The Drellic Saga: Books One, Two and Three

by Mike Marlinski

  Chapter Five

  Morn Kail was forced to spend several more awkward minutes with Tila Hevett’s sisters, before they finally parted ways upon reaching the Empress’ study. Relieved and already exhausted, he sat down on an old, creaking wooden chair beside a small wooden table, upon Tila’s request.

  After closing the study’s double glass doors, the Empress sat across from Morn and gave him an enchanting look that he tried desperately to ignore. But what he first interpreted as flirtation, quickly became both a stern and dark look that caught him hopelessly off guard.

  “Is something troubling you, my lady?” Morn asked, with great concern.

  “You might say that,” Tila replied, seeming distant and uncaring. “There’s something I want from you, Kail,” she continued. “Something you must do promptly; no delays.”

  “Of course, Empress,” Morn eagerly replied. “It is my duty to do what is right by you; to honor your every last command.”

  Awkward seconds of silence and creaking wood ticked by, before Tila took her eyes away from Morn to admire the multicolored sunlight coming through the tall stained glass window beside her.

  She then turned her attention back to him, took a deep breath and said, “I want your resignation, Kail; right away.”

  Morn was shocked and paralyzed by Tila’s words. It took him a few moments to recover his voice, with which he replied, “You can’t mean that. Why? What have I done to deserve this?”

  A single tear rolled down his right cheek as he began to panic. Tila noticed the tear right away, and appeared blatantly offended by it.

  “You would dare shed a tear, knowing what you’ve done?” she asked, coldly. “You would dare desecrate my house with this false emotion, you display before me?”

  Morn was growing short of breath and remained silent, before a raspy cough escaped his lips. He quickly covered his mouth then asked, “What I have done? You either have a peculiar sense of humor or you are certainly mistaken. What is it you believe I have done?”

  Tila slowly leaned over the table, staring deeply into Morn’s eyes with the most irate expression he had ever seen on her face.

  “I believe you have done, what I have always known you have done,” she slowly replied with a monotone voice. “I cannot prove it,” she continued. “I may never be able to prove it. But I have kept you close for long enough. I no longer have any doubt. Your purpose has been fulfilled. I now have the closure I have longed for.”

  Morn let out another loud cough and gasped for air, as he sprang up out of his chair and cried, “Please forgive me for my outburst! But I swear on my house, I do not know of what you speak!”

  Tila slowly rose to her feet, walked around the table and stood toe to toe with Morn.

  “You are the monster I always knew you were. You’re a murderer. You are a disgrace to our worlds,” she aggressively replied.

  There was then a lengthy and tense pause before she uttered the words, “I know you killed Covlar.”

  Morn then slowly backed away from Tila, getting closer to the doorway with every step.

  “What?!” Morn yelled. “That is absurd! Madam, with all due respect, have you lost your mind?! I could never…”

  “You could never? But you did!” she screamed as loudly as she could, as she slapped him across his face, scratching him and leaving a long gash on his left cheek.

  Blood dripped from her nails down to her feet, as she crept closer to him with every step back that he took.

  Morn cowered in fear, uncertain of how to respond next. But before he could complete his next thought, Tila gave him his final orders.

  “This is what is going to happen, Kail,” she began. “You are going to leave this house, board your ship and report to the Academy, where I know your son is currently attending his first day of school.

  You will collect your child, take him to your disgrace of a home, and collect your wife as well; along with any essential belongings. When I say essential, I am referring to things you need to survive! Once you have collected everything I have asked you to collect, you will forfeit your home! You will also renounce your citizenship, consequently dissolving your right to live on this planet! You will then take your idiotic family to Siren, where you will disappear into a deep dark hole together, ensuring that I will never see your fucking faces again!”

  Morn fearfully stepped backwards again, tripping over a stone step and falling to the hard floor.

  “You cannot be serious!” he screamed. “You cannot really be asking me to uproot my entire life! Everything I have worked so hard to achieve, based on these ridiculous accusations!”

  Tila was so enraged that she began to sob heavily, as she walked to a desk in the corner of the room. She then opened a drawer and pulled out a long sharp knife.

  After slamming the drawer shut, she ran over to Morn, as he struggled to return to his feet and escape. But before he could even get to one knee, Tila pulled his right arm towards her, throwing him off balance. She then firmly shoved the handle of the knife into his right hand, while continuing to pull his arm with it.

  Then without another moment wasted, sliced her left cheek open with that same knife. The knife fell to Morn’s side, while he remained on the floor, staring up at the blood gushing from Tila’s face, with disbelief. Tila screamed in pain and called for her guards to enter the room, using a communication band on her wrist.

  Moments later, two bulky metallic androids, shaped to appear as large men, wearing steel plated armor, and wielding energy rifles, burst into the room and noticed Tila’s injury.

  “He slashed at me! Morn Kail just cut my fucking face open!” she screamed at the machines in agony.

  One of the machines violently grabbed Morn and held him up in front of the Empress, his feet dangling inches above the floor.

  “Assault of this nature is currently punishable by a twenty year incarceration. Do you wish to proceed?” the other machine asked Tila with a deep monotone voice.

  Tila hesitated and replied, “No. He knows what he has done; and he knows the price. Remove him from these premises. He will take care of the rest.”

  Just before the machines had a chance to drag Morn out of the room, Tila approached him one last time and whispered in his ear, “You didn’t just murder an Emperor. You murdered my birth father. For that, the Kail name is banished from Tyrran for all time.”

  After the Empress’ centurions dragged Morn’s seemingly lifeless body to his transport, he had to muster up the courage to walk the three feet to his pilot’s chair inside the open hatchway.

  He slowly staggered into the vehicle, allowed the hatch to close behind him and calmly spoke the name of his destination to the navigation computer. Then once his short trip to the school was underway and he was a safe distance from Hevett House, Morn let out a shrill scream, filled with both rage and regret.

  Morn thought he had been far too careful to be discovered as Covlar’s true assassain. Yet in the middle of what was supposed to be the most prosperous time of his career, he was being forced to lose everything and most likely alienate himself from his wife and son. It was all becoming too much for him to bare, but he knew that time was running out for him.

  Just before leaving Hevett House, the mechanical guards had informed him that Tila was giving the Kails until sundown that day, to leave Tyrran.

  By the time Morn reached Drellic’s school, it was mid-afternoon. He was told by a faculty member that the entry class was currently having a recess in the Play Area; an indoor playground at the center of the building.

  Morn walked out onto the playground, with sweat dripping from his brow and a persistent cough caused by his erratic breathing.

  There were dozens of children around him, running in different directions and disappearing in and out of long multicolored crawl tubes. He spent several minutes searching the area, before finally spotting Drellic's black laced dress shoes beneath one of the tubes.

  He walked around the large plastic
structure to find Drellic awkwardly kissing Moya, his lips pressed tightly against hers.

  “Drellic!” Morn screamed. The startled boy spun around, immediately, intimidated by the sight of his father’s worried face.

  “We’re leaving!” Morn screamed as he picked up Drellic by his waist with one hand and held him under his arm.

  Drellic kicked and screamed while reaching for Moya, who tried to run after him but was stopped by a faculty member. He cried all the way to the transport, where he was tightly secured to his seat for the ride home.

  “Why did you do that?!” Drellic sobbed.

  Morn gave his son a cold unsympathetic look and replied, “Some things, a child cannot understand. Some things, no child should ever have to.”