Khalzin reached the position of guest and stood tall and straight, and waited for them to decide if he was ready.
It took several moments before anyone addressed him.
The longest three minutes in his life.
Finally, the Speaker looked at him and began. "Khalzin, you are here before the Coalition to validate your father's claims?"
Khalzin nodded. "I am, Speaker Fowles. And offer a potential solution.”
Speaker Fowles raised his eyebrow. "You have not been requested to give solutions. Only to validate your father's findings."
He gritted his teeth. He knew better than to add more. There were protocols for speaking to the Coalition. He had been drilled by his mother and father last night to make sure he knew exactly what he was expected to do during this procedure.
His father's expression didn't change, but his hand twitched.
Not much, but enough to know that he'd badly displeased him.
Khalzin didn't move from where he stood, but inside, a youthful part of him wanted to run away from the discipline he would get later.
He would not, but it was what he felt. As a Gol-Vett, a child of a Coalition member, he had specific standards he was held to.
Something that had been drilled into him from birth.
Yet sometimes, he couldn’t help himself.
Just to not be exactly everything expected of him and be his own person.
"No disrespect intended," Khalzin said.
This time, his father's expression did shift--one to absolute disgust and anger.
A familiar enough expression.
Speaker Fowles raised his thick eyebrow. "Since this is your first time speaking to the Coalition in an official capacity, I will allow propriety errors." The head member glanced at his mother. "I would assume you would have better guidance, but I see no one is perfect.”
His mother shifted in her seat but maintained looking ahead like he was not there.
"Most kind," Khalzin said. At this point, since he'd so horribly screwed up procedure already, he wondered if it mattered if he followed the dictations at all. What worse could they do to him?
Lock him up? Send him away?
They'll likely do that anyway. If not the Coalition, his family would. After he fathered an heir, of course. Then? They could do whatever they wanted with him.
Speaker raised his eyebrow at him. "Now. Khalzin, son of Xaul, you have evidence to validate your father's findings of the state of the Kantenan genome?"
Khalzin nodded. "I do, from my own research on the subject."
"You studied the genome state on your own, away from your father's work?"
"I did. I was not aware he was working in that particular area of science when I started my studies."
Khalzin was impressed with himself. That was a very nice way of saying his father was never around to speak of his work.
The speaker nodded. "And what did your independent studies find?"
"That the Kantenan genome is in danger of becoming a single species."
"Explain," one of the other Coalition members said, one that he couldn't remember the name of.
