Defiance (Rise of the Iliri Book 3) (39 page)

"Yeah," Sal groaned, "that's what I figured."  She tapped her head, "Can I ask why?"

Caein understood what she meant and shifted to his mind. 
It's the kid.  He's kept that a secret for so long and now we all know.

Sal pulled Tebio into the conversation with them. 
Ok, so you all know about the kid.  What do you humans think about that?
She asked.

So he's got a bastard,
Tebio thought. 
Who cares?  A noble bastard at that.  More power to him. 

He's done a good job keeping it quiet.  Man deserves his position if he can keep that hushed up this long,
Caein added.

Tebio nodded. 
Look, it's none of our business who he's sleeping with.  I think Vanja's a bit jealous – he's been trying to get into a noble's bed for a while – but that's it.

And,
Caein pointed out,
it's not like it's a new thing.  That boy's like fifteen or something.

Fourteen,
Sal told them.

Close enough.  So it's been more than a decade since he slipped into the girl's bed. 

And what if he's still there?
she asked.

The men shared a glance, and both chuckled. 
Kaisae,
Tebio asked,
do you know more than you're letting on again?

Sal grinned. 
Always, but I'm not going to tell you which parts I'm guessing at and which parts I know.  It's not my story to tell.

Fair enough,
Tebio said. 
Look, as far as I care, good for the Colonel.  I think that's kinda how we all feel.

Yeah,
Caein agreed,
None of us knows who she is – you clamped him down before that leaked – and we don't care, either.  We're not as tight as your Blades yet, but it starts somewhere, right?

It sure does,
Sal assured them. 
Someone has to trust first.

Well, I figure that's what this is.  It's our chance to show him he can trust us,
Caein said.

Ain't a hint of it coming out from me.  I might be a bit nicer to the kid now, but it's because he was a damned soldier out there and nothing more. 
Tebio winked at her as he thought it.

Sal smiled back. 
Ok.  And all the Shields feel like this?

Yeah,
Tebio said. 
Vanja's jealous, but it's not like that.  He's a damned ass at times, but he likes the Colonel.  He started a pool to see how long before Colonel Vayu trusts us enough to tell us.  If you're right, and he's still seeing her, well, I'm going to start one on how long until we get to cover for his dalliances.  We're good with this, Kaisae.  He takes care of us.

Caein nodded. 
Yeah, and this is our chance to take care of him.

Ok. 
Sal looked between them. 
So, what's the bet on that pool about the old man getting hitched?

Seriously?
Caein asked.

Sal shrugged a little too innocently. 
Just wondering.  He's got some pretty strong pull with the King right now.  Who knows what boon he'll ask for.

Tebio laughed but quickly smothered it. 
You do know more than we do.  C'mon, Sal.  What did we miss?

Think about it.  The kid, Jarl... that's his oldest son.

For a moment, both men looked at her blankly, then Tebio gasped. 
Man, I got that part too, I just didn't think about what it meant,
he said. 
Both kids with the same girl?

Sal cocked her head in a weak shrug. 
Not my story to tell, guys.  Might be a good way to tighten up your unit, though.  The Blades had one big secret we shared.  We're all iliri.  From there, it moved to little ones.  Now, we hide nothing from each other.  This thing, s
he tapped her head again,
it changes a lot.  You all have a big secret you're keeping.  Ilija's kid.  Start there, and be brave enough to put yourselves out there. 

They nodded at her.  "I think you have a point, Kaisae," Caein said.  "But I assume you're here to see the King."

"I am.  We need to figure out what to do about the prisoners.  I'm open for ideas.  If you think of anything, talk to Blaec about it?"

Tebio's brows shot up.  "Just reach out and talk to him?  Seriously?"

"Yep.  He's a commander, just like I am.  And I promise you, he doesn't bite.  I know... I've tried."

The Shields laughed at that and stepped over so she could enter the pavilion.  Sal ducked through the door – and into the back of a brocade doublet.  Out of habit, she growled.  The man jumped to the side.

Chapter 42

"Shit, Sal," Dominik gasped, "Don't do that to me!"

"Sorry.  What are you doing standing in the doorway?"

"Nobles, basically," Dom said waving a message in her direction.

"And what do they want?" she asked.

"It's almost an even split among them.  Half think we need to embrace the grauori, the rest think we need to keep things the way they've always been.  Granted, this is a day old."

She ducked past him, wading farther into the pavilion.  "Not their place.  It's your call on that."

"I know.  Don't worry, they're good.  Shit like that just pisses me off.  Those beasts just won this war, no way am I going to pay that back by kicking them out into the woods.  Grampa always said that there's nothing wrong with moving a few titles around.  Might be time for me to start doing that.  And Sal, I think you might need some land."

"You know I can't, Dom."

"No, I don't.  You've earned it.  Anglia owes you a title and a tract of land if nothing else.  Hell, I even know the one, it's called Arhhawen.  It'd be perfect.  The place is huge!  The keep is nearly as large as the palace, and it's up in the hills deep enough that it's been abandoned for generations.  There's just a small housekeeping staff there, and rumor has it they had some crazy stories about the grauor wolves."

She shook her head.  "Sire, we have a war.  I talked to Blaec and we can't.  Ayati, it's tempting, but we can't."

Dom ignored her.  "The place has been empty for decades.  No one will take it.  Anglians have refused to live there because technically it's under the King's domain.  It's just rotting, Kaisae.  Let's compromise.  I'll give it to you, and you can do with it what you will.  You'll be a Marquis.  That's a pretty decent title, and your heirs can inherit it.  There's nothing in the laws that states they have to be human.  If nothing else, it'd be a home for Rhyx and Raast."

"It sounds cold, and old soldiers don't do well with the cold." 

He looked at her strangely.  "I hadn't told you where it is.  How'd you know that?"

She chuckled.  "It's named North Wind, Dom.  Ahrra Wen.  Speaking of inheritance, though, I do have a question."

"Ok."  Dom sighed, realizing he'd lost.

"The page.  What's his name?"

"Jarl."

"He's a noble's kid?"

Dom gestured for her to sit.  "He's a bastard, Sal.  My little sister's kid.  The brat's brave as can be, and he's almost old enough to be squired, but I can't.  Anglian law requires nobility in order to be a squire, and a bastard isn't considered ennobled.  Why?"

"Because he impressed me.  He didn't panic.  He didn't cry.  He broke free as soon as he could and had wits enough to grasp our plan.  There's no way he could have known that Audgan could hold that blade from him."

"Is that what you did?" Dom asked. 

She nodded.  "Audgan sends fear.  He just made that soldier so terrified of touching Jarl that he couldn't harm him.  I told Hwa to grab him, and we had Shift ready to patch up the teeth marks, but the kid was quick enough that we didn't have to."

Dominik dropped into the chair beside her.  "When he's eighteen, he can enlist.  He can serve as a page until he's sixteen.  I don't know what to do with him for the two years in between."

Tilting her head, she watched him closely.  "Dom, you know that a lot of this doesn't make any sense to me, right?  The idea of marrying and who your father is, it is confusing to us.  In the Conglomerate, even the humans don't care about such things."

He nodded.

"Ok, so, please don't take offense to my questions.  Your sister, she doesn't know who sired the kid?"

"I'm guessing she does, but damned if she'll tell us.  Sal, she's got another.  The younger one, she's only six.  They look like a matched set, though, so I'm pretty sure they were sired by the same man, but she's never been seen with anyone."

"So, she thinks no one will approve of him, right?  Could it be his rank?" she pressed.

"Yeah, that's usually how it works.  Princess Vanica – as my sister, she got a new title, too – she inherits her husband's rank and title if she marries.  She's old enough that she doesn't need approval for her vows, although traditionally, it would be expected for her to ask me."

"You humans make these things too complicated," Sal teased.  "But I take it she isn't married now?"

"No," Dom said, "otherwise the kids would be able to inherit the title of their stepfather, and then I could squire the boy."

"So, if Vanica cares for this man, she wouldn't be interested in marrying someone else just for his title, since she can't exactly move up from where she is, right?"

Dom nodded.

"Then what would it take to promote the boy's dad to a rank that she'd be able to marry him?  Marquis?  Duke?  Can you do that?"

Dom looked at Sal strangely.  "I'd have to know who the man was.  Marquess is the closest to the title she holds now, but Duchess is so close that she wouldn't notice a difference.  Either one would grant the children the rank they'd need, too.  But she won't tell me who he is, Sal.  I've asked her for years.  You're also assuming that the kid's dad would even be interested in marrying her."

Sal smiled, her feral teeth showing.  "Dom, you know how we are."

"You know something, don't you, Sal?"

She grinned at him.  "It's not my story to tell.  I can assure you that the father, he's in love with her, and has been all this time.  You've even seen them together.  I was standing next to you when it happened.  Jase assures me that this gentleman is more than ready to give everything he has to her and the kids, but he lacks the rank.  Knowing that, does it change your opinion any?"

Dom stared at the ground, thinking hard.  "When did you meet my sister, Sal?"

"I never did.  I was told who she was, and we've had enough court dinners that she and I have been in the same room.  Dominik, you know better than that.  Jase got a read.  He's known for a while, but never realized the importance of it until now.  We don't think of things the same way you do.  A woman who has a child with a man she loves?  That's all there is to it.  The complexities of your," Sal flailed her hands, "government system, monarchy, thing.  It makes no sense to us."

"Sal, she loves him?"

She shrugged.  "Supposedly.  She hasn't told you who because of the punishment he'd get."

"He works in the palace then.  But back then we weren't in the palace, we lived in Valmere," Dom muttered to himself.

"You won't figure it out, and I'm not going to tell you.  Dom, what I want to know is how can we make this work out?"

"I just need to know who it is so I can grant him a title and give the man a chance to do the right thing.  That's it.  You just have to let me know who to ennoble."

Sal leaned back in the chair, pleased.  "That's all I needed.  So who can be ennobled?  Obviously, the military, if you're willing to grant me a title."

"Yeah," Dominik said.  "Soldiers who've proven their worth in battle I can grant minor titles.  Officers who perform acts of heroism can get others.  Military leaders – which is basically you, Ilija, Jase, and the officers that report directly to you – I can ennoble them.  I can raise a minor noble to a higher position, and I can grant legitimacy to a known bastard.  That's about it.  So unless this man falls in one of those categories, we'll need to work something else out."

Sal shook her head at him.  "No, Dom.  I think you're going to be ok.  Speaking of accolades, though, did you hear about the soldier that saved the grauori Ahnor?"

The King looked at her slyly.  "Him?"

"No, different subject.  A soldier named Dalyr Trant.  The Ahnor risked his life to save a human, and he took a Terran ax in the side for it.  Dalyr took grauori teeth but got him to the healers.  Rragri is in his debt and would like you to be sure he gets the credit he deserves.  Dom, she'd never say it, but you need to know this.  If her mate had died, all relations with the grauori would be over.  Her rage, and her hold on the grauori link – our mental connection – it could've caused them to turn on all humans.  Anglians."

"She'd do that?" he asked.

"She wouldn't mean to, but grief is grief.  Jase took a lance today, and I almost killed the kid even after he surrendered.  Jase stopped me, though."

"Jase took a lance?" Dom said, rising to his feet. 

Sal waved him down.  "Risk healed him.  His tattoos need to be re-inked, but that's about it.  But I don't think you humans can understand.  We link when we fight.  We share a mind – all of us share it.  If someone in my link dies, I'd feel it.  I'd know his last thoughts, I'd feel his pain.  I'd feel him wrenched from my mind.  That's what happened with Roo, I could feel her dying."  Sal dropped her head to rub her face.  "If Arrgro had died, nothing could stop Rragri.  Her pack would be locked in the grief with her.  They'd feel the loss as much as she did, and they'd frenzy.  Now multiply that by seventy-five hundred of them."

"Shit," Dom said softly.  "There'd be nothing left but grauori."

Sal let a smirk show.  "So give the kid a medal, ok?"

He huffed out a laugh.  "Well, you have a good way of putting things in perspective, don't you."

Sal shrugged.  "I try."

"Anyone else I need to know about?"

Sal paused to think about that.  "You saw most of what I did.  Ilija rounded up the prisoners and kept the rest of us from them.  The Shields were amazing out there, but I can't think of anything they did that was out of the ordinary for an elite unit.  I'll ask the other officers and the grauori.  I can get you a list if you need it?"

"That would be great, actually.  Military heroes help keep the civilians supporting what we're doing."

Sal met the King's eyes.  "And I'm ready to hand over my title to Ilija."

He looked away.  "I'm not ready for that.  Not yet, Sal."

"No, not yet.  But when we're back in Dorton and the alliance with the grauori is sealed, I'm going to do it.  We're going after Terric, I'm sorry."

"Then lead us.  Take Anglia, and lead us," Dom begged her.

"No."  She cut that thought off with a slash of her hand.  "Sire, Anglia needs an Anglian leading it.  We're iliri, and we'll always be iliri.  The grauori will have their own structure, and I don't know how you will deal with that.  Anglia has two very different species, and two very different types of leadership."

"I don't think it's as different as you think, Sal.  I have some ideas, but I need to talk them over with Rragri, and this isn't exactly a good time for that, but what better than some iliri to blend the differences between us?  And a woman!  What with the equality movement going on, you'd be perfect."

She shook her head.  "I can't, Dom."

"Why not?" he insisted.  "What would it take to keep you with us?"

"You don't need us.  Out there, millions of iliri part-breeds are being killed or enslaved, and there's no one standing up for them.  We're all that's left.  We're the only iliri on the continent that follow the old ways.  You have no idea what we've done to get here.  We hid our instincts, we played human when we had to, and we fought hard.  All you've heard are the stories about our victories.  No one talks about how when Jase and I rode in from eliminating the Escean warlords we were spat on.  No one talks about how a man stuck a poisoned knife between my ribs in the middle of the army encampment, and if he'd lived, he would have spent a month cleaning latrines to pay off the debt of my training.  No one talks about how it's legal to force me to lay with a human in every other nation on this continent!"

Dominik watched her with a shocked expression. 

She kept going.  "You don't have iliri here.  You don't know what it's like out there.  If
we
don't stand up for them, who will?  How can I sit in a palace in the mountains, shivering by a massive fireplace and enjoy it, knowing that somewhere another iliri is being beaten to death, and she doesn't have a pack to protect her?"

He leaned over his knees.  "I never knew, Sal.  You never told me that."

"It's not your problem, Dom.  Here in Anglia, you worry about titles and bastards and how high the women's skirts are.  When the women talk about wanting their rights, I can sympathize, but only to a point.  We should
all
be equal.  In the Conglomerate, women are treated the same as men, but iliri are not.  We aren't human, not even Razor- who looks more human that half of Anglia.  He has grey eyes, though, and that's all it takes to be labeled as iliri and sold."