But then my eyes widen when ahumanis brought in, too.
He also looks like he took a beating, but he holds his head high despite limping from a mangled ankle. When they shovehim forward to stand in front of the Immortal Quintet, he doesn't flinch back like the others do. Instead, he looks at the room and the crowd around him with a curious, dazed frown.
I'm not the only one surprised—after all, humans have never been permitted in legacy proceedings. Murmurs roll through the rest of the audience as an elemental council member stands to begin the address.
"Brought before us today are three of our own who have been captured and charged with unlawful casting of forbidden spells outside of the borders of the Divide, disturbing the peace among humans, and supporting acts of?—"
One of the Cranes stands and interrupts him, looking down her nose at the human. I realize she’s probably Silas's mother.
"Get to the point. Why is there ahumanin our midst? They're not permitted here."
Rumbles of agreement echo around me. The elemental looks nervous as he reads from the official document.
"Ah, yes…also brought before us today is one Pietro Amato, whose final hearing and punishment have been left to our discretion by the human government. Over the last seven years, he has been found guilty of multiple offenses, including fear-mongering among humans, spreading propaganda about the Nether, acts of violence against legacies?—"
"That was in self-defense only," the human insists over the angry murmurs filling the room.
"And most disturbing of all, forming alliances with demons and other convicts of the Nether to…willinglyvolunteer in necromantic rituals on multiple accounts."
The court is in an uproar before the council member finishes speaking. I duck down into my seat, wide-eyed as I watch the powerful legacies stand and scream over one another. I've been here too many times, but I've never seen a hearing blow up likethis. Even my father is standing, his cool demeanor replaced by disgust as he glowers down at the human.
Despite slurs and screeches from all around, Pietro Amato holds eye contact with the keeper of the Immortal Quintet. When Natalya speaks, everyone else goes silent, but the room is filled with tension so thick that I can barely breathe.
"So his final hearing begins," she announces in a bell-like voice. "Tell us of your crimes, human, and we will choose how you shall be executed."
Sick smiles of excitement spread on the faces of the legacies leering down at the man. But the longer I watch him, the more my stomach twists. He's been charged with a lot of severe crimes, but he doesn'tlooklike a threat.
He looks…desperate. Distraught. Tears gather in his eyes as he takes a step forward.
"All that I have done, I did to rescue my daughter from the Nether. Seven years ago, she was stolen away by shadow fiends, and I have been doing everything possible to try to get her back?—"
My father's loud, condescending scoff interrupts him. "Insanity! Fiends don'ttakehumans—they slaughter them. Your daughter is long dead."
"She isalive!"Amato insists, facing my father. The courtroom quiets as everyone's interest rests on the unexpectedly brave, bruised, bloodied human. "I know she is. The charges against me are true on one account—Ididvolunteer in necromantic rituals, but only to find her. Only to trace my bloodline in her to learn whether she's still alive. And sheis.My daughter…"
His voice breaks as emotion clouds his face. He turns back to the Immortal Quintet. They all watch him coldly, except for the earth elemental, who frowns at the sight of the human with tears on his cheeks.
"My little miracle of a daughter was just two years old when she was taken from me in the surge that destroyed my hometown. Please, I have to get her back. I know in my very bones that she is still alive in the Nether. I need to rescue her.Please," he begs raggedly. "You must believe me!"
Somnus DeLune, another member of the Immortal Quintet, arches a lazy brow, observing the frantic father as if he's studying an injured ant.
"Even if I did believe that the Nether is spiriting away humans—which I don't, by the way…go on, amuse me. How could your little mortal runt have survived forseven yearsin that hell?"
It sounds so impossible that even I shake my head. I've never been to the Divide, but I've heard the stories. I know it's otherworldly and deadly, even for powerful legacies. And that's only where the Nether starts to seep into this world.
A child surviving in that lifeless plane of existence? Impossible.
But Pietro Amato seems to believe it with every fiber of his being. Why execute someone for choosing to believe his daughter is alive when he has nothing else to believe in? Can’t they just put him in a cell so he doesn’t do anything else against the law?
Watching these monsters judge a desperate human who has no power to fight back just feels…wrong.
I wonder if I can leave the room, but when my mother notices that I’m compulsively readjusting the same sleeve over and over, she shoots me a savage warning look that makes me go still.
Pietro looks at each council member and the unforgiving Immortal Quintet before straightening. Sudden confidence punctuates each of his words.
"My daughter is far more precious than you can possibly imagine. I don't know how she has survived, but she has. And if Iam not permitted to pass through the Divide and fight to get her back…the wrath of the gods will be upon you tenfold. They will smite your kind with fury unlike anything you have ever seen."
Insulted gasps and outcries flood the room once again. One of the angry casters hurls a magic attack at Amato. The guards beside him do nothing to stop the flare of light, and I cringe when the human is hit by the spell, crumpling to the floor with a hoarse, pained cry.
