He nodded. “Because they were embarrassed that Dariana had denied his pledge, his parents refused him access to his own home. He didn’t even have his wallet on him. All he had were the clothes on his back.”

“Did he call you?”

“He was too ashamed. He didn’t call anyone. The worst part was that his parents didn’t tell anyone he was missing. They went on with their lives like nothing had happened. Almost a week went by before Nykyrian contacted me, asking if I’d seen him.”

“Are you serious?”

Bitterness burned in his eyes as he nodded. “Nyk had been out on assignment and when he got back, he’d tried to call Dancer to congratulate him on unification. When he kept getting voicemail without Dancer returning it, he became concerned and learned what had happened. It took us a day and a half to find him.”

“Where was he?”

“Comatose, in a hospital.”

Her stomach lurched to the point she feared she’d be ill. “What?”

Fain took a deep breath before he continued. “The Enforcers had found him passed out on a bench, in the park where we used to play as kids. They’d said that he must have been there for several days before they saw him. Between exposure and Dariana’s wounds, he was barely alive. Since he had no ID on him or credits, they had taken him to a charity ward and left him there to basically die.”

Tears choked her. No wonder he loved Nykyrian so. And Fain. They were really the only family he’d had as a boy. “What’d you do?”

“We had him moved to a real hospital, and flew in the best doctor on Andaria. But I will never forget the look in his eyes when he finally woke up. It was worse than when Keris had died, or when he’d been burned. He looked devastated and broken. Defeated. And he was just a kid.”

She knew that feeling of having everything in your world tragically taken. Of being lost and angry, and wondering why you were still alive when it was obvious no one gave a single shit about you. It broke her heart that they had put him through that. “What did he say about it?”

“Nothing. You know Dancer. He’s never spoken about it to anyone. And he never went back to his parents’ house. Not even for a single pair of shoes. He hasn’t stepped foot in it since the day he left for that first unification.”

“Where did he go?”

“Since Nyk was in The League and couldn’t have visitors, he stayed with me until he had a job and a small apartment of his own. And every fucking year since then, his parents have demanded that he return to face Dariana again and again, and be put through the humiliation of public rejection.”

And that cruelty, she understood least of all. “Why?”