Chapter Five #3
“Perhaps he could go and find Vannos’s boys and see what they’re doing, if he likes,” he said. “In fact, none of the consorts need to be in attendance either. This will no doubt be boring for them. I think we can sort this out among ourselves.”
Blake gave his husband a look that would have made a lesser man quake.
“Nice try, but if you think I’m going anywhere, then you can think again, Davos.
As for Taran, he’s Larz’s adopted son, and a grown man.
He has every right to be here.” He glanced over at me and nodded. “He can decide for himself.”
The king gave him an exasperated look and snapped back at him. “I never said he didn’t have a right to be here, Blake, but that there wasn’t any need.”
Larz put a hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry, but I disagree.
Taran is my son. He has shown bravery and intelligence over the years, and I rely on his counsel.
He’s also an officer in my Royal Guard. To tell you the truth, I’d find it hard to do without him and his opinions.
I consider him to be my right hand, as omak would say, much the way I know you think of Mikos.
If Taran goes, then perhaps Mikos should leave as well, since they basically occupy the same kind of position. ”
His saying that filled me with pride, even though I knew this was mostly, as Luc would say, simply “a pissing contest” between Davos and Larz and a way to insult Mikos.
I wasn’t completely sure what that phrase meant, but I thought it was a kind of one-upmanship, and it had sounded funny when I’d first heard it.
I’d decided then and there I might adopt that phrase for my own use.
Mikos gave Larz a look that should have peeled the skin off his face and a silence dropped over the proceedings. Mikos’s consort laid a hand on his forearm and leaned over to murmur something in his ear.
Blake cleared his throat nervously. “Okay then, why don’t we just stop all this and get started? We’re all family here, and this is an informal meeting, surely. What does it matter who’s here and who’s not? Davos, please don’t be silly about this.”
Only Blake would have the temerity to call the king “silly.” The sidelong look Davos gave him spoke volumes.
“Larz, darling,” Blake blithely continued, “why don’t you start by simply telling your father why you left Laltana, when he specifically asked you to stay and act as his agent there?”
Larz bristled a little. “He didn’t ask me anything, Omak.
That’s not his style. Father ordered me to disband the Royal Guard immediately, no matter what my thoughts were on the subject and said that he was sending in the Imperials to take over.
That seemed to make me irrelevant. Furthermore, he knows how my consort and I both feel about having Tygerian soldiers not only occupying Laltana but living and working inside the palace. ”
Mikos made a disgusted noise. “Larz, in case you hadn’t noticed, the war has been over for almost twenty years, and here’s an update for you—Tygeria won, which gives us the right to govern any fucking planet that we conquered, any fucking way we see fit.”
Blake frowned at him. “Mikos, all that cursing isn’t necessary. Let’s keep this civil. We came to reconcile things with Larz and Janos, not escalate tensions.”
“Omak, I appreciate that, but planets that were once in the Alliance and our sworn enemies don’t get to keep a standing army.
That’s what Laltana calls its “royal guard,” but it serves no purpose except to escalate the hostilities between us.
And by the way, brother, there are plenty of people who still have trauma left over from the war.
Not just your friend there beside you. But it’s time to move on from that, after all these years, don’t you think? Or else seek mental counseling for it.”
Larz’s face flamed. “My friend? Janos is my friend, but he’s also my mate. My nobyo. And you weren’t too worried about former Alliance ‘enemies’ when you married your ‘friend,’ Ryan, sitting there beside you.”
Mikos jumped to his feet, snarling, and Larz jumped to his, snarling right back at him.
I truly thought one or both of them would come across the table and have it out right there, but that’s when Davos intervened and stood as well, shouting in harsh Tygerian at both of them.
Whatever he said, it sounded threatening and angry.
Mikos snapped something back at him, and I thought for a moment that the king was about to draw his weapon.
Everyone gasped, and only Blake was brave enough to practically tackle the king, throwing himself in front of Mikos.
I’d heard about the Tygerian temper but had never really seen it in action until now.
Larz had never shown anything of the sort—not around his family, at least. Then again, maybe he’d been afraid to really lose his temper, because as big and lethal as these men were, something terrible could easily have happened.
I’d heard of Tygerians on rare occasions, flying into a rage and harming or even killing members of their families without meaning to.
Gods, the king was furious, though, with Blake and his two sons.
Several Imperial guards rushed over to them, including General Vargarra, and it was a tense few moments, before the king stormed out of the room, followed by the Imperials.
Vannos was beside Blake in an instant, wrapping an arm around him to lead him away.
Mikos turned to soothe his consort, who looked shocked and disturbed by how quickly the violence had broken out and then escalated.
Suddenly Mikos broke away from his consort and turned on Larz again, still shouting at him in Tygerian. I heard Janos’s name.
“You make it sound so easy. ‘Just get over it,’ huh?’ Why didn’t I think of that?” Larz yelled back at him, in Earthan this time, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Well, I’m happy that it’s easy for you to move on, brother, but not everyone has the same killer mentality that you have.”
“Larz,” Blake said, sounding shocked. “That’s absolutely unfair.”
“Oh, stay out of this for one time in your life, Omak,” Larz snapped at him.
Now to say this was unusual and only proved to show how truly upset Larz was would be an understatement.
All of Blake’s sons were extremely loyal and respectful to him, and I had to admit I was shocked at Larz’s words.
It was totally out of character, and I began to think there had been more of a strain on Larz than I’d realized.
Maybe Larz was surprised at his own words and wanted to fix them somehow, but it was far too late.
Mikos made another move like he was about to charge around the table to fight Larz.
I scrambled up too, thinking I should stand with Larz in solidarity.
I felt like it was the right thing to do.
“How dare you speak to Omak that way!” Mikos roared at his younger brother. “Apologize to him now!”
Larz’s face had turned a dull red, and he looked a little surprised to find himself in that position. He cast one desperate, longing look at Blake, who reached out a hand to him that Mikos quickly pulled down.
“You heard me!” Mikos roared again. “Apologize!”
And right at that very moment, as we all stood there, frozen with anger and outrage and shock at how quickly things had deteriorated into this crazy argument, there was a bright flash that lit up the room, followed by a sudden clap of thunder, so loud that it sounded like the sky had split open above our heads.
The lights went out, plunging the room into near total darkness, with only the dim, flickering light from the candles on the wall struggling to illuminate the huge room.