As
Diltan had expected, he found his clanmates in the common room, playing a round
of akmag at the gaming table. Wal was tossing the stones as Diltan walked
in. Rolat groaned and flung a card at
the grinning Imdiko as one of the vid tokens moved across the holoboard.
The
entertainment vid system, only slightly smaller than the one in the greeting
room, was predictably off. No one in
Clan Diltan was a fan of the news vids or dramas that played on the
broadcasts. Documentaries, educational
lessons, and the occasional concert were more to their tastes. The three men saw more than enough news and
drama in their everyday lives.
Wal’s
evil grin turned gentle as he looked at Diltan.
Warmth pulsed through the Dramok’s heart at the welcoming expression
from his clanmate. Looking at that
caring countenance, it was hard to believe that Wal had once despised him with
all of his being.
Diltan
loved Wal’s smile. It transformed the
quietly handsome Imdiko. Nothing about
Wal stood out as particularly noteworthy until he smiled. His features were well-formed but not
memorable. His hair was the typical
Kalquorian black; straight, slightly below shoulder-length, pulled back off his
face at the temples. He was toned but
not overly muscled, his frame long and more elegantly shaped than either of his
clanmates’.
He had
a tendency to look serious, no surprise for a judge who sat on the most
important cases that affected the Empire.
It was not the typical career for an Imdiko, but having been raised by a
family steeped in law enforcement, Wal had found a niche. Still, it was a tough career for the nurturing
breed. The corners of Wal’s mouth were
slightly lined because he found too many reasons to frown. He had sentenced men to life sentences and
even execution. It wore on his
conscience to do so, and his clanmates had found it necessary to monitor his
drinking when sensational cases came Wal’s way.
Without supervision, the Imdiko tended to find more solace in the bottle
than was wise.
Diltan
grinned at Wal, delighted to see his clanmate in good spirits. His clanmate’s entire face lit up when he
smiled, transforming him from forgettably handsome to beautiful. Even after decades of clanship, the sight was
enough to thrill the Dramok.
No release date set
