Sumi caught his fist. “Dancer, play nice with the doctor who might not want to help you if you clock him.”

He calmed instantly and nuzzled his face against her knee. When she went to brush his braids from his cheek, he took her hand and laced her fingers with his.

Sumi tensed as she heard the sharp click of a blaster from behind her.

Syn didn’t react at all. “Put it away, Jayne. She’s a friendly.”

“You sure?”

He gave her a droll stare. “I’ve never known Hauk to cuddle an enemy. You? I mean, he is weird and all, but he’s usually consistent with his surly demeanor.”

Jayne decloaked and moved forward to join them. “What happened to him?” She pulled her helmet off to show that, like Darling, her pictures didn’t do her justice. She was extremely beautiful.

Syn sighed heavily. “He’s got enough toxins in his system that if he were human he’d be dead ten times over. Thank the gods Andarions are tough bastards.”

“Is he going to be okay?” Sumi breathed.

Syn finally met her gaze. The anger there dissipated into kindness. “Yeah. I think so. Unless something has happened to Thia, in which case, we’ll be scraping up his guts as soon as Nyk returns.”

Jayne continued to glare at her. “Who the hell are you, human?”

“Jaynie,” Dancer said weakly. “Be nice to my girl or I’ll turn her loose on your hide. Trust me, I think she can take you.”

Jayne scoffed as she squatted down beside Hauk and touched his shoulder. “What happened to your eyes?”

A knowing smile curved Syn’s lips. “I think Hauk got around to taking your advice, Jayne.”

“What advice?”

Syn glanced at Sumi then laughed. “I’ll tell you later.”

Darling frowned as he finally looked over at Bastien, who’d opted to sit quietly and bleed while Syn tended Dancer. “Do I know you? You look really familiar.”

Bastien stretched out on the ground. “Summit meeting. Years ago. I was with my father. You were with your uncle.”

Recognition lit Darling’s eyes. “You’re the one who decked Nylan’s son when he spat in my food.”

“Don’t remember that, particularly, but it sounds like something I’d do. Hate that rank bastard.”

Darling shifted to study Bastien’s ragged condition. “You’re one of the Kirovarian princes.”

“Was.”

“Holy shit. I thought you were all dead.” Darling met Jayne’s gaze. “He’s one of Nyk’s paternal cousins, who was deposed about a decade ago.”

Sumi gaped at something Bastien had failed to tell them. Now that Darling mentioned it, she saw that regal bearing. She’d attributed it to his military training, but now that she knew, it was obvious what it really signified.

How had a prince become a League Ravin? Even a deposed one.