“I’ve made no decisions yet.” Zander used a cutting tone, designed to let Damon know he’d overstepped.
He bowed, but still dared to ask the question sizzling a hole right through his mind. “My lord, does Eslyn’s future depend on your decision about her mates?”
“It must,” Zander answered immediately, causing Damon’s heart to plummet five floors. “They are the sires of her young. Or at least one of them is. Do you know which child belongs to which male?”
His tongue went dry, as if coated with dust. How could it be that he’d spent two planet rotations with Eslyn and didn’t know such a basic, important fact? Because he’d been too busy putting his dick everywhere it fit in that luscious body of hers. “No, my lord. I can ask.”
Zander swiped two fingers through the air. “I’ll find out tomorrow. You’re dismissed.”
Veck. The meeting had left him with more worries than he’d had going in. He needed to talk to Granit and Laake because their hours with Eslyn could be numbered.
He headed back to her chamber, but the chatter of children’s voices coming down the corridor had him slowing his steps, a smile lifting his mouth. It had only been two planet rotations but he’d kill or die for her young. For their young.
He didn’t give a veck if they were sired by her previous mates. They were under his protection now, which meant they were his. He knew Granit and Laake felt the same way. They were like a three-headed monster—individual faces of one combined energy. The brain, the brawn, the heart, all working toward a common cause: Eslyn.
It was as if their very existence—their oddball cohesion into an indivisible threesome had been solely for the purpose of claiming Eslyn. Because he could only reason that Prince Zander gave Eslyn to them precisely because they were three. They matched the number of mates she’d had and he wanted to spread the wealth that was Zandian female to as many of his loyal guard as possible. Zander would know he and his chosen brothers would have no problem sharing.
In some ways it seemed a miracle they had yet to quarrel over her. But while he may feel possessive of her with other males, his brothers didn’t count. They were an extension of him. Besides, they’d made an unspoken pact to keep their focus on Eslyn’s needs and desires, above their own.
He rounded the corner to find the children racing down the corridor, accompanied by Talia, Lamira, and Bayla. “Watch out!” he shouted with mock danger and swooped Teena up and around in a circle. She giggled and squealed, “Again!” when he put her down.
“No, me,” Ren said. “Can you do me, Master Damon?”
He caught the child around the waist and flipped her into the air to land on his shoulder, where he twirled. She stretched out her arms like an aviatory beast and sang out, “Wheee!” He reversed the direction of her flip, returning the disoriented child to her feet. “Where are you headed?”
“To the Great Hall,” Lamira answered.
“Have fun. We’ll see you later.”
“Farewell,” Alyx said somberly.
Damon lifted his arm at a right angle in the traditional Zandian greeting. It broke his heart to see such a young child so wary, his joy of life already dampened. Ren, too, sometimes retreated within herself. If it had something to do with their fathers, he needed to find out.
Even more determined, he made his way back to Eslyn’s chamber, where the four had been staying since the prince’s decree.
“What did you find out?” Laake asked when he entered. He tilted his head toward the washroom. “Eslyn’s washing up.”
“Prince Zander said he’ll call her ex-mates up tomorrow and his decision on her future depends on theirs.”
Granit and Laake both mirrored his frown. “I don’t like the sound of that,” Granit said.
“Nor do I,” Damon agreed.
“Does that mean if he releases them, Eslyn will be returned to their keeping?” Laake asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe. We need to figure out a way to keep that from happening.”
“But would he release all of them? It sounded like he’d already determined one of them to be the main culprit of wrongdoing.”
Eslyn stepped out, skin flushed from her shower. “What is it? Is this about Sankro?”
Damn. How much had she heard?
“Yes.” Better to be honest with her. “Zander will question your mates tomorrow. He may question you, as well.”
A shutter slid in place over her face. She nodded mutely.
“Eslyn—who sired the children? Do you know?” Damon asked.