I walked into the great hall of Elders with my head held high. I had been in this room before, more times than I cared to remember. It was a striking room with a glass ceiling stretching nearly a mile high that allowed the sky to pour in to the occupants below and offer the illusion of being outdoors. The space was round, just like the room we were first taken to. It was made completely of gray stone of such a dark hue that there would have been no possibility of sight had there been an absence of other light sources. A circle of chairs, all with high backs and resembling thrones, were arranged around a stacked-rock podium in the center. I knew the podium to be not just a podium; it was also a pit designated for fires during Elder Forum. When there was a trial, however, the pit was turned into a podium for witnesses and defendants to stand upon and give their testimonies.

Phoebe was holding my hand. I did not know if she was comfortable with the Elders learning of our relationship, and, while I had not wanted Vi’den to notice before, I no longer cared now. Plenty of other A’li-uud had developed a relationship with a human since our first encounter with them, and it was no longer a frowned upon practice. I gripped her hand reassuringly and stepped up onto the platform. Every vein in my body was pulsing with adrenaline. I was ready to fight for my brother.

Venan was already present. He stood in the center of the platform, facing Vi’den. He no longer looked like himself. His eyes were sunken into his head, his hair was matted into one large piece, and his mouth had developed several lines around the corners. It looked as if he had not been eating. The muscle mass he had acquired across years of warrior training had begun to disintegrate, leaving him looking peaky and wan. I wondered if he had been declining his meals, and I hoped the guards would have forced him to eat even if he had.

I wanted to ask him if Feq had spoken with him, but there was no way to do so in the presence of the Elders, so I stood to the side and tried to catch his eye. He did not look at me. He only continued to stare straight forward at Vi’den, studiously avoiding turning his gaze to the left or right. I assumed his intense focus was because he did not want to see Kharid’s empty chair, but I could not be certain.

“Thank you for your attendance,” Vi’den said, addressing Phoebe and me. “For now, we need to speak to the defendant, and, thus, we would appreciate it if you would take your seats to the side.”

I turned my head. When we had entered, I had not seen the two small chairs, as they were practically invisible compared to the great ones occupied by the circle of Elders. They were pushed off against the wall and would not have been noticeable if Vi’den had not pointed them out, as they were so doused in shadow. I looked back at him, nodded my silent agreement, and jostled Phoebe’s hand to indicate we needed to step off the podium.

As we sat, the Council began.

“We are here tonight to address the charge against the Dhal’atian second-in-command, Venan, for the murder of our own Elder Kharid.” Vi’den spoke in a booming voice that did not seem suited to his kindly visage, and he was the only Elder to remain standing. He addressed the Council with his arms outstretched as if offering something to them, and he looked around to meet each of their eyes before turning his attention to Venan. “You are Venan?” he asked.

It was an inane question. He knew exactly who Venan was, of course, as did the rest of the Council, but I knew it to be standard practice to ask the accused to identify himself at the beginning of every trial.

“Yes,” Venan said. His voice was monotonous and dull. He sounded detached, as if he was not even in his own body.

“You are aware of this charge of murder regarding the death of Elder Kharid?” Vi’den asked.

“Yes,” Venan said again.

I was watching him closely, trying to analyze his gestures and facial expressions as he was questioned. He was just so different. He did not remind me a bit of the brother I had known for my life’s entirety. Our relationship had been built on irritating jest and good-natured ribbing, but he now looked like someone who could not smile even if he tried.

“Were you present when Elder Kharid perished?”

The questions kept coming, and I was growing angrier and angrier by the second. They were stupid questions, useless questions. They were questions the Elders already knew the answers to. I was certain, as I listened to them, I had been right in assuming their minds were already made up before the trial could be held. If they truly wanted to find out how justified Venan’s actions were, they would have asked things to which they did not yet know the answers.

I tried not to listen for a while in hopes the questions and Venan’s answers would become little more than a numbing, droning sound in my ears. Phoebe beside me was rigid. Her hand was clamped around mine, and her eyes were fixed on the scene before her.

Suddenly, a query from a gnarl-faced Elder grabbed my attention, and I was unable to stop myself from reacting.

“Did you kill Elder Kharid because you wanted to take his place?”

I leaped to my feet in one quick motion. As my hand was still holding Phoebe’s, she was pulled up as well, and she nearly fell over with the force of my movement. I tried to shake her free, but she held on tighter and tried to pull me back in the chair. I would not go back. I jumped onto the podium, stood in front of Venan, and began to shout.

“This is exactly what I was talking about!” I yelled, directing my anger at Vi’den. “There is no interest in a fair trial here! Everyone has already made their decision! You are all willing to let an innocent A’li-uud hang because you do not want your perfect image ruined!”

The entire room lit with uproar.