Turning to Wystor, I add, “You are an honorable Amphiran for doing your job. I do not blame you. I made themistake.”
Wystor gives me a soft smile and a nod. I know my father hurts him by the bruises on his arms, but he accepts it for the honor of calling himself the king’s assistant. I think it’s pathetic, and yet I cannot be more impressed with Wytsor’s determination.My father doesn’t deserve your servitude.
“I never thought you’d grow up to be this disrespectful,” my father sneers. “Aurelius the Unruly. I know the soldiers gave you that nickname in battle when you worked for the Sol Federation. But it suddenly has new meaning.”
“You have forgotten your mortality,” I bitterly remark. “And your vulnerability, humility, and the natural order of Amphir. You have becomeSenescent.”
Wytsor gasps. “Aura, no! Never say such a thing!”
My father holds up a hand, quieting his assistant.
“You have,” I protest. “You lead with your pride, not your heart,Father.”
“You know nothing of my heart,” he growls.
“Exactly!” I throw my hands in the air. “Motherneverlooks happy. No matter how hard I tried to make her smile as a child, she rarely did. Now, I know it’s because she wasarrangedto bond with you.”
“Avarylis is content,” he says.
I know she isn’t.
“Youare disobedient, disrespectful, and destructive to our society. I did not want to have to do this because you are my son, but you do not deserve the royal title you carry.”
I do not care for it.
“Since you refuse to follow orders, I hereby remove your right to reside onTiatith.”
I thought he’d take my royal access, my title, and classify me a commoner, not ban me fromTiatith. A sick feeling grips my stomach. I swallow it down and keep my angry expression steady.
“Ourcurrentkings were never meant toruleus. They were once commanders that led us to safety from the Nebs. You protect only your investments now,” I growl loudly enough it makes the watching crowd stir and jab a finger into his decorative gold chest plate hard enough it knocks the ring of metal from his head. “You take, and you order, and you control as if you know best about everything.”
“It is my duty!” he shouts.
I spread my feet, feeling dizzy with the realization this was my last day onTiatith. “Everyone makes mistakes. It’s why the people need anelected council, not just advisors that royals choose on a whim!”
“You’re right. I did make a mistake.” He takes a step away from me, looking at me as if I am suddenly his enemy.
I feel as if I’m turning inside out with rejection. It’s not that I need his approval, but that even when I am on my last thread, pending self-destruction, fighting for the people, he cannot see past his beliefs and the established behavioral expectations to the critical pieces that are out of place in our modern society.
“Your seed may have ignited my Storm, and I may have called you my father, but I have never respected you. You know only greed and power and violence. That is not who Amphirans are. Those are traits of Ginarigons, Talhuskins, Novarks,Denarso, and the Nebulous Empire. And I wantnothingto do with your corruption any longer.”
“Aura, don’t do this.” Vybron urges me to calm down as he hustles up to us. I think Wytsor summoned him by the blinking light on his transparent tablet.
I have endured this long enough.
“He has my badge. I refuse to bond with a female who does not ignite my Storm as she should!” I defend. “And I will not force her to be with a mate she does not want.”
“Any female would be a fool not to savor her place as your mate,” my father says.
Vybron sighs and runs a hand over his mouth. He understands. He basically raised me while my father dined with diplomats and leaders of the galaxies. He respects Storms in the field and often teams soldiers up based on power classes, even though my father doesn’t know it.
“She is not ungrateful if she does not want me, King Azrim.”
“Aura, stop this.” Vybron is desperate. I know his job is to protect the Order of Amphir, but he is living a lie to preserve a dying breed.
“I have no place among you since those are the kings’ rules,” I add. “We should expect more of ourselves as we are the models of power in this universe. You think being the first will always make you the best. But we were only first because we worked for it and strived to improve. We have since stopped.”
“I will blacklist you from all other motherships,” my father hisses.
