Unedited excerpt from Cubi #8
“You want to raise us to live among mankind again, don’t you?” Nol-Plydon asked Elakdon. He did not look happy about it, and energy began rising, making Seldon a bit nauseous.
“If it serves us best, then yes,” Elakdon said.
“You’ve always wanted that.”
“Yet I negotiated our hiding.”
“You did that because you were told to.”
“I was a young King like Beaudon is now, but both he and I have competent people to advise us!”
The energy rose further, and Seldon swallowed to keep up with building nausea.
“Being born to this time gives me an insight you lack,” Daniel said to Nol-Plydon.
“And twelve hundred years gives me insight you lack, young King.”
“And twelve hundred years to settle with only the bigger picture,” Elakdon said. Wow, the King seemed pissed. “Our people need current insight, or has it escaped everyone that a Royal is of the time that changes and brings what change is needed for our people to flourish? Hiding eyes? Camouflage? Smelling out strongest potential energy?”
“That doesn’t make knowledge of old useless,” Nol-Plydon said, getting up.
“No, but it certainly means it takes a back seat until the new knowledge has had a chance to be shared and more importantly, contemplated.”
“We will listen to everything this young kingdom has to say,” Nil-Baesdin said, then turned her head and looked at Nol-Plydon.
“Your Kingdom is in greater danger than any other if our race is revealed.”
“I’m aware of that. Living with shared nations so hostile to the our very needs to survive has made me quite good at being flexible, though, and I’m very good at looking for solutions. The Kingdom who has needed that least of all is yours, so I hope to share and be listened to by a young King who so far has proven himself someone who isn’t rash.”
Nol-Plydon nodded, thinking.
The energy was still way up, and Seldon had trouble discerning it all. He could tell Daniel’s apart. Somewhat. Or, maybe it was because he sat next to him and had full brunt of it.
“Let’s just hope I won’t be right about the outcome,” Nol Plydon said.
“You’ve been wrong before,” Elakdon grumbled.
“I was not wrong in thinking you changed the wrong man and have wasted doses on him since!”
Elakdon moved fast and threw a punch.
The speed of it almost skipped Seldon’s otherwise well-trained eye, yet he got up, then thought better of it. He wasn’t strong enough to go against two Kings double his age. That would be suicide. But he sure as hell would stand between them and his boy.
Half the council apparently thought it unsafe, too, and everybody close to them hurried across or around the table to not be near them as the two powerful Kings went into full on bar brawl mode.
A strong wave of nausea cashed over Seldon, and he quickly sat.
Daniel stood, his chair skating back across the floor. “Don’t fight in my house!” Daniel shouted.
The two Kings backed off each other, their eyes shining brightly and looking like molten gold. Nol-Plydon looked regal and proud as always, yet he had blood coming from his nose.
“And don’t talk about our people that way!”
That got Daniel the old King’s attention, and he looked quite taken aback at being scolded by a young King.
