"For what?"

"Not denouncing me."

"Cabarros don't denounce their own."

She pressed herself against his arm and leaned against him. An act that left him even colder as it reminded him of how Ember used to hold him.

His mother was right. This would kill Ember when she heard it. For that alone, he wanted to cut his own throat. And he'd never forgive himself for doing this to her.

Digusted with himself, he led Alura back to the party where everyone waited for more juicy bits that he refused to give them. Let them speculate. They'd make up whatever truth they wanted, anyway. Wouldn't matter what he said. Or what the real facts were. They'd lie regardless.

The news agencies would be even worse. In their rush to beat out their compet.i.tion, they'd fictionalize half of the story, and distort and slant the rest to the point it wouldn't even be recognizable. They couldn't bother to get the counties they were reporting from right most of the time, and that included the ones they broadcasted in. Sad really ...

Alura excused herself from him so that she could go network with the others she was hoping would accept her as a future visira of the empire.

Bastien made straight for another round of whisky while dodging his older brother. One word from Quin and he would knock the b.a.s.t.a.r.d out again.

And that was the last lecture he wanted his mother to repeat tonight. He knew Cabarros didn't fight amongst themselves. They weren't Andarion eton Anatoles. Backbiting to that level wasn't part of their court. Cabarros guarded each other's backs.

Family first. Family above all.

"So ... that's how it's done, eh?"

Alura paused at the rich, deep voice in her ear as she reached for a gla.s.s of champagne. She cut a sideways glance to see Barnabas Cabarro there.

Bastien's uncle Barnabas bore a striking resemblance to his older brother, the emperor. Only he wasn't as tall.

Or nearly as frightening.

At least not in appearance. Alura, however, knew exactly what kind of treacherous beast the leader of their military really was. She'd known it since the night he'd come to her and hand-selected her for this mission that stuck in the craw of her throat.

But she had no choice.

If she didn't do it, hers would be the first head he'd take.

"I thought you weren't going to speak to me in public. Isn't that what you said?"

Barnabas grunted at her as he pulled the gla.s.s from her hand, then drained it. "You're pregnant, love. Can't be seen drinking in your delicate condition."

Alura bit back a fierce groan at the reminder. "We both know that's a lie. So have you figured out the work-around?"

"I've got someone lined up who will give you everything you need, including a sympathetic shoulder when you miscarry in a few months."

"What if I really do conceive by then?"

Barnabas's dark eyes turned chilling as he met her gaze. "Then you and your brat will be joining Bastien and the rest of my brother's family in their graves."

CHAPTER 2.

Bastien tensed as Ember approached him. Instinctively, he cupped himself in expectation of what she was about to do. Not that he really needed to. Of their own accord, his b.a.l.l.s had shriveled and jumped straight back inside his body as soon as he saw her coming.

To his instant relief, she paused in front of him and crossed her arms over her chest. "Congratulations, Captain. Welcome to the Wyldestarrin family."

Those cordial, formal words with their undercurrent of leashed venom sent a chill down his spine. It was the first time she'd spoken to him since Alura had crashed the palace party and announced her pregnancy.

As if on cue, Alura came dashing up to his side to take his arm. The hem of her voluminous pale green wedding gown swept against his legs, then pooled around her feet. "Emmy! I'm so glad you came, after all. I thought you were planning to boycott my wedding."

Ember raked a cold look over him that said she was gutting him slowly with her thoughts.

With a rusted-out spork.

She smiled at Alura. "Why should I lose a zusa over the actions of an inconsiderate a.s.shole?"

A tic started in Bastien's jaw. "Pardon? You broke up with me, not the other way around. You're the one who wouldn't even return my messages or acknowledge me!"

Ember held her hand up to silence him. "Just stay away from me, Bastien. I've nothing to say to you ever again." And with that, she turned and walked over to where their sisters had congregated.

Bastien glared in furious indignation. How dare she! This wouldn't have happened had she not challenged him to date her sister. It wasn't like she hadn't known how he'd react to her caustic response to his question. How he'd react to a direct challenge.

He was a surly, cantankerous a.s.s and Ember knew it better than anyone!

"Don't worry about it, baby. You'll always have me." Alura kissed his cheek, then went to join a group of her friends.

Was it just him or was there irony that as soon as Alura had said that, she skipped off and abandoned him?

Just like everyone else.

Yeah, he was a total outcast at his own wedding reception. This was a far cry from the wedded bliss he'd imagined the night he proposed to Ember.

Right family.

Wrong bride.

Worse, he'd overheard Ember throwing up earlier as he walked past the bathroom, and she still looked pale and wane.

Not even his own family would deign to speak to him. His mother, father, and siblings were in a corner with Alura's parents on the opposite side of the room. None of his so-called friends would come near him because it was obvious his parents were taking issue with his actions and his peers lacked the b.a.l.l.s to risk displeasing their ruling monarchs in the name of friendship. Or their future ones-which would be his older brother and sister, both of whom were already married. So the odds of Bastien ever sitting on the throne were slim to none. Which was fine by him. Last thing he wanted was to occupy the throne, since the only way to get it would be over the dead bodies of his loved ones.

Though tonight, he wasn't feeling much love from them.

Open hostility?

Big affirmative there.

And because he had no chance of inheriting, no one else would dare risk displeasing anyone else in his family. That, folks, is why I've always been such an unreasonable a.s.s.

Since the day he was born, he'd never held any delusions about the people around him. They were his friends only so long as they could use him to get close to his brother, sister, or parents. He was a means to an end. It was why he'd loved Ember so much. She, alone, hadn't sought to use him for rank or privelage. In fact, she'd avoided his family and everything to do with royal obligation and ceremony, preferring instead to just spend time alone with him.

And he'd cherished every last moment of it.

But those days were gone. Alura adored her new position in his family. She was lapping up her role as visira like a starving cat in a creamery.

Dear G.o.ds, what have I unleashed?

Sighing, Bastien wished Fain Hauk was here. His Andarion drinking buddy wouldn't give two flips about what the royal family thought. Or anyone else.

Unfortunately, the Andarion War Hauks had a bad history with the eton Anatoles. And the ruling eton Anatoles were Bastien's cousins through his maternal uncle's sp.a.w.ning twin sons with the Andarion heiress. So while Bastien was a loyal friend to Fain Hauk, Bastien's cousin Jullien eton Anatole had taken preference for the wedding invite.

Besides, he liked Jullien.

"Wow. Someone who's a bigger leper than I am. Never thought I'd live to see the day. I am impressed, Bas. Truly an incredible feat for Bastien Aros Cabarro, handsome baby boy genius."

Speak of the devil....

Igorning Jullien's use of the irksome nickname Bastien's mother had given him in childhood, he turned to find his half-Andarion cousin standing behind him. d.a.m.n, for such a humongous b.a.s.t.a.r.d Jullien could move even more silently than the best-trained League a.s.sa.s.sin. It was a most unnerving trait.

But at least one person wasn't shunning him. Mostly because Jullien, being half human and half Andarion, was used to everyone fleeing at his approach. As if he'd had a choice in his birthright. He couldn't help his mixed heritage, any more than Jullien was responsible for the fact that humans and Andarions had been at war for most of their history. Yet both races held it against the prince as if he was personally responsible for all their sins.

Bastien had always felt bad for his cousin over the way he was treated. Had always gone out of his way to be nice to him. 'Cause if the truth were known, he preferred Jullien over his own siblings most days. While Jullien could be a bit standoffish and blunt, he was highly intelligent and had an honest, offbeat sense of humor that Bastien appreciated. It was a breath of fresh air amidst the courtiers who practiced duplicity and lies in all things.

At least with his cousin, he always knew where he stood and what Jullien thought.

"Good to see you, Julie."

Jullien snorted before he made a grand gesture of fluffing the lace at his left cuff. "Appreciate that bald lie when we both know I'm as welcome here as a lethal STD in a wh.o.r.ehouse."

Which was exactly how Bastien felt at present. He laughed at the perfect description for the two of them.

Jullien stumbled a bit and Bastien sighed at his poor cousin. Even with those dark red gla.s.ses covering half his face, it was obvious Jullien was flying high on something that was most likely illegal in every known system. He probably wouldn't even remember being here, and that broke Bastien's heart for him. As Jullien had said, he was ever a leper, and most of their family cursed his name the moment they saw him approaching.

It was so bad and frequent that Jullien often introduced himself as "Dammit Jullien" to people as a joke.

But Bastien didn't see a hybrid human-Andarion b.a.s.t.a.r.d in front of him. All he saw was family.

So what if Julie had a set of fangs and human eyes with Andarion features. That had never mattered to him. He didn't judge folks on their looks.

Only on their actions.

He arched a brow as Jullien grabbed a gla.s.s of Tondarion Grade-A h.e.l.lfire from the tray of a pa.s.sing server. "Should you be drinking that in your current condition?" Depending on what the boy had taken, it could prove lethal.

Jullien knocked it back in a single gulp. "Why not? It's a celebration, right? If the family's lucky, they could get a twofer out of this. Your wedding. My funeral."

Okay, then ...

Jullien's human bodyguards retreated into the crowd as his father approached them. Similar in looks to Bastien's mother, Aros Triosan was the same height as his son, but lacked Jullien's ma.s.sive Andarion size.

And that regal p.i.s.sed-off aura of rebellion that was only undercut by an overt ennui that said Jullien was resigned to his unwanted place in the universe.

Aros grabbed Jullien's arm in a grip so tight that Bastien winced from the bruise he was sure Jullien would have over it. "Shouldn't you be heading home now?"

With a fierce grimace that exposed his fangs, Jullien jerked out of his father's grasp. "Don't worry, Paka. I shall take my inebriated a.s.s out of here before I intentionally expose it and further embarra.s.s you. Besides, my jailors won't like it if I fail to report back by curfew."

When Jullien started to leave, Aros splayed his hand across Jullien's chest to stop his retreat. "For the love of G.o.d, could you sober up? Just once?"

Jullien snorted derisively. "And deal with all of you without the benefits of being chemically numb? Are you out of your minsid mind?"

With a smug sneer directly in his father's face, Jullien flipped his hair back with an affected bored nonchalance that was no doubt designed to p.i.s.s his father off.

And judging by Aros's features, it succeeded.

"But no fears, Paka. I shan't urinate in Bastien's pool tonight. My fury isn't for him." Jullien tucked his cane under his arm before he turned back to Bastien. "Word to the wise, kyzi. Take your bride and get as far away from the family as you can." He jerked his chin at Aros. "They're treacherous b.a.s.t.a.r.ds. The whole lot of them. Never trust them at your back. Triosan or Cabarro. They're all selfish to the bitter end. Trust me. Sooner or later, one of them will find the nerve to come for your a.s.s and take you down. Birth order doesn't matter. We eat our own. One child at a time. It's just a matter of time, drey."

And with that, Jullien left.

Aros let out an audible sigh of relief. "Sorry about that, Bastien. I don't even know why he came."

"I invited him."

Aros scowled. "Why would you?"

Wow ... no wonder Jullien was so cynical. But then he'd once had a twin brother who'd died when they were children-some claimed in a fire set in his school at their own grandmother's orders-as Jullien had stated, his mother's entire family had murdered themselves down to only her and her sister, with his grandmother serving as the Andarion queen only after slaughtering her own husband. The Andarions were a brutal, b.l.o.o.d.y race.

Thank the G.o.ds, his own family wasn't like that. And it was why Bastien refused to be a s.h.i.t to Jullien. The boy needed compa.s.sion from someone. He certainly wasn't getting any from his parents.

"He's my cousin."

Aros let out a scoffing laugh. "You heard his parting words about family. He is his grandmother's child. Treacherous to the core of his brutal Andarion soul. Cares for nothing and no one, except himself. I tried so hard to save him from that when he was a boy, and every time I did, he insulted me and refused to do anything I asked of him."

Bastien arched a brow at that recitation of facts. Strange, that wasn't how he remembered their childhood. "All I recall, Uncle Aros, was Jullien trying to keep his head down and getting his a.s.s kicked every time he dared to look up."

"You weren't there for his tantrums and lies. Believe me, you can't trust anything Jullien says. He's the real snake in the gra.s.s." He paused to shake his head. "You know, I once had an innocent boy arrested because of a lie Jullien told when he was in school. Poor kid would have gone to prison for something he didn't do had Dancer Hauk-Jullien's best friend-not had the temerity to come forward and tell me the truth about the matter."

"Which was?"

"Jullien was jealous because the other student had scored higher on a test. So he said the boy had stolen his signet ring, which Jullien had hidden to get the kid in trouble. I could have killed him when I found it in the exact place Dancer had said it would be. To my eternal shame, I almost did. Then to get back at Dancer, Jullien schemed with his Andarion cousins to have Dancer's older brother disinherited from their family and Dancer permanently disfigured. When that wasn't good enough, he had Dancer thrown out of the military. I'm telling you, he's evil to his core. Has no concept of loyalty whatsoever. You'd do well to stay as far away from him as you can."

Bastien took a slow drink as he ran that information through his mind. "I never saw that side of him, Uncle. So you'll have to forgive me if I choose not to believe it until I know all the facts of the situation. Jullien was never anything but nice to me. I only judge people by what I see firsthand. Not what others tell me about them. I refuse to render a verdict against anyone based on partial facts that are hand-fed to me for maximum prejudice."

"I hope you never live to regret that nave loyalty." And with that, Aros wandered off.

Maybe he was nave. Yet the one thing he'd learned was that people tended to have their own agendas. And that context colored everything. Things seen in daylight looked very different than they did when seen through a shaded windowscreen. It was too easy to misjudge someone's motivations. Or the facts when you only had a piece of them. To put your own spin on what they were thinking and their reasons for certain actions. He preferred to give people the benefit of the doubt.