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Though Kalen was expected to follow his mother and the Regent inside to the great hall, he remained brooding in his chair, mulling over various ways for his uncle to die, until Councilman Connell approached him and timidly asked him to please go inside so the other Council members could leave too and get out of the rain. None of them could leave until he did. The rain was really pelting down hard by this time and soaking everything on the dais.
Kalen peered up with dangerously narrowed eyes and contemplated several responses as he glared at the man. The Councilman literally quaked in his boots in front of him, but in the end, Kalen merely surged angrily to his feet, tossing his hair from his face. His long, wet braids whipped around like the thin black creatures calledgyvatsin the Lorian hills and struck Connell in his fatuous face. Too bad they weren’t as poisonous as thegyvats.
It was a custom for people in deep mourning on Loros to wear their long hair in long, loose braids across their shoulders, even though his uncle and his mother weren’t doing that. But then again, seeing as how his uncle was fucking her, they were obviously done with observing mourning customs. After all, they were about to be married—on the same day as his father’s public funeral.
One more strike against them in Kalen’s book.
Kalen sauntered into the main hall and on to the ballroom at the end of it, pulling off his wet cape as he went and letting it fall onto the floor behind him. The thing was in his uncle’s colors, so it was one more way to show his contempt for everything the man stood for. Kalen wanted a stiff drink and went directly to the bar his uncle had set up there forafterthe ceremony.
Fuck that. He needed a drink now to get through this thing.
He grabbed a bottle of his favorite liquor from behind the bar, a product of a plant used for making bread on Leeria. It was calledCygnarraland was so strong that it was usually served in small shot glasses. It was highly recommended that no one imbibe more than four of those shots, and there was even a warning label on the bottle.
Fuck that too.
The wedding ceremony played on like background noise in Kalen’s head, but he refused to watch it, keeping his back turned to the proceedings. It was blessedly brief. He heard his mother’s soft tones answering his uncle, and his stomach twisted, threatening to make him lose the liquor he’d so far managed to put away.
Kalen watched in the mirror over the bar as the Council members and people from court applauded and went to fawn over Nerol and his mother, congratulating them.
Kalen stayed as far from the “bride” and her despicable groom as he could manage. He was happily engaged in drinking the entire bottle ofCygnarraland consequences be damned, when his uncle rose again and held up his hands for quiet.
“I have one more important announcement to make—a surprise I have for my new son.” He turned and looked directly at Kalen.
New son?Kalen almost choked on his drink—or was it on the bile rising in his throat?
“As my first act as the new Regent, I saved this last surprise to be announced privately in front of our dearest friends in court and our council members.”
Kalen snorted and took another drink, wondering what his uncle was rattling on about now.
“It’s my pleasure to announce,” Nerol said, “that just this morning before the services for the late king began, I received a message from Crown Prince Mikos of Tygeria. Prince Mikos, as you know, is the son of King Davos, and acting Leader of the entire Supreme Axis Forces. Prince Mikos has agreed…” He paused for effect. “…to the betrothal of his son, His Highness, Prince Mikol toour son, Prince Kalen.”
Gasps of surprise, along with “oohs and ahs” accompanied the announcement and only a few at the back of the Great Hall heard Kalen’s loud cry of shock and outrage. He spit out his drink before he choked on it, but the Regent blithely continued his speech.
“We are honored and blessed, as a marriage between our son and Prince Mikol will forge the strongest possible alliance with Tygeria and the Supreme Axis, in this time of Loros’s greatest need.”
Kalen managed to gasp out loud. His treacherous uncle wanted to marry him to a Tygerian? All of the royals were males—he did say “prince” right?
Had his uncle cooked up some devilish new scheme to ensnare Kalen by getting him off planet and mated to a damned Tygerianmale?How? And even more to the point, why? Kalen was speechless with rage.
Meanwhile, Nerol was theatrically waiting for the gasps of surprise to die down. Then he raised his hands to quiet the crowd as he smiled and continued.
“This is a highly prestigious royal match that I’ve secured for our Prince Kalen. Prince Mikol is one of the Dysons, or Battle Commanders of Tygeria, and he is a powerful warrior, leading half of their massive armed forces. After the wedding to Kalen, Prince Mikol will, naturally, assume command of our own Forces as well. Our own prince, through Tygerian technology, will no doubt be breeding sons for the prince soon, producing royal children who will one day take their rightful place in the Lorian and Tygerian line of ascension. We will at long last be in the closest of alliances with Tygeria, through this impressive and most advantageous marriage.”
Applause burst out and went on for a long time, as pleased and excited faces turned toward Kalen. Nerol saw him standing at the back of the hall and smiled broadly at him. “Congratulations, my boy. And felicitations on your betrothal. I’m happy to announce that plans have been made for Prince Mikol to meet you in only a few days’ time on one of their space stations in the neutral zone, where the two of you can finalize your marriage contract.”
He turned and held up his glass in a toast. “We all wish you many years of happiness, my boy, and many strong sons.”
Kalen, who had to admit he hadn’t seen this coming, waited until the excited applause died down before slowly turning to face his uncle. He might have swayed a bit, and maybe his hands were shaking too, but that could have been because of the shock as much as the liquor. He’d had no idea his uncle would make his move so fucking fast. But he’d be damned if he’d show how stunned he was.
Nerol had outmaneuvered him while he’d been so indecisive, and he had to admit, he wasn’t sure of a way out of this.Yetbeing the operative word—because by the gods, he would find one. He had no intention of becoming the docile, submissive mate of the son of the bloody fucking Prince of Tygeria. A fucking breeder—he’d kill the man first.
But he had to give it to his despised uncle—he had definitely outfoxed him. He had managed with this one act to get Kalen off the planet and stuck on Tygeria, lightyears away, the mate of a fucking Tygerian, while his uncle remained Regent in his absence.
But first, Kalen had a few things to make clear to his uncle. He had to let him know the depth of his fury, because he’d never felt such anger. Anger and strength—enough to stand up to this murdering bastard and not let him get away with this.
He wasn’t feeling sad or scared either. He wasn’t. He didn’t feel as if he’d been suddenly cut adrift from everything he’d ever known and utterly abandoned.
He wasn’t hurt either. Definitely not hurtorscared at the prospect of marrying a fearsome Tygerian male.
