Shanelle was able to relax a bit, now that her mother was firmly back in her corner. She was even able to get through the evening, losing her temper and her patience only once at the way Falon kept staring at her with such a proprietary air, as if she already belonged to him.

She tried sitting next to Jadd just to put him off, but that poor boy had taken one look at her family as a whole and had decided he didn’t want to be a part of it after all, or have anything else to do with Shanelle. He’d moved away from her three times, with her scooting to follow-too closely each time-before he hissed in her ear, “Don’t do that, Shani. Your family wouldn’t like it.”

She wasn’t quite amused by his intimidation. Her family hadn’t even noticed what she was doing- but Falon did.

“I take it this means the romance is off?” she asked dryly.

“Very funny,” Jadd retorted.

But then he caught Falon’s look, and it frightened him so much he turned quite green. In fact, it made Jadd so ill that he excused himself, leaving Shanelle frustrated and glowering at Falon, who now looked the very epitome of innocence.

She was introduced to the rest of his party as the evening wore on, his brother, his cousin Tarren, and his sister’s lifemate, Deamon. They were as darkly bronzed as Falon and as dark of hair, but the brother, Jadell, was like no warrior she’d ever met before. Quick to laugh, even quicker to grin, and annoyingly, he also treated her like she was already a member of his family.

During the course of the evening, she learned that he and Dalden had become close friends through some dangerous undertaking they had shared. She learned why Dalden had brought them to Sha-Ka-Ra. And the difference in their shodani was explained. In Ba-Har-an, the titles were hereditary, passing from the father to the oldest son, whereas in Kan-is-Tra, the shodan was usually the strongest and wisest, and could be challenged by anyone, at any time, so a son could not gain the title from his father without challenging him for it, which had never been known to be done. But in Falon’s country, the ascending son could be challenged by all comers only during the five days following the father’s death, then never again.

Shanelle found the differences interesting, but still wholly undemocratic. In both cases, might and a superior sword skill were the ruling factors, and that told her plain enough that Falon had to be pretty handy with his sword to have survived five days of challenges following his father’s death. Her father would be able to draw the same conclusion, and that was going to give Falon still another edge if he asked for her, or rather when he asked for her. It was too much to hope at this point that he wouldn’t.

And apparently her father was going to get a firsthand demonstration of those skills, or so she was told the minute Falon took Dalden’s seat beside her after they had finished eating and Dalden left the table. She had been dreading that Falon would attempt to speak to her privately. But his choice of subjects was too impersonal to cause true alarm.

“I intend to enter the competitions,” he told her.

“Well, good luck to you,” she said indifferently.

“You mean that?”

He seemed so surprised, she frowned. “Why not? It doesn’t matter to me who wins.”

“And why should it?” Tedra said, having come over as soon as she saw Falon moving toward Shanelle’s couch. “My daughter has nothing to do with the competitions, warrior, and I’d appreciate your not discussing them with her.”

There was enough warning in Tedra’s look and tone for Falon to suspect Shanelle didn’t know men were competing for her. But before he could answer either way, Tedra was giving Shanelle permission to retire if she wanted to, and she obviously wanted to.

Falon watched her leave, aware that he couldn’t stop her-or go with her. That he still had no rights whatsoever where she was concerned was frustrating in the extreme, considering his feelings for the woman. She was going to be his lifemate. He wanted the matter settled immediately.

He looked toward Shanelle’s father, but her mother must have read his mind. “It won’t do you a bit of good to ask for her now,” Tedra told him. “Challen isn’t blind. He already knows of your interest. But he won’t be making any decisions until the end of the competitions, so you’ll have to wait just like everyone else.”

His eyes came back to Tedra, his impatience clear. “Then I want her to know why I enter the competitions.”

“I’m sure you do, but I don’t. It would hurt her to know what her father has done. Is your pride more important than that?”

Falon hesitated only a moment. “No-it will be as you wish.”

“What I wish is that my daughter had never laid eyes on you.”

There was too much heat in that statement for Falon not to guess what was wrong. “You are aware that she gifted me with her first time and you disapprove?”

“You got that wrong,” she shot back. “I was delighted that she’d finally made her choice-until I saw the damage her choice left behind. What I should have done was let her father see it, instead of sending her straight to a meditech.”

Falon’s guilt was rubbed raw by those words.

“You must know it was not my intention to hurt her. Nor will it ever happen again.”

“Shani isn’t inclined to believe that any more than I am,” Tedra said.

“Yet will I convince her.”

“You say that like you mean it, but sheer determination doesn’t always work-fortunately.”

Falon stiffened, amazed at how close he was to losing his temper with this woman. “So you condemn me without knowing all the facts?”

“Wrong again, warrior, on both counts. I know more about what happened than I care to. Not only did Shani tell me most of it-and by the way, she doesn’t blame you for what happened, she just doesn’t want to experience it again-but Martha filled me in on the rest. And you might not believe it, but I was still on your side at that point. You were Sham’s choice, after all, and that matters more in the long run than a few fears she’s built up and your lack of experience in containing certain emotions, which can be corrected. But the marks against you kept adding up, until now they’ve tipped the other way. Take my advice and give it up.”

“Never!”

“Then you’re bound for disappointment, because it’s no longer just what you’ve done, but what you are. And I don’t see how you’ll get around that, warrior.”

She moved off after those cryptic words, leaving him baffled, but not for long. He went right to Dalden to ask, “What am I now that I was not before, that would make your mother so hostile to me?”

Dalden drew a blank over that riddle like question, until he recalled his mother’s words on the balcony. “Stars, I should have known she’d react that way. I’m sorry, Falon, but it’s my fault. I mentioned that you own slaves.”

“So?”

“So my mother hates slavery.”

“And your sister?”

“Likewise.”

Falon’s sigh was heavy. Marks against him? It was difficulties that were adding up, and they were beginning to look insurmountable.