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Halian rolled his eyes upward, and grimaced. "Mother and Father thought he was their best chance at the continuation of the family line," he answered. "I never showed any interest in it. Lucien, at least, displayed a healthy s.e.x drive. Rich people want to know their line will continue on."

"So, they gave him anything he wanted just because he was a h.o.r.n.y f.u.c.ker?" Jules asked, very nearly outraged.

"Not quite as simple as that, Jules, but essentially," Halian replied. "If he had everything he wanted he wouldn"t have a viable excuse for delaying a family. Think about it. Many people put off children, if they"re able, thinking they don"t have enough money, or a good environment, for children."

"Jules!" Lucien shouted, his pole down in the water, arms rigid. "I need help!"

Jules splashed out to Lucien with Halian"s knife. Lucien had pinned a gigantic fish. It had to weigh fifty pounds, and it was fighting. "That guy"s going to beat us to death," Jules said. "You got him?"

"He"s wearing me out!" Lucien said. "Take over so I can cut his head off!"

Jules grabbed the pole and Lucien took his brother"s knife. A noisy, large splash, and Lucien stood up, panting. A very large fish head bobbed to the surface. "That"s a monster," he panted. "It makes me wonder how many are like him. Is it even safe to be in the water?"

"Ah, they"re just creepy when they"re big," Jules said, and Lucien laughed.

"Jules, I insist you go back to the house and change clothes," Halian called out.

Jules waded out with Lucien, who half dragged the fish corpse with him.

"We"ll be leaving in an hour," Halian said. "Dress warmly, Jules. Good ????????, Lucien, that"s not a carp, it"s a leviathan!"

Jules grinned as he walked back to the house. He changed quickly and ran back, finding everyone getting ready to leave. The cart was wide enough to have everyone sitting beside the driver, so Jules took Halian"s left and Lucien took the right.

It was a quiet ride, but Jules didn"t mind. He watched the cart ahead, which was Sam and Felix"s. Felix seemed to be paying a lot of attention to the head groomsman, looking his way often, doing a lot of smiling and talking. Twice, Sam looked at the tailor for longer than a moment.

"The tailor wants the groomsman," Lucien said, not loud enough to be heard by the people ahead or behind them.

"Felix and Sam," Halian informed. "They"re of similar age and social status, so it"s not too surprising."

"You"ll allow it?" Lucien asked.

"I don"t own either one of them, Luc," Halian said. "They work for me. I provide them a home."

Lucien fell quiet and stayed quiet a few miles before saying, "You own Jules."

Halian sighed. "What hangs you up about the social system and castes? Tell me. I want to know what things look like to you."

Lucien fidgeted a little, kicking his legs. "It"s all about money," he said. "Money is power. When Mother and Father took my money away, I lost power. Then, when you took what power I had socially, my servants left."

"Your servants were evil," Halian told him. "You knew they were. You even threatened to use them against me."

"I wouldn"t have let them really hurt you," Lucien protested.

"Lucien, don"t insult me with lies," Halian replied.

"Well, you were going to cut my fingers off!" Lucien blurted. "I"m not like you, Halian, I can"t heal-."

"Luc," Halian said sharply. "This isn"t about power. This is about the abuse of power, which you have a history with. You need to funnel your nature into reputable pursuits, and stop looking at what you don"t have. Look at what you ?? have." He Halt his brother a glance. "List five things you"re grateful for. Go on."

Lucien threw out a big, teenager-like sigh. "I was born into wealth," he said. "I"m healthy. I got an education. I came out of Mother as an alpha..." He paused. "You haven"t kicked me out to die in a gutter somewhere."

"I love you enough to correct you," Halian said. "If I didn"t care, Luc, I"d give you an allowance and let you drink, gamble and wh.o.r.e yourself to death."

"But, Mother and Father-."

"Our parents aren"t our peers," Halian cut him off. "They imagined you"d settle down, eventually. This is a distracting world, and many people have trouble adjusting." Halian shook his head, frowning as he thought. "It"s not easy to do the right thing. And, it wasn"t as if our parents got cla.s.ses on how to raise children. But, you can"t blame them for what"s wrong with your character. All they had to do was give you life."

"I didn"t ask to be born," Lucien muttered. "That"s all on them."

As screwed up as that was, Jules kind of agreed. Smart people were careful about when to have children, if at all. Still, he thought about how he might have turned out with the Novars as his mom and dad.

"You"re very quiet, Jules," Halian said.

"Just thinking, Hal," Jules said. "Wonder what I"d be like if I"d had your parents?"

"You"d be an alpha," Lucien muttered, but not unkindly. "You certainly wouldn"t know how to spear fish from raw materials, and I"d have probably brained you with a spice jar."

"You have a good throwing arm," Jules agreed.

"Didn"t mean much against those fans," Lucien said. "What"s up with that, anyway? I"ve only seen omegas use fans to entice, not fight."

"The law says that if I kill an alpha with these fans, it"s legal," Jules informed. "I can"t be prosecuted for it. Why not be the best, then?"

"Huh." Lucien leaned past his brother to look at Jules. "Have you ever had to? Kill someone, I mean."

"That"s rude, Luc, and not your business," Halian said.
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"I don"t mind, Hal," Jules told him. "No, I haven"t had to," he answered Lucien. "I don"t particularly want to, either. But, it"s good to know I can protect myself."

Lucien stared at him a long time, his dark blue eyes taking Jules in. "Do you know why my brother chose you?"

Jules smirked. "Yeah."

Lucien frowned. "You"re not going to tell me?"

"It"s not my place," Jules said. "That"s Hal"s business."

"You"re going to marry him!" Lucien shouted. "You"re going to have his babies!"

Felix turned his head to look at them, and Jules waved. "That doesn"t mean being up in his business," Jules replied, looking at Lucien again. "Hal has his own stuff to look after, and when he needs me, he says so. I try not to poke my nose into his affairs. Sometimes it"s hard, yeah."

Lucien sat back and looked up at the sky for a while. "Holy Father," he said flatly. "You"re ??????? like the omegas I"ve known. Not one d.a.m.n bit."

Halian chuckled richly. "Jules is beautifully his own person," he said.