“It’s technically from you,” Alex said. “You should give it to him.”
“No, you and Cryss are the ones who pushed for this to happen, so it should come from you.”
“But it would be more meaningful from you, since your name is on it,” Alex argued.
“For fuck’s sake,” Cryss said, rising.“I’llgive it to him.”
Kenji snuck a peek at Qylar, who wore a frown. He could be the only other him they could mean. Cryss crossed to the tree, picked up a thick envelope, and returned to the table. Cryss handed the gift to Qylar and lifted baby Xan to free him to open it. “From King Krythar with an assist from Alex and I. Merry Christmas.”
“What is this?” Qylar asked.
“Just open it and you’ll see,” Alex said, an excited grin growing on his face.
Qylar eyed Kenji and then the others at the table before opening the envelope. Kenji tried to read it over Qylar’s shoulder, but after a few seconds, his mate leapt to his feet, still reading whatever it was.
“I’m a bit old for this,” Qylar said.
“The law doesn’t state that a ward has to be under the age of majority,” King Krythar said.
“A ward? Like a ward of the state?” Kenji asked.
“Kind of,” Alex replied.
Qylar shoved a hand through his hair. “You… um… this…” He shut his mouth and paced the length of the table and back, still reading the document over. “Are you sure? Because this is going to cause a lot of shit and there might be backlash.”
King Krythar leaned back in his seat. “Read the second page.”
Qylar whipped over to the second and read it over. “No… this isn’t real. You’re fucking with me.”
“I’m not. It was tested three times and verified,” King Krythar said. “I’m quite confident those results are correct.”
“But my father,” Qylar said.
“Was a cuckold,” King Krythar said. “And not your father. But since your real father can’t claim you publicly at this point, the only way out for you is through Qlr.”
“And you’re really willing to take this on when you can barely look at me most of the time?”
“My son and son-in-law have vouched for you repeatedly. I respect them, so I will hope they’re right about doing this.” King Krythar turned to Kenji for a moment before turning back to Qylar. “Now you can mark your mate without worry about having no name and no house.”
Qylar collapsed into the seat beside Kenji. He looked completely dazed. He panted, trembling ever so slightly. Suddenly, his gaze whipped to Cryss. “Ifhewas my real father…”
“That’s right,” Cryss said. “Uncle Q.”
Kenji had never felt so confused in his life and wanted to know what was going on, but all he could do was sit back and hope someone would clue him in.
“Are you okay?” Alex asked Qylar.
“I don’t know,” Qylar said, his voice barely over a whisper as he stared at the table. “I’m still processing.”
Alex’s gaze met Kenji’s. “Your mate just found out his father wasn’t his true father. Cryss’s grandfather was.”
“Oh shit,” Kenji said before slapping a hand over his mouth. “Sorry, Your Majesty.”
“I think that newsdeservesan oh shit,” King Krythar said.
“Since Cryss’s grandfather has passed, he can’t claim Qylar as his and elevate him back to court,” Alex said to Kenji. “After we found a loophole in the law that doesn’t exactly list an age range a ward has to be, we asked my dad to make Qylar his ward. Legally, he’s basically my brother now.”
“I can’t believe you did this,” Qylar said to Alex and Cryss. “How did you find this out?”
