Justification

Paragus found himself sitting on a chair in a small room high in the Palace. He wondered where the Queen was, and whether he should tell King Vegeta his wife had sworn to see Paragus die, but he decided against it. The King took out a dusty old book Paragus recognised right away. The King placed his left palm over the cover of the book, which emitted a slight phosphorescence. The pages flickered with a will of their own and turned to a section halfway through the book. When Paragus saw the page the book had turned to, he felt sick. There was a picture of a tree on it, the same tree Brolli had grown on. He hung his head and clasped his hands.

'You recognise the picture?' King Vegeta asked.

'Yes sir,' Paragus mumbled dully.

'A child that springs forth from a tree- a tree of flesh and blood. What a horrible idea. Did you really mutilate your wife's corpse?' Paragus nodded, trying not to think back to that moonlit night.

'How could you have brought yourself to do something like that?' the King asked disdainfully.

'It wasn't easy,' Paragus whispered.

'And how did you even know what to do?'

'I- I read a lot of books, and pieced it together.'

'I'm impressed, Paragus,' King Vegeta said. 'But I'm also horrified. Hundreds of Saiyans accept their relatives are dead every year. Why couldn't you do the same?'

'I'm sorry, sir,' said Paragus, hanging his head. This was what he had been telling himself all the time. The persuasiveness of the argument made him very gloomy.

'And what's worse- this crime is imitable! Didn't you hear what Tommo said in court? Someone else could try this!' Paragus shivered. He didn't like that idea at all.

'So what does it say in the book?' he asked, trying to change the subject.

'Oh here, read it yourself,' the King said. Paragus shifted back in surprise. 'It's all right if it's just this one page.' Paragus looked down at the page, noting the illustration first. That was the tree all right- an accurate illustration of the warped, dark thing that had sprouted. The text was in an ancient dialect, but he could more or less understand it. The heart of a dead Saiyan… the blood of a living Saiyan… united under the moon… they create a third entity.

But what would that third entity be? A person, or a monster? The book used a word Paragus didn't know to describe the Saiyan who would be created.

'What does that word mean?' he asked King Vegeta, pointing to it.

'I don't know,' the King replied. 'It looks like the old word for soulless, except with an s instead of a z.'

'Maybe not,' said Paragus, who had studied many ancient texts because of his interest in the occult. 'It also looks like the word for invincible.' King Vegeta squinted at it.

'You're right, I hadn't noticed that,' he said. 'But anyway, now you've seen this-' he shut the book quickly and pushed it to one side '- do you see what I mean? This child is undeniably a monster.'

'He is not a monster,' Paragus said, indignation giving him courage. 'Look at him!' He held Brolli, who had fallen asleep, up for inspection. The King looked at him politely and turned his attention back to Paragus. 'He's less of a monster,' Paragus said wildly. 'Than- than Bardock.'

King Vegeta's eyebrows shot up and he scowled, but he ignored the comment.

'This child was not born. He was created through an act of dark magic and it is impossible to tell what he will be capable of when he grows up.'

'What do you mean?' Paragus asked, confused.

'This child, on becoming an adult, may present a serious danger to our society.'

To you, you mean, thought Paragus. But out loud he said,

'How do you know that? He might not be different to anyone else!' King Vegeta shook his head with a rueful half-smile. He reached out to touch Brolli. As his hand neared the baby, an electric force field blossomed around the sleeping child, like a shining bubble. King Vegeta rested his hand on the bubble for a few seconds and then withdrew it. The force field immediately disappeared.

'See?' he demanded. 'That's definitely not normal. I sensed this as soon as I saw the baby. I thought you did too.' Paragus stared at his son in wonder. How could he not have found out Brolli was capable of something like that?

'You mean he's some kind of super being?' Paragus asked uncertainly.

'I don't know,' the King said. 'We'll find out in time. He could have horrible destructive powers.'

'But that's a good thing, right?' Paragus asked desperately, thinking of the army. The King shook his head.

'He doesn't have a soul,' he said. 'He probably wouldn't have a conscience, either, or inhibitions about killing.'

'Saiyans aren't born with those things!' Paragus argued. 'If he was raised properly, he would have a conscience.' King Vegeta gave Paragus a long, appraising look. Paragus wondered if the man raised his eyebrow slightly to suggest Paragus' ability to raise a child was questionable, or if he was just shocked at Paragus' stubbornness.

'What are you suggesting, then?' Paragus asked. 'That my son is killed?' King Vegeta flinched very slightly- Paragus knew he was thinking of his own child, held prisoner on some planet far away.

'I don't know,' the King said. 'But it seems like great foolishness just to let him grow up regardless.'

Paragus looked at Brolli's sleeping face. 'He's just a child,' he said softly.

'Just a child now,' the King reminded him. Paragus looked down at the small, heart-shaped face, trying to imagine Brolli as an adult. He couldn't do it.

'So maybe we could just monitor him, have regular tests…' Paragus said hopefully.

'Perhaps,' said the King. 'But probably not.' Paragus' head sank down as if his neck had turned to water. 'I don't think the child will be killed however,' King Vegeta continued. Paragus looked up again, not daring to hope. 'Not if I can help it. However, we must… come to a decision.'

'But what other options are there?' Paragus asked. 'Besides killing him and keeping watch over him?'

'I don't know,' the King admitted. 'Perhaps someone will come up with a bright idea. You should probably take that baby back home. It must be very tired and hungry by now. Did you really need to take it into court with you?'

'Bardock made me come straight away,' Paragus said resentfully. King Vegeta shook his head.

'You should have left it with someone,' he said. 'It can't be good for him, bringing him into a crowded courtroom like that.'

Feeling more depressed than ever, Paragus got up to leave the room. Behind him, King Vegeta asked,

'What did you say his name was again?'

'Brolli,'

'I thought you said that. Interesting choice. Why did you call him that?' Paragus remembered the story of Vegeta's uncle Brolli Viato, who had lost his place as a prince for attempted murder.

'It means bright,' Paragus told the King. 'Because of his eyes, they're so full of light.'

The King nodded and bent to look, but Brolli's eyes were clamped still shut. He shrugged and Paragus set off into the maze of corridors. On the way down he caught a glimpse of Jinjur at the other end of a corridor, but he dived into an alcove and waited until she'd walked past. As soon as he walked out the door he took off into flight, incurring a yell of anger from the guard at the door.

He flew above the white spires of the city of Perelandra, looking down on the place with a new dislike. The sooner he was back in his inn at Pistopon the better. Poor Brolli hadn't been fed for hours.