Page 55 of Her Lawless Prince

“I think what everyone means to say is many blessings on your marriage.” Roderic stood and came closer so she could easily meet his gaze. “All we want is your happiness.”

“Of course,” her mother stroked her back. “Many blessings. We are not here to judge you.”

“Or question the will of the gods,” her father added. The commander did not sound convinced.

She already felt bad about what she’d done. This was only making it worse.

“Yes, many blessings,” a few of the elders added, their words mumbled.

“I’m not—” Ryland began.

“We’re happy for you,” Roderic interrupted. “Yevgen has proven himself a friend of the Var and of the Cysgodian people these many years. Without him, we might have lost Shelter City on several occasions. We owe him much. And I, for one, am eager to hear what information he was able to collate for us from the Federation databases. We are in his debt.”

Ryland looked like he wanted to argue but instead shut his mouth.

Payton nodded at Roderic, grateful for his support. He had first hand knowledge of what Yevgen had done, and it went beyond just saving a few lives and freeing the Cysgodians from Federation tyranny. The cyborg had assisted in eliminating the threat of mass destruction when he helped Payton and Prince Grier locate a bomb hidden in one of Shelter City’s alleyways. The explosion would have killed everyone in the city. He had also helped locate one of the future dragon princesses being illegally held prisoner inside the Federation facility. The list of his deeds was endless.

“I will not dictate your choice in husbands,” Kirill said.

“Thank you.” Payton really wanted to stop discussing the subject. All she could think about was Nyle. “I have no intention of being like King Attor. I will not shame the family.”

“No one would accuse you of shaming us.” Her father’s tone was firm. “If our people have a problem with it, they can speak to me on the matter.”

No one would be foolish enough to take him up on that offer.

“I love you, too,” Payton whispered to him.

“You haven’t asked where Yevgen is,” her mother observed, stroking a piece of Payton’s hair away from her face.

“Where is he?” Payton forced her gaze to move around the group of elders. Of course, she should have asked that. He was her husband. No wonder her family was confused by her choices.

“We gave him some parameters, and he’s organizing the information he discovered into a coherent presentation. He’s in my office for privacy,” Quinn answered.

Payton pressed her lips together and shared a look with Roderic. “You left him alone by a computer port?”

“He doesn’t have high-security clearance,” Quinn said. “Will he damage our system?”

“Father, Yevgen likes collecting data,” Roderic told Quinn. “He’ll be inside any archive he can hack into, copying them.”

Payton gave a small nod of agreement. “It’s true.”

“Do we need to isolate him?” Kirill asked.

“He won’t betray us,” Payton said.

“Payton and I will go make sure he’s behaving,” Roderic offered, moving toward Payton.

She stood, thankful for an excuse to leave.

“You haven’t eaten yet,” her mother protested.

“I promise, I’ll make sure she does.” Roderic hooked his arm through Payton’s and pulled her with him toward the dining hall door.

“We have much to discuss,” Kirill said.

“We’ll be back.” Roderic walked faster.

When they pushed open the doors, they were met by two guards. Both were half shifted into upright cats. One nodded. The other tried to suppress an annoyed growl.

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