Chapter Four
One year after Emperor Covlar’s death, Tila Hevett, Tyrran’s ambassador to Siren and the eldest of the three daughters of the wealthiest surviving house on the planet, was named Empress of Tyrran. It was said by many that her family’s money was the reason for her fast ascension to power, after the Covlar bloodline had ended, and that she was underqualified to be given dominion over the world. But her swift, decisive actions during the first several seasons of her term put all of those rumors to rest. Her bold choices and sound judgment were responsible for making Tyrran’s government and economy prosper in ways they hadn’t in centuries. It was also befuddling to the people of both Siren and Tyrran; knowing that the insurgency had barely been heard from since Tila’s nomination.
Morn Kail was at her side the entire time. He was kept on as chief advisor in the royal court and was instrumental in most of Tila’s inspiring decrees. As Morn was in his mid-sixties and had been at the center of Tyrran’s government for decades, Tila said that she thought it would be wise to keep a man with such experience close by.
But it was on five year old Drellic’s first day of school, that Tila and Morn’s relationship took its first turn for the worst. Morn had awoken early that morning to see Drellic off to day one of his entry class at the Faul City Academy of Excellence; the most well respected entry school for children on Tyrran.
He was expected at Hevett House within the hour, and was kissing his wife and son goodbye on their front steps, before parting ways with them for the day.
Just as Drellic and his mother were about to step onto the shimmering orange transport shuttle, Morn grunted with the briefest flicker of physical agony, as he knelt down to meet his son at eye level.
“This is just the beginning, my son,” Morn said as he struggled to keep his tears of joy at bay. “This is just the beginning of the many years you are going to continue to make us proud.” He then brushed his son’s thin blond bangs away from his eyes, and lightly kissed his forehead.
Morn got to his feet a moment later. He briefly made eye contact with Syll, as she leaned in close to him and whispered, “Do you know what’s been going on with her?”
Morn just shrugged and replied, “I suppose we’ll find out today, won’t we? She’s never wanted to see me so early before; and at her home of all places.”
There was the slightest hint of worry in Syll’s eyes, as she took Drellic by the hand and stepped through the transport’s side hatchway. The rectangular hatch then automatically closed behind them, and the ship sped off through the trees, towards the city.
Just before their departure, Syll had been referring to a concern that Morn had been verbal about behind closed doors, for some time. As far as Morn was concerned, Empress Hevett had been acting strangely lately; troublingly so. He hoped that it was his guilty conscience playing tricks on him once again, but something in Morn’s gut told him he needed to be on alert.
For the last five years, Morn had been given unlimited access to the government’s most sensitive files, as well as a chair in the most important of council sessions. But Tila had been uncomfortably short with Morn lately; treating him as an outsider from time to time. She had been making a habit of taking very little interest in his opinions; that is if he were even spoken to about an issue at all.
Morn hadn’t felt the overwhelming sensation of walls closing in around him, since the last time he had conversed with Covlar. He prayed silently to himself, that it wasn’t a sign from the universe that all was coming unraveled. But even on that day, as he got to be a proud father watching his exceptionally gifted son beginning his education, Morn found himself right back where he was five years prior; feeling more alone and afraid than ever before.
After the fuel exhaust trail from Syll and Drellic’s transport vanished into the trees ahead, Morn went back inside the house and took his time changing from his dark red bathrobe into his formal military attire. He then took a long look at himself in the tall mirror beside the master bed, and remembered his days as a general, fighting wars for the Covlar’s that he never believed in. He used those memories to search for ways to justify killing Xene Covlar to himself over and over again. But even after those constant reminders of bloodshed, including that of his own father, Morn still felt like a cold-blooded murderer who was no better than the monster he slayed.
“This isn’t who I am,” Morn rasped to himself with authority. “This isn’t who a Kail is. We don’t fear who we are or the things we’ve done.”
Morn found that the more he stared at his own authoritative reflection, the better he felt about the entire situation. “We don’t apologize,” he continued. “We never apologize for doing what is best for our family.”
With those last words, Morn put his black formal military jacket on over his usual black overalls. The chest of the jacket was covered in various medals that represented his accomplishments, as a servant of the people. Then after one last confidant look into the mirror, he decided that it was time to face Tila and get the answers he had been searching for.
Morn was met by another orange transport when he returned to the front stone steps of Kail House. He climbed inside and simply spoke the words, “Hevett House,” before being quickly thrust into the busy streets of downtown Faul.
Tila’s home was on the outskirts of the opposite side of the city. As Morn’s ship quickly made its way through the grid of other hovercrafts and gargantuan skyscrapers, he made sure to stare out the small square window, to catch a glimpse of the Faul City Academy. To his satisfaction, he was just in time to see Drellic disappearing into the school’s entrance, as Syll was obviously struggling to even let go of his tiny hand.
Morn couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear, as he watched the fast moving metallic scenery turn into a slower moving display of the Karman River and the ring of beautiful miniature waterfalls that surrounded it. It was then that his heart sank. He felt the ship slowing down and knew that he had reached his destination.
Hevett House appeared once the ship had crossed over the river. It was a massive stone structure, rising on the horizon; a network of giant domes of various sizes. The ship cautiously passed between two of the smaller outer domes and came to a stop at a giant steel archway in the center of the structure. The archway stood tall at the end of a long blue carpet, which extended all the way to a monstrous red double door on the largest of all the domes.
“You’ve been ordered to await reception here, sir,” the ship’s computer said, in a deep monotone voice.
After the hatchway opened and Morn stepped out onto the dirt road, the sun beating down on him from high in the sky, the ship powered itself down and touched down on the surface behind him. It had never done that before. It made Morn very uncomfortable, knowing that someone inside one of those incredible buildings had completely taken over his transport.
Morn looked over the lifeless craft and scoffed with disapproval. He then transferred his cynical gaze onto the gleaming archway, and the three figures that were slowly approaching him from the other end of the long blue carpet.
“This isn’t a house,” Morn muttered to himself. “This is a fucking overgrown embarrassment to the long line of royal families. May the days of elegance and wholesome presentation, rest in peace.”
As the three figures drew nearer to him, Morn saw that the three lengthy light blue gowns he saw flapping in the wind, belonged to Tila Hevett and her two younger sisters. While Morn was dedicated to his wife and a tad edgy towards Tila, he could not help but be slightly intoxicated by her beauty each time he laid eyes upon her.
Fortunately for his straying mind, which he always tried desperately to keep under control, he could not say the same about her sisters. Vane and Selera Hevett were portly women with what Morn called, “shameless hygiene”. Unlike Tila, their breath was foul and their teeth were yellow from being poorly kept for decades.
They had unsightly moles on their cheeks and overgrown eyelashes that only served well as concealment f
or their bloodshot eyes; always dry and discolored from the amount of hallucinogenic herbs they smoked.
Tila on the other hand, had beautiful cream colored skin, a slender but athletic body of average height, long shimmering dark hair and gorgeous hazel eyes. Morn always found it remarkable that the three sisters had in fact come from the same gene pool.
“Welcome to Hevett House, Master Kail,” Tila said with a pleasant but awkward smile. “I thought this would be a conversation better served without the counterproductive presence of a royal audience. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Of course not, my lady,” Morn dutifully replied, as he slightly bowed his head. “I’m just grateful to finally have the opportunity to lay eyes upon your enchanting home.”
As he struggled to lie through his teeth, he noticed both Vain and Selera looking at him as though they were ready to pounce upon his body and have their way with him, right then and there upon the gravel road. Luckily, Tila maintained control of the conversation.
“Now that everything is prepared, would you please accompany us inside? You and I have a great deal to discuss and I don’t wish to keep you from your life any longer than is necessary,” she said quickly and assertively.
“Lead the way,” Morn replied.
He was becoming more and more uncertain of how to read Tila’s tone of voice and body language, which had never been a problem until just recently. As his heart rate quickened, he reluctantly followed behind the Hevett sisters; nervous as to where the obnoxiously long blue carpet was taking him.
Meanwhile, five year old Drellic was entering the auditorium-like assembly chamber of the Faul City Academy. He and his classmates were being led single file to a long row of seats at the front of the chamber, just in front of a tall crystal podium.
The room was already filled with students, ranging six to ten years old, who were seated in the dozens of rows behind the seating reserved for the entry class.
Though he knew he came from a family of importance and had no reason to feel self-conscious, Drellic couldn’t help but feel a chill run down his spine as he was seated at the end of his row, right against the main aisle that cut through the center of the auditorium.
He nervously peered around the room and noticed that most of the boys and girls around him were staring in his general direction. The looks of animosity that had come over the faces of the children, once he entered the room, made him more uncomfortable than he had ever felt before.
Drellic wasn’t used to being treated with anything other than the utmost respect. As the minutes of silence dragged on while the assembly awaited the arrival of the Academy’s Dean of Students, Drellic was beginning to hear snickering and whispering being exchanged amongst his peers.
A moment later, a scrawny pale boy seated in the row behind him loudly whispered, “Drellic!”
When Drellic turned around to face the boy, the boy quickly masked his amusement with an impassive look, as he stared blankly, straight ahead at the podium.
A second later, Drellic also returned his gaze to the podium, only to hear the boy call his name again. That time, Drellic quickly whirled around and caught the boy attempting to once again conceal his identity.
Deeply confused and offended, Drellic was about to curse at the boy, using derogatory words he had learned from listening to his parents argue over the years. But before he could, the girl sitting directly behind him turned to the boy and loudly whispered, “Stop it! Leave him alone!”
Drellic turned to face the dark haired six year old girl behind him, noticing that she had the fairest but darkest skin tone he had ever seen; a color that resembled the skin of native Italians in the time of the Drellic War on Modern Earth.
Though unfamiliar and foreign amongst the sea of pale youngsters, Drellic was immediately spellbound by the girl’s beauty; a reaction uncommon in boys his age, just as it would be today.
The girl smiled at him and introduced herself.
“I’m, Moya,” she whispered.
Drellic attempted to introduce himself in return, but Moya stopped him mid-sentence and said, “I know who you are, Drellic Kail. Everyone does.”
Drellic then nervously looked around the auditorium again, before motioning for Moya to lean in closer to him. She did so, widening her dark brown eyes, and asked what he wanted.
“Does everyone hate me?” Drellic queried, innocently.
“Yes,” Moya quickly replied.
When Drellic asked why, Moya said, “They think your father is a murderer. But my mother says that only those proven guilty of murder deserve to be treated that way.”
In the few years he’d been old enough to speak and understand the language of his people, he had never once heard of his father being referred to as a killer.
“I don’t understand,” Drellic said, breathing heavily.
“It’s OK,” Moya replied with another reassuring smile. “My mother says, never judge people without good reason.”
The Drellic Saga: Books One, Two and Three Page 57