contracted with her mother, saying he loved her and would never love another, and abandoned his wife’s bed.
And since Felicia’s birth, her mother had cycled through patrons routinely. They were all married. They all claimed to love her mother for a year or two, or sometimes as long as five, which seemed to be the magic number. And then they were taken with someone who was shiny and new.
Love, unlike bills, never lasted. Hearts were made to wander. Unless a male was stralen, there was no hope of a lasting relationship with one. A stralen male was one in a billion.
Maybe even more rare.
She kissed Talyn’s hand, wishing for impossible things. She was his mistress and that was all she’d ever be. Females like her didn’t marry and they didn’t stay in committed relationships with any male.
Never mind the Andarion laws that would never allow Talyn to marry at all. Or have children. She had no idea who his father was, but he must have been extremely important and high-ranking to have been pledged to a Winged Blood Clan Batur.
Out of curiosity, she’d investigated Galene’s lineage and seen the prestige on her side that went back for generations. They weren’t just doctors, warriors, politicians, and lawyers. They were nobility. Talyn’s maternal great-grandfather had been the Andarion her father had replaced as the queen’s advisor.
Most likely, his father had been even more connected and well-lineaged than Galene. It was how unifications usually worked. Unless the female was royal-blooded, the male in most marriages held a higher lineage. Talyn’s father might have even been royal. It would make sense given how tight-lipped they were about the male’s identity.
It would also explain Chrisen’s hatred for Talyn. And if that was true, then what had been done to Talyn was the greatest travesty of all. How could he stand the injustice of it?
That, too, said a lot about him – that he never ranted against his lot. He went on courageously, and with an honor and dignity that amazed her.
Talyn brushed his thumb over her brow. “You okay?”
“Just worried about you.”
“Don’t be. I’m a cockroach. Even after nuclear-level devastation, I’ll survive.”
She snorted. “While I believe that might be true, I don’t want to find out.” She snuggled up against him and held him close as a bad feeling went through her. “You’re not going to get caught up in royal politics at the palace, are you?”
Talyn frowned at her strange question. “Not intentionally. Why?”
“I watch the news. I see how bloody the royal family can be. Especially now with this whole new group that’s been working against them.”
“You mean WAR?”
She nodded.
Talyn could understand her fear. Warriors Against Royalty was the latest group to try and overthrow a monarchy that was drunk on its own power. And given what his mother had told him about the eton Anatoles and what he’d experienced with Chrisen, he could understand why. The gods knew he was no fan of the current reigning order that held him down with a crushing foot on his throat. He sure wouldn’t weep to see the royal house overthrown and a new system of government put in place.
But that being said…
“I’m not a terrorist, Felicia. I have no intention of committing treason, especially not after I’ve taken oaths to uphold the monarchy and laws of Andaria. My mind doesn’t work that way. Besides, I wouldn’t be the only one who’d pay for it. Given my mother’s rank, any military action I might take against the crown could blow back on her, and I’m not about to risk that. As you’ve seen, I’m a male of simple needs. All I want is to keep you and my mother safe and happy. That’s it.”
“Okay. Just remember that when you’re at the palace and all those gorgeous, scantily clad females are throwing themselves at you.”
He laughed bitterly. “Trust me. They won’t, and even if they did, I’d have no interest in them. At all. The only female I want in my bed is currently in my bed.”
Felicia’s breath caught as she felt him hardening against her hip. As she saw the hooded expression on his face, and his breathing changed. Gone was her playful male and in his place was the fierce predator that truthfully scared her a little. It was too easy to forget just how large and dangerous her male was while he was being playful and sweet with her. But at the end of the day, Talyn was a trained killer. In the