The Illegitimate Claim (27 page)

“Yes, and the youngest man in Gothman history to obtain such a high rank. Meah

spoke fondly of you as well. I believe she found you two were related right before she

left on her age of searching, am I right?” Rog smiled at Gilroy.

“You have us at a disadvantage. Meah hasn’t mentioned as much about you.”

Andru’s expression was blank. “Our schedule is rather full today. What can we do for

you, Rog?”

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Rog looked confused. “I honestly thought the matter was taken care of, but I

haven’t heard from Meah. I, too, am a busy man, and I don’t have time to sit outside

your land for much longer.”

“What matter is Meah supposed to take care of?”

“Well, she said she would bring Sharay to me.” Rog looked at the two men as if he

thought they would know this. “She was going to contact me, but she didn’t, so I sent a

messenger to Lord Darius this morning. I do believe your laws say you can’t have two

women. I’ve seen no transmission from either woman in the time period I’ve been here.

I know they’re both rather fond of their landlinks, so I can’t help but think you have

them both locked up somewhere.”

“Sharay isn’t mine to simply give to you.” Andru felt his muscles tighten and

worked to keep them relaxed. He needed to stay focused.

“Then give Meah back to me.” There was urgency in Rog’s voice.

“Would you rather have Meah?” Andru raised an eyebrow.

Rog laughed, a melodic laugh that merged slowly into his singsong accent. “Meah

is my life. I won’t deny that. I helped her bring those precious children into the world,

and have been with her most of the time since then. I won’t deny my love for her, and I

know she loves me, but she has drilled into me from the beginning that she would have

to come back. She is your claim, and Tory and Tia are your heirs. I told myself it

wouldn’t hurt, but it does.”

Rog paused, and as he studied the two men, their expressions chiseled from stone.

He knew his words were having the impact he wanted.

“Now, Sharay is like a freshly bloomed flower after a summer rain. She is beautiful,

and incredibly alluring. And the winter I was away from Meah—what was that, two

winters ago…I think—I enjoyed a wonderful time with Sharay in my hometown. I told

her I would make her my mate, and would bring her to my village. Meah understood

this because she knew that her time was coming to an end, and she would have to

return here. The children needed to know of their birthright. They will grow and serve

Crator as leaders. They are bright children, you’ll see.” Rog’s eyes looked rather moist

at this point. “I prepared for Sharay’s arrival, and Meah prepared to return here. Our

romance from that point was, shall we say, bittersweet.”

Rog sighed, refilled his glass, then stood and refilled his guest’s glasses. Their

silence pleased him. He felt little remorse for the trouble he would inevitably bring on

Meah by doing this. He’d been jilted, and there was no way this Gothman would take

and lock away both of those women.

“But if you would release Meah from her claim,” Rog began.

“That’s not an option,” Andru barked then quickly stood, and placed his tall, thin

glass on the table. “I’ll take your words to the Lord of Gothman. He brought Sharay

here. These are his decisions.”

Rog stood as well and smiled congenially. “Of course. Please, allow me to send a

gift for the lord, to show my respect.”

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The Neurian walked over to a side table and picked up a polished green rock that

was slightly larger than his hand. He placed it inside a drawstring cloth bag, and pulled

the strings before handing it to Andru. The young lord accepted the rock and nodded,

but there was no congeniality on his face.

“Explain to him that when it is in the bag it won’t work. But when you take it out

and place it in some obscure part of the room, the properties in it will completely

disable all recording devices. Just like the one we detected on you, my lord.” Rog

smiled as Andru’s fury slowly began to appear on his face. “I’m sorry you’ll have to

explain our conversation to your papa from memory, but I’m sure between the two of

you, you should be able to remember all of it.”

“Forget about Meah. She was never yours. And I’ll be damned if I’ll send a pretty

thing like Sharay to you. You should have settled with Paleah. She looks like she can

keep a man happy.” Andru’s gray eyes looked violent, and Rog fought to maintain his

cool composure as tiny spiders raced down his spine.

“I’d reconsider if I were you. You know, I’m the only papa Tory has ever known.

All I would have to do is whisper his name, and he would run to my arms. If you can’t

determine how large our campsite is, how would you know if I entered your land or

not?”

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Chapter Fourteen

Meah literally yanked open the trailer door when someone knocked and then

grinned from ear to ear. “Thank Crator, someone has come to visit me.”

“I didn’t realize you were so lonely or I would have come sooner.” Ana smiled and

entered the room.

“Do you realize I’m literally a prisoner here?” Meah threw out her arms in

exasperation.

“I wouldn’t call you a prisoner exactly.” Ana entered and looked around the living

room.

“Oh yeah! I have no landlink, no comm, and the guards outside won’t let the

children or me leave the yard. No one can communicate with me, and I can’t talk to

anybody, or go anywhere. My glider isn’t even here.” Meah pointed toward the

window, gesturing to where her glider should be, but wasn’t.

Ana sighed. “Most of that is for your protection. You’ll live with guards around you

for the rest of your life. You might as well get used to it if you plan on being the claim to

the Lord of Gothman.”

“If I plan on being…? I thought I was his claim. Besides, as his claim, and as your

first assistant, I should be able to tell these guards what to do, not the other way

around. I don’t even have a laser.” Meah couldn’t hold back the list of complaints that

had been nagging at her.

“Andru told me he would take care of all these things.” Ana shrugged, and Meah

thought she saw a glimpse of guilt in her expression.

“Well, I’m obviously not a top priority on his list. I haven’t even seen him since the

other night when we left your house and he dropped me off at the trailer and ran.”

Meah paced several times before forcing herself to stop, and crossed her arms.

“He didn’t stay here with you?” Ana sounded surprised.

“No. And the way he mauled me all day long, I thought for sure he would. He

didn’t even kiss me goodbye. Where is he, by the way?”

“Yesterday morning he went to see Rog, and from there he left for Taratown. I don’t

know what Rog said, but it has Gilroy hopping mad. He’s all tight-lipped about it.” Ana

stared out the window.

“I would think as heir to all Runner nations you would be entitled to know what

their meeting was about.”

Just then tiny footsteps tumbled down the hall and Tory and Tia began circling the

two women. “Aunt Ana is here. I want to play with Darien.”

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“Darien is at home, sweet child,” Ana said and ruffled his curls, surprised that his

hair felt just like her children’s.

“I want to go play with Darien. I want to go play with Darien,” Tory began

chanting, and jumping. Tia followed suit, jumping alongside him.

“It would be nice to look at someone else’s four walls,” Meah said hopefully. “Not

to mention, I would love to go to a temple at some point today.”

Within minutes, Ana made arrangements for Meah to have a glider and a comm,

and soon they were headed toward Bryton. Once at the house, the children were

content to play in the nursery, and the two women sat at the table enjoying fresh fruit

and cold drinks. Ana pulled up her military statistics for the Runners on her portable

landlink, and they lost several hours discussing maneuvers and trainings. Once again,

Meah felt like she was home.

The afternoon progressed, and Tara was invited to join them, at Meah’s request, to

hear about some communication improvements Meah wished to implement. Both

women listened in fascination, stopping once to break up a fight between Darien and

Tory. Meah showed them how the comms could be altered, using her own comm to

demonstrate, so their transmission couldn’t be tapped.

“It’s the Neurian landlink knowledge that allowed me to stay hidden in Taratown

for a week,” she added when they’d walked outside to check on the children who were

now engaged in a game of tag. “Paleah is outstanding in her landlink skills.”

“Child, it is time for you to go to your man.”

Meah turned around suddenly, as they stood on the back porch, and saw the dog-

woman.

“I don’t know where he is.” Meah didn’t like having to report her every move to

Andru but never knowing where he was seemed just as annoying.

“He’s in Taratown,” Tara offered, and smiled at the old woman. “I haven’t seen you

in a while.”

The dog-woman laughed. “It’s the young ones who keep me busy.”

“Where in Taratown?” Meah asked.

“Go where your heart wants to go.” And then the old woman transformed into a

large dog.

She ran playfully around the children once or twice, causing the twins to explode in

laughter and smiles and chase after her. Darien was instantly mad that they weren’t

playing right.

“The twins can see the dog-woman,” Ana said with astonishment.

She knew the old woman was present by Meah and Tara’s actions, but she’d never

been able to see her herself.

“I know. They’ve always been able to see her.” Meah nodded then turned to Tara.

“For the past hour I’ve been thinking about asking for permission to go to the temple

for a little while. It’s hard to enjoy meditation when children are all over you.”

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