Empires of Saturn, Part One

Chapter 13, All-Seeing

Chpt. 13 All-Seeing

Seated on his ornately etched bronze throne, Hasion had his elbows on the arms of the seat, his hands clasped together in front of his face as he stared around them at the screen in front of him. An Eympasine man knelt on the other side, and Hasion simply purred, "Tell your master they will... regret their dealings, with me."

"Yes King." The man replied. The transmission ended.

Hasion looked at the arched doorway to the metal room, and Seirmval was standing there stoically with his arms crossed, as he often did, clearly with something on his mind, but wisely not interrupting his king while he was on duty. "What is it Seirmval?" Hasion did not want his good mood to be deflated by this, but Seirmval looked fairly serious, so he figured it was a serious matter.

The large half-dragon came in, closing the door behind him, and said in his deep, yet non-forceful, almost passive voice, "Can I speak with you confidentially?"

Hasion's eyes narrowed. "You may..."

Seirmval approached the throne, standing in front of it, having to look slightly up at Hasion. "When I was young, and you visited my prison, you did me a favor by bringing me here." Seirmval began, making Hasion give a confused look in response.

"...And?" Hasion asked expectantly, looking at the manifestation of his 'favor' on the right side of the half-dragon's neck.

"And later, I made a mistake." Seirmval continued, pulling the neck of his shirt down a little, revealing a slight part of the brand on his chest. "And it cost me. While I consequently am not the best father, and I regret having a son in the first place, he is still my son, and I do love him."

Hasion arched an eyebrow, looking at him crookedly. "What are you saying to me?"

Seirmval sighed. "I've paid for my mistakes, and Dryan has more than paid for his... Jeonon burned him again yesterday evening, and now he has a 7-inch brand on his back... He didn't deserve that Hasion." He said sincerely. "You know that."

"If you've come to ask me to punish my son, you shouldn't have come." Hasion warned.

"I'm not here to ask you to punish your son; I'm just here to ask you to have him stop punishing mine. He's depressed, and told me he wanted to kill himself."

To all his credit with not being surprised often, Hasion's eyes widened at news of that. "But... he can't. He's a half-dragon."

"Precisely. He wants to end his suffering, but he can't, and I can't do anything about it; but you can." Seirmval said.

Hasion thought a moment, and stood up, stepping down from his throne and heading towards the door, with a thoughtful, borderline concerned look on his face.

"Hasion?" Seirmval asked.

"I must make a call. Send your son to the highest level of the communications quarters. You know which room I use." The king replied.

Seirmval followed him out of his small throne room, wonderingly asking, "What are you doing?"

"I know someone who may agree to take him in." Hasion told him, to which Seirmval almost missed a step.

"Wait. That was not discussed."

Hasion stopped, facing him. "You came to me for help. You said he was a mistake. He is by legal right my property, and it is my duty to oversee his care, whether you like it, or not."