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Maurick followed my gaze.

“Oh, it’s nothing to be concerned about. They are there as a precaution. The council demanded this concession of us to protect you in case anything goes wrong. Nothing will, of course,” he said smugly.

Worried, I narrowed my eyes.

Maurick laughed, throwing his arms around me before strolling off to speak to someone who had just walked in.

Curiously, I looked to see if there was anyone that I recognised. I dimly remember being shocked at seeing Eduardo, a serious man of about one hundred and fifty. It was strange to see him, and it was commonly understood that his interest was men. Same-sex relationships were quite common in Kaltos, and we didn’t have a problem with them as mankind does. Love is love.

Eduardo didn’t have a wife. Everybody accepted he was gay, although nobody knew for definite. I saw a few other people I recognised by sight when, all of a sudden, I felt a grip on my arm.

And a cheerful baritone rumbled, “Might have guessed you lot would be here somewhere.”

“D’vid!” I exclaimed, my mood brightening instantaneously.

“When did you return home? And what are you doing here?” Pari demanded, grabbing D’vid in a bear hug.

“About a week ago. The moment I stepped into my father’s villa, there was Claudias bleating about this wonderful experiment he had created—”

“Oh, Claudias created it, did he? Nothing about the hard work the rest of us put in,” Maurick cut in, overhearing the conversation, and walked away, searching out the unlucky Claudias.

“Scientists are so touchy, don’t you think?” D’vid asked with a smile.

It was a well-known fact around the province that D’vid and Claudias were abrasive to one another. D’vid took any chance possible of riling his rather lofty sibling.

Claudias was too interested in science and was boring and tedious. Everyone avoided Claudias unless you thought along the same wavelength as him. D’vid, in contrast, was lively, boisterous, amicable, and far from tedious. There were also twenty-five years between the two brothers. Claudias was fifty-one, and D’vid twenty-six.

“Well,” D’vid continued, “there was Claudias bleating, Father gloating, and Mother doing her ‘I’m so proud of my firstborn’ act. And there I stood, tired, dirty, and hungry. To say I wasn’t too impressed was a slight understatement.”

“And you put your foot right in it,” Mera guessed.

“Yes, straight into the shit, as usual. After sneering and throwing my cloak at him, I told him actually to be useful and make me a hot tea. Mother cried out in disbelief and stormed off. Father demanded to know what I thought of the wonderful thing my brother had created.

“Jacques, to hear them speak… Apparently, Claudias created this all by himself, and the others were just lab assistants. Seriously, when Claudias told me, I was shocked. My brother, dull, miserable Claudias, had helped develop this? It was laughable how full of themselves they were. Picture it. All ofthem puffed up with their own self-importance and me lounging across the seating cushions, travel stained and hungry.”

“What happened after you laughed?” Tobais asked, scratching his head.

D’vid’s parents were a mystery to him (as they were to most of us). We all near enough had loving parents. Considering we thought that D’vid was wonderful, we couldn’t understand his parent’s attitude.

“The usual. Father sneered, Mother looked disappointed, and Claudias became superior. Hadn’t he done something amazing? Smug little git. As always, I was the wastrel, as I’d done nothing noteworthy in life. ‘A useless waste of time and effort,’ as my father always says. True, you know.”

D’vid shrugged to show that it didn’t bother him. He had listened to the same crap growing up.

“I couldn’t really care less. Someday, I will grow up and settle down and be the model son,” D’vid ended mockingly. “Claudias isn’t likely to spawn children.”

“Don’t ever. I love you just the way you are,” Kait said, kissing D’vid full on the lips.

“I adore you too. If only you were a girl, we’d make the perfect couple. Forever and forever,” D’vid teased with a sigh.

Everyone laughed.

“So, I decided to shock my parents and volunteer for the experiment. They were quiet for just a moment. Then father began complaining about me finding a new excuse to avoid work.

“Tired of their sniping, I said to forget it when Claudias jumped up and asked if I meant it or would I back out tomorrow. I declared I meant it, and that if he wanted me, then I would do it for him. Claudias swore it would mean a lot of him if I did.

“Strangely, that was the first time that he ever paid sincere attention to me. It doesn’t make sense. Claudias has hated mehis entire life, and now I’m his favourite brother. I feel that I have been manoeuvred into something.”

D’vid fell silent into his own thoughts and kick-started my own misgivings again.