Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 47529 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 158(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47529 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 158(@300wpm)
“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.”
I see him take a deep breath and release some of the tension he has been holding in his shoulders. I know this burden has fallen unreasonably on Kahn. That ends today.
The council chamber is a large oval space. At the head of it sits the council, nine men who represent industry, politics, technology, spirituality, environment, family, past, present, and future. Each of them has an equal vote, and for any resolution to be passed, it must be a unanimous vote. I scan their faces and relax my mind to try to catch any stray thoughts. I do not sense much of anything, but that is not surprising. They are wise and practiced in the art of schooling their minds.
I have good reason to hope that there will not be a unanimous vote today, no matter how motivated Phenix Wrathelder is.
“What’s the angle?” I ask Kahn.
“He’s saying it’s an interplanetary emergency, that Earth needs to be evacuated in order for humanity to survive.”