The Rise of the Omarlo Clan. Rosylan McCallum

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СКАЧАТЬ Lord Imir’s household as his bride. Her experience as a female member of the Marlis family had taught her to trust no one. She nodded in agreement with the logic. He then added that the harshest part of his plan included the involvement of their twin sons.

      Lord Imir stood and looked lovingly at his wife and said, “Tess, there will be war. It’s unavoidable. We have three sons. The family must survive above all. Do you agree?”

      Tess noted the serious tone and the odd question. “Yes. You have no argument from me over that. But what exactly are you proposing?”

      “Tess, I know that this will be hard for you to accept as it has been for me who thought of it. I have had more time to come to terms with the rational involved. I hate that you, my dear, are just having it sprung upon you. I am sorry, but the twins are to be sent away to an unknown destination. If the worst happens, they at least will survive.”

      Tess, horrified, looked at her husband, and it was as if she had never truly seen him before. She saw a ruler of a planet, a mighty force to be reckoned with. She could also see that he had taken an immovable position on this. But he loved her and their family. This she was sure of, so he could not mean to do this, not to her, not to their family.

      “Where is Moham? Does he know of this plan? Has he agreed to it? Is this why he told you not to delay?”

      “Yes.”

      “no! No! It cannot and will not happen, not this!” She pounded her fists on Imir’s chest until he held them still. “How did you let it come to this? Let me go. I will speak to my father. We both know he is the real threat. I can get him to stop. I know I can. And what of our oldest, Rarg, he is just six and your heir. You mentioned only the twins. What is to become of him?”

      Lord Imir was finding it hard to control his own emotional state and, seeing the anguish in his wife, found some relief in telling her, “Rarg will remain on Racine with us.” This she accepted with some consolation, but she still voiced concern sending the twins away.

      “Imir, have you considered their age. They are young, only four years old. What real chance will they have for survival on their own?”

      Imir told her it was just an emergency step. He was assigning someone who he trusted that would give them the best of care. Once the crisis was over, they would return. Watching his wife’s tears, Imir continued to explain that he had a ship at the ready, and the onboard computer had been programmed to arbitrarily set the starship’s destination after takeoff. This way, if the worst happened, no one could say where it was going.

      Lady Tess, still very upset asked, “Who do you know to be so trusted that you will place the safety of the twins into that person’s hands?”

      Imir told her it was Drakar. Lady Tess was well acquainted with Drakar who was her husband’s cousin and first in command of Racine’s military and second in importance on Racine. She couldn’t disagree that he was a good choice.

      In a last effort to dissuade her husband, she raised the point that he was military. “What can he know about the care of small children?”

      Lord Imir, with his patience waning explained, “Drakar will be targeted for death should there be a successful invasion of Racine. I do not fear for you, our son, Rarg or myself. I fear for my cousin. I want to save Drakar. He has been like the brother I never had and the decision is final. Drakar will accompany the twins.” Lady Tess saw that her husband was adamant about this. That he in fact was not asking her opinion but telling her what would be. She left their chambers in an upset state and headed toward the nursery.

      That night, Lord Imir was up long after his wife had finally returned and gone to bed. He and Moham had secreted themselves in his council chamber. Together they finalized the instructions that Drakar would find in the ship after it left the planet. To ensure the small group’s survival on an alien planet, they had already been enhanced with a quick-healing gene. They each had the secret mind-link implant given to all Omarlos at birth. This implant gave them the ability of silent communication and limited control of another’s thoughts. Should their exile be of long duration, Drakar was to instruct the twins on the family’s secret hand language, history of their home planet, and martial art skills. As they grew older, he would add training for all military weapons and spacecraft.

      Finally, Imir and Moham looked at each other with the satisfaction that they had done all that was humanly possible to ensure that Drakar and the twins had a good chance, short of the unexpected, for survival on the distant planet.

      It had been a long dreary cold day ending with what seemed an even longer approach to night. Supreme General Drakar Omarlo had been experiencing a sense of unease all day and could not say what the basis for this feeling was. Drakar, well liked and respected, emanated a commanding presence. He stood six feet three and possessed the handsome male Omarlo looks, brown complexion with curly dark hair. When growing up together, most who did not know assumed Imir and he were brothers. Standing in the Keep’s courtyard, Drakar pulled his coat close and was about to leave with a corps of ten men to scout the perimeter of the Keep.

      A young man approached him with a message from the Keep. Opening it, he saw it was from Lord Imir and that he wanted to see him. With haste he entered the Keep and was directed to the battlement walkway where he found Lord Imir solemnly looking out over the walls at the surrounding landscape. Imir was wrapped in his favorite blue cloak yet was shivering from the blow of the north winds. This attested to the length of time that he had been standing in such an exposed area.

      “My lord,” said Drakar, “you sent for me. Has there been more news that I need to be aware of? Has the situation worsened? Come, let us go inside, you are shivering.”

      “Ah,” said Imir, “it’s you, my cousin and most loyal supporter, come closer. The weather is cold, but what I have to say makes me so cold inside that I doubt if any amount of warmth will remove it. The time has come for a task that I desire you to perform. The successful completions of which rival even the importance that you place on being in the forefront of battle.”

      At first, Drakar looked puzzled, and then comprehension dawned upon his face. He had hoped that the plan to move the device away from Racine would not be a necessity, but evidently, this was not the case. But he held his council for he knew his cousin had more to say.

      “You know,” said Imir, “I planned to hide the device, and in doing so, I also planned to send the twins away with it. It is to be their legacy. You know, during these times, there are not many that I would trust with the care of my sons. You and I have a special bond. I love you like a brother who all of my life has been there for me. I will truly miss you, but I must entrust the care of my twins to you. All of the preparations have been made. A starship is ready, and you are to leave immediately.”

      A startled Drakar began shaking his head and said, “No! Imir, how can I leave your side and that of my men at this time? The enemies of Racine are circling for the kill. Everyone will be needed to repel this traitorous attack on our planet. Please, you must reconsider placing your sons under my care. I am a military man. I know nothing about the care of children or their special needs.

      “Up to this time, I have kept to myself my opinion concerning not using the device in the self-defense of Racine. You should know that I think we should use it. When it comes to battle tactics there are few who can outthink me, and I am your man. It is what I was trained for, the defense of Racine and the House of Omarlo. If you care for your sons as well as me, do not give me this burden. Let me do what I am best trained to do. Arm a ship with the device. I will be at the helm. With me as the pilot I know I can make the difference.”

      Lord Imir did СКАЧАТЬ