Illiya - Taylor Neeran Chronicles #1

Chapter 10 - Change of circumstances

Unpacking

"My head hurts!" complained Taylor as she slowly sat up on the low platform and pushed away the blanket. "What happened?"

"Judgement was passed. You will live," said Char as he set a crate on the floor beside her.

"What happened to me? I don't remember anything, just eating fruit and..." Taylor stood up too quickly and grabbed her head. "You drugged me!"

Char shook his head. "You ate fruit. Too much fruit. It was too strong for you. I am sorry."

Taylor looked at the pile of crates on the floor. "Hey, that's my stuff! What are you doing with it?"

"Helping," said Char.

"Stop! Why are you doing this? I belong on the ship!" Taylor pushed on Char's chest.

"Not anymore," said Henry as he brought another crate into the hut.

Char went out of the hut to collect more crates.

Taylor's mouth fell open. "Henry, tell me what's going on! Why are you helping him? Why are you bringing my stuff in here?"

Henry smiled sadly. "How much do you remember?"

Taylor looked at Henry. "Not a lot. What happened?"

Henry put down the crate and sat on it. "Well, you faced the council of Elders. All seven of them."

"Did I? I don't remember that at all."

Henry pushed his fingers through his coarse dark hair. "Yeah, well... they will definitely remember you."

Taylor felt a cold lump form in the pit of her stomach. "What-what did I do?"

"Um, ah, you... sang, a little."

"What are you talking about?" said Taylor, her hands rising to her mouth.

"And hummed and kind of... danced, too," grinned Henry.

"Oh no! What else did I do?" gasped Taylor.

"Um, not too much, after they put you to the side and let your mother speak for you." said Henry.

"What did she say?"

"Well, she tried to plead your case, but..." began Henry.

"Tried to?" gasped Taylor. "What happened?"

"Um, ah, well, they said that they don't punish juveniles..."

"I am not a juvenile. I'm considered an adult on lots of planets!" protested Taylor.

"Um, well, I wouldn't say that too loud, right? Otherwise you might be put to death, and I mean right now. Besides, there are lots of other planets where you would definitely be considered a youth."

Taylor nodded slowly. "Okay, so I'm still a kid. What exactly did they decide?"

Henry looked up at her, a grim smile on his face. "You're... um... being sent back to school."

Taylor waved her hands at all of the crates. "Then what is all this for?"

"Um, ah, well, you have to learn about the Illiya. That was part of the punishment."

"That... doesn't sound so bad. Much better than being dead. What else?"

Henry stared at the ground. "Well... they agreed that your mother was responsible for you. You being a juvenile and all."