Once Vi’den disappeared, the weight of what I’d just agreed to suddenly crushed upon me. A new set of nerves churned in my stomach as I realized I had volunteered myself to go before the Council in the sacred Elder City to argue on both Zuran’s and Venan’s behalf to essentially claim that an Elder’s death was justified. It sounded like suicide. It sounded like something that was going to get me locked up.

Zuran was practically shaking with anger. He was staring at the place where Vi’den had just been and refused to look at me even when I stood on tiptoe to try to meet his eyes.

“Zuran,” I said quietly. For a moment, he didn’t respond. Then, finally, he looked down at me and blinked.

“I cannot believe they decided to honor his request,” he snarled. “They know that is not in his best interest.”

“If they view him as a criminal, they might not care what’s in his best interest,” I pointed out.

Zuran shook his head. “It does not matter if they view him as a criminal or not. He is not due judgment until a trial has been held. Their own personal biases against him, or me, or anyone else are to be forgotten until all evidence has been provided. That is the duty of an Elder.”

“I know,” I said. “I understand you’re frustrated, but the decision has been made. They’re going to move up his trial date, and they’re going to let you testify. And me.”

Saying it sent a jolt of sick fear through my belly. I didn’t want to testify, not because I believed Venan was guilty but because I didn’t want to be in the spotlight, particularly in front of the eyes of the most powerful people on the planet. But I had to do what was right, and I had to do what I could to help Zuran.

He was still quaking with anger. “They are just looking to make an example of him,” he said, just as he’d said to Vi’den. “They are looking for someone to blame because they do not want to tell the A’li-uud that an Elder died by accident.” He scratched his fingers against his scalp, pulling his hair back away from his face. It waved in a pearly sheet behind him. “They want to appear so invincible, one united and all-powerful force. They cannot permit anyone to believe they are vulnerable to that which the rest of us are vulnerable, so they need to criminalize Venan for what he did to prove to the rest of the world the Elders are the elite.”

I wasn’t sure he really believed that, and I knew I definitely didn’t believe that, but now didn’t seem like the time to argue with him. I rested my hand on top of his shoulder and stood up on tiptoe again to press a gentle kiss to his lips.

“I need to go back inside,” I said. It wasn’t exactly true. I hadn’t been asked to come back in, but it seemed like he needed to cool off, and my presence wasn’t helping.

He nodded, and I turned. Before I went back in, I took one last look at him. He was pacing back and forth, watching his footprints disappear in the wind-blown sand.

When I entered the hall again, Antoinette had busied herself with a Novai on the far end. The Novai nearest me, the one I had inspected, was being tended to by Dr. Griep. I strode over to him.

“I see there has been a lot of progression in their condition,” I said casually. I wanted to gauge if he was angry with me for my absence or not.

“There has,” he acknowledged. He didn’t sound mad. “And I’m worried we’re not going to be able to stop it before it progresses fatally. The Novai who passed away on their journey here had only reached the stage of skin discoloration. We don’t even know if there’s a stage after.”

“I know, but, if we don’t have any treatment, how are we supposed to stave it off?” I asked. I was basically asking how to prevent death, which was something I was pretty sure no human or A’li-uud had the answer to.

“I don’t know,” he said with a sigh. “I guess that’s just why we keep working.”

I looked down at the Novai. He was clearly awake, as his eyes were moving back and forth between us, but he was not fighting his restraints like they all had when they were first brought in. He was just lying there, docile. I wondered if the aggression that was part of the first stage dissipated upon entering stage two, or if his body was beginning to shut down entirely. I leaned down and looked closely at the back of his hand. The black veins there were protruding, almost like you would see on someone who was wasting away, and the ashen gray hue beneath his thinning skin had a strange pattern to it. It was like half-circles or U-shapes of darkness which gradually shaded lighter and lighter like a tattoo as it moved upward. They were clustered together. Nearest his thumb, there were three, but the section closer to his wrist revealed a group of nearly a dozen. I snagged Dr. Griep’s sleeve.

“Have you noticed this?” I asked, pointing to the odd markings.

He followed my finger, leaned close, and nodded. “Yes,” he said. “I noticed them yesterday. The others have them too, but his are the most pronounced.”

“What is it?” I had wondered before if the weird color developing beneath their skin was muscle, but now I was starting to doubt that theory. The markings were completely unlike muscle and, unless their muscles were as small as quarters and massed in groups, I doubted I had been right.

“I’m thinking of taking a biopsy to find out,” he said. “I feel like it might be something we need to know about.”

I nodded in agreement. Dr. Griep walked away, but I continued to stare at the black and gray half-circles. This no longer looked like a disease to me. This looked like the Novai was turning into something, or something had taken over his body, like a parasite, and it was slowly growing until the Novai would be no more.