She studied me for a long moment. “Sometimes the hardest choices are the right ones.”
After she left, I stood there gathering my thoughts. I’d called this council meeting to inform you that I am sending a party to contact Vikkat’s stronghold. To open communication, to let Cleo and her companions reach their people.
To let her leave, if that’s what she chose.
My marks pulsed with pain at the thought. Every instinctI had screamed against it. She was mine. My mate. The marks had claimed her, and she’d accepted me into her body again and again. But I could feel her slipping away, and holding her here by force would only push her further.
The council chamber was filled when I arrived. All twelve members sat in their traditional places, with Zelana at the head as high seer. I could already see resistance in their faces.
“I don’t understand,” Torak said without preamble. “Why bother with Vikkat? The three from the sky are clan now.”
“They had lives, families, duties, before becoming stranded here.” My jaw was so tight, I felt like I was speaking through my teeth. “They want to contact their people. To let them know they’re alive and safe.”
“And risk losing them?” another council member, Dira, challenged. “Risk losing the knowledge they bring? The prophecy clearly states—”
“I know what the prophecy states.” I forced my voice to remain level. “But they are not prisoners. They cannot be clan if they don’t choose to be.”
“They have chosen,” Zelana said quietly. “Cleo shares your bed. That is choice.”
“Sharing my bed is not the same as choosing to stay forever.”
All the faces before me looked aghast. “It is to our people. The mate bond is for life.”
“It isnotto her people.” The words tasted bitter. “I want to send a tracking party to Vikkat’s territory. To open communication. To give them the option to reach their crew.”
The chamber erupted.
“Absolutely not!”
“We cannot risk losing them!”
“The prophecy—”
“Enough!” My command silenced them. “Cleo’s technical knowledge is invaluable, yes. She’s the only one who fully understands our systems. But she’s been teaching Venith and the other engineers. That knowledge won’t be lost.”
“And Mierva?” Torak asked. “Her teaching about the Destrans, about life beyond this world? That has value we cannot measure.”
“Mierva is a historian,” I agreed. “She’s been documenting our culture, our technology, our way of life. That work is important. But it cannot come at the cost of her freedom. She has a mate who undoubtedly worries for her safety.”
“And Baleck?” Dira pressed. “His communication methods have already improved our guard efficiency. His language skills—”
“Are exceptional,” I finished. “I know. All three of them bring gifts we lacked before. But if we keep them here against their will, we become no better than captors. We become the very thing we’ve always fought against.”
Zelana raised her hand for silence. “The prophecy speaks of renewal. Of three who fall from the sky, bringing salvation. The storms have ended because of them. Because they arehere, on this planet with us. If they leave, the storms may return.”
“We don’t know that,” I snapped. “We’re assuming correlation, but—”
“The prophecy has never been wrong,” she said firmly. “Not in all the generations since it was first spoken. The sky peoplemuststay. For the good of everyone.”
I looked around the chamber, seeing the same conviction in every face. They believed it absolutely.Stars. Maybe they were right. Maybe keeping the sky people here was what saved us all.
But I couldn’t shake the image of Cleo’s face when she’d begged me to let them contact their crew. The desperation in her voice when she’d said, “I deserve a choice.”
“I’m asking the council to consider—”
“No.” Torak stood. “With respect, Lord Rezor, we cannot risk it. The sky people stay. That is final.”
One by one, the others voiced their agreement. Even those who’d questioned my original decision not to exile the sky people, stood firm on this. The vote was unanimous.
