"One day, Quiakides, we're going to tangle again."

Nykyrian quirked a humorless smile at him. "Oh you better hope not. Next time, I won't be merciful."

"Neither will I." Kyr's attention went past Nykyrian's shoulder to where Maris stood. "Gods, you get more disgusting every time I see you. Have you had surgery yet to become a woman? Not that anyone could ever tell the difference."

Maris tsked at him. "Oh, my brother... you always underestimated me. That's all right, though. I have the satisfaction of knowing that I'm the only creature alive who has ever knocked Nykyrian unconscious. Instead of insulting me, you should have teamed up with me. Then you could have killed him and completed your assignment, and not have that ugly blemish on your record. That must really suck for you. But I wouldn't know. My military record is flawlessly perfect."

This time, Safir was the one possessed of a coughing fit.

Infuriated, Kyr responded to Maris in Phrixian.

Maris made an air kiss at him.

If looks could kill, Maris would be a stain on the wall. Kyr swept her entire group with a withering grimace. "I shall see all of you later."

"We're so looking forward to it," Caillen called after him. "Fuck you very much, Commander. Have a good day."

As soon as Kyr and crew were gone, Maris let out a low whistle. "Poor Saf. He's going to get the dog end of every assignment for the next year or more."

Zarya hated that for him. Unlike Kyr, Saf had seemed like a decent enough... assassin.

Pushing that thought out of her mind, she turned toward Nykyrian. "What exactly did you do to him?"

"I gouged out his eye."

She'd known that, but..."Why?"

Kiara answered. "Nykyrian doesn't like to be grabbed from behind. Luckily, I'm much shorter than what his muscle memory accounts for, and as a former dancer, I have exceptional reflexes." She looked down at her stomach. "Well, not so much right now. But..."

Nykyrian gave his wife a droll stare. "I've never once harmed her. Kyr, on the other hand, came at me and made the mistake of being alone when he did it. Don't come barking at my door unless you have a fierce bite."

Before anyone could respond, one of the ladies came over and cleared her throat. "Now that the meeting is wrapping up, we'll be sitting down for dinner in a few minutes." She bowed to Caillen and Nykyrian. "We have prepared places for both of your highnesses and your wives."

"Thank you," they said in unison.

The hostess curtsied again, then left.

"Who was that?" Zarya asked Maris since he seemed to know everyone. And most importantly, he knew their secrets.

"That would be Lady Nylan."

Zarya's jaw dropped. "As in..."

Maris inclined his head. "Since the senator's one of the oldest members of the CDS, she's the delegate wife who's been hosting the social part of all their meetings for decades."

Meanwhile her husband...

Zarya didn't want to think about that. She was too afraid of what she might do to the man. How could anyone be married to someone like that? I will never understand people.

Most of all, she'd never understand their cruelty.

Everyone began adjourning for the dining room.

Nykyrian, Kiara, Caillen, Desideria, and Kiara's father went in first since they were considered guest dignitaries. Something that confused her.

"Why aren't you considered a foreign dignitary?" she asked Maris.

"They don't like me."

She popped him playfully on the arm. "I'm serious."

"So am I."

She didn't believe that until they started to enter the dining room. Lady Nylan met them at the door and pulled them aside.

Her gaze cold, Lady Nylan put on a false smile. "Because of the unexpected guests, we ran out of place settings. As a result, we've set a small table for the two of you, outside of the dining room. That is, if you don't mind."

Zarya loved when people said that, knowing they weren't about to take a negative response. She felt like protesting just to rub the woman the wrong way, but the last thing she wanted to do was cause a scene and embarrass Darling any more than what had already been done to him.

"Of course, my lady," Zarya said, proud of herself that she kept her disdain from showing.

"Please, follow me." Funny how her tone completely disagreed with that formal civility.

Maris rolled his eyes behind the hostess's back. "We don't want to sit with those apes anyway," he whispered to her.

Agreeing completely, Zayra came to an abrupt halt as she saw the small side table that had been pulled out for them. "Small" being the operative word. It must have been an end table in the conference room. The chairs were tiny foldaways with stained gray cushions. And while the linens were clean, they, too, were stained in places.

It was the ultimate slap in the face. But for Darling, she'd be throwing a tantrum over it.

Instead, she smiled at the woman and graciously sat down while Maris followed suit. Never let them know how much they've hurt you. Don't give them the satisfaction. Her father had raised her on those principals and she held them tight. Starskas didn't flinch or bitch.

They got even.

Lady Nylan left them.

Zarya picked up her napkin and placed it primly in her lap. "They don't think much of us, do they?"

Maris shrugged. "Fine with me. I don't think much of them either." He pulled one of the two hard breadsticks out of the water glass someone had put it in, and held it out to her. "You better eat up, sweetie. I'm pretty sure they won't have extra food for us either."

"You okay?"

Darling nodded at Drake as they walked down the quiet hallway with Ryn, Chayden, Hauk, and Fain. "I'm glad to be done with it."

For the first time in Darling's memory, Drake looked at him with respect. "They weren't as bad as I thought they'd be. And you... you were incredible. I can't believe how well you handled them."

"Yeah well, when you spend your entire lifetime being a verbal punching bag, you learn how to effectively strike back when you need to."

Ryn rubbed at his temples. "I don't know about you guys, but I swear I have a migraine. I wish I could blow off dinner."

"You know we can't." Darling allowed Drake and Chayden to lead them into the dining room.

Like Ryn, he had a vicious migraine of titanic proportions. But at least Nylan hadn't said a word during the session. He'd been waiting for the bastard to speak up and firebomb him in public.

Miracles do happen.

Instead, Nylan had simpered and smirked the entire time. Which was fine by him. Smirking he could handle. One word from the bastard and he might have snapped.

May the gods help them then.

As they entered the dining room, he scanned the crowd for Zarya or Maris.

Neither was present.

A bad feeling went through him. Hoping he was wrong, he went straight to Kiara and Nykyrian who stood off to the side with Caillen, Syn, and Desideria.

"Where are Maris and Zarya?" he asked as soon as he reached them.

Fury burned in Kiara's eyes. "They were seated in the hallway near the kitchen."

Darling scowled at the news. "What?"

"Yeah," Syn said bitterly. "Nylan's wife said that the additional guests"-he indicated their small group-"caused them to run out of seats at the main table. So the two of them were given seats outside."

Forget what he'd just gone through. This... this angered him more than anything else ever could. "Bullshit. They could have added an extra leaf while we were in session."

Caillen held his hands up in surrender. "He's just repeating what they were told."

"Fuck this shit." Darling stormed past them, ready to go to war. Before all was said and done, someone was going to lose their head over this.

Literally.

20.

Laughing at Maris's joke, Zarya felt a chill go down her spine. She sobered as the skin on the back of her neck crawled like a living creature.

When she turned her head to see Darling's furious glower while he stalked toward them, she understood the uneasy knot in her stomach. This wasn't the levelheaded politician who'd met with the gerents.

This was the feral soldier, Kere. And he was out for blood.

Maris rose at Darling's approach. "What's going on?"

Darling broke out into a furious rant in Phrixian... one day, she was going to have to learn that language. It was aggravating to have no clue what they were saying around her.

Maris attempted to calm him, but Darling was having none of it.

Ignoring Maris, he turned toward her. "Come, Z. We're leaving."

She hesitated before she stood up. "Aren't you supposed to be with the gerents?"

"Yes," Maris hissed, "he is. If he fails to attend dinner, it'll be viewed as an affront to them."

"And what is this," Darling gestured angrily toward them and their table, "if not an affront to me?"

Maris scoffed. "It has nothing to do with you. This is a slap at me and you know it."

"I totally disagree. But let's say you're right. It's still a slap at both of us, and I won't tolerate them treating the two of you like this. I won't."

Maris folded his arms over his chest. "Baby, you're overreacting."

Darling started to protest, but Zarya cupped his face in her hand and stood up on her tiptoes to nibble his jaw. Yeah, that made his thoughts scatter to the point he could barely remember his own name. His knees went weak and he lost all resistance to her.

Then she whispered in his ear. "You were magnificent tonight. Don't ruin what you've achieved with something that's as trivial as their pettiness. Besides, I like it here with Mari. He's highly entertaining."

At the moment, the only thing he wanted was to find a bed.

Or a closet.

But she wasn't some crass prostitute selling her body for drugs. She was a high-born lady who was going to be his consort. He wouldn't treat her that way. And by the gods, he wouldn't let anyone else either. "They've insulted two of the people I value and love most in this universe. Would you really have me forgive that?"

"Yes, I would." She gently pushed him back a step. "Go on in there and don't worry about us."

He debated what course of action he should take. On the one hand, he wanted to break someone's ass. On the other, he knew Zarya and Maris were right. No one would remember why he left the meeting tonight. They'd only remember that he'd turned his back on his gerents and insulted them.

"We're really fine," Maris said, reiterating her stance. "They did us a favor with this. We're having a great time out here."

Darling ground his teeth as another wave of fury ripped through him. "I'm still pissed."

Zarya winked at him. "Trust me. I know the feeling."

"Yes, she does," Maris concurred. "We all had to stop her from storming the session earlier."

Darling's frown deepened. "What do you mean?"

Zarya gave him a mischievous nose crinkle. "Syn hacked the security feed so that we could check up on you. I don't know how you stayed so calm. I commend you for it. It was extremely impressive."

Not really. It amazed him that they were all so stunned by his behavior. It wasn't like he was Hauk, and prone to ripping people's arms off whenever they upset him.

His ascension to power notwithstanding, he'd always been levelheaded and calm.

"Yeah, well, when you spend your entire life being insulted, you get desensitized to it. I don't think Arturo ever used my real name. After a while, it gets boring and you learn not to pay attention to it. As for the gerents, I'd have to care about their opinions where I'm concerned in order for them to hurt me. Since I couldn't care less... Let them make themselves giddy with their own stupidity. I've got better things to worry about."