Anger darkened her vision. “And you didn’t help Jullien when they threw him out?”
“I tried. Believe me. But you have to remember that it was only three months after Jullien was disinherited that my entire family was slaughtered and I was convicted for it and sentenced to being a Ravin. In retrospect, my father did him a favor. Had Julie been on Kirovar, he’d have been murdered, too.”
She sucked her breath in sharply. “I didn’t realize that happened so close together.”
Bastien nodded. “So no, I never had a chance to get to know Nyk. At all. Not until a few weeks ago, when they showed up on Oksana. He seems decent enough. But I don’t have the war stories with him that I share with Julie. Nyk never had to suffer through one of our grandfather’s interminable parties.”
She laughed. “So I’ve heard.”
“I’ll bet you have. To the day he died, my brother Quin counted Julie among his heroes for having the nerve to do that.”
“Are we back to the pool pissing?”
Bastien turned at Jullien’s question. “I could always count on you to make things interesting.”
Jullien rolled his eyes. “Let’s not go there.” He pulled his jacket out of the closet. “I have the files you need stored on my ship. You want to stay here or come with me?”
“As much as I enjoy your wife’s company, I’ll come with you and give her a break from my boorishness.”
“You’re anything but a chore to put up with. And you’re welcome here anytime.”
“Thank you, Ger Tarra.” Bastien took a minute to say good-bye to Vasili, who actually hugged him. “Take care, sport.”
“You, too.”
And with that, Bastien trailed Jullien back through the station.
They hadn’t gone far when Bastien brought up something that had been on his mind all night. “Thank you.”
“For dinner? You’re more than welcome.”
“No. For saving my life.”
Jullien practically stumbled. “Don’t know what you mean.”
“Yeah, you do. It wasn’t Aros who sent that missive to the Overseer that kept her from executing me. I know it was you.”
Red crept over Jullien’s features. “I wish I could have done more.”
“I’m stunned you did that much, given you were being hunted at the time. How did you manage?”
Jullien shrugged. “Made it my priority. I was on Ritadaria when I saw the trial coverage. I knew they’d convict you based on the bullshit I saw, and that my father, true to his assholishness, wouldn’t do anything to stop it. So I did what I could.”
Bastien pulled him in for a hug. “Again, thank you.”
“You sure about that? ’Cause after seeing that hell you called home…”
Laughing, Bastien shoved him away. “You were always an ass.”
“Yeah, uh-huh.” Jullien went to get the files.
When Bastien started to leave, Jullien stopped him. “Before you go, you want to loosen up some? Make sure you’re ready for this?”
“What do you mean?”
“When was the last time you trained?”
Longer ago than he cared to think about. “I’m in my prime. Don’t need no training.”
