Chapter Seventy-Six: Petalia Learns The Truth--And The Importance of Telling It

In the middle of the night, early next morning…

The reactions of the Astorians, Veal, and Dirkan had alternated between anger that the Saiyans had abducted Tayla again and fear for Tayla's life and safety. They were planning to split up into separate search parties to look for her.

Shalila had been especially angry and saddened, and no one could console her. The Superior Gran had tried to relieve her feelings by decimating a condemned hardware store with a strong ki blast, but she really would have preferred to destroy the Saiyans instead. At one moment, she would be in tears, and then the next moment, she would be so angry that not even Dirkan or Toria would dare to come near her. And there were times when she would be both angry and sad, her reactions a mixture of tears, curses, and shouting so loud that a Meatian in the Milky Way Galaxy could have heard it (if there had been any Meatians living in the Milky Way).

"Those bastards! After all we did to defeat them, they take my dandelion away anyway!" Shalila hissed in one of her mixed-reaction moments. Dirkan had tried to counsel her to stay calm for everyone else's sake, but she was inconsolable and too angry to think straight.

"I'll destroy them all, Dirkan!" Shalila cried with her fists balled up. "Especially that brat, Vegeta! Who in the East Kai's name does he think he is? Who in the East Kai's name does Frieza think he is? I saw Tayla defeat Vegeta; I saw her! I knew that there was no way that Vegeta could have recovered that quickly, even if his race does possess the gene that makes them stronger after surviving a life-threatening injury! Something is not right with those Saiyans, something is not right!"

Dirkan was furious himself, but for the sake of Shalila and the others, he had to remain calm and to keep his wife calm, which at this point he knew would be harder than convincing Frieza to surrender to Intergalacticpol wearing a wedding caftan and high-heels while singing Astoria's worldwide patriotic anthem. Before he could stop himself, Dirkan chuckled to himself at the thought of Frieza prancing around in an Astorian lace wedding gown and heels and squeaking at the top of his voice, singing off-key, "Astoria, sweet Astoria, I would give my life for thee…" The Namek burst out laughing before he could prevent it.

"DIRKAN!" Shalila yelled in a terrible voice so sharp that it would have sliced Dirkan's heart open, had it been a knife. "What are you laughing at? Don't you realize that Tayla is in danger? What is so funny?"

Dirkan tried to wipe the grin off of his face, but he couldn't.

"What's the joke?" Shalila angrily demanded to know.

Dirkan was forced to tell her, and after a few tense moments, to the Namek warrior's relief, Shalila herself began to laugh. "Frieza in a wedding gown! Dirkan, I'm sorry that I yelled at you; you do know how to cheer me up! That was hysterical! You have a lively imagination, my love, thinking of Frieza singing Astoria's patriotic anthem!"

Everyone was puzzled to see Dirkan and Shalila, their respected leaders, laughing, and they all looked at their Superior Gran and Granden in a mixture of disbelief and disapproval.

Gorna was the first to speak. "Nama, how can you and Dirkan be laughing at a time like this? Kami only knows what those monkeys are doing to Tayla at this moment!" she furiously demanded to know.

Shalila and Dirkan sobered immediately. "We are sorry, Gorna and everyone else," Shalila said. "I was upset, and Dirkan was just trying to cheer me up. All of us are worried about Tayla."

Dirkan was unable to hide a small smile. "If it will make you feel better, Gorna, your grandmother was upset and angry with me at first when I burst out laughing. I was thinking at how it would have been easier to persuade Frieza to surrender to Intergalacticpol wearing a wedding gown and singing "Astoria, Sweet Astoria" than it would have been to cheer your grandmother up."

It took a few moments, but soon everyone else had managed a small laugh or chuckle or giggle at the thought of the deadly dictator of evil singing the official planetary patriotic anthem of the world that he hated the most while wearing a wedding caftan. All except for Toria, who was trying to concentrate on finding Tayla, and Gorna, who had little patience for jokes anytime let alone in a serious situation like this.

"We need to find Tayla," Gorna reminded everyone sternly, "and not plan Frieza's wedding wardrobe. Dedron and Riccan, are you boys certain that you didn't see which direction the Saiyans took Tayla?"

"I didn't," Riccan piped up worriedly. "Someone hit me in the back of the head, and I saw nothing. I can't figure out who hit me either."

"I was passed out myself," Dedron told his aunt sincerely. "Riccan and I didn't see anything after we passed out." The others grew quiet and thoughtful then, and Dedron turned away from all of them, chuckling maliciously to himself.

He turned around quickly to catch the distressed, anxious look that had returned to Great-Nama's face, and it made him smile. He had somehow convinced himself that Great-Nama was one of the ones responsible for his mother abandoning him for that bastard Uncle Jaypros, and his anger and hatred towards his mother and his uncle had now extended to his great-grandmother and his youngest aunt. Dedron was not the least bit sorry that Tayla was gone; in fact it wouldn't have bothered him at all, if Ridikar never returned her at all. The malicious, burly Astorian prince chuckled to himself when he thought how easily Aunt Gracina and Uncle Lektron had believed his lie about the Saiyans abducting Tayla. He had thought of the falsehood just after Ridikar had fled with Tayla, and not even Ridikar knew that Dedron had planned to blame Tayla's abduction on the Saiyans. Dedron mentally patted himself on the back for being so clever…nothing could go wrong with his devious scheme, nothing!

Dedron was smiling with the smile of a cat that had just eaten its owner's favorite pet bird and gotten away with it. He went over across the meadow to a large rock and sat down on it, grinning widely. His family did not notice his grin in their distress over Tayla's disappearance and their planning to find her. Petalia approached Dedron, who was still smiling broadly, as if he himself had defeated Frieza and destroyed him. They were both alone, far away from everyone else now. She looked at him with a puzzled expression on her beautiful face.

"Dedron, why are you smiling?" Petalia asked him reproachfully. "Don't you realize that Tayla is still missing?"

Dedron tried to wipe the smirk off of his face as fast as he could, but not quickly enough to appease his sister. "Oh, um…sorry…guess I must have been thinking of Frieza in a wedding dress, you know what Dirkan said earlier."

"I'm worried about her," Petalia said distressingly. "Do you think that she will be okay?"

"Sure she will be," Dedron told her confidently. "She's Tayla, after all, and she kicked Vegeta's tail earlier; she'll be sure to do so again. Relax, Petals; Tayla's a survivor."

"But can she survive Saiyans? Oh, Vegeta and his bunch are such horrid creatures! Dedron, something must be done! How do we know that they aren't torturing her? Or doing to her what Ridikar tried to do to her before-oh, speaking of which, what happened to Ridikar? Everyone's starting to wonder where he ran off to."

"Who cares?" Dedron told her breezily. "Good riddance; now let's get some food, I'm starved."

Petalia snapped, "How can you think of your stomach at a time like this? I couldn't touch a bite right now!"

"Petals," Dedron said impatiently, "you hardly eat anyway, having to worry about your figure all the time. Don't tell me you are on one of those crazy diets of yours again?"

"I'm not on a diet!" Petalia nearly screamed. "I don't need to be on one! I am just too worried to eat. Are you sure, Dedron, that you didn't hear those Saiyans say where they were taking Tayla?"

"For the last time, I didn't!" Dedron snapped at her. "Why in Kami Orchida's name are you so worried about her anyway? A couple of months ago, you wouldn't have cared about her any more than I did."

"A couple of months ago, she wasn't really my friend, but things have changed since the voyage here to Calmag. She's not bad at all, Dedron, and she's helped me very much with dealing with Farla running away and Pappa's neglecting us. Pappa told me earlier that Tayla had yelled at him on the day that Dirkan and Bajal attacked Ridikar in his cave where he had taken Tayla. He said that Tayla's words had helped him to realize how badly he had treated us and neglected us. I love Pappa dearly, and I forgive him, but I am glad that Tayla yelled at him that day because it helped him come to his senses. It's nice to have a father again, I think so anyway, even if you don't."

"I don't forgive and forget that easily, Petals, and you know that," Dedron snarled. "As far as I am concerned, I don't have a father."

"DEDRON! How can you say that?" Petalia cried, now near tears.

"Sorry, Petals, but he can't win me back the same way that he so easily did you," Dedron told her.

"Dedron, Petalia!" Cletos' voice echoed across the field. "We need to get going, and you two will be with me!"

"Coming, Pappa!" Petalia called immediately. Dedron did not respond.

"I hope we find Tayla soon," Petalia whispered to her brother.

"Ah, don't worry, Ridikar will take good care of her. It's not like Tayla's alone; Ridikar will look after her, after all, he is taking her away to marry her," Dedron said casually before he thought.

"Well, perhaps, but we should really get going," Petalia replied. "Ridikar was such a jerk, as Great-Nama would say…Dedron, what did you just say?" The lovely, golden-haired Astorian princess just realized that her brother had said that Tayla was with Ridikar.
Petalia's ivory face paled even further. "Tayla is with Ridikar? Ridikar has Tayla?"

Dedron began to tremble and shake when he realized that he had just exposed himself to his own sister. He started to stammer, "It was a joke, Petals, as in ha, ha, funny. The Saiyans really do have her, and I just know it! Now let's go to Pappa before he starts to worry."

But Petalia was not so easily convinced. She knew her brother better than anyone else, and she had covered up some of his smaller misdeeds in the past before they came to Calmag in a misguided attempt to protect him. Dedron knew that he could always rely on his sister to come up with an alibi for him, or back up his fibs when he got into the frequent trouble that he did. Petalia had been more loyal to Dedron than Rojal had been to him, because there were things that Dedron had secretly done that not even Rojal would have supported. She loved her brother dearly, despite all of the trouble he caused, and they had been united in their hatred and anger at their mother and in their pain at their father paying no attention to them. Dedron had never really mistreated her.

"Dedron," Petalia said slowly. "What is going on? Where did Ridikar take Tayla? Did she go with him willingly, or did he abduct her?"

"Petalia, for the last time, I was joking! Ridikar does not have Tayla, now let's go!"

Petalia didn't believe him. "Dedron, I know you; you've never liked Tayla, in fact you've despised her more than even Rojal has. You and Tayla got into a nasty fight yesterday, and I know you, you were probably planning revenge, weren't you? I saw you talking to Ridikar yesterday, and I would bet that you had something to do with Tayla disappearing. I became suspicious of your story when I first heard it because I know that Tayla wouldn't have been overpowered that easily, that quickly-"

"Three against one can overpower her, Petalia," Dedron argued.

"Not Tayla; she defeated the three of them five years ago, Dedron. What really happened? The Saiyans didn't really attack you and Riccan, did they? Did they? Tell the truth!"

"Shut up, Petalia!" Dedron roared. "I told everyone what happened; now leave me the hell alone!"

"Just say that you lied, Dedron! Did you? Did you have anything to do with Ridikar taking Tayla away? I bet that's what you were talking to Ridikar about, wasn't it? You helped him abduct Tayla, didn't you? Where is she, Dedron? Where did Ridikar take her?"

"The hell if I know, like I really care," Dedron hissed, not bothering to deny his part in Tayla's kidnapping any longer. "They belong together, and I was only trying to help. Tayla will become a queen, a queen of Calmag, so calm down, will you? The worse thing that will happen is that Tayla will have to stay on Calmag, no big deal."

"No big deal? Tayla told me what Ridikar tried to do to her-he tried to rape her, for Kami's sake! How can you let a practical rapist take Tayla away? How could you do that to Tayla, Dedron? How could you? There was no justification for what you did, none! Now where did Ridikar take Tayla?"

"I don't know; I just told him to take her to the nearest unoccupied town and marry her. He isn't going to hurt her, Petalia; he just wants to marry her, that's all. Relax, he'll bring her back, and she'll just say goodbye because she'll be married to Ridikar, and the marriage will be legal in both Calmagian law and Astorian law. Don't say a word to anyone, we'll just let them continue to think that the Saiyans took her away."

Petalia mocked angrily, "Oh, really? And what will you do when Tayla returns after she's married to Ridikar? She'll tell them the truth about the Saiyans not being the ones to abduct her! Did you think about that, Dedron? Does Ridikar even know that part of your nasty plan? Did Ridikar know about your claiming that the Saiyans kidnapped Tayla? Did he?"

"Oh, all right, so Ridikar didn't know that I was going to lie about the Saiyans kidnapping Tayla, so what? Who's going to tell? Who's going to care? By the time, Ridikar brings Tayla back, they'll be married, so it won't matter much about the lie that I told about the Saiyans kidnapping her. Sure, our family will be peeved, but what can they do other than yell at me or ground me? And they certainly won't be able to break up Tayla and Ridikar's marriage. Tayla will probably be pregnant by then anyway, and you know how Great-Nama is about breaking up families. Tayla will have to stay on Calmag with Ridikar and his family; it's not like we're leaving her to fend for herself. Saying that, Petalia, there's nothing more that can be done, and we do have to get going to fight the rest of Frieza's fighters; let's go."

Dedron had said those words brashly and easily enough, but deep down he was shaking. He realized to his utmost horror that Tayla and Ridikar would mention that there were no Saiyans involved in Tayla's abduction, and when his lie was eventually revealed, he would be in trouble so deep that it would drown him. He had not thought about that when he had lied about the Saiyans abducting Tayla and attacking him and Riccan. He knew that his Great-Nama had forgiven, but not forgotten, the wicked things that he had done in the past. Great-Nama would definitely never forgive this one, and she was likely to have banned from the Clan of Chloe and Chloe altogether, if not the entire planet of Astoria. Dirkan would likely beat him to a pulp for what he did to the Namek's beloved ward.

What was he going to do? He couldn't let himself be banished from the Clan, and he couldn't allow himself to be exposed. He was also going to have to find a way to get to Ridikar and convince the Calmagian royal heir to back up Dedron's story. Perhaps he could have Ridikar say that he rescued Tayla from the Saiyans on his own, and Tayla decided to marry him in gratitude. It sounded like a good plan, but with one major flaw: Tayla wouldn't go along with it. She would definitely tell the truth, so Dedron would have to find a way to discredit or blackmail her, but how? Everyone believed anything that Tayla had to say; she was one of the Clan of Chloe's darlings. What was he going to do now?

Well until, he could come up with something, he would have to stall his family and keep them off of Tayla and Ridikar's trail. At least Petalia wouldn't tell on him; she had been his most loyal ally. He was confident that his sister would keep silent; Petalia may have befriended Tayla, but Dedron was her brother.

"Not a word, Petals, about this," Dedron told her confidently. "Tayla will be okay, I promise you. Let's go catch up to Pappa."

Petalia's face was whiter than marshmallows, and she couldn't look Dedron in his eyes. "Good idea," she said shakily. "Just let me go ask Great-Nama something really quick; she's right over there with Dirkan. You go on without me, and I will catch up, just tell Pappa I will be there shortly." She turned away from her brother to leave, but Dedron, seeing her anxiety and discomfort, quickly seized her ivory arm and pulled her against him. Petalia tried to wrest her arm from her brother's strong grip, but Dedron held firm.

"Let me go!" she cried. "I just wanted to ask Nama where she wanted the non-fighting Astorians to stay at until the war was over-" She stopped when Dedron forced her to turn towards him and seized her chin. He moved her face up to his, tilting her chin with his plump hand. He forced her to look at him.

"Tell me, Petals," he said in a silken tone, a smooth tone full of threat. "Was there something else that you wanted to mention to Great-Nama? Did you perhaps want to drop a hint or two as to what happened to Tayla?"

"No, no, of course not. You are my br-brother, Ded-Dedron. Why would I betray you?"

"Tell the truth, Petalia," Dedron said calmly, too calmly.

"No, no…"

"Don't lie to me, Petals. Were you going to tell on Ridikar and me? Hmmm? Just tell the truth, and the truth will set you free, as Great-Nama would say from one of her silly Earth expressions."

Petalia snapped, "You should try practicing what you preach! You have plenty of room to talk, lying about what happened to Tayla! Now let me go! You are a hypocrite, Dedron, as well as a liar and a traitor! I should go tell everyone what you're really like-" her words were cut off when Dedron slapped her hard across her perfect face. Petalia fell to the ground, and Dedron leapt upon her and forced her to lie on her back. He sat down on top of her and straddled her waist. Dedron was desperate, afraid that Petalia would tell about what he had done. Petalia began to tremble, as Dedron seized her arm, turned her over onto her stomach, and twisted her arm behind her back, twisting it so hard it would have made Petalia cry out.

She would have cried out, if Dedron hadn't covered her mouth. She began to cry then, for she had never thought that her brother would try to hurt her, ever. She emitted a few sobs while Dedron leaned over to her tiny ear and whispered, "Now, tell me, Petalia, were you going to tell on me? Were you going to squeal on me? Hmmm? Did you plan to tell Great-Nama everything?"

Petalia was not a good liar or deceiver, but she dared not to say a word, for now she truly feared that Dedron would hurt her. Dedron squeezed her arm and twisted it harder, making her cry harder.

"Were you, my sister? Just tell the truth, and I won't hurt you further. If you were going to squeal on me, just lick my hand, like Tayla the lapdog licks Nama's. I know that you were going to tell on me, and if you tell me the truth, I won't hurt you any more today. C'mon, lick my hand; I know that you were going to tell, right? Right?" Dedron demanded to know angrily, as he twisted Petalia's arm further.

Petalia began to sob harder.

"Petalia? Tell the truth."

He dug his nails into her arms, making her want to scream.

"Were you going to tell on me?"

Petalia sobbed and sniffled, but finally Dedron felt her tongue lightly lap against the palm of his hand. He didn't release her right away however.

"But you changed your mind, didn't you, Petals? Because I am your favorite and only brother, right? Because you would never betray me, your only sibling for a lapdog like Tayla, would you? Loyalty is important between siblings, two close siblings, a brother and sister who love each other and would never squeal on each other. You won't tell on me, will you, Petals, because I am your dear brother, and you know what I am capable of. You won't tell, will you? If you'll agree to keep quiet, like the loving, loyal sister that you are, lick my hand again."

Petalia's tongue did not touch Dedron's palm.

"Petalia, don't squeal on me. Lick my hand and agree. I am more important to you than Tayla, aren't I? Lick my hand twice to agree to both things."

Petalia at first refused, but then Dedron twisted her arm once more, and then as a bonus, he slammed his fist hard into her kidney area.

"Well?"

A crying Petalia licked Dedron's palm twice. He still didn't release her right away.

"That's my girl, my favorite sister, my only sister. You know that if you tell anyone, one of two things could happen to you: I could hurt you myself so badly and fix your face to where no one will ever want to kiss it. I know that you pride yourself on your looks, which are so like Farla's; you're the spitting image of her, everyone says so. Or, I could turn you over to Frieza's minions, such as your friend, Balair, whom you've told me felt and kissed you a bit. How would you like to be a Sistrai warrior's mate, dear sister, hmm? I wouldn't want that to happen to my sister, my best friend, and my closest ally. I wouldn't want to have to turn you over to such a monster as Balair or his friends, or even the Saiyans. I've heard that Saiyans like Astorian women, and you are so pretty, so lovely that those monkeys would snatch you right up as their new concubine. Now that you know what I could do, but probably would never do unless I was pushed, you won't tell, will you? Or there is a third thing that I could do, should your mouth betray you, I could kill you or have you killed, but I wouldn't do that to you because I know that I wouldn't need to, would I? Lick my hand to answer me."

A terrified Petalia lapped her tongue against Dedron's palm again.

"I have your silence on this matter, don't I? We never had this conversation, and I never mentioned Ridikar taking Tayla away, didn't I? Lick my hand if that is true."

Petalia didn't hesitate; she licked her brother's hand once more. Finally, Dedron dragged her to her feet, and he pulled her into his arms and held her tight.

"Don't try to leave me yet, Petals; I'm not done with you yet."
Dedron cuddled her close, pressing his sister to him, as he forced her to put her golden head on his shoulder. He hugged her tighter, as he began to stroke her hair, murmuring "loving" words into her ear.

"I love you, my sweet sister, my sweet Petals, don't you know that?" He massaged slow circles on her back. "You are so pretty and sweet, and I love you so very much. I am proud to have you as my sister, the prettiest female in the Clan of Chloe. You have no idea how much you mean to me, how special you are to me, don't you? I'd give my life for you, Petals; you're the only female that I can trust completely with my heart, body and soul. You are the only female that I can trust, I can love. I'm sorry that I hurt you and threatened you earlier, but I had to; it was for your own good. And I would never turn you over to Frieza's minions, as long as you did what you are told. You are too valuable for me to give up, and I enjoy your company more than anyone else's." Petalia tried to ease herself away from her brother, but Dedron held her tightly. Usually, Petalia had been thankful in the past that her brother had never treated her as badly as he did other people, but now she was truly afraid of him. No matter how nice he was being to her now, she wanted to get away from him.

"Let me go, please," she whispered.

"Not yet; I just want to make up for how I treated you earlier," Dedron purred, holding her closer.

"Let me go!" Petalia raised her voice in fear.

"Petals, I'm your brother; why would I hurt you?" Dedron asked her calmly.

"Let me go; I don't want you holding me! Let me go!" Petalia cried. Her fear of her brother overcame her, and she no longer trusted him. The Dedron, or the Dedron that she had wanted to believe had existed, was gone. Petalia had always loved her brother, and she had been his closest ally and friend, next to Rojal, but now Dedron had hurt her as well as others. She never thought that Dedron could or would harm her; who was this angry stranger that had taken the form of her brother? In tears and anger, she once again cursed their mother's name--if Farla hadn't abandoned them, this would have never happened.

"Petals, can't I make things up to you?" Dedron asked her in both anger and frustration, as his sister, his former ally, struggled to get away. Finally Petalia broke free, but Dedron seized her white arm again before she could flee.

"Let me go now, Dedron, or-"

"Or what?" Dedron demanded to know.

"I'll tell about Tayla; in fact, I'm going to anyway; I can't let you do that to her! LET ME GO!"

"Hell, no! You're not going to squeal on me, Petals; don't make me hurt you!" Dedron threatened. "You're my sister, my only sister, my only sibling, and you're not going to betray me! You tell on me, and I'll make you regret it! You know that I don't make idle threats, Petals, remember what I told you earlier."

"Let me go, Dedron! I was wrong to even agree to cover for you! I'm not doing it anymore! Someone help me! HELP ME!" Dedron's stinging slap across her face cut off Petalia's screams. Before Petalia could respond, Dedron slapped her hard again for good measure.

"You don't tell about Tayla, ever! You know nothing! And if you even drop a hint about her and Ridikar, I will fix your sweet face to where no boy would ever want to kiss it or even look at it!" Dedron roared at her. "You've protected and covered for me before, and you'll do it again! I'd do the same for you, and you'll need me again, Petals, long before I will need you! Just keep that in mind, should you betray me! Like I said before, you know that I don't make idle threats, remember that."

Petalia screamed in both anger and fear, even though doing so would probably earn her another assault from her brother. "I know that you don't make idle threats, but I don't care anymore, I don't care! I did protect you and cover for you for the things that you did wrong, but what was I thinking? I did love you at one time, even with all of the bad things you've done, and now you want to hurt me! I don't understand, Dedron, I don't! I loved you b-because you were my brother, and I was there for you, but now I'm starting to think that it was a mistake!"

"I covered for you that time that you set those toads loose in the maids' sleeping quarters and the time that you deliberately spilled juice on one of Kekron's blueprints because Kekron wouldn't lie about your whereabouts when you went into the couples' bathhouse with one of the maids to kiss and do whatever, an older married maid at that! Oh, the things that I could tell about you, Dedron! All the times that I protected you, covered for you! Oh, do I ever regret keeping silent about the time that you stole those leather boots and belts for yourself from that leather goods store in Chloe Hyacinth! You stole quite a few things from the shops on Chloe, didn't you? Dedron Chloe, don't you ever touch me again, ever, or I will tell everyone the bad things that you did before we came to Calmag! You will go straight to Great-Nama and tell her the truth yourself about what happened to Tayla, or I will!"

"I'm not telling, and neither are you!" Dedron snarled, as he pulled Petalia against him and twisted her arm behind her back. "No one is saying a word, not you, not me, not anyone! Keep your pretty mouth shut, Petalia, or I will do it for you-"

"Let her go, Dedron!"

Petalia turned away from her brother to see Dirkan in front of them, and she was amazed. She and Dedron had been too distracted to notice that the Namek warrior had shown up in front of them. Petalia burst into terrified tears; how much had Dirkan, with his hearing almost as good as a Meatian's, heard?

"Now, Dedron," Dirkan said in a deadly calm voice.

Dedron slowly released his sister, and a frightened Petalia scurried away from him. Dirkan's look was fatal, and Dedron stepped back away in fear of his great-grandmother's imposing husband. Dirkan continued to glower at him, as he said, "Dedron, you will sit on that rock where you were at earlier, and if you move from it before I tell you to, I will give you a beating twice as bad as the one Vegeta gave you, is that clear?"

Dedron didn't have the nerve to defy Dirkan now. He knew when the Superior Granden of Astoria and Great Nama's personal bodyguard meant business. "Yes, sir," he mumbled, and he did Dirkan's bidding meekly.

Dirkan kept his fierce expression, as he took Petalia's hand. Petalia was afraid of Dirkan now too; there was no telling what Dirkan would do or say to her. "Petalia," he said quietly. "You will come with me over to that tree-"-he pointed to a tall coniferous tree with green and red needles twenty feet away-"and you will answer some questions for me."

Petalia said, trembling, "Yes, sir." Dirkan sternly led her away from her brother, and Petalia felt as if she were going to her beheading, as they went over to the tree that Dirkan had showed her. When they reached the tree, Dirkan took her chin into his green hand and tilted it up towards him. Petalia continued to tremble; Dirkan's harsh expression did not change at first. Dirkan watched her carefully for a minute or two, keeping his stern look, but then to Petalia's relief, his expression softened, and he brushed away a tear that slipped from her lovely rain-blue eye with his large thumb.

"How long have you known about Tayla being with Ridikar?" he asked softly.

"Just ten minutes ago; Dedron accidentally let it slip to me," Petalia whispered. She couldn't look Dirkan in his ebony eyes now, for she was deeply ashamed of herself.

"Did he threaten you just now into keeping silent?"

Petalia nodded. "I know that I shouldn't have agreed, but I was too afraid, and I didn't want to hurt him."

"You've covered for him in the past for some of his misdeeds before, haven't you?" Dirkan pressed gently. He had suspected for a long time that Dedron had done a great deal of bad things that he had never been punished for, and the Namek had also speculated that Dedron had Petalia cover for him on many occasions. He understood Petalia's past loyalty to her brother, but he had to make the girl see that shielding Dedron from the consequences of his foul deeds was hurting him, not helping him.

Petalia flushed. "Yes, sir."

"What compelled you to protect him in the past?"

"He is my brother, and I loved him, but I'm not so sure that I do now."

"Do you think that you are helping him by not allowing him to be punished like he deserves?"

"I thought that I was; I didn't want to get him into trouble. Siblings are supposed to be loyal to each other."

"To a certain extent, they are, but some things cannot be hidden, Petalia. I know that you thought that you were helping Dedron by not telling on him when you should have, but you are enabling him instead of helping him. Enabling allows bad behavior to continue, and you don't want Dedron to continue to do awful things, now do you?" Dirkan looked deep into Petalia's scared eyes. "Petalia, you don't have to be afraid; I'm not going to harm you. I just want the truth; I know that you and Tayla have become friends, and I know that you want to help her. Have you assisted Dedron in any of the things that he has done other than covering for him?"

"No, sir," Petalia replied truthfully. She was thankful that Dedron had never forced her to be involved in his past misdeeds; she just had to keep quiet about the things that he had done, but she had never participated in them.

"Don't worry about Dedron's threats; he is not going to scare you or intimidate you anymore. Has he threatened you in the past?"

Petalia didn't answer at first, but her deepening flush on her cheeks told Dirkan the truth. "He usually is good to me most of the time," Petalia spoke up quickly. "He was just so angry with Farla, like I have been, and he needed someone, a friend, someone to lean on. There were things that he told me, feelings that he shared with me, that he couldn't even share with Rojal. Most of the things that he had me cover for him are things that not even Rojal would cover for him. Rojal is his closest friend besides me, but there are many things that he doesn't know about my brother. I-I felt sorry for Dedron because Farla had abandoned us, and Pappa had not paid attention to either one of us before this awful war began. He just does the things he does, I think, because he's angry at Farla and Jaypros."

Dirkan said quietly, "Come here, Petalia." Petalia reluctantly stepped closer to him, a tiny part of her still expecting a blow, but to her surprise, Dirkan drew her close to him and embraced her with one muscled arm. Petalia rested her face on his chest. "I am so sorry," she whispered. "What's going to happen to us now?"

Dirkan just asked if he could touch her hair, and Petalia nodded against his chest. Dirkan smoothed her disheveled hair with his gigantic emerald hand, and the Astorian princess rested her pale head on his chest. The Namek warrior patted her back gently.

"Dedron will hate me now," she whispered against Dirkan's fighting gi.

"He'll get over it," Dirkan assured her. "He needs to be disciplined and made to see the error of his ways before it's too late. You're doing the right thing now, Petalia."

"What will my punishment be?" Petalia wanted to know.

Dirkan stroked her ivory-gold hair and said softly, "I think that everyone would agree that you've been punished enough, other than having to tell your great-grandmother the truth about what happened to Tayla. There may be some other things that we will have to ask you about later, Petalia; it's not going to be over yet. But I will see that you are let off much easier than Dedron, if you agree to answer any questions that your great-grandmother and I ask you truthfully, is that fair?"

Petalia nodded.

"Good girl," Dirkan told her, and this time when Petalia looked up, she noticed a small smile on the tall green warrior's face. Dirkan kept his arm around her, as he led her away.


The Namek warrior swore that he would give the boy a piece of his mind, even if it included fists.

And as soon as he took her back to her father, Dirkan went back over to Dedron, and Shalila, seeing her husband approach Dedron, flew over to them, wanting to ask her husband something.

When she had arrived, Dirkan forced Dedron to tell him and his great-grandmother about what he had done to Tayla. Dedron in fierce anger and embarrassment grudgingly blurted out the truth.

And things went downhill from there…







Later that evening…

Dedron was sporting a nasty bruise on his swollen eye when Cletos saw his boy again. Dedron was now sitting under a tree, sulking. Dirkan was sitting on a log, and Shalila was sitting near him, rubbing her swollen ankle, too lost in horror, as she was trying to figure out where Ridikar could have taken Tayla. She looked over at Dedron with fierce rage in her heart, wondering if she could ever forgive him. She clenched her fists, and then the proud Superior Gran broke down into tears, horrified at Dedron's actions-and her own as well.

For it had been Shalila herself, and not Dirkan, who had given Dedron a black eye. Shalila was now deeply ashamed of herself, for in all her years of ruling Astoria and the Clan of Chloe, she had never once struck out against her children, grandchildren, or great-grandchildren except in training those of them who were to become warriors or healiors. Outside of in training her descendants to become fighters, she had never, to her or anyone's knowledge, lashed out physically at them. She had had better control of her fierce temper in the past than Dirkan or her previous husband, the first Bajal Chloe, had of theirs, and she had realized too late what she had done to her own grandson. Dedron had been deeply shocked at his great-grandmother's actions; he had expected a cuffing or a blow from Dirkan, but not Great-Nama.

It had been Dedron's final words after confessing angrily about setting up Tayla's abduction that had set Shalila off. He had said without remorse, "It'd be a good lesson that I taught her, and I hope that Ridikar doesn't bring her back. Someone needs to keep her in rein, since it's apparent that you and Dirkan aren't doing your job with her. You're just mad, Great-Nama, because she's Ridikar's lapdog now and not yours! Ridikar just took away your favorite pet and made her his own. If he forces her to marry him now or forces himself on her, it will be less than what that lapdog deserves-" Dedron didn't say another word afterwards, for it was then that Shalila punched him hard in his eye.

After that, instead of apologizing, the Superior Gran, appalled at what she had done to her own great-grandson, had done something that she rarely ever did-she ran away. She literally ran away from Dedron and Dirkan, not even flying, just running so fast, too fast to think straight, too fast to avoid the large stick hidden in the tall red grass of Calmag, too fast to prevent herself from falling and spraining her ankle.

Shalila's ankle was now comfortably bandaged, thanks to Gracina, who was stunned that her beloved grandmother could hit a family member outside of training or sparring with them and angry at Dedron for lying to her and Lektron about what happened to Tayla. Dirkan had his arm around her arm, holding her close. Shalila continued to cry, deeply ashamed of her behavior towards Dedron and of her own "weakness" in crying continuously.

Dirkan patted his wife's back, as her sobs wracked her petite, but still powerful body. He smoothed her reddish-gold hair, as Shalila wept on his shoulder in his embrace.

"He'll truly hate me now, Dirkan," Shalila sobbed. "And this time, I don't blame him."

"He should have been hit a long time ago," Dirkan told her, "but it did take me by surprise when you hit him like that. Look, love, it's not the end of the world; Dedron didn't die. He'll recover; you've hit him far less harder than you've hit your enemies."

"For just that one second, Dirkan, I thought that he was my enemy! I feel so horrible for what I have done to him, even if he is responsible for Tayla being kidnapped. I don't know if I can ever forgive Dedron for that-or myself from striking at him and losing my temper."

Dirkan held her close. "Shalila, you would have never hit him, had you been thinking straight. You were angry and hurt and worried about Tayla, and so let it go. Worry about Tayla now; she is the one who needs us to fret about her. I still cannot sense that poor girl's ki, and it's worrying me. It's hard to believe that Ridikar had managed to turn her ki down so low using those awful cuffs."

"Do-do you think, Dirkan, that Ridikar could-could have-killed her-in revenge?" Shalila asked anxiously.

Dirkan shook his head at her. "Ridikar may be a sexist pig and brat, love, but he isn't a murderer type. Her ki is just so restrained that we ourselves cannot sense it. Why don't we go on ahead of the others and go; Gracina and Raakon are now splitting up the groups into search parties, and they can handle things until we come back with Tayla. And we won't come back without her."

"No, we won't," Shalila told him, her fear and pain hardening into resolve. She took Dirkan's hand into hers, and both of them flew off into the nighttime sky.