Three weeks of official mourning had passed before Zaruv’s coronation day finally came. Mulkaro and I had never been close. We had never understood each other, and we were not near enough in age to have many shared experiences, but he was my brother, and the tragedy that had befallen him was still hard to process.

My mother had returned for the funereal ceremonies and to help guide and support Brinae. Indeed, it seemed to benefit them both to have one another to lean upon. Brinae, still pregnant, seemed to be healing emotionally, though her pregnancy had not grown any easier.

The formal service for Mulkaro was a bleak affair. The palace was hung with traditional mourning banners and filled with fire poppies, the only flower that bloomed on the crusts of the lava flows in the Elder Mountains. Mulkaro’s body was shrouded and prepared for his return to the lava flow, the resting place of all Dragselian kings.

The procession was all too familiar. It had not been long since we had made the very trek with my father’s body. When the time came, my brother was returned to the fires from which we all were birthed. Denise and my brothers’ human mates waited at the base of the mountain as the trek was made in Dragon form and their bodies were not immune to the furnace-like heat of the flows.

Watching Mulkaro’s sheathed form ignite and disintegrate, I wondered how many funerals I would live to see. It was foolish to think the Infernians would leave us alone simply because we had foiled one plot. Worse yet, if Zaruv followed tradition and exiled us, there was nothing I could do to stop such attempts.

I had struggled so many times before to make Zaruv and the others understand that now, there was an opportunity for real progress. I needed to seize it.

After the procession, I requested a private conference with my brothers. Assembling in Zaruv’s council chambers, I laid out my case.

“I know none of you wants to hear this today, but it cannot wait. Zaruv, you are the king now, and the law demands that you send us back, tails tucked, to our exile. I know that for myself, I would be happy to live out the remainder of my life snugly in some far reach of the galaxy with Denise, and I doubt Ragal or Karun would disagree. But, king or not, you are my brother, and you deserve to hear the truth, not the softened words of your council. If you send us away, if you continue this tyrannical structure, you only put this fight off onto your descendants.”

Zaruv leaned forward, resting his chin on his hand, looking every bit as burdened by the weight of his new responsibilities as he ought to.

“Nor do I want to send you away, batr. Still, what you suggest is a complete overhaul of our laws. The people will not accept this easily.”

“Yes, they will, because they have been conditioned to never question their king. Look at what degenerate behavior they allowed of Midris. I hope for the day when our society prizes freedom and liberty enough to allow differing opinions to be expressed, but that day has not yet come, and where you lead, Dragselia will follow. Until then, you have the ability to institute the changes that are necessary, the changes that will enable a future where Dragselia is not so susceptible to ruination by the whims of one unstable ruler.”

Karun furrowed his brow. “You speak much of your convictions, of ideals, but what matters of policy are you proposing be changed?”

“For starters, the moratorium on dissent must be lifted. Kings and queens are as capable of mistakes and misjudgments as anyone else. A wise ruler would take into account the wishes and concerns of his people.”

“Pavar is right,” Ragal agreed. “We all know Zaruv is far from perfect, and it does not serve the common good or the king to pretend that all he says or does is without fault.”

“Exactly. I cannot suddenly pretend I understand the Infernians or their motives, but just as the Infernian hostiles we encountered readily dismissed all Dragselians as callous and inhumane hypocrites, Dragselians easily dismiss all Infernians as monsters. What if that wasn’t true?” I asked.

“What are you suggesting? That the rest of them are decent and kind?” Karun scoffed.

“You cannot take one sample and assume that it represents the whole,” Ragal countered.

Zaruv looked concerned. “Are you proposing peace talks with the Infernians? Because that has been attempted before now.”

“No, I’m proposing that we address the root of the problem that led to the situation we find ourselves in. So many of our worst laws and traditions hinge on a deeply rooted fear of change. You can be the king to modernize Dragselia, and a large part of that will be ending the tradition of exile. Princes or otherwise, Dragselians should not be thrown away when they become inconvenient or their presence makes someone uncomfortable.”

“I’m not disagreeing with you, but how does that resolve the matter at hand with the Infernians?”

I had been waiting for this, the moment of truth. Denise and I had discussed the logic of the proposition inside and out, as she said, and I prayed that my brothers would be convinced of it as well.

“You don’t just end the exile of Dragselians going forward. You end the exile of all those cast out. We must heal the rift that divides us, open our borders, extend the hand of peace, not just on paper but in reality. Ragal and Tasha are already working in tandem with a Gindaxian consult to develop of form of gene therapy that could cure the chronic pain Infernians live with as a result of their appearances for the benefit of Brinae’s unborn child.”

Ragal nodded. “It’s true. Our initial tests rehabilitating livestock that were mutated poorly are already showing promise.”

Karun was surprised. “Why should we cure them of what they have done to themselves?”

I understood his resistance. I had no warm feelings toward Infernians, but in order to broker peace and make our kingdom stronger, we had to look beyond our personal vendettas.

“How can we say they did this to themselves?” I asked. “It is no different than saying we created the situation that led to our exile ourselves by simply existing. The actions of ancestors thousands of years ago should not sentence those in the present day to lives of pain and violence.”

“So you’re suggesting we bring them back into the fold?” Zaruv asked, looking surprisingly calmer about the matter than I had expected.

“I’m saying you undo the mistakes of the past and bring Dragselia into the present. We have no idea how many Infernians are in fact simply suffering in exile rather than participating in this violence against us. Lead by example. This hatred goes both ways, as you well know. You also know I am not one to tamp down my own passion, but we must begin somewhere.”

The conversation circled and circled, and in the end, Zaruv decided to discuss it with Jennifer and our mother. Two days later, Zaruv ordered a public address.

Before a thousand or more citizens and a full barrage of press, Zaruv announced his plans.

My breath was caught in my throat as I waited in the crowd with Denise.

“People of Dragselia, I am humbled to serve as your king, to dedicate my life to this office, and to rule this kingdom justly, fairly, and rightly. In order to do that, I must remind you all and myself that I am just a man, and men make mistakes. Therefore, today, I am making the first step toward ensuring equity and liberty in our colonies.”

The crowd seemed confused, but I felt a swell of pride as I listened to Zaruv lay out the groundwork for improvements to the infrastructure of our government.

I knew my ideals were lofty and that he would find compromise, and I accepted that as king, he was a king to all and had to respect the attitudes of all of his people, some of whom would cling dearly to old traditions.

Exiles were ended for all living princes, and I anxiously looked forward to meeting uncles, great-uncles, cousins, and other relatives previously unknown to me except as names on a page.

Zaruv chose to invite back any Infernian who was willing to participate in gene therapy to return to their Dragselian roots, so long as they took an oath to do no harm against Dragselia.

The laws against dissent were lifted to allow for open discourse areas. It was no longer against the law to air differing opinions about the law or policies. To appease the conservative factions, however, there would be designated areas for such discussion. The plan was to slowly expand those as people’s attitudes adjusted and became more tolerant.

Zaruv met my eye as he finished his speech, and I felt my old bitterness finally leave. My brothers had finally listened to me.