ZEPHYR: Reborn With A God System

CHAPTER 9 - THE VERDICT

“That's him.” someone said from behind me.

I had barely stepped into the great hall when the conversation around me began to die off… One voice stopped, then another. People who had been laughing over breakfast suddenly found something interesting about the floor.

I turned as Sylene stood near the elders' table, dressed in a dark blue gown with her black beads arranged neatly around her wrist. Nyra stood beside her, looking as though she had been waiting for something entertaining to happen, then her eyes settled on me.

“Zephyr,” she said, loud enough for everyone to hear. “I didn't expect you to return so soon.”

I stopped walking and turned towards her “Did you expect me not to?”

A few people exchanged glances and She gave me a small smile. “That's not what I meant.”

“Then perhaps you should say what you mean.”

Her expression remained pleasant, but something shifted in her eyes. “I was only wondering how you managed to survive out there.”

I looked at her for a moment then I replied “I walked back.”

“After being declared unreturned?”

“Apparently, the elders were too impatient to wait.”

Someone near the entrance coughed to hide a laugh. Nyra didn't find anything amusing. Her eyes moved between us, and I noticed the way her fingers tightened around the bracelet on her wrist.

Sylene stepped closer towards me “Interesting. Because I heard something rather different.”

I didn't answer then she turned toward the people gathering around us.

“Did any of you know that Zephyr returned with a girl from Clan Vorthak?”

The hall went quiet and everyone turned their eyes towards me…Sable. I had left her in my room with food and water after she insisted she could manage without anyone seeing her. Renn had promised to keep watch over the corridor, but apparently, that hadn't been enough.

Sylene continued. “She was seen near the servants' quarters last night. A Vorthak girl, brought into our territory by someone who was supposed to be completing the Outer Trials.”

“Where is she?” one of the elders asked.

“That's what I would like to know.” I said stepping forward. “If you have something to say about me, say it without dragging someone else into it.”

Sylene looked at me. “Why are you so concerned?”

“Because you're making accusations about someone who isn't here to defend herself.”

“Then perhaps you should explain why she was here in the first place.”

I could feel the attention of the entire hall settling on me. I had two choices. I could deny knowing Sable and hope no one had seen us together, or I could admit enough to keep them from searching every room in the fort.

Neither choice was particularly good. “She was injured,” I said.

“And you decided to bring her into our home?”

“I wasn't going to leave her in the forest.”

“Even though she's from Clan Vorthak?”

“She was bleeding.”

Sylene's smile disappeared. “You have always been too willing to involve yourself in things that don't concern you.”

I almost laughed. Coming from her, that sounded ridiculous. An elder struck the floor with his staff.

“Enough. This is no longer a private disagreement. Zephyr Veyne, you will answer the questions put before you.”

I turned toward the elders while my father sat at the centre of the high table. He had not said a word since I entered the hall. He watched me with the same expression he wore whenever I disappointed him. His hands rested on the arms of his chair, and the silver ring on his right hand caught the morning light. I waited for him to speak, but he didn't. Instead, Elder Rovan rose.

“You were declared unreturned after failing to appear at the designated boundary point. You have now returned with a member of an opposing clan. Is there anything else you believe the council should know?”

I considered the question before replying slowly “I was separated from the others during the trial.”

“How?”

“An attack.”

“What kind of attack?”

“One that left me unable to reach the boundary before the deadline.”

Elder Rovan studied me then he asked “And the girl?”

“I found her injured.”

“Convenient.” sylene cuts in again…

She stood with her hands folded, watching me as though she had already decided what the council should do. “Perhaps she should be the one answering these questions,” she added. “If she is innocent, there should be no reason to hide her.”

I felt my jaw tighten as I glared back at her “She doesn't belong in this discussion.”

“She became part of it when you brought her here.”

“Then question me. Leave her out of it.”

My father finally moved out from his seat before turning to me “Why?”

Just that one word carried more weight than all the questions the elders had asked then I turned toward him. “Why what?”

“Why are you so determined to protect a girl whose loyalty you cannot possibly know?”

I looked at him blankly before replying “Because she needed help.”

“And you believe that is enough?”

“I didn't know I needed permission to keep someone from dying.”

A murmur travelled through the hall and my father's expression hardened. “You would do well to remember where you are standing.”

“I know exactly where I'm standing.”

“Then behave accordingly.”

I swallowed the response that came to mind. The last thing I needed was to give them another reason to examine me.

Elder Rovan gestured for everyone to settle down before turning to me “We have two matters before us. First, Zephyr's unexplained return after being declared unreturned. Second, the presence of a Vorthak girl within our territory.”

“She's not a prisoner,” I said.

“No one has said she is.”

“Not yet.”

Rovan's eyes narrowed. “Your attitude is making this more difficult than it needs to be.”

I stepped back a bit, I had learned that arguing with people who had already made up their minds was a waste of breath. Still, I couldn't stop thinking about Sable.

If they decided she was a threat, they wouldn't care that she had saved a child from being captured. They wouldn't care that she had run from her own clan. All they would see was the name Vorthak, and if they discovered what she had told me about the Mother, the situation would become even worse.

“There's something else,” Sylene said.

I turned toward her waiting for what she had to say, Of course there was, then she moved closer to the council table.

“Father, I believe we should consider whether Zephyr's return is even legitimate.”

My fingers curled into a fist and I almost glared at her “What does that mean?”

She didn't look at me, she only turned her attention back to father

“His trial records are incomplete. No witness has confirmed where he was during the missing period. He returns with a Vorthak girl and expects us to accept his explanation without question.”

“I didn't ask you to accept anything.”

“Then perhaps you won't mind a proper examination.”

I stared at her “What examination?”

She looked toward the elders and continued “The Rite of Severance.”

The words settled over the hall, then for a second, nobody moved, then the whispers began.

I had heard of the Rite of Severance. Everyone in the clan had. It was rarely performed, and never treated as an ordinary punishment.

It was a ritual designed to strip a person of their standing and sever their connection to the clan's protection. Depending on the council's decision, the person could lose their inheritance, their place within the family, and their right to remain under the clan's roof.

It wasn't death, but it could leave someone with nothing then I looked back at Sylene.

“You want them to perform that on me?”

“I want the clan protected.”

“From me?”

She tilted her head. “If you have nothing to hide, why are you afraid?”

I let out a quiet breath, she knew exactly what she was doing.

An accusation was easier to defend against when it was specific. Sylene had given them several suspicions instead, leaving the council to fill in the spaces with whatever frightened them most then Elder Rovan spoke again. “The Rite is a serious matter. There must be sufficient grounds.”

“Then exile him,” another elder suggested. “He has already demonstrated that he cannot follow the rules of the trials.”

“Exile would only move the problem beyond our gates,” Sylene replied. “What happens if he returns with more outsiders?”

My eyes moved to her. “You seem very concerned about what I might do.”

“Someone has to be.”

Nyra stepped forward. “I don't think anyone wants this to become a family matter.”

I looked at her hoping she would say something reasonable because she had been quiet until now.

“Then why are you involved?”

Her cheeks coloured slightly. “I am only trying to help.”

“By doing what?”

“Zephyr,” Renn said from behind me.

I turned as he stood near the entrance, his face tense. He had probably heard enough to understand where the discussion was heading.

“Don't make this worse,” he whispered when he reached my side then I looked back at the council.

“I haven't done anything to make it worse.”

Renn's expression told me he disagreed then Elder Rovan tapped his staff again.

“Bring the Vorthak girl before the council.”

“No.” The answer left my mouth before I could stop it and every face turned toward me.

My father slowly leaned forward towards me “What did you say?”

I held his gaze and protested “She is injured. She has nothing to do with the trials or the council's decision about me.”

“Yet you brought her into our territory,” he replied.

“And I will take responsibility for that.”

“You are in no position to make promises.”

“I didn't ask you to trust me.”

My father's jaw tightened, for a brief second, I thought he might come down from the high table himself. Instead, he turned to the elders. “Continue.”

The discussion went on. Some argued that exile would be sufficient. Others insisted that allowing me to remain would encourage disobedience among the younger members of the clan. A few seemed more interested in the Vorthak girl than in anything I had done during the trials.

I stood through all of it. Nobody asked whether I had been hurt, nobody asked what had happened beyond the boundary and nobody asked how I had managed to return.

They were interested in the inconvenience of my survival then my eyes drifted toward Renn. He stood beside me, his hands clasped behind his back.

“Don't say anything,” he whispered.

“I haven't.”

“Keep it that way.”

I glanced at him. He looked worried, but there was something else in his expression. He was waiting for the council to reach a decision, and I suspected he already knew which way it would go.

At the high table, Elder Rovan called for the first vote. “Those in favour of exile?”

Several hands rose, I counted them but not enough

“Those in favour of the Rite of Severance?”

More hands went up and a cold feeling settled in my stomach. The elders exchanged looks. One of them leaned toward my father and whispered something I couldn't hear.

My father remained still as I looked at him.

He had watched me struggle through every trial since I was old enough to stand among the other children. He had watched me fail, watched the others laugh, and watched me return home with bruises I had learned to hide.

I had never expected him to defend me, but I hadn't imagined he would be the one to finish it either. Elder Rovan turned toward him.

“Draven Veyne, as head of the family, your vote will settle the matter.”

The hall fell silent, then my father finally stood. He adjusted the cuff of his dark coat before looking down at me.

“Zephyr Veyne has repeatedly demonstrated that he cannot be trusted to uphold the laws of this clan. His actions have endangered our standing and brought an outsider into our territory without permission.”

I wanted to interrupt. I wanted to tell him that I had done more to protect someone in one night than he had ever done for me in my entire life, but I stayed quiet as he continued.

“Exile would leave the matter unresolved. We cannot allow uncertainty to remain within this family.”

He paused, then he looked directly at me. “I vote for the Rite of Severance.”

The words struck harder than I expected. Somewhere behind me, someone whispered my name but I didn't turn, before my father sat down, and just like that, the decision was made.