AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Come to your senses, brother. Plead guilty. Apologize. Make amends. A time is coming when we will need all of us to be free.”
I just met Zain, and I can already tell he is never going to do any of those things. I give him a little shrug. He gives me one back. We leave.
I can tell that Ark is mad. I wonder if he is more angry at his brother or at me. There is a tension I have not seen in him before. The entire time I was being returned and acting out, he was calm. Seeing his brother has riled something in him. I wish I had the brain reading power they all seem to have. Instead, I am stuck in silence.
No sooner do we leave the cold, dark embrace of the interior of the prison than Ark starts to ring. A tone emits from somewhere near the side of his head, as an implant I wasn’t aware he had comes to life.
He taps his ear and falls silent. They’re talking at a distance telepathically. That’s wild. I wish I had some idea what was being said. It looks important.
Ark
It’s Kahn calling.
“Ark. I need you at the council chambers. Wrathelder has called a snap meeting. He says he’s ready to launch his ships.”
“Ships?”
“They’ve built a fleet, Ark. They’ve been hiding in plain sight, manufacturing dozens of human transporters. I need you up here to argue against this now, or the council is going to authorize a mass evacuation from Earth.”
“Get in the vehicle.” I snap the order at Jen as we reach the shuttle. My tone is sharper than it needs to be. Between Zain being the same stubborn fool as always, and Wrathelder making trouble, I am beginning to lose patience with everything and everyone.
She does as she’s told. I hear her voice, small next to me. “Are you mad at me?”
“No,” I say, distracted. This is all happening so quickly. It is typical of Wrathelder to strike without warning. He is an absolute monster, and if I am honest with myself, I have allowed him to gain ground. I am responsible for this, and I am going to take care of it. I am going to take care of all of it.
“We are going into a very, very important meeting,” I tell my pet. “You must behave yourself. I ask that you stay by my side and remain quiet. That is all I ask.”
I glance over at her, glad that I dressed her respectably today. She looks… appropriate. And that is quite a stretch from what she in fact, is, so I can consider myself fortunate that the others will not see her wildness. As long as she stays quiet, she will not be a problem, which is good, because I am about to face a great many problems.
* * *
At least we do not have to travel far to the council chambers. They are located at the very top of the same building beneath which the prison lies, so we simply rise several hundred feet and I park the shuttle again.
“This is a much nicer spot,” Jen observes. It is. A large and expansive balcony extends many square miles over the city, casting a shadow that mostly falls on the prison below through an act of malicious architecture. My shuttle is surrounded by many others. Kahn was right. This is a major meeting. I haven’t seen this many attendees at a meeting since my father died.
I know there is no way that Wrathelder pulled this off without creating ripples. I have allowed myself to become desensitized to the currents of the city. I have been wilfully blind and it has come at the cost of my family and perhaps my world.
As I exit the vehicle, I square my shoulders and take a deep breath. There is a light tug on the leash as my pet scrambles out behind me, straightening her skirt as she goes. In a brief glance, I can tell that she is slightly overwhelmed and still affected by our trip to the prison. I probably need to talk to her, but now is not the time. Circumstances are overhauling us.
“Come, pet,” I say firmly and perhaps yes, sternly. I want her on her best behavior. She follows me obediently as we pass through the statue-filled courtyard. These effigies represent the most prominent figures of our civilization, going back hundreds of years. To have a statue here is the highest honor we have in our civilization.
On my way in, I pass the statue that bears my father, Arthas’, likeness. He looks out eternally over the city, and at cross-purposes with the erstwhile patriarch of the Wrathelder clan, Diogenes.
My father was a very impressive warrior and has been depicted in his ancestral armor. A suit of the same still sits in the armory of our home. I have never had the nerve to wear it. The only one who perhaps deserves to is Zain, and he is unable to wear anything besides a prison uniform.
I aspire to his nobility and strength, but I cannot forget nor forgive the betrayal that ended his illustrious life and rendered us all bereft in the wake of it.
The sight of him strengthens me and shames me at the same time. I am not half the protector he was, and I may never be. But here, today, I will do what I need to do.
* * *
We enter the council chamber and all eyes fall upon us, briefly at least. My presence has been noted, and causes a ripple of something like consternation, especially on the other side of the chambers where Wrathelder has gathered his family.
I haven’t been here in a long time. I haven’t done what I should have done. I’ve left it all to my harassed and officious younger brother — who has just spotted me and is rushing over to greet me.
“There you are!” Kahn’s expression is relieved and thunderous all at the same time. “If you missed this… even with you here. There’s a real chance we’re on the verge of ecocide.”
“I’m here,” I tell him. “And nothing is going to happen today.”
