Age 546, Month 1, Planet Sadala, Universe 7

Peparia stormed into the meeting hall for House Dakkon, ready to have it out with Tarble. His latest decision as head of House Dakkon was unacceptable; he was not suited for this job, and she was finally going to let him know exactly what she thought.

"Tarble!" Peparia shouted as soon as she entered his hearing range.

"To what do I owe the honor, big sister?" Tarble said sarcastically. He'd always been a little weasel, but this decision…

"You know damn well what this is about!" Peparia shouted.

"Ah, your boy toy," Tarble said, glaring at his sister. "He isn't worthy of House Dakkon."

"You don't know him!" Peparia shouted. "You haven't spent enough time with him to see his worth!"

"And you spend too much time with that…commoner!" Tarble shouted. "He, and all of his ilk are a waste of time and space!"

This was the last straw. Tarble had been nothing but a disgrace to her family ever since Peparia had stepped down as named heir. All of his decisions had been questionable at best, and outright wrong at worst. And combining his lack of foresight with his classist attitudes, he'd proven, over the last 2 years as leader of the house, that he wasn't worthy.

But the only reason Tarble took over was because Peparia had stepped down from her responsibility. But after what happened with Celes, Peparia didn't feel up to leading her household. So, she hoped that, with the proper guidance and advisors, that Tarble would be ready. But he ignored their lessons, kept up his arrogant attitude and never changed. She was sick of it.

"That does it! I'm challenging you for leadership!" Peparia said. "You aren't worthy to lead our family!"

"Good!" Tarble shouted. "I never wanted any of this! You stepping down was the worst thing to happen to me!"

Peparia was taken aback. She'd been so focused on her own life, on her own situation and what went on around her, she'd never considered that her brother might have been struggling.

"All I wanted was to be a doctor! To heal people, not hurt them!" Tarble continued, practically sobbing.

But Peparia remained on guard, knowing that Tarble had pulled this before, this fake sobbing act.

"Give me a break," Peparia said. "If you'd have wanted to step down that badly, you'd have done so."

"And leave it to our idiot cousins? Not a chance! Even my leadership is better than what they could give!" Tarble shouted. "We're the superior ones, not them, and we have to rule our house!"

"You arrogant prick!" Peparia shouted, grabbing her brother by the collar and lifted him into the air. "I'm taking back my birthright and then, I'm giving it to Bokcho!"

"You can't give it to him! He's unworthy!" Tarble shouted.

"He's more worthy than you!" Peparia shouted, throwing her brother across the room. She put her hand on her communicator and told the person standing outside that it was time to come in.

"Tarble, you are unfit to lead House Dakkon," Peparia said. "By the ancient rites of the Council of Lords, I challenge you for leadership by trial by combat."

Peparia dropped into her fighting stance, but instead of rising, Tarble crawled across the room, and crouched before his sister. "I concede without a fight. But please, don't give it to Bokcho. He's not fit to rule."

"Then I'll prepare him," Peparia said. "But nine months from now, he'll have to be ready."

"What do you mean, 'nine months from now'?" Rutin said as he stood. "Are you…"

"Pregnant with Rutin's child? Yes. And this child deserves to have their father involved in their lives, same as us," Peparia said. "He's worthy enough to help me carry out family's legacy, Tarble, I promise you. He's as smart as he is strong. He's even done something nobody has done since Dakkon!"

"He's achieved that? The power of the Great Ape without the transformation? How'd he manage that?" Tarble asked. He was actually curious; a commoner achieving the power of the first noble?

"Like I said, he's a smart one. Between his training as a Full Moon Patroller and the meditation exercises he's been doing over the years, he'd figured out the one thing that's been lost to our people for ages," Peparia said.

"Then perhaps, I've been wrong about a lot of things," Tarble said. "About you, about him, about the House and its members. I guess it comes from not growing up trained as the heir."

"And I'm sorry about that. I should have told dad that I was stepping down years ago," Peparia said. "We'd have had time to prepare better if I'd have just said something after Celes died."

"I think we were all shocked, and dealt with the fallout in our own ways," Tarble said. "Mom and dad weren't prepared to lose a granddaughter, especially when their youngest son was only 5 years older. It was hard on all of us, and I guess we all sort of pushed things back?"

"But we'll do things right this time, I promise," Peparia said. "Bokcho was set up to be 'the spare' before you were born, and he learned everything I did about running the household. We'll get him up to speed and ready to take over when the time comes."

"Yeah, and maybe I can go back to medical school," Tarble said. "And congratulations, by the way. I hope your child grows up healthy and strong."

"Thank you," Peparia said. "And they will. I'll make sure of it."