Sons of Lyra: Runaway Hearts by Felicity Heaton Page A

feelings
of her own. His brother Balt would be furious if he saw this
letter. He hated anything that made people out to be a slave or
would offend his once-slave wife.

    His eyes scanned the page
to the proposed date of the wedding. It was only a week away. It
turned his stomach so much that he screwed the note up and threw it
over his shoulder into his room.

    He couldn’t marry without
knowing the woman first or even knowing her name. It was
impossible. He couldn’t marry without having seen the universe
first. He’d never even been into deep space.

    A thought crossed his
mind, brilliant and glittering like a jewel at first, but quickly
becoming tarnished when his better sense said that his parents
would never allow him to go into deep space, not even with his
brothers.

    He sighed and stared
longingly at the stars.

    Perhaps there was another
way.

    The bell rang for dinner
and he trudged wearily across his room and out of the door, his
thoughts still with the beautiful night sky and his heart still
fixed on seeing deep space before he was married. Perhaps the other
way was the only way.

    He sat down at one end of
the long dark wood dining table while his parents sat at the other.
Even during his meals he was lonely, left sitting what felt like
miles from his parents because that was what propriety dictated. He
leaned his right elbow against the table top, propped his chin up
on his palm and played distractedly with his food.

    “ Sebastian!”
His mother’s voice rang across the room.

    His gaze slid to her. She
was frowning so hard he couldn’t see her eyes. She motioned towards
his elbow. He rolled his eyes and sat straight, removing his arm
from the table.

    At thirty four, he had
thought he would have more freedom. His life seemed to be getting
more and more controlled the older he got. He was tired of being
treated like a child and not like the man he was. His parents never
saw the real him. They didn’t know him. They only knew the boy they
believed him to be—the one they wanted him to be. He sighed again
and decided that he would go through with his plan.

    He couldn’t get married
without seeing those stars and another system, or the blackness of
deep space. He wanted to see the things his brothers saw and told
him about whenever they came home.

    “ Mother,” he
said in a cautious voice. “I’m going to visit Balt on Lyra
Five.”

    She snorted. “You
certainly are not.”

    “ But the child
will be born soon... I would like to be there when it is. I
promised Balt that I would be.”

    “ Don’t be
ridiculous. Kayla will come here to have the child, as tradition
dictates.”

    He frowned. He hated
tradition. Why couldn’t he have been born the second eldest son? He
supposed that the less freedom you had the more you longed for it.
Kayla had told him as much once, just after her wedding. She’d been
radiant with sheer joy. She’d told him that she’d never felt as
free as the day his brother had removed her collar and said she
belonged to no one but herself.

    He wished he belonged to
no one but himself.

    He was the property of the
imperial family though, and of Lyra. Heir Prince.

    “ Kayla will not
leave Lyra Five. She is intent on having her baby there with Balt
and the Terran midwives.” He knew that this slip of knowledge would
stir trouble, but he didn’t care. Right now, he wanted to spite his
mother for not letting him leave Lyra Prime and this seemed the
perfect way.

    “ What?” She
stood sharply, sending the cutlery rattling when her legs knocked
the table. His father placed a hand on her arm. She shook it off.
“It was agreed she would come here!”

    “ Balt says that
Kayla said no such thing and that they were going to have the baby
on Lyra Five.”

    His mother stormed towards
him. He hadn’t seen her this angry since Balt had originally
announced his intention to marry Kayla. His brother had guts to go
against their mother. Maybe he had the guts too.

    He stood, gave