Free Oryon (Tornians Book 3.5) by M.K. Eidem Page A

center in twenty minutes.”
    “Yes, my Lord.” Spinning around on his heel, Kaspar all but ran from the hall.
    “Get this crap out of my House!” Oryon ordered the remaining males, who quickly rushed to do their Lord’s bidding. “Vali, escort your mother back to our chambers and remain with her.”
    “Yes, Manno.”
    “Oryon.” Isis put a gentle hand on his arm, frowning.
    “I want to know where you are and that you are safe while I sort this out Isis. Something isn’t right.”
    Isis wasn’t sure what Oryon was sensing, but she trusted him. “Alright, but may we take several of the trainees with us? We can use this time to sort through the furniture in my old chambers and have the appropriate pieces sent down for the entrance until replacements can be made.”
    “Isis…” Oryon couldn’t believe what she was saying.
    “I think my manno would be extremely honored to have what he built used in your entrance hall.” She looked around the room. “He used to tell me stories about the hunts he had here as a young warrior.” Moving, she allowed her hand to caress the silky texture of the mantle, knowing her manno had done this exact same thing sometime in the past. “How he loved to sit in front of this fireplace with the Emperor’s manno, before he was Emperor, and tell their stories…”
    Isis, lost in her memories, was unaware of the effect her words had on the other males in the room.
    “The honor is mine, Isis,” Oryon told her quietly. “For your manno was a truly fit, worthy and a talented male.”
    “He was.” Isis felt her eyes fill with tears as she remembered her manno, remembered all he had given her, and it was so much more than furniture. He was the one who had told her she had the right to stay with just one male, if that was what she wished. He told her that he would support that decision, no matter the offspring she presented, if her male made her happy.
    Isis’ own mother, Nurit, had wanted to stay with him, but when she had presented Isis, the pressure from Nurit’s manno and the promises of what other males would offer for sharing her ‘gift’ with them, had become too great and she had left. Isis didn’t think her manno had ever truly recovered.
    Years later, when her mother came to help Isis present Ull, Isis discovered her mother had always regretted that decision. It had changed her; she was no longer the gentle female her manno had always told her about; she had become a spiteful and bitter female who after each offspring Isis presented, had encouraged her to leave Oryon. By the time Isis had conceived Zev, she had refused to allow Oryon to contact her, preferring to stay alone and have a Healer assist her.
    It had been a difficult time and her presentation had not gone well. It is why Isis believed she had never been able to conceive again, even though she was still young enough too. It hadn’t mattered to Oryon, but she’d always wanted to give him a female.
     
    “Isis...” Oryon reached out, cupping her cheek, when he saw her eyes cloud over and fill. He knew she had been close to her manno, closer than any female normally was and that she still mourned him. It was a tribute to the male Geb had been. Oryon wished he could say the same about her mother.
    Nurit had been a conniving female and it still amazed Oryon that she could have produced such a wonderful female as his Isis. Every time he called her to assist Isis in her presentation, Nurit had demanded more and more tribute, not caring that Isis would suffer without her. She hadn’t liked that Oryon had visited Isis after she had conceived, stating it was inappropriate. Oryon couldn’t have cared less what Nurit thought. Isis was his female. She carried his offspring. It was what Isis thought that mattered and she wanted to see him.
    “I’m sorry, I let my mind wander.” Tipping her head into his hand, Isis gave him a small smile.
    “About your manno.”
    “Yes, you know me well.”
    “I do my Isis.”