Despite the severity of my story, it was not a complicated one. I explained my side to the best of my ability without bias or emphatic emotion, keeping my gaze fixed on Vi’den. If they were going to decide out of my favor, they would do so on facts rather than a performance.

“I was patrolling the Novai camp outside of the Polder Quarter. The Novai had been silent all evening, something very rare and unsettling for its infrequency. When they began making an incredible amount of noise without warning, significantly more noise than they had ever exhibited before, my warriors and I were appropriately concerned. I ordered Xam to fetch Qula from the Polder Quarter, where he was stationed, while I went to investigate the camp. On my way, a Novai jumped from the brush and pounced to attack.”

“Insolence!” I did not know from whom the outburst came, but Vi’den frowned to one of the Elders on my right. I continued without persuasion.

“I fired my gaar’kon in self-defense, and the Novai was shot in the chest. He died upon impact.”

To my surprise, there were several grunts of approval around the circle of Elders. Sevani, however, rose to his feet, and attention turned to him.

“If I may address the Council?” he said, giving particular attention to Vi’den. “When it was agreed to allow the Novai to colonize in Pentaba, strict instructions were given to Khrel and the warriors to avoid the use of deadly force in all but necessary circumstances. This is the first occurrence in which deadly force was used against the Novai for any reason. As we are here to determine whether Khrel’s actions were justified, it remains to be seen if self-defense constitutes necessary circumstances, but rest assured Khrel was aware of his orders and knew all courses of possible actions prior to the attack.”

He sat down again, and I tried not to look at him for fear of glaring. Anger was boiling inside me, bubbling in my gut and threatening to burst forth from my lips. Since the Novai’s settlement in Pentaba, Sevani had been raving about having them evicted. The attacks on Lena and me would have served his purpose nicely, a fact he knew very well. To hear him now making it clear the weight of the circumstances was entirely on my head was not only infuriating but a betrayal.

“Yes, I was aware of my orders,” I said coldly. Though I looked at Vi’den as I spoke, my words were meant for Sevani. “However, I was unaware that self-defense was potentially not considered necessary circumstances, given that necessary circumstances is a broad definition and the only one I was given when Elder Sevani dictated his instructions.”

“Could you not have subdued the Novai more humanely?” The question came from Ma’ris, Elder to the underwater kingdom of Maquaria and the oldest member of the Council. He spoke as though his mouth were full of bubbles, his tongue rolling and tripping over the syllables until it was difficult to understand him properly.

“Our knowledge of the Novai and their capabilities is minimal,” I explained rather defensively. “We know not what they are capable of, nor of their strengths and weaknesses. I was alone when I was attacked, and, had I attempted merely to push him away or run, it is possible I would have been the one who was dead at the end. What we do know of the Novai is of their extraordinary speed and history of bloodthirstiness. That in conjunction with all we do not know of them was enough for me to act as I saw appropriate, which was to eliminate the threat.”

There was a smattering of approval around the circle from those who opposed the Novai colonization, and my shoulders squared with pride. Lena squeezed my hand again, and I could feel hope radiating from her like heat.

“Please, go on with your story,” Vi’den urged gently.

I continued, telling them of finding Lena and Isabelle. Just as they had when Lena explained how the Novai attacked her a second time, the anti-Novai Elders growled and snarled when I reiterated it. The sting of Sevani’s betrayal was still writhing inside, tumbling about in my organs, but I no longer was worried that I alone would feel my choice to use deadly force was the right one. The amount of support around me was at least half.

“Let us first address these counts of murder before going on to the final charge,” Vi’den said, spreading his arms out wide as if offering to embrace everyone in a great hug. “We have heard the testimony of the accused and the testimony of the victim and witness. I ask that the representative now is brought forth.”

I stared for a second, confused by what I was hearing, and I could feel Lena yanking on my hand to get my attention.

“Who is the representative?” she whispered to me. “Representative of what?”

I did not answer her, for the answer arrived itself in the form of the Novain leader. He stepped up onto the platform beside me amidst hisses and mumblings from the surrounding Elders, but he seemed as calm as he had been the night I retrieved Lena from the camp. Now that we were in such close proximity, I realized he was taller than I was and much slenderer, but his ridged muscles were sinewy and taut.

“As the Novai do not speak English,” Vi’den said over the rumble of noise, “we will require a translator for Lena. Rex?”

I turned around. Rex was the Elder for Campestria, the plains kingdom, and considered one of the more roguish of Elders. He was also relatively young in comparison to most of the Council. His cerulean skin glowed sea green in the firelight as he inclined his head with a cheerful grin.

“Certainly, Vi’den.”

Lena, too, was looking at him, and he touched his temple as greeting to her. She lowered her chin in standard A’li-uud acknowledgment, and Rex’s face twitched as he attempted not to laugh. She looked up at me, confused.

“He is not laughing at you,” I murmured to her. “Rex is married to a human, the first human to be found on Albaterra, in fact. He is familiar with your customs.”

She flung her eyes back to him, then to me, then back to him and me once more. “He’s married to a human?” she whispered, clearly stunned. I gave her a small nod of confirmation, and something came over her face. Her lips parted, her eyes widened, and her apple cheeks pinkened. I did not have time to ask her what was on her mind, though, because Vi’den called our attention back to him.

“Lena, you may dismount the platform and join Rex at the rear of the circle,” he said. “You will best hear him as he translates this portion of the trial for you.”

“Okay,” she agreed uncertainly. I gave her hand a final squeeze of reassurance before releasing it, and she stepped from the center of the room to the space beside Rex’s chair.

Before I could turn to face Vi’den again, my ears were split apart by a horrendous, debilitating screech.