The Illegitimate Claim

Chapter One

How could people live in such a hot climate? The smell of war still seemed to linger

through the thick air. The heat had to have an impact on the battle ending as quickly as

it did. Gothman and Runners alike seemed satisfied however, as they moved around

the tents scattered across the desert.

Gilroy
watched the ground waver from the heat as he strolled through the camp.

He pulled his shirt away from his sweaty torso and wiped his forearm across his

forehead. It would be good to head home. Gothman weren’t made to exist in such a hot

climate.

“Oh, um, my lord,” a young Neurian woman gasped as she exited the large cream-

colored tent and ran into his broad chest. “Excuse me.”

Her singsong accent distracted him almost as much as her dark skin and black eyes.

She continued to straighten a loose-fitting smock over her wiry figure as she hurried

through the camp back toward Semore, the Neurian city next to their campsite. Gilroy

watched her for a moment before pulling the flap back and ducking his head to enter

the tent.

“That one looked a little young, my lord,” Gilroy teased.

“It doesn’t seem to matter.” Andru, heir to Gothman, reached for his smock but

then opted not to put it on. Instead, he tightened his rope belt and draped his half-

naked body across the only chair in the large one-room tent. “None of them seem to do

me any good.”

“Well, no one can accuse you of not trying.” There was laughter in Gilroy’s tone. He

sat on the messed-up bed and ran tanned fingers through his inky black hair. “Maybe

Neurian women don’t suit you. Although, I daresay there isn’t much to fault about that

last one.”

“We need to get you back to your claim.” Andru glared at his lifelong friend, and

first commander of all his armies.

“That’s why I came to see you. Will we be returning to Gothman soon?” Gilroy did

miss Ana, the woman he’d claimed over six winters ago, and Andru’s twin sister.

They’d only been gone for a cycle, although it seemed like much longer. He even

missed their children. Little Darien could drive him to distraction with his unending

questions, and the newborn Curi seemed to sleep all day and cry all night. It was the

birth of his second child, his daughter, that kept Ana from his side at this moment.

When the Tree People first attacked the Neurians, accusing them of taking oil from

their land, Gothman and Runners stood alert and watched. But when the Sea People,

whose nation was on the opposite border to the Neurians as the Tree People, attacked

4

The Illegitimate Claim

as well, the Neurians were forced to put old grudges behind them and seek out the

Gothman and Runners for help.

Lord Darius, leader of all Gothman, and Lady Tara, ruler of all Runner clans, hadn’t

hesitated when the cry for assistance arrived from the southern nation. No one wanted

the Tree People to gain more land. Their ability to pull thoughts by simply making eye

contact made them a nation to keep at bay. As long as their race remained on the other

side of the eastern mountain range, the
Grathing
Mountains
as the Tree People called

them, they weren’t a threat.

The Sea People had seen the advantage of attacking the Neurians to obtain the

rights to the opiate plant that grew so well down there. No one wanted the Sea People

to once again gain power through the manipulation of the addictive drug.

The Neurians had a good army. Andru and Gilroy quickly pointed that out to

Darius shortly after they arrived and aided in the attacks. But none of the nations came

close to the military skills the Gothman and Runners possessed. The Sea People and

Tree People were forced to retreat quickly, and, in fact, sustained serious damage at the

wrath of the incredible warrior skills of the Gothman and Runners. Needless to say, the

Neurians were very grateful.

“I say the sooner we leave the better.” Andru reached lazily for the portable

landlink lying on his desk. “I don’t think the Neurians can show much more

appreciation than they already have. Let me get confirmation and we can start tearing

down camp.”

He punched several buttons on the flat disc and adjusted the screen as the picture

slowly appeared in front of them. Ana, his beloved twin sister, came into focus slowly.

Her blonde hair was pulled into a braid behind her head but several curly strands fell

around her face and her smoky gray eyes glowed as she recognized the identical face to

her own.

“Andru, I miss you so much.” Her words came through the small, attached speaker

clearly. She held a small infant up to her shoulder and black and gold curls flew wildly

around a yellow blanket. “You and Gilroy are okay?”

“Now, if you aren’t a sight for sore eyes.” Andru’s expression transformed as he

gazed at his beautiful sister.

“The scoundrel is stealing my lines.” Gilroy leaned forward so Ana could see him

as well and relished the fact that her eyes lit up even further.

He’d accepted the love the twins shared for each other before he claimed his

woman, but he never seemed to be able to stifle the small amount of jealousy that oozed

through his veins when Ana looked at her brother the way she looked at him now.

“Oh, my two most favorite men in all of Nuworld.” Ana squeezed her daughter

gently to her breast and almost appeared to blush in front of them. Both men smiled in

spite of themselves. “Tell me you’re coming home.”

“We’re seeking verification right now,” Andru said. “How is everything there?”

5

Lorie O’Clare

“Quiet…and boring without both of you here.” She still smiled as her eyes jumped

noticeably from one of them to the other. “Papa is out hunting boars and Mama is at the

clan site. Do you want me to transfer your transmission to her?”

“No need.” Andru felt no need to seek Runner confirmation. He was Gothman.

Ana seemed to sense her brother’s ego and raised an eyebrow at him.

Gilroy
gave him a side-glance, but Andru simply leaned back and crossed his arms

across his broad, muscular, naked chest. “We’ll leave at dawn and will be with you

before the sun sets.”

“Is it incredibly hot down there?” Ana referred to her brother, who appeared to sit

naked in front of her.

“Now, that it is, my lady,” Gilroy spoke up, but then threw his best friend a

mischievous look. “But I fear your dear brother doesn’t find Neurian women to be quite

the sport that he does the women at home.”

“At least he’s seeking out other women.” Ana immediately regretted her words as

her brother’s expression grew solemn, and Gilroy’s expression grew suspicious.

Ana knew it was their papa who pressured him the most to seek out another claim

and secure the next heir to Gothman. Andru had a claim. He’d taken Meah before she

left to teach the Sea People about Crator. That was over five winters ago. She’d never

returned. Andru wasn’t cut from the right cloth to enjoy a celibate life. The love he

shared with his twin had raised the eyebrow of more than one family member. But until

recently, he’d shown no effort to seek out women other than Ana. Gilroy’s improved

disposition was obvious now that Andru was sleeping with other women. Ana knew

Andru’s heart. He wouldn’t secure another claim. Not even their papa would convince

him to do that. A part of her wished he wouldn’t be so promiscuous, though.

There was nothing appropriate to say that would retract what she’d just said. She

knew Gilroy worried about Andru coming to her. He shot a quick glance to Andru

when she spoke, and then his deep blue eyes narrowed in on her. Her cheeks flushed in

spite of her attempt to keep from blushing.

“I can’t wait to see both of you.” She adjusted Curi and smiled down at her. “And

your children can’t wait to see you, my lord.”

Gilroy
beamed at that comment and she smiled back. “May Crator bring you both

home safely to me.” And with that she reached out and terminated the transmission.

* * * * *

Tara
leaned back in her chair and wrapped her fingers behind her head. She

chewed on her lower lip as she frowned at the landlink monitor in front of her and then

sighed deeply.

“There’s no way I can respond to this before I talk to Lord Darius.”

“I would think you would talk to your son as well.” Dorn Gowsky, leader of the

council at Semore, smiled pleasantly at her.

6

The Illegitimate Claim

His dark skin drew attention to his white teeth. But his baritone voice and melodic

accent never ceased to distract her. No matter how many winters passed, she couldn’t

put out of her head that he’d kept her unconscious, and a prisoner in his home for half a

winter—six cycles.

They’d only worked together recently, albeit through long-distance transmissions,

while his nation had been attacked. And she felt comfortable talking to him, or more

comfortable than she’d ever felt in the past.

“I won’t say at this time that there’s reason to talk to him or not, Dorn,” Tara said

seriously. “Gothman don’t find claims for their children and Andru has a claim.”

Dorn chuckled softly. “Tara, his claim has been gone for a long time, has she not?

Do you know that she’ll return?”

“I believe that she will.” Tara grew serious. “I know she’s been gone for a long time,