Unsure of what to think, Sumi glanced after Hauk, who had vanished into the night. He hadn’t even looked back as Thia had blasted Darice. That degree of callousness for his family seemed out of character for him, and said a lot about their relationship. “So what’s the deal with them, anyway? Why does Darice hate him?”

Thia paused as she took a minute to consider her words. “Most of the sniping is just being Andarion. We’re a snarky, warring bunch.”

“But…”

“As you have heard, repeatedly. They blame Hauk for the death of Darice’s father.”

“Was he?”

Thia shook her head. “From the snatches of conversations I’ve heard over the years between my father and Fain – Keris, Darice’s father, in spite of being an Andarion war hero, had some serious problems with drugs and alcohol.”

Sumi sucked her breath in sharply at that. While those weren’t good things for humans, Andarions had a very harsh penalty system for it, especially for those who wore a military uniform. Some drinking was allowed.

Excess was not.

As for the other, drugs could be a death sentence if used by a civilian who was caught, and was always such for those in uniform. “Why would he risk drug use?”

“Again, I’m speculating, but as you’ve heard Uncle Hauk say, their mother isn’t exactly a beacon of maternal instinct. Even though she’s a brilliant negotiator, she has little patience for her sons’ misbehavior.”

“Negotiator?” There was something his dossier hadn’t revealed. “I didn’t know Andarions had such in their world. I thought they just slugged out all their problems until someone gave up or died.”

“Not always.” Thia ran her hand over Illyse’s ears. “And his mother is one of the best ever trained. Like Hauk’s father, his mother is a military veteran who expected a lot from her three blood sons.” She paused to pour water for the lorina to drink. “Darice’s mother is also a veteran and was Keris’s wingman. I’ve heard that when Uncle Hauk told her what had happened to Keris on his Endurance, she buried a knife in Hauk’s stomach and gave him a gut wound so deep they had to remove part of his stomach to save his life.”

Sumi sucked her breath in sharply at that. What an awful thing to do, but it went along with the stories she’d been told about Andarion savagery. “You’re serious?”

Thia nodded.

“How old was he?”

“Fifteen.”

And she’d stabbed him? How could anyone do such a thing? Sumi understood grief, but that… She looked over at his nephew. “Darice’s age.”

“No, he’s fourteen. Uncle Hauk had to delay his Endurance because of an accident at school. He was still having skin grafts when he should have gone originally.”