While I was writing "Days of Reckoning," I was continuously encountering the chasm that existed between the two half-brothers, Jarv and Ariel. Jarv, the blood heir to the throne; Ariel, the first born and denied his right by birth to the throne.

Both have valid claims, yet tradition and royal heritage dictates that only one of them is the true heir: Jarv, the "blue blood" son, is of pure royal birth, with both parents of pure blood lineage. Ariel insists that, since he is first born, his is the right to ascend to the throne. The fault in his claim lies with his mixed blood: his mother was not a blood line ancestor, and hence, that fact leaves Ariel unqualified to wear the crown.

The distance that Jarv maintains from his half-brother cannot be closed, despite Ariel's attempts to placate his oft times moody sibling. Even efforts by their half-sister, Mei, fall short of healing the rift.

As the story progresses, the alienation grows, and finally the brothers participate in an age old ceremony that pits them against each other with deadly daggers in a dance of death. Blood is drawn but no real resolution comes out of the skirmish.

The actual resolution is far beyond either of the brothers' imagination, and causes death and destruction unimaginable to supposedly peace loving race of advanced beings.