Duras, Lursa and B'Etor were sitting together at the dinner table, heartily enjoying their sumptuous evening meal of fresh qagh, rokeg blood-pie and bregit lung - It could never be said that the offspring of Ja'rod ever went hungry - when L'bool, their Arin'Sen servant, suddenly entered the room. Seeing this, Duras jumped up from his chair and barked "What do you want, toy'wI' Explain yourself!", spitting out fragments of still wriggling serpent worm as he spoke.

Not for the first time, Lursa inwardly scowled at her brother's overly brutish conduct. One lesson she had learned was that more delicate manners, even towards a lowly servant, often generated better results. Turning in her seat, she faced the cringing, sweating Arin'Sen and said, softly and levelly, "State the current matter, L'bool."

But L'bool was saved the trouble of responding to the query himself by the sudden appearance of an all-too familiar figure stepping into view. "My children," Kunnalla said to them. "I trust you are well."

"Mother," B'Etor exclaimed, dropping her handful of food onto her plate. "How was your trip to Boreth?"

"We...did not expect you to be home so soon," Duras said carefully.

"We are pleased by your return," said Lursa reverently, firmly grasping her mother's shoulders in greeting.

Kunnalla's eyes rested on each of them for quiet, short momentd that seemed to last centuries before she next spoke. "When you have finished your meal, I would ask that you join me in the main chamber. We have...things to discuss." She turned then and walked silently away, followed by the meek L'bool.

"Mother is troubled by something," B'Etor observed.

"She has been since Father's death," Duras added. "We will support her."

OOOOOOOO

Again they assembled before their mother in the main chamber of their home, as they had done nearly a year agone to be told of their father's fate. Again Kunnalla wore a solemn expression as she faced them. "As you are aware," she began, "A week ago I left on a spiritual journey to the monastery on Boreth. While there, in the course of my meditations, I...came to a decision. There is something I have kept from you. Your father...had plans before he died, for himself and for us." Lursa listened intently with her siblings, though she had already guessed what was coming.

Kunnalla continued. "To further these plans, Ja'rod made an arrangement with the Romulans. He provided them with the security codes to lower the Khitomer outpost's shields, and attack the colony, in return for their support in the future. All those who died at Khitomer...died because of your father."

Her children stood frozen with shock at this shattering revelation...though Lursa merely feigned the reaction she knew was genuine in her brother and sister; she had never shared her secret knowledge with them, choosing to keep it to herself. B'Etor, her eyes wide, took a few steps forward and said "SoS, I do not understand...vavoy was a...traitor?"

Kunnalla squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head in anguish. "Kahless damn me, I hated it! But my devotion to my husband prevented me from taking any action!"

Duras was anxiously pacing the room now, breathing hard as he took all this in. "If anyone else knew this," he muttered, "our House would be ruined, our names cursed! No one must ever know!"

"I wanted you to be the first to know," Kunnalla said. "I wanted to give you time to prepare yourselves."

Duras spun to face her, his eyes now as wide as B'Etor's. "Prepare? For what?"

Kunnalla was calm and dignified as she replied. "At noon tomorrow, we will go before the High Council, and confess your father's crime."

The atmosphere in the room exploded. "Qo'!" Duras yelled, shaking with anger and fear. "Have your wits deserted you? We will be executed, or discommended if you do this!"

"Such dishonor cannot be hidden, Duras," Kunnalla answered firmly. "We have a duty as Klingons."

"Even though it will mean our suffering?" Duras spat. "My Age of Ascension will soon be here, as will my leadership of this House! And you would deny me my birthright! I tell you, it shall not happen! vItuch!"

Kunnalla's face darkened with fury, and she strode up to her son and struck him in the face with the back of her hand. "HIqaDQo'! Again you forget your position! Honor means more than ambition, as your father should have taught you!"

Watching the tumultuous drama unfold, Lursa was reminded of how her parents had argued about honor. Now Duras and Kunnalla glared at one another and snarled, each daring the other to make a move. B'Etor seemed almost excited by the prospect of a real fight between mother and son. Lursa worked to keep her feelings carefully hidden. Then Duras sneered "You are making a grave mistake, SoS," turned tail and stalked away.

A few minutes later, Lursa and B'Etor sat on their beds. "I do not want to loose everything I have, be'nI," B'Etor said. "I cannot believe Mother would do this. vavoy would not let her, he would protect us! He would stop her!"

Lursa sighed sympathetically. "But Father is not here, and Mother is determined to see us suffer for his sin. Duras...appears to lack the strength to take action."

"I hate them both," hissed B'Etor, looking down at the floor in misery.

Lursa rose, sat next to her little sister, and put a comforting arm around B'Etor's shoulders. "They may be weak," she whispered, "but that does not mean that we have to be."

OOOOOOOO

Kunnalla was in her bedchamber, sitting on the floor before a carven image of Kahless the Unforgettable, when a slight sound prompted her to turn her head and see Lursa standing in the doorway. "Am I intruding, Mother?" the girl inquired, remaining where she stood.

Kunnalla shook her head. "No, puqbe'wI'."

"May I come in?" asked Lursa.

Kunnalla considered for a moment, then nodded. "ghoS."

Lursa, her hands at her sides, slowly approached and sat down before her mother. "I am concerned for you," she said gently. "All of us are. You have provided us so much, for which we are eternally grateful. But this thing you plan to do...is your heart firmly set on the matter?"

A mixture of emotions played across Kunnalla's face. "Know that I love you, Lursa," she said, "as I love your brother and sister...as I loved your father, despite his flaws. But I cannot allow a crime so great to remain hidden, and fester until it rots us all. We will go to the Council...we will do what is right, though it means our end." She reached out a hand and placed it on top of Lursa's. "Please understand, dear Lursa."

"I understand, Mother," Lursa responded, right before her free hand shot behind her back, grasped the blade hidden there, and plunged it up to the hilt into her mother's throat. Kunnalla gave a choked gurgle of surprise and pain, her blood spurting out and landing in droplets on Lursa's face. "Your instincts failed you, Mother," Lursa said. "Now, you will not fail us or Father!" As she withdrew the knife and blood gushed forth in a torrent to pool on the floor, Kunnalla still stared at her in anguish for an instant, her mouth opening and closing, but no sound coming forth. Then she slumped onto her side, the last breath of life fleeing her body. Lursa stood over the corpse, breathing fast and deep.

She felt a hand roughly grab her shoulder, spinning her round to face the horrified countenance of her brother. "Lursa, what have you done!" he demanded. Behind him, Lursa saw B'Etor peering anxiously around the edge of the door.

Lursa held her head high as she addressed Duras. "I have done what was necessary for our survival, brother. Mother was weak and foolish. We will be better off without her."

Duras looked from his elder sister to the body on the floor, and hissed "Now we shall surely die."

"But we will not," Lursa replied. "I have it all planned. Now come, there is more to be done this night if we are to succeed."

OOOOOOOO

It was a rare occurance indeed for Klingons as young and untried as the offspring of Ja'rod to stand within the Great Hall of the High Council, and address the chancellor himself. But the matter this day pertained to a Great House of the Empire. Seated upon his throne, Chancellor K'mpec scrutinized the three youths presently stood in the center of the dark, smokey chamber beneath the dull red glow of the overhead light. In front of his sisters, Duras was calm as he spoke. "There you have it, chancellor," he was saying. "You have heard of how my sisters and I discovered our mother's dishonorable affair with our Arin'Sen servant, and their vile plot to murder all three of us, for which we slew them in the name of family honor! No one here could deny us that right!"

The councillors, gathered round, murmured among themselves, then K'mpec lifted his large bulk from his thron and said "Duras, Lursa and B'Etor, children of Ja'rod...you have acted bravely in ending this scheme of your mother's. You have the support and gratitude of the High Council. Qapla'!"

"Qapla'!" everyone else repeated. Ja'rod's children strode calmly from the chamber, silently relieved that their lie was so readily accepted...and that their path to future greatness was open.