the day Haydn Schaefer's l
e was thinking longingly of a hot shower when the butler inte
id with a sigh, wincing at the
n looked down at his filthy boots a
m as tired, cold, and dirty as the soldiers under his comman
king a shower. I stink
immediately after your return." His t
ve been important. Frowning, Haydn headed toward h
fully, but not too respectfully
his father started thinkin
er bristled, immediately suspicious t
irst time in his life, Haydn wished h
uch thoughts were pointless.
Well, Xeus alphas had it worse than either betas or omegas,
rom his computer, his dark go
finall
elf to his full height, which may not have been as impressive
acking. Haydn couldn't help but think that in his father's eyes, he
ot quite as good
Haydn did as he was told. The king
l representative this morning. You were a
e ignorant of it when the entire palace h
l, the meeting hadn't gone
il isn't pleased wi
to be part of the Union of Planets unt
rows drawing close. "There is
our planet," t
ies with different governments for thousands of years. They want us to make peace with Kadar and choos
adar had been at war all his life; he literally couldn't imagine them
was tired of leading his men to the
h. Two thousand and thirty-one. So no, Haydn wou
vable. There were too many grievanc
lanets, and we'll lose access to the TNIT network, and most importantly, lose the protection we have as a member of t
the Union that doesn't have a unified government. Some very powerful Inner Core planet
exceptions to the rule. Besides, those planets still have some kind of unified government and one Lord Chancellor. We can't say the same about ourselves. So th
e with them, exactly?" Haydn said, dr
to think of how they could
es had failed, the war resuming with
olution: a marriage between two high-profile political figur
what he thought he meant. Surely his father didn't
rmy, are not expendable," the king said. Haydn
, but Prime Minister Taube rejec
d the prejudice against Xeus alphas, but there was nothing he could do a
ies" Stefan's expression turned sour "a marriage between my heir and a Kada
closed it, knowing they would be futile. There was no poi
n said, forcing his
y already
hoice will be the prime minister's but I insisted that you should at least choose your spouse's sex and designation. You are th
, Father,"
ignation..." He hesitated. Since he was an alpha, m
as. They were so small. Vulnerable. Needy
active, no matter how good they smelled t
ore: vaguely unsatisfying and wrong. Something about it made
" Haydn said. The kin
hey're very malleable as long as they get a hard knot in their
nge. I prefer betas, you must know that." S
the best," he sai
there are, the fact that I can't think of any proves that they're no
egas was well documented, and he'd learned t
settled," th
issed, Haydn." When Haydn got to his feet,
thing is in order?" Haydn smiled a coc
the room, exuding confidence he didn't feel. He allowed hi
ured, running a h
rrying a politician from the country they had been a
uld be a beta. T