Nauseated, Ture stared at him. “What?”
Glancing back toward Zarya, Darling sighed heavily. “His father wasn’t joking. He would have killed Mari had he received any report of misbehavior or problems. So there was Mari, with no understanding of kindness or love or compassion of any kind, unable to comprehend what the foreign people around him were saying, thrown to the wolves. Alone.”
As little more than an infant.
And Darling made no mention of Mari’s amphibious nature and the stress of keeping
that
secret. Even though he abhorred violence, Ture wanted to kill Maris’s family for the cruelty of abandoning a boy so young.
“On Phrixus,” Darling continued, “anyone does anything you don’t like, you two fight until one of you loses consciousness or dies. That is the Prime Law. Suddenly, Maris was thrown into a world where he was forbidden to strike out at all. For any reason. Everything he’d been trained and taught from birth was the exact opposite of what was expected of him once he left Phrixian territory. He had to curb every instinct he possessed or die for it. The League told him he better not even swat and kill a fly or they’d retaliate. First against him. Then his people.”
Ture’s stomach cramped at the horror Maris must have felt as a small child, alone in a world he didn’t understand. “Where did he live?”
“The League handed him over to the Ultaran royal family.”
Ture wasn’t sure where Ultara was, but he knew the name of the planet. “Why there?”
“The Ultarans had been at war with the Phrixians for centuries. No one cared about it, until a League convey was caught in the crossfire. Since the Phrixians were the ones who blew it apart, they were punished more severely than the Ultarans. The League High Command demanded that the Phrixian emperor hand over a son for a decade to the Ultarans to guarantee a cease fire between their empires.”
“And the Ultarans? What was their punishment?”
“They basically skated with a slap on their wrist.”
Ture was disgusted by how the League operated. “So Mari was handed over to his father’s enemies?”
The expression on Darling’s face confirmed Ture’s fears. “He was.”
And as the son of their enemy... “I take it they weren’t kind.”
“You know how I met Maris, right?”
It was one of Mari’s favorite memories. “You saved him from a bully.”
“The Ultaran prince. Crispin. I’ll admit I was scared as hell that day. It was the first time I’d ever been away from home or family, and all I wanted was for the day to end and for my dad to come get me.” Darling paused as the memory played through his mind. Even all these years later, he could see it as if it’d been yesterday.
He’d been playing tag with another boy when Crispin, who dwarfed both him and Maris, threw Maris on the ground and held him there by his hair. Maris’s eye was cut and his nose bleeding from the punches Crispin had already given him.
“You’re not so tough, are you, Phrixian? You’re nothing but a puss. Say, I’m a scared little bitch. Say it!”
A group of older boys, Crispin’s friends, were circled around them and laughing about Maris’s abuse.
“Say it, Phrixian scum!”
If Darling lived a thousand years, he’d never forget the fear he saw on Maris’s face.
Because of Darling’s father, who often attended sessions and meetings with Darling on his lap, Darling was well advanced in politics for his young age, and he’d known who Maris was and why he was at their school. Most of all, he’d known that Maris was forbidden to defend himself. If he dared fight back, a report would have been filed with the League, and Maris would have been executed for it. If not by the League or Ultarans, then by his own father.
Maris had said something in Phrixian, but Darling’s understanding of the language at that time had been as poor as Maris’s of theirs.
“What?” Crispin had shouted in his ear. “You want to suck my dick? Is that what you said, you freak?” He rose with his hand still wrapped in Maris’s hair.
Because he’d already started military training before he’d been handed over to the League, Maris had feinted to the right then reversed course. And even though he’d left a clump of bloody hair in Crispin’s hand, he’d shot across the yard with the others giving chase.
Two of the older students had tripped him as he ran past them. With a fluid grace, Maris had rolled and sprung to his feet. But no sooner had he regained his footing than Crispin slammed him against the wall and started pounding on him again.
Darling had looked at their teachers who were ignoring it. They knew Crispin’s father would only punish them if they intervened. As an emperor, he had total power over them. And since Maris’s father wouldn’t do anything to help his son, they refused to render aid and risk their own necks or jobs.
Unable to stand another minute of the cruelty, Darling had shot across the yard and slammed his body into Crispin’s, knocking him away from Maris. Blinded by fury, Darling had beat the shit out of the sniveling coward.
Twice his size and age, Crispin had cried like an infant.
“Swear to me that you won’t hit him anymore! Ever!” Darling had demanded.
“No!”
Darling had punched him, again and again, until his own knuckles were bleeding and bruised. “Swear it! Or so help me, I’ll beat you every time I see you!”
“Okay! I swear I won’t ever hit him again.”
“Not even at home!”
“Not even at home.”
Only then had Darling pulled back. Aching and winded, he’d turned around to see Maris still against the wall, staring at him as if afraid Darling would take over where Crispin had left off.
Darling had smiled at him and tried to think of something Maris would understand in Universal. “Hi, I’m Darling Cruel. We should be friends.”
Maris had frowned as he struggled to translate what Darling was saying.
So Darling had pulled his hand-sized notepad from his pocket, and downloaded a translator to say it to him in Phrixian.
Only then did Maris return his smile. He’d reached for the notepad and typed in a response. “Your services were necessary and memorized.”
It would be months before Darling understood the strangeness of that comment. Phrixians had no words for friend, gratitude or thank you.
He’d pointed to himself. “Darling.”
Maris had done the same. “MAH-ress”
From that moment forward, Darling had kept Maris close, watching his back while he taught Mari Universal and Mari taught him Phrixian well enough that they could talk to each other fluently. Those days had been so hard for Maris. Darling couldn’t even count how many times Maris had come to school with bruises and cuts from where the Ultarans had attacked him when he was on their soil.
Mari never said a word about it. Nor did he try to befriend anyone else.
I am loyal to you, alone, Darling.
They
are untrusted.
His mistrust had only grown when he saw how viciously their classmates had turned on Darling when Darling, to save his mother’s life for an affair that would have seen her executed, had claimed her male lover as his. After that, Maris had never trusted anyone with anything about him that could cause harm to his body or heart.
It was why the two of them were closer than brothers. Why Darling could kill anyone who caused harm to Maris.
Darling’s thoughts returned to the present as he stared into Ture’s eyes. In all these years, Ture was the only one Maris had ever given his heart to.
That alone told him how much Maris loved Ture. “As scared as I was, I knew Maris was even more so. And I couldn’t stand by and watch him be hurt.”
“You’re a good man, Darling.”
He scoffed at Ture’s praise. “Not really. Flawed like everyone else. But I try. And I’m just grateful that Crispin went to the same academy I did, otherwise I’d have never met Maris. And I shudder at what would have become of us had we not found each other. I know I wouldn’t have made it through without him.”
“He feels the same way about you, Darling. And now I understand exactly why. I can’t imagine how awful that had to be for him.”
“Yeah, it was harsh. While the rest of us went home for holidays and breaks, Maris couldn’t. His family was only allowed to visit with League chaperones, and only for a few hours at a time. Which they very seldom did.” And then it was only to threaten him. “Meanwhile, after our regular classes ended, he spent another six hours a day with Phrixian tutors who continued his lessons that contradicted everything our academy drilled into him. Talk about homework . . . You can’t imagine the workload he carried, and he wasn’t allowed to slack off or do badly in any subject, either human or Phrixian.”
“Why not?”
“Honor. To fail or allow a human to outdo him would shame his family. He would go days without sleeping, just so that he could keep up.”
Ture winced. No wonder Maris seldom tired, and never complained about staying the long hours they did at the restaurant. He was used to it. “Did he never get a break?”
“Sometimes. Because of our friendship, my father intervened as best he could between the League, Phrixians and Ultarans so that Maris would be allowed to stay with us, or visit. For seven years, we did a pretty good job running interference.”
“Only seven?”
Darling’s eyes turned dark with grief. “My father was assassinated when I was twelve. And though some of the loopholes he’d set up for Mari that allowed him to visit remained, my uncle wanted me isolated. He made it clear that he’d rather Maris stay away. So for two and a half years, he was left at the academy without me. It’s something he never talks about, so I know it had to be bad for him.”
“And after that he went into the Phrixian armada.”
Darling nodded. “That, too, was a nightmare for him. Because he’d been ‘humanized’ by something he’d been forced to do against his will, the Phrixians went out of their way to punish him for it. They perceived him as weak and tainted by his time with the Ultarans. It’s why his father chose a non Phrixian to marry him. He didn’t want Maris shaming his family with his human sympathies and effeminate ways. Nor did he want one of his other ‘pure’ sons tainted by the stench of a human.”
“How did Maris stand it?”
Darling laughed bitterly. “Mostly, he lashed out. He was angry all the time back then. Furious at his father, his family. Sometimes even me. It was what made him such a great warrior. He’d unleash that fury and beat the hell out of anyone who got near him.”
Ture drew a ragged breath as he finally understood the two contradictory sides of Maris’s personality, and how he could swing from flirting to vicious killer so fast. “You know, I used to hate you so much. I spent countless hours cursing everything about you and your royal family. Wishing you were all dead and gone... I’m sorry, Darling. I shouldn’t have judged you or hated you, when I knew nothing about your character or situation. And I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done for Maris. I totally get his devotion now.”
Darling gave him a sad smile. “Maris and I have been to hell and home together. Back to back, we have defended each other with everything we possess. Anytime we needed to turn to someone, we called each other. Until today. When he thought he was dying, it was your voice he wanted to hear last. Not mine. Honestly, a part of me is a little hurt. I’ve never had to share him before with anyone. But I love him enough to let him go. His happiness means everything to me.”
“Me, too.”
Darling hugged him close. “Thank you for calling me.”
“Thank you for saving him.”
He pulled back and offered his hand to Ture. “Brothers?”
“Brothers.”
* * *
M
aris came awake to a searing pain in his side. Grimacing, he opened his eyes to find Syn checking the bandage over his ribs. As he realized he was in a hospital, everything came rushing back to him.
The attack.
Draygon. . . .
And Ture refusing to get into the ambulance after Maris had told Darling he loved him.
Shit
. The fallout was bound to be nuclear.
Syn jerked his head up to meet his gaze as Maris tried to speak. “Easy, Mari. I’ve got you locked down.”
Unable to speak, he used his one free hand to sign to Syn.
“Darling’s outside with the others.”
Maris had just started asking about Ture when the bathroom door opened, and Ture drew up short.
“He’s awake?”
Syn nodded. “He just opened his eyes.”
Ture rushed to the opposite side of the bed. Leaning over the rail, he smiled at Maris as he brushed his hand through his hair. “Hey, baby. You gave us all a big scare.”
Confused, Maris tried to make sense of this. He’d expected Ture’s anger.
Not his love.
Syn pulled the mask off his face, then handed him a small glass of water. “Sip slowly.”
Ture helped him with it.
Maris coughed then met Ture’s gray eyes. “You’re not mad at me?”
“For what? Getting stabbed? I don’t think you did it on purpose, did you?”
“No...for Darling.”
Ture duplicated his frown. “For Darling what?”
“For what I said to him.”
Now he looked irritated. “That you loved him?”
Maris nodded.
Ture rolled his eyes. “Why would I get angry over that? I know you love him. It’s not like you
ever
kept that a secret.”
“Then why didn’t you get in the ambulance?”
His features softened as he brushed his hand over Maris’s face. “I was afraid you’d be attacked again, love. I wanted men with you who know how to butcher something besides a steak.”
“Really?”
Ture sighed heavily. “I am
not
jealous of you and Darling, Mari. How many times do I have to say that before you believe me? I would never come between the two of you, and what you’ve shared. And in the future, when you’re dying, for the love of the gods, please call the one capable of saving your life and not the one who can’t.”
Maris laced his fingers with Ture’s. “You are my life.”
Ture smiled at him as he lifted his hand to his lips and kissed his knuckles. “I feel the same way about you, which is why I want to beat you for calling me when you should have called an ambulance.” He glanced over to Syn. “So how’s he doing, Doc?”