Chapter 58: Parental Authority

Chapter 58: Chapter 58: Parental Authority

The office door opened without ceremony.

Nero glanced up from the engagement agreement and found Hale standing in the doorway with the particular expression that meant he had already decided Nero required supervision but intended to pretend he was there for professional reasons.

Nero leaned back in his chair.

"If you are here to ask whether Sebastian chose me voluntarily, Father already covered that insult."

Hale closed the door behind him.

"I was going to ask whether you were all right."

"That is slightly less offensive."

"Only slightly?"

"You looked suspicious before speaking."

"I have known you since birth. Suspicion is preventative maintenance."

Nero considered that fair enough to leave unanswered.

Hale crossed the office, red-brown hair neatly cut despite the early hour, his dark Sahan uniform immaculate beneath the long security jacket. The silver clasp at his throat marked crown-prince authority rather than royal household command, a distinction Hale had worn for years without ever seeming particularly impressed by it.

His gaze moved over the desk.

"You did not sleep."

"Everyone has become very observant this morning."

Hale pulled out the chair opposite him.

"You are smiling at legal language."

"Sebastian accepted a collar."

Hale paused halfway into the seat.

"With conditions?"

"Many."

"That sounds more believable."

Nero smiled.

Hale sat and rested one ankle over the opposite knee, studying him for another few seconds before apparently deciding that Nero was not about to explode, murder anyone, or attempt another medically questionable romantic gesture before breakfast.

"Good," he said.

Nero’s eyebrows rose. "Good?"

"You have been unbearable for years."

"I have been patient."

Hale gave him a look.

Nero waved the subject away.

"You said you came to check on me. You have checked."

"I also have something you are going to dislike."

The happiness remained, but Nero’s attention sharpened immediately.

"Sebastian?"

"No change. His readings are stable."

The tension disappeared almost as quickly as it had arrived.

Hale noticed.

"Lucas."

Nero frowned.

"What about him?"

"He tried again this morning to have his authority recognized in Saha."

Nero stared at him.

Hale waited.

"What authority?"

"Exactly."

Nero slowly set down the stylus in his hand.

Lucas had already made several inquiries through Palatine channels since Sebastian arrived, most disguised as requests for information and one considerably less disguised attempt to determine whether Fitzgeralt’s authority could override Sahan medical decisions concerning its heir.

Apparently he had escalated.

"He is trying to transfer Ducal family authority across the border?"

"Essentially. His office contacted the palace legal department before sunrise and asked whether Saha would recognize a temporary delegation allowing him to intervene in Sebastian’s medical and residential decisions while Sebastian is undergoing transition."

Nero stared at him for several seconds.

"Sebastian is almost thirty-two."

"Yes."

"He is not unconscious."

"No."

"He has full legal capacity."

"Yes."

"He is the heir to Fitzgeralt, has represented Palatine internationally for years, commanded operations independently, and could probably dismantle half their government before lunch if sufficiently irritated."

Hale’s mouth twitched.

"Also yes."

Nero leaned back and looked toward the rain-bright windows.

"I do not understand Lucas."

It came out more genuinely puzzled than annoyed.

That surprised even Nero.

His parents had never behaved that way.

Dax checked where Nero was because Nero had developed an unfortunate habit of turning dangerous situations into personal entertainment.

Christopher called because he loved him, worried about him, and occasionally wanted proof that his eldest child had eaten something that had not been poured from a whiskey bottle.

Neither had attempted to take control of Nero’s life once he was old enough to make decisions for himself.

They had advised. Argued. Threatened to personally drag him out of war zones when he was younger. But authority had ended where adulthood began.

Even when Nero made decisions they hated.

Especially then.

"Father would never attempt to override me legally," Nero said.

"No."

"Mother would kill me himself before attempting to have me declared incapable because he disliked my decisions."

"Probably."

"And I actually enjoy danger."

"That is putting it mildly."

Nero ignored him.

"Sebastian does not."

That was the part that bothered him.

Sebastian was cautious to the point of irritation.

Logical.

A strategist before nearly everything else.

Even when Nero had deliberately manipulated circumstances around him, restricting information, narrowing choices, and wearing down his resistance faster than Sebastian would have allowed if given unlimited room to maneuver, Sebastian had still analyzed everything placed in front of him.

He had adapted.

Sebastian was not some reckless heir throwing himself into disasters because boredom sounded worse.

Nero could understand why he had hidden the instability.

That had been stupid, but not irrational.

Dominant alphas approaching berserk were removed from authority, monitored, isolated, and, depending on the country, occasionally treated more like developing weapons than people.

Sebastian had known exactly what disclosure could cost him.

His position. His independence. Possibly control over his own treatment.

Considering Lucas’s current behavior, Nero was beginning to understand why Sebastian had kept quiet until his body gave him no further choice.

"He must have known his parents would do this," Nero murmured.

Hale shrugged.

"Possibly."

Nero looked at him.

"You have children."

"I do."

"Would you?"

"No."

The answer came without hesitation.

Hale rested both forearms on the chair.

"Neither would my wife."

"Even if one nearly died?"

Hale considered that longer.

"I would be furious. I would probably show up at their door, insult every decision that brought them there, and make myself an inconvenience until I was convinced they were safe."

"That sounds healthy."

"It would not be healthy."

"Better."

"But I would not attempt to take control of their legal authority."

Nero nodded once.

Hale continued, "They are adults. They are entitled to make stupid decisions without requesting my permission."

"Sebastian’s decision was not stupid."

"Hiding imminent berserk was fairly stupid."

"Strategically questionable."

"He was coughing blood on the floor."

Nero’s jaw tightened.

Hale caught the reaction and softened his tone slightly.

"I understand Lucas."

Nero’s eyes narrowed.

"I did not say I agree with him."

"Explain."

Hale glanced toward the medical report on Nero’s desk.

"You were raised Sahan."

"So was Sebastian, partially."

"Not like you."

Nero remained quiet.

"In Saha, your parents raised you to understand that once you were old enough to make a decision, the consequences belonged to you. Dax could advise you. Christopher could worry. Rowan could arrange twelve layers of protection around you. I could threaten to break your legs if you climbed into another active military zone."

"You did threaten that."

"You deserved it."

"I was eighteen."

"Exactly."

Nero smiled faintly.

Hale did not.

"Lucas was raised differently, if one can call it that. And now his son came within days, perhaps hours, of going berserk, nearly died, and is being biologically changed into something no physician can fully predict yet."

Nero’s amusement disappeared, and he looked down at his hands.

Hale’s voice remained even.

"Fear does strange things to parents."

"Not an excuse."

"No."

"But a reason."

"Yes."

Nero sat with that. He still disliked it. Strongly.

Lucas did not get to decide Sebastian belonged under parental authority simply because fear had made independence inconvenient.

But Nero could understand fear.

He had nearly contacted a seer and started interrogating possible futures because Sebastian had looked distant for one second.

Perhaps Nero had no standing to criticize irrational responses to almost losing him.

That realization was irritating.

"What did legal tell Lucas?"

"That Sebastian is an adult Sahan guest with full capacity and that no foreign family authority supersedes his wishes."

"Good."

"And that any medical proxy would need to come from Sebastian himself."

"Excellent."

Hale watched him.

"You are not going to call Lucas."

Nero smiled pleasantly.

"I was considering it."

"Do not."

"I could explain Sahan law."

"He knows Sahan law."

"I could explain Sebastian."

"That would go very well coming from you."

Nero sighed.

"You remove all my entertainment."

"I have been doing that since you learned to walk."

Nero reached for his coffee.

Then paused.

"Tell Legal not to embarrass him."

Hale’s eyebrows rose.

Nero looked toward Sebastian’s stable readings on the nearby screen.

"He is frightened. Reject the request, quietly. No formal notice to Palatine unless he forces one."

Hale nodded.

"That is surprisingly reasonable."

"Sebastian chose me yesterday. I am evolving."

"You changed one collar clause and spared Lucas a diplomatic humiliation."

"A remarkable twenty-four hours."

Hale stood.

At the door, he looked back.

"For what it is worth, Lucas not trusting you is not especially mysterious."

Nero stared at him.

Hale’s mouth twitched.

"He may trust Sebastian even less where you are concerned."

Then he left before Nero could throw anything at him.