Kabel watched the sea crash onto the rocks of the picturesque Cornish retreat. Gemma snuggled into him on the coastal bench they had stumbled upon during their visit to this famous beauty spot. Lands’ End. Only the humans could give such a finite name to such a wild and majestic place, he thought.
He saw Tyson and Amelia laughing as they messed around in the cool autumn breeze, each trying to be the last one to touch the other in a never ending game. It was good to see Tyson with a smile on his face, not the wild, hooded-eyed angry man who threatened unimaginable acts of wanton violence on Zylar; the man who was responsible for taking his mother when he was defeated at the Battle of the Southern Palace.
As for Kabel, his thoughts were on the delicate features of his adopted sister Delilah…he missed her deeply. He hid his true feelings from the majority of people; as the newly adorned Lord Chancellor of the Earth Zein Colony he could not afford to display his wrath in the eyes of the human public and unremitting intrusion of their press hounds. No, his role was to influence, cajole and lead his people if they were ever to return home. His attention was diverted to a huge wave that built and built as it approached the razor sharp rocks with their jewelled brooches of many limpets adorning the blackness of the ancient boulders. The wave reached a crescendo as its foaming mouth roared in and broke against the unmovable barrier, sending a fine spray high into the air. He felt Gemma cuddle into him more as the biting wind cut into them, quiet, unobtrusive, happy to have calmness and love in her life.
Amelia was venting her frustration as she attempted to catch Tyson and touch his shoulder to pass the game back to him and Tyson, using his magics, jumped up in the air and did a forward roll over her head to land behind her, wearing a wide grin on his face. Amelia spun round and stamped her foot in disapproval but she could never stay angry at her beloved for long and soon they were hugging each other, before Amelia, using her female wiles, touched his shoulder shouting ‘You’re it’, at the top of her voice before running away. Tyson chased after her, still grinning.
Kabel stared into the sky, the clouds were low and it was likely to rain but that was not what was on his mind. He ached to see Zein, endless questions always in his thoughts, how many Zeinonians still lived, how did they survive the impact of reducing stocks of zinithium and the brutal attacks of the Pod, did they still dream of the Expeditionary Force’s return after so many years? All this and more tortured his mind, day and night. He knew the burden of his role and wondered who carried that same weight of responsibility on Zein? How did he survive the endless pressure of knowing that if you made the wrong judgement call your friends, family and many lives would be at risk?
Whoever you are, I will find you and we will be one nation again, that I promise you, Kabel vowed, aware his half-brother would pick up his thought. Tyson, who had in the meantime caught Amelia and was playfully struggling with the protesting girl, peered over her shoulder and his eyes found Kabel’s. His eyes conveyed his agreement to Kabel but then they grew to a brilliant blue and his face twisted, only briefly, with a violence of retribution making Kabel catch his breath. In an instant it was gone, his blue eyes back to their normal hue and he continued with his game.
Kabel shuddered; his office carried many burdens but only one he could not control. Still shaken by what he had seen in Tyson he let his body and mind enjoy the experience of the scenic beauty in front of him. Zein, would have to wait for another day but soon, very soon it would be at the forefront of the life of every man, woman and child on this beautiful planet.