The Illegitimate Claim (47 page)

crossed his face. “Yes, in fact, I find it very interesting that all of a sudden Mama has the

desire to determine if her heir is ready to take her place.”

Andru wrapped his arm around Meah and led the way out of the ring and over to

where the gliders were parked. Gilroy and Ana followed, and when he reached a point

where no one stood too close so as to overhear, he continued.

“I wonder if Mama is considering stepping down if Papa does?” He directed his

question to Gilroy.

“Lord Darius plans to step down?” Meah asked.

“He’ll step down.” Andru glanced down at her, then back to Gilroy. “If we can get

Meah to a point where she shows Mama that she’ll follow Ana unconditionally, then we

might find her to be a perfect ally. She’ll be satisfied that her heir is ready, and then

she’ll help encourage Papa to step down.”

“Mama will never encourage Papa to step down.” Ana whispered the words as if

they were blasphemous, which according to her upbringing, they more or less were.

“The time is right.” Gilroy ran his fingers through Ana’s wet hair. “Lord Darius will

step down. He can’t lead with half his vision.”

Andru smiled as if the matter were settled. He could taste it. He would be Lord of

Gothman and it would be soon. He looked down at Meah and at her dirt- and sweat-

streaked face. He then looked at his sister and Gilroy.

“My claim needs a bath. I’ll speak with you two later.”

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Chapter Twenty-Four

“Andru, why does it matter if I fight like a Runner or a Gothman?” Meah asked the

one question that she couldn’t figure out for herself, and it bothered her.

“Because if you indulge your Gothman blood to that point, how much further will

you allow Gothman to infiltrate you?”

Meah lay on top of Andru in the extra large bathtub in the private room off Andru’s

bedroom. His muscular arms were like a blanket wrapped around her, and the steam

from the water felt incredibly good on her aching muscles. She slid around easily,

thanks to the oil Andru mixed with the water, so that she lay belly to belly with the

virile man underneath her.

“Does claiming a Gothman and bearing his children count?”

Her creamy skin glowed and long black strands of hair were plastered to her arms

and back. She looked up at him with blue-green eyes full of teasing defiance. She was

incredibly soft, although there wasn’t an ounce of fat on her. He could see her smashed

breasts against his chest and the perfect curve of her bottom sticking up out of the

water. He realized at that moment that if Tara succeeded in molding Meah into the

Runner warrior she wanted her to be, Meah could be an incredibly dangerous weapon

used against him. All of his defenses would be nil. To have this beautiful, sultry

creature announce her love, and brag about bearing his children was about all it took to

turn him into a mindless ball of clay in her hands.

But Tara would realize that he would see that, and therefore try to jeopardize

Meah’s training. Wait a minute, if he jeopardized Meah’s training, Tara wouldn’t

consent to backing down and therefore possibly slow the process of Darius backing

down. She required satisfaction that Meah was Runner, body and soul.

He smiled slowly at Meah, but his smile was due to the realization that his mama

had been very clever. He made a move to claim the title of Lord of Gothman. His mama

had made it clear that if he took the title as leader of Gothman now…he would never

have control of the Runner clans.

“But I fear Tara wants your soul to be that of a Runner.” Andru lifted his fingers

from the water, and let water drip from them over Meah’s shoulders.

“My soul, and the rest of me, is a Runner.” She lifted herself off him and looked

down at herself as if seeing her would prove her point.

Andru grinned at the effort and reached out to cup her breasts. “So it’s okay to love

a Gothman, and have Gothman children, but you can’t admit to being Gothman

yourself?”

“Not if it will hinder my rank as first assistant.”

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“And what if it wouldn’t? Would you claim your Gothman heritage, my lady?”

Andru didn’t bother to look at her face, but focused on what his hands were doing.

“Claim the heritage of a bastard?”

“Mama acknowledged her mama, and her Gothman heritage.”

“Her mama loved her and wanted her…and so did her papa. My, um…” Meah

swallowed. “My papa didn’t give a rat’s ass about me.”

“Arien provided nicely for all of his children, legitimate or not.” Andru spoke

seriously now. “I daresay my lady, his hands were tied when it came to you. Arien was

one of Papa’s best warriors for many winters, and he was known as a jovial man, kind

of like Gilroy.”

When Andru mentioned Gilroy’s name, Meah remembered his odd behavior earlier

that day in her trailer. She didn’t know why the thought of the man made her tense

inside, but it did. Her thoughts must have been visible on her face, because Andru’s

gray eyes darkened as he watched her. She ignored them and pursued the conversation.

“A Gothman man can sleep with every woman in his town and give most of them

children and he’s considered jovial. But if a Gothman woman has children from more

than one man then she’s considered a whore.” She immediately thought of little Darien

and Curi and the probability that they had different papas and bit her lip.

Andru’s thoughts didn’t go that way though.

“He was jovial in spite of his desire for women. This is a nation to be proud of, and

I daresay that is something you already know.” His tone was low, and his eyes

remained dark as he penetrated through her.

Meah stood and stepped out of the tub, grabbing one of the long white towels that

was folded on a nearby table. “These are your people and I’m willing to raise our

children here, and spend the rest of my winters here…but I have no intention of

claiming any Gothman heritage.” And with that, she stormed out of the bathroom

shutting the door firmly behind her.

* * * * *

“What is this?” Darius turned from the window in the conference room and faced

his son. He held the piece of paper that he’d just printed from a recent transmission up

in front of him, and Andru’s eyes fell to it indifferently.

Andru didn’t see any reason to state the obvious, so he simply stood there facing

his papa.

“You actually went around to all the warriors in my troops and obtained these

signatures?” It scared Darius to no end that his men were not afraid to let their names

be seen on such a document. His son had a lot of power.

“I approached no one.” Andru shrugged. “The transmission was sent out and they

were requested to reply.”

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Darius stormed around the conference table that separated the two men. Andru

was too big for his own good, and at the moment it infuriated Darius that his son could

so easily remove him from command. But according to this document, almost every

Gothman warrior had put their mark down, stating their loyalty to the new Lord of

Gothman. The document was worded so well, in fact, acknowledging Lord Darius, the

greatest leader of Gothman to date, who now would step down and allow the new Lord

of Gothman to reign. Andru hadn’t missed a trick.

“I will not step down, I say.” Darius spoke through his teeth.

“You don’t have a choice.” Andru’s tone was equally as threatening.

“You forget your place, you pompous ass,” Darius snarled and then slammed his

fist with lightning speed across the side of Andru’s face.

Andru was hardly daunted. He stepped back a foot or two, and his head turned

with the impact of the blow. He slowly turned his head back toward his papa, not even

wincing from the pain.

“I am claiming your place, my lord. It is done.”

Lord Darius plowed another blow at his son, this time right underneath the rib cage

and Andru bent over from the impact and stepped back awkwardly, knocking over a

nearby chair. He recovered quickly and this time charged into his papa. Darius

stumbled backwards several feet before bracing himself and the two men stood locked

eye to eye, every muscle in their warrior bodies tense and bulging.

Andru took his papa’s demeaning glare as long as he could before he howled and

threw Darius’ arms off him. He slammed his papa in the face and received another

blow in the stomach. Andru recovered without hesitation and ran into him, throwing

Darius off balance and causing him to bang into the wall. Darius lunged toward him,

but Andru was ready and plowed his fist into the side of his papa’s head.

“No!”

Andru heard Tara’s scream, and at the same time watched his papa’s body fly

through the air and then crumple to the floor with blood flying everywhere.

Immediately a large puddle of shiny, dark red fluid began spreading from underneath

his head.

“What have you done?” Tara screamed and ran to her claim’s side.

“Dr. Digo.” Andru spoke with a chilling calm as he told the doctor to report to the

Bryon house immediately and that Lord Darius’ wounds had reopened.

Tara yanked her headscarf out of her back pocket and pressed it to the large gash

next to Darius’ eye to prevent the blood from gushing freely. She was on her hands and

knees and leaned forward to brush her cheek against his forehead. Andru saw his

papa’s eyes flicker slowly and look up at his claim.

“I’m not fit to command, my lady,” he whispered, and Tara burst into tears.

Andru stood in a daze and watched as the doctor and a handful of assistants

hovered over Darius and determined his condition before moving him. His stomach

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turned. He hadn’t hit him that hard. Never, in his wildest dreams of control and power

had he considered hurting his papa. He’d never felt it necessary. But there he was,

crumpled on the floor from Andru’s punch. Andru was going to be sick.

Crator, is this supposed to happen? Please, Crator, if this is Your will, don’t let him die.