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The mighty Zavorian Rohin had always been too ambitious for his own good, and had tried–and almost succeeded–to mold Taryn into his image. But after his mother had passed, he’d changed, and definitely not for the better.
It was as if expanding the Zavorian Empire would somehow fill the bottomless void he had inside. In his twisted mind, the Rohin thought he was bringing order to the universe. Perhaps, if he rearranged everything else, then Taryn’s mother’s death would bring some kind of meaning, instead of the despair it created.
The Rohin took more wives, produced more children, most of them easily swayed and bitter. With one exception, even Taryn would admit, but Rezal had probably been transformed into someone mean and vicious, like the rest of them. Last Taryn had heard–and he’d been interested in his little brother’s fate more than he liked to admit–Rezal had started his own assassin faction.
It must have been a very good one, since they’d become more myth than reality at this point.
Taryn wasn’t surprised. Disappointed that the frail, innocent youngling had turned into a vicious killer? Yes. Too much for his liking.
But Taryn had chosen his path and Rezal had chosen his.
Since he was dealing with the truth, Taryn hadn’t truly decided to leave the only life he’d known.
The Zavorian court bred the wrong kind of ambition. Apart from Rezal, who had been too punny and silent for their father to take interest in him, the rest of their brothers had malice running through their veins.
They picked on Rezal whenever Taryn wasn’t around. As for him…his brothers had decided that he was a target.
Before his official naming as the successor, future Zavorian Rohin, Taryn’s brothers had tried to kill him in his sleep. Their father was away and they were intoxicated, hence the courage–and how Taryn managed to escape.
Even now, after all these yanns, he couldn’t remember how he’d fought all of them off him. Then how he’d managed to avoid the guards which had had their spears trained on him.Him. Their future leader.
That was the moment the illusion of the Zavorian might, the righteousness of their system, had finally broken.
Taryn had never had too much faith in it–being raised by poorly paid and overworked nursemaids, some employed off of planets the Zavorians had kneeled, had definitely helped. He’d spent more time paying close attention to the misery they tried to hide from him than being forged into the mighty leader his parents had thought he’d become.
He’d played at not being a Prince, had skulked in the servants’ passageways, had tousled with their children, and had kept a close eye on anyone who could recognize him for who he truly was. His father would have been furious had he found out what his prized offspring was doing.
Those yanns had turned him into the great spy he was today.
He didn’t regret it.
He didn’t regret running for the escape pods that night, with nobody but Rezal at his side.
At first, he’d told himself he would return once his father was back from his official voyage. The Rohin would have been furious to hear that who he regarded as his lesser children had tried to kill his treasured son.
But the escape pod had been programmed to travel to Quillon, of all places. Once the shute had opened and Taryn had smelled the air that had filled his ancestors’ lungs, and had gotten a glimpse of principles which had been shunned on the Zavorian ship, he’d never looked back with anything but shame.
And she was feeling a lot of that shame right now, as Leah kept watching him, not saying anything.
“I cannot change the past,” Taryn said when the silence became too heavy to bear.
He’d tried, throughout his life, to right some of the things the Zavorians had done. He hadn’t become a spy just because he was good at it. He still felt like he had something to prove. Like he wasn’t some spawn who needed to pay for his parents’ mistakes, but a male who could take charge of his own life, and help others along the way.
He might have made others believe it, but, some danns, he had trouble accepting it himself.
“You’re right. Neither can I.” She took a deep, centering inhale. “Did you have anything to do with Earth’s invasion?”
“No.” Though, if he had stayed at court, he would have probably been forced to lead it.
“Do you agree with it?”
“No.” He’d had a problem with invasions ever since he’d learned how to walk. His favorite nursemaid had lost her entire family during the Zavorians’ “righteous” quest.
“Okay.” She breathed in once more, relaxing further. “I never would have guessed, to be honest.”
“That I didn’t want to invade or that I was born to do it?”
“You don’t seem like the overlord type,” she said, leaning back in her own seat. “Why did you leave all your princely privilege?”
