink the ring since the rest of us have never heard of your stralen. And update your Tavali personnel files to list the wife, so we know.”

Stunned and still gaping, Jullien watched as she left him.

Yeah, okay …

What a screwed-up day this had been from beginning to end. He felt as if he'd fallen into an alternate dimension.

What the hell? Women didn't do things like this to him. He'd never had a female of any species come on to him before.

Except Ushara.

This is just …

Effing weird.

If not for the pain, he'd think himself dead. It just didn't seem real or even plausible. He was an anathema to sentient creatures. At least that was how he'd always been treated. The concept that anyone would want him …

Totally screwed with his head.

Unable to cope, he sat down on the floor as he tried to make sense of everything. Maybe he had a severe concussion. That seemed highly plausible given the number of times Nyran and Payne had slammed his head against the floor and the force they'd used to do it.

Definite possibility. He only had three working brain cells on his best day, anyway.

As he sat there, thinking it all over, a plan began to take form. The rust and cobwebs were coming off. While he hated court politics, those old skills were still there in the darkest recesses of his mind.

And they were coming back now, sharper than ever as he considered what he wanted to do with Nyran and Eriadne. How to get the upper hand against them.

Fine, you little bitch. You want to play with me …

Set the board.

Nyran thought he had him in check. He was about to learn what Jullien had taught Chrisen and Merrell the hard way. While they had spent their youths conspiring against him and trying to ruin his life, the little fat kid hadn't just eaten his way through the kitchen. Jullien had devoured every political and military handbook ever written about strategy and philosophy. Not just in Andarion, but for all the Nine Worlds.

Silently reciting those passages and verses had been the only thing that had kept him sane in prison and during his months of forced seclusion and isolation whenever those pricks had betrayed him. In the end, it was the very survival skills Merrell, Parisa, and Chrisen had forced him to learn from his cradle that had led to their deaths.

Come Tophet or Koriłon, he was going to win this. And plant both Nyran's and Eriadne's heads on his wall.

*   *   *

Entering the bridge, Jullien rubbed his eyes and winced as he accidentally brushed his hand against the bruises on his brow.

“Morning to you,” Jupiter greeted. “Did you sleep well?”

“Not really. You?”

“No.” He handed Jullien a mug of coffee. “Happy Universal Theian Day.”

Jullien scowled as he swallowed a sip of the bitter brew. “Is it the third already?”

Sitting in his chair, Jupiter nodded and turned on the news so that Jullien could see some of the celebrations that were already in full swing on the various planets, especially since it was well after dark on some of them.

The newscaster had tears in her eyes as she watched the elaborate memorial wreaths being placed on the walls of the League's main headquarters on Gondara at midday by the highest League officers under the watchful gazes of The League Prime Commander, Kyr Zemin, and the Trigon Court's Overseer, Alia Mureaux. “As you can see, it's a beautiful tradition that marks the five hundred and eighty-sixth anniversary of the worst genocide in Ichidian history when Justicale Cruel destroyed an entire planet and forever extinguished the entire Theian race.”

She sniffed daintily. “Ten billion souls were lost in less than one week to his madness. Such a horrid, horrid tragedy.… And now, we'll cut to the Caronese royal family as they leave League headquarters to provide their annual donation to the League fund before they lead the Overseer and her court of advisors into their local embassy to renew their treaty and loyalty oath that the Caronese Governor was forced to sign after the tyrant Cruel was defeated and executed. Then they'll perform their annual act of contrition.”

Jullien let out a low whistle. “You know that has to suck and burn.”

Jupiter nodded. “Don't it though? And I know how they feel, given that me own blood has to hang low on St. Hestia's Day every year, for much the same reason. It chafes to be reminded of your family's ills in such a public forum. As you so eloquently said, me friend, every family has its asshole. And some have more than one. Really shafles when that asshole is so egregious he screws the lot of you for generations to come.”

“Not talking about that.” He jerked his chin toward Darling Cruel and Kyr Zemin. “I mean the prince and prime commander. They're bitter, longtime enemies who can't stand each other. Kyr's even made an attempt on Darling's life.”

“Really? When?”

“During Kyr's brother's wedding, when his brother Maris decided to come out of the closet with Darling's help and leave his bride at the altar—it was a huge scandal for all of them. Maris and Darling have been best friends since grade school. They're still inseparable, which makes Darling Zyr's mortal enemy, especially since he's still sheltering Maris from the Phrixian royal family after they've cut him off and declared him dead. It has to burn Kyr's soul to be that close to Darling and not kill him.”

Jupiter cocked his head as he studied Jullien. “You know them?”

“What makes you think that?”

“Way you speak about them. It's personal, as if you've been up close with them all, many times.”

Jullien steeled his expression so that he gave nothing away. He'd actually been in attendance at that wedding when Kyr had tried to geld Darling over Maris's unexpected disclosure that he had no intention of marrying a woman. Ever. It'd been one hell of an entertaining free-for-all.

Luckily, he was spared from having to lie about it when Jupiter's stryper spoke up. “Hey, Ju Ju? We got an alert coming in.” She replaced the newsfeed with a huge number of ships that were headed straight for them.

Armed and targeted for Tavali.

Jupiter sat up straight in his chair and set his mug aside. “What the hell, man?” He flipped to the channel on his con. “Chayden? You awake?”

“I see them. They're not League. I think they're us. But they're not answering my calls.”

“Ours, either.”

Suddenly, Jullien's link buzzed. He answered it to find Ushara on the other end. “Hey, I've been trying to call you.”

“I've been in hyperspace. Are you safe?”

Jullien watched as the crew around him scrambled for battle stations. “Not exactly sure.” He glanced back to the screen as an amused thought went through him. “Where exactly are you, baby?”

“Ninth quadrant. Solaras System.”

“I had a feeling … brought a lot of friends, did you?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Thinking you might want to back them down a bit as we're about to have a riot here if someone gets twitchy.” He pulled the link away from his head. “Uh, Jupiter. It's okay. That would be my ride out there.”

Gaping, he turned toward Jullien. “Seriously?”

“Precious? Could you answer their hail? You're making them a wee bit nervous.”

Ushara, in full Tavali war paint, appeared on their main screen. “Identify yourselves.”

“
Ship of Fools,
8C-RUN–QIL1-CO-NCOB-Z, with Commander Hinto at the helm. To whom am I speaking?”

“Vice Admiral Ushara Samari of the Gorturnum Nation. I'm told you have something priceless that belongs to me.”

Grinning, Jupiter held his hands up in surrender before he gestured toward Jullien off on his side. “So it would seem, Admiral. It was ever our intent to return him home to your loving arms.”

“Jules?” she gasped as she saw him.

“Really. They've been quite gentle with me. Extremely hospitable.”

“Why are you bruised then?”

“It wasn't the Seps who did this. I swear. I ran afoul of another group of assholes.”

“Beg pardon, Andarion?” Jupiter asked with a laugh. “
Another
group of assholes? I share me best whisky with you, and
this
is how you insult me … bloody figures.”

Jullien winked at him.

Shaking her head, Ushara turned her attention back to Jupiter. “In that case, I'm in your debt, Jory. You ever need anything from us, let me know, and it's yours.”

“Think nothing of it, Admiral. Always me pleasure to help out a beautiful lady. Glad to have been of service to the both of you, and to have met your husband. He's a good
cade
. Congratulations on your marriage, by the way.”

“Thank you.”

Jupiter stood up to walk Jullien to their airlock while Ushara sent over a small shuttle for him. “Well it's a good thing I didn't let me idiot cousin have you, eh?”

“Probably so. And I am thankful for everything.”

Jupiter nodded. “I'm just sorry about Venik and his
chirani
. I will pay them back for what they did to you. That I promise.”

“You don't have to worry about that tab. It's one I plan to collect on myself.”

As soon as the shuttle docked, Jullien opened the door while Jupiter left to return to the bridge. He expected it to be Davel.

It wasn't.

Ushara grabbed him by the jacket and pulled him fiercely against her for the hottest kiss of his life. “I'm so mad at you I could skin you alive.”

His breathing ragged, he arched a brow. “Only if you let me spank you first.”

“Pardon?”

“Pregnant? It seems you told everyone
but
your husband.”

She blushed. “Only a few others.”

“Define
few
.”

“Dozen … roughly.” Biting her lip, she straightened his jacket before she gently examined the bruises on his face and neck. “Maybe I was a little naughty. I didn't want to worry you while you were gone.”