Part 39 (2/2)
Hermione cursed under her breath. ”How many did they lose?”
”They're still trying to determine the numbers.” His lips trembled. ”The Merry Crimson went down in the fighting.”
She winced. ”How awful... Did Commander Hinto get out?”
A tear slid down his cheek. ”I told her not to come. I told her to stay at her father's base.” He balled his fists together and pressed them against his forehead as he broke off into a sob. ”Dammit, Mack! Dammit! Why couldn't you listen to me for once in your life!”
Hermione's scowl deepened. ”Ryn?”
He wiped angrily at his tears. ”I married Mack Hinto, Mom. Five years ago in a quiet ceremony on Paraf Run. We didn't tell anyone 'cause we knew what it'd do to the UTC, and how you and her father would react to it.” He pulled his link out and pressed a message on it.
Fain winced as soon as he heard the familiar lilting accent of High Admiral Hinto's only daughter. Much like with Ryn, there weren't many Tavali who didn't know Mack Hinto's fierce reputation. But where Ryn was known for his levelheaded decorum and smooth charisma, Mack was a spitfire h.e.l.lion more likely to bomb her way out of a situation than to ever try to diffuse it. While few wanted to deal with her, even fewer wanted to take her on in battle.
That never ended well for her adversaries.
But the one thing everyone agreed on she was the best pilot and strategist the Tavali had ever trained.
”Hey, me precious, Wa.s.sy baby boy, I'm sorry I missed you. And I don't want you upset when you hear this. I know you told me to stay safe and out of the fray, but you know that's not our way. Especially not after what them b.a.s.t.a.r.ds done to your brother and his family. And Chayden's. You're a Dane. I'm a Hinto. You've got to respect that we will not let this go unanswered. Besides, you need me, love. I know how much Darling means to you. I'm not about to leave you alone while you're grieving for him. I know how strong you are, but even the strongest sword needs a steady hand in battle. I swore to stand by your side, through all life's challenges, and I meant it. I don't care what me father, or anyone else, thinks. I will always be there for you when you need me. I love you, Trevelyan. For everything you're worth and even what you're not. See you soon, me love. I'm counting the seconds till I lay me eyes and hands upon you again.” She finished the message with a kissing sound.
Ryn curled his link to his chest and sobbed.
Hermione wrapped her arms around him and rocked him while he cried. Fain ached at the pain he saw in her eyes. At the agony of Ryn's loss. He knew that misery personally and it sucked on a level unimaginable.
There was no way to console it.
Venik motioned him away from the Danes. Rising to his feet, Fain stepped over to him.
”You were right. Stain came in. He's been trying to find the traitor himself.”
”That what he said?”
Venik arched an angry brow. ”You doubt my son?”
Fain glanced over to Ryn. Honestly? At this point, he doubted everyone, except a tiny handful. But he wasn't stupid enough to say that to the boy's father. ”What else did he say?”
”They found the third explosive device. It was planted in my quarters. Stanis and Kareem have a team there now, deactivating it.”
”Good.” Fain hesitated as he finally saw a crack in Ven's iron faade. ”What is it?”
”Reality hitting me. You know how I feel about Hinto.”
”You hate him with the burning fire of a million stars.”
”Yeah, but no one deserves to lose a child. Not like that. It could have been my Circe or Berra or Maryl or Lyss.” His breathing turned ragged. ”My girls fly as a united crew, Hauk. One battle, I could lose them all. And Payne. He flies with them.”
”Call them home.”
”I already did. And my boys.” His gaze burned into Fain. ”Can I really trust you, Hauk?”
”Only you can answer that. I've never betrayed your trust. Even when I should have. There's nothing else I can do to prove it.”
”Yeah, and it's why I don't trust you. I don't understand you, boy. I never have. Everyone wants something. But not you. You took whatever I did to you and you just kept going. No complaint. No slander. You just endured. And I don't know why.”
Fain laughed bitterly as he glanced to where Galene sat with Ryn and Hermione, offering them her comfort. ”I had nowhere else to go, Ven. No one wanted me. I had no papers. No country or allegiance. My only family was my brother. All I'm trained to do is make war and battle. To fight in a Ring and take as many lives as I can. Keris said it best years ago I'm nothing but a trained guard dog. Taking care of others is all I've ever known to do. End of the day, dogs don't want nothing but a bed and a meal.”
Sadness darkened Ven's eyes. ”And that's how I've treated you all these years. I'm sorry for that, Hauk.” He jerked his chin toward the bruise on Fain's cheek. ”And I'm sorry about sending you down to slag. I was angry and las.h.i.+ng out. I wanted someone to blame and you were an easy target and in range.”
”It's all right. I found the traitor there.”
”And saved my a.s.s yet again.” Venik let out a tired sigh. ”What are we fighting for, Hauk? Really?”
”You always battle for profit.”
Ven laughed at that. ”True, but what good is it if you bury your children?”
”It's not. Our children and their futures are the only thing worth warring for. That is the Andarion way. We don't look to the past, nor at ourselves. It is not our way of life that we preserve. It's their future, their rights, their freedom that we secure with our blood. We battle and lay down our lives so that they won't have to.”
”Yet they are the ones who fight our wars and die in them.” Ven swallowed hard. ”We have to end this with The League. Sooner rather than later.”
”That's what we're trying to do. But we can't negotiate with tyrants who don't respect us, or value the lives they are charged with securing.”
”One life lights a thousand.”
Fain nodded at the old Andarion saying that meant one being, no matter how insignificant he or she might appear, touched thousands of others, and that all of them were united together as an undivided whole. Take no one for granted.
Hermione and Galene helped Ryn to his feet.
When Galene started toward them, Venik waved her back. He faced Fain so that no one else could see or overhear him. ”You have been a friend to me when I didn't deserve it. Loyal when you should have struck out. I want to know why.”
”What do you want me to say, Ven? You're an a.s.shole. We both know it. I'm no joy either. But... you saved me from Tyrth when you didn't have to. And, you didn't kill me when you could have.”
”I shot out both your knees.”
”You didn't kill me,” Fain repeated. ”You're certainly not the first to shoot me. h.e.l.l, my older brother did that twice, growing up. Dancer plugged me once in the side.”
”By accident.”
”Still, a shot's a shot.” Fain smirked as he glanced over to Galene. ”And my wife got me a few days ago, quite intentionally. At point-blank range. When I b.i.t.c.hed about it to Command, Nyk was the first to point out that everyone wants to shoot me at some point. You and Storm just got the fun of it.”
Ven snorted. ”That may be, but you still haven't answered my question.”
Fain fell silent as he sorted through his complicated emotions where Venik was concerned. There was a part of him that hated the b.a.s.t.a.r.d for things he'd done. But beneath that hatred and resentment was the truth he couldn't deny. It was what always brought him back and what stayed his hand from las.h.i.+ng out at the Tavali no matter how much he might want to. ”When I was nothing and had been left abandoned and forgotten by friend and blood alike, you gave me a chance to regain my dignity. Yes, you made me earn it, in blood and sweat, but in the end, you allowed me to have a s.h.i.+p of my own and to fly unfettered.”
Ven lowered his voice to a barely audible whisper. ”I brutally wired you to that s.h.i.+p without your consent. To the very h.e.l.l where they abused you every minute they kept you caged there like an animal.”
”Are you trying to make me hit you?”
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