We have decided that Sienna Michaels is to be Denied.
Our decision is final and binding by law.
Tristan Cohen
I look up slowly, the paper crumpling in my hand as I stare at Alicia’s face. She raises an eyebrow. “Well? Don’t keep us all in suspense.”
Rather than answer her, I turn, pressing the envelope into Ollena’s hands.
I don’t feel my knees hit the floor. I don’t feel anything except the blinding pain that rips through my insides, searing me from the inside out. I can’t breathe for the agony, can’t focus on Jessalyn’s face as she lands in front of me, the tears in her eyes as she grabs my face, pressing our foreheads together.
“Not happening,” she sobs. “They’re not doing this to you, Sienna. I won’t let them. I won’t let them.”
Everything is chaos, everyone shouting around me. My parents are both shouting, my mother angrier than I’ve ever heard her, my sister crying as she crawls into the chaos next to me, her arms wrapping around me.
My heart breaks that little bit more. I didn’t know there was anything left to break.
Elise.
“Enough!” someone yells. Jessalyn clings to my hand, swearing at whoever tries to move her away. I feel my dad’s hand on my shoulder, gently sliding under my arms, lifting me to my feet.
“Courage, sweetheart,” he murmurs. “We’re going to sort this out.”
But my eyes are still drawn to those doors. “They wouldn’t do this,” I croak. “They wouldn’t, dad.”
He doesn’t say anything, his silent censure clear. He doesn’t understand.
I’m lowered into a chair, my mother and father coming to stand on either side of me, Jess behind me as we face the Council.
“An immediate vote,” Ollena hisses. “It’s well within our power to do so. This is unconscionable!”
“But it is the law,” a dry voice interjects. “And for the law to change, Ollena, we require a unanimous vote.”
Everyone turns to stare at the speaker.
“Justice Milo.” Tristan’s father steps forward. He looks at me with an apology in his eyes, and I look away, back to the doors.
They will come. I canfeelit.
“Surely a majority vote will be more than sufficient,” he pushes. “Given the urgency of this situation?”
The Councilor shakes his head. His gray hair is cropped close, his pale eyes grim as they skate across me. “The law is the law, David. It must be unanimous.”
Tristan’s father sighs. “Fine. This should be sorted reasonably enough. I move to abolish the Denied by-law from the governing laws of Navarre. The motion should be removed from the Bonding Trials process effective immediately. Ollena?”
“Seconded.” Ollena’s voice is crisp and confident. Tristan’s dad nods.
“Elio?” The Health Councilor tries to smile at me, but his brows are too deeply drawn together for him to pull it off. “Agreed.”
“I also agree,” Councilor Cohen motions to the Justice Councilor. “Milo?”
He hesitates, long enough for Ollena to lose her patience. “Milo, be reasonable!”
He holds up a hand. “The law is the law, even when it is harsh. However, I am not so outdated that I cannot see when a law needs to be repealed. I agree.”
My dad squeezes my shoulder, my mom letting out a shuddering sound of relief. Everything still feels hazy, most of my focus still on the doors.
“Erikkson.” There’s a hesitating note to Tristan’s dad’s voice, one that makes me finally focus on what’s happening in front of me. Because Councilor Erikkson is Alicia’s father.
