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Her eyes widened. “Hold on. I know your family name. They’re like royalty.”

He shrugged. “We don’t have royalty, but I understand your meaning. Until my accident, they were one of the most powerful families on the planet.”

“Powerful and ruthless if the rumors are to be believed,” Kendra said. “Didn’t they slaughter another family because they challenged their mining rights?”

“They did, as is to be expected when you receive such a challenge. To get a high-rank, you need a deadly instinct. My father has that.” Faron stroked a finger along his bare arm, an arm that was laced with old scars.

Kendra’s stomach tightened as she stared at the scars. “I assumed you got those during your work in the mines.”

“No, beatings from my father. It’s important to be taught logic and order.”

Kendra’s throat tightened, and she blinked tears from her eyes. “When did this discipline begin?”

“From a young age, as is deemed appropriate.”

Faron talked about being beaten like it was an everyday event. “Beating a child is never right. All that teaches is fear.”

He looked away as he chewed on more steak. “You wouldn’t understand.”

Kendra swallowed the sickness she felt. Their childhoods weren’t so different. It sounded like they’d both been disapproved of and forced to believe things that weren’t true in order to make others happy. She’d felt the hard slap of an uncaring foster parent more times than she cared to admit. And there had even been a beating that left her with a broken arm. The scars Faron wore showed he’d experienced a different level of beating. His family had tried to break him.

“If I have children, I’d never beat them,” Kendra said.

Faron shrugged. “Do you plan to have a large family?”

“One or two.”

“One or two dozen?”

She laughed. “I’m not sure I’m up for that challenge. Tolongs have large families, don’t they?”

“As big as we can. The bigger your family, the more power you receive. That is part of the reason my own family is so successful. They’re excellent breeders. With children comes wealth.”

“Yet you have no children of your own?”

His forehead furrowed. “I am not strictly a part of my family.”

“What does that mean? They can’t disown you.”

“They had every right to do so following my injury. I brought shame to the family name.”

Her gut tightened. Faron carried so much pain within him. He might not admit to it, but it simmered beneath the surface like a festering volcano that could explode at any time. “They should be ashamed. They should have supported you after you were injured, not considered you defective.”

“They are correct in their behavior. I am defective. With only one arm, how can I be a collector?”

“A collector of what?”

“My job in the mines was to discover cherry opals. I was one of the best.”

“You had to stop after your accident?”

“I had no choice. I needed time to recover and have my replacement arm fitted. After that, my place was gone, along with the wealth and my reputation. If I had died in that accident, my family would have been gifted that mine and everything in it as compensation for their loss. Their wealth would have tripled.”

“And all that needed to happen was for their son to die.” She snorted in disgust.

“They have other sons. Better sons.”

Kendra shook her head in disbelief at how casually Faron talked about his fall from favor. “So, you don’t get to work in a mine anymore. That’s hardly a bad thing. As you’ve discovered, it’s dangerous. There must be other work you can do.”