I shivered. The desert night was cool, but it wasn’t cool enough to elicit the shiver. I shivered because I’d traveled by wind once before, and that was when I’d been taken to the hospital without any reason given to me. I’d been in such a state of panic that I hadn’t known what to expect and I hadn’t been able to keep a level head as I was flying through the air. I wasn’t looking forward to that experience again. I looked at Vi’den nervously. “Do we have to travel that way?” I asked.
He smiled gently. He was a kind A’li-uud, that was for sure, but he also had an aura of authority about him that commanded respect, and I felt like I needed to avert my eyes instead of staring at him.
“I wish we could go to P’otes-tat Ulti in a way more comfortable to you,” he said, and it sounded like he genuinely meant it. “Unfortunately, the trial is due to start shortly, and we must be punctual. Wind travel is the only way to do so.”
I sighed. Zuran squeezed my hand. I could feel the tension in his grip, and I knew he was probably nervous too, though likely for a different reason. This was the moment he’d been waiting for, the moment he’d be able to exonerate his brother and get Venan out of prison.
My stomach flipped in gymnastic somersaults as I walked toward Vi’den. He held out a hand politely to me, his palm facing the sky, and said soothingly, “It will be quick. I am well-practiced.”
I nodded, but his words did little to comfort me. I took his hand, and he held my fingers so tightly they ached, but I knew it was only to ensure I was safe during the ride.
“Do not let go,” he warned.
“I won’t,” I responded. I had never meant anything more in my entire life.
He jumped into the air, and I felt myself yanked upward with him. Instantly, the wind was roaring in my ears, and every sense I had felt like it was turned inside out. I could hear my heart beating, my stomach churning, even my lungs expanding and contracting, but I couldn’t hear anything outside of myself except for the rush. Nothing was visible at this speed. Everything was just a blur. I was able to look down and see my own body flying like I was Superman, but anything beyond that may as well have been shrouded in fog. There weren’t smells at this speed or height, either, and the air tasted like nothing. It was like I’d just become a part of the environment as Vi’den whisked me to our destination.
When we landed, I realized immediately I was once again inside of walls. I’d grown used to that in the colony, but these walls were different. They were extravagant, beautifully crafted, and not made of clay. They towered even higher than the walls of Ka-lik’et, so high in fact that I wondered if it was even possible for someone to climb over them. I was sure Zuran’s rope ladder grid would have never made it.
I turned around to face a building that reminded me of an ancient Romanian castle, or perhaps somewhere Dracula would live. Its towers were even taller than the walls and ended in sharp, jagged points at their tops. It was dark, so it was difficult to see what the castle was made of, but I could see the shadows of geometric lines enough to know it was either very large bricks or very small stones. It appeared we were on the side of the building because I didn’t see any grand entrance that would be expected of a building like this, and it turned out I was right. Vi’den made a whistling sound, and an A’li-uud only about as tall as me came rushing out of the darkness. He looked very young. His cheeks had not yet sunk in slightly to give him the fierce appearance of adult A’li-uud, and his eyes weren’t quite as slanted as I was used to seeing either.
Vi’den said something to the young alien in his native tongue, and the boy nodded and made a motion to me with his arm to follow. I did as he bid with a glance at Vi’den, who nodded encouragingly.
He led me into a room that was just as circular as my hut. There were torches on the walls that lit the bricks or stones, and I realized with surprise that the ceiling was actually really low. Bookshelves curved to the walls’ shape and surrounded me on all sides, and not a single shelf was lacking in thick tomes. It was sparsely furnished, aside from the bookshelves, offering only several chairs and a coffee table. If this was where witnesses were to wait before a trial, though, it didn’t need much furnishing.
I sat in one of the chairs and waited. Less than ten minutes later, Zuran entered the room as well. The boy closed the door behind him, and it was just the two of us. While I’d had time alone, I’d started to panic a little.
“What if we’re not here for the trial?” I asked him. “What if we’re here because they want to punish us for sneaking out of the hospital?”
Zuran shook his head. “They would not do that,” he said. “The Council does not lie.”
I was surprised to hear him say anything good about the Council, considering how much he’d been raving about them for the past few days, but it also reassured me. If anyone were going to tell me my unfounded fear was actually rational, it would’ve been Zuran.
Then, a door on the opposite wall from whence we came in opened.
Chapter Forty-Nine
Zuran
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 d
id 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.
Chapter Fifty
Phoebe
I did everything I could to get Zuran under control, but he wouldn’t be controlled. He jumped up onto the platform and began bellowing, and I was dragged up with him. I grabbed his arm with my free hand and started yanking, not even caring how stupid I looked in front of the Elders. I just wanted him to get down. He was going to get himself into some serious trouble, and he was just going to make it worse for Venan.
“Look!” he shouted, swinging his un-held hand toward me. His finger was pointed, and his face was contorted in rage. “Even she can tell you Venan behaved accordingly! Even she can tell you he did not murder Kharid!”
The Elders around the circle were in a rage of their own. While some sat calmly and serenely like Vi’den, as if they were doing nothing more than spending a pleasant afternoon in the park, others were screaming back at Zuran. They were speaking A’li-uud, so I couldn’t understand anything they were saying, but it was obvious by the way they jumped out of their chairs, pointed their fingers at him, and even advanced toward the podium they were just as angry as he was.
“Excuse me,” Vi’den said loudly. He was hardly audible over the furious noise, but there was something about his presence that drew attention. Everyone quieted, everyone except Zuran.
“Ask her,” he demanded, still pointing at me. “If you do not believe me, if you think me untrustworthy because you believe I am a criminal or because I am Venan’s brother, so be it. But ask her. She has no reason to lie to you.”
Eyes turned to me as Zuran finally stopped yelling and receded into loud, huffing breaths. I immediately blushed under the attention. It was like being on a stage in front of every boss, teacher, and celebrity in the world. There was way too much pressure, and I just wanted to go sit back down.
“Well?” This came from the Elder beside Vi’den. He looked even older than Vi’den, and his cheeks were kind of puffy, which was strange for an A’li-uud. His voice sounded odd, too, rolling and bubbly. “Can you tell us?”
“Y-Yes,” I faltered. “I was there.”
I expected Vi’den to start asking me questions the same way he’d asked Venan questions, but he didn’t. He just looked at me, offered me his kindly smile, and bowed his head slightly to indicate I should start explaining. I didn’t like that. I would’ve preferred to have been asked direct questions that I could’ve given simple yes or no answers to, but the floor was mine, and I needed to talk.
“Zuran came to the infirmary and told all of us in there we needed to go to the palace. We weren’t told why at that time. When we got to the palace, Venan was there standing guard, and Zuran was still with us. Another A’li-uud came in and said something I didn’t understand. Zuran told me and the other nurses we needed to stay there unless someone gave us direct orders to go somewhere else, but, if we saw a Novai, we were supposed to run away.” I swallowed hard. It was difficult to recall that day, not because it had faded away in my memory but because it was one of the most traumatic days I’d ever experienced.
The room had gone completely silent now. Even Zuran’s breaths were inaudible. He wasn’t looking at me, instead preferring to stare at Vi’den, but his fingers kept squeezing mine as if to let me know he was listening to my tale carefully. I went on.
“We stood in the entrance, the nurses and me, and we were pretty scared. Then, Elder Kharid came in and asked us to follow him to the conservatory, probably to get us out of the way while everything was brought back under control. That’s when the Novai came into the room. He jumped on Kharid—Elder Kharid—and they started fighting. The Novai was stronger than him. After that, Venan, Zuran, and the other guard came in, and Venan stabbed the Novai because he was about to get Elder Kharid to the floor.”
I went silent. There was more, so much more, but I felt awkward, and I didn’t want to say too much or too little. I figured, if they wanted to know more, they’d ask, and if there was something Zuran thought I was missing he would say so.
There wasn’t any movement around the circle of Elders except for Vi’den, who nodded. “Thank you,” he said. I started to step off the platform, but he held up a hand and added, “Please. I must ask you to remain where you are. We still have questions for you.”
“Oh,” I said stupidly. “Of course.”
“You say you are a nurse?” This particular question was darted to me from the same puffy-faced Elder sitting beside Vi’den before my words even finished leaving my lips.
“Yes,” I said. It felt better to be able to give one-word answers.
“Are you one who has been assigned to the Novain illness?”
“Yes,” I answered. “I am on the same team as Zuran.”
“Have you discovered anything about the disease that would be relevant to this case?” Now, Vi’den was speaking again. He already knew the answer, but, just like with Venan, he asked it to establish a baseline.
I nodded. “I have,” I confirmed. “In our research, we have learned of and witnessed the changes in the brain once the Novai have contracted the disease. It is our belief these changes are the catalyst for the sudden and unstoppable aggression exhibited in every single one of our patients. They also develop enhanced muscular capabilities. All of them have been able to tear themselves free from the restraints on the beds several times, at least during the first stage of the disease’s p
rogression.”
“Do you feel a Novai who has contracted said disease is a greater threat than a Novai who has not?” The Elder that asked this question was behind me, and I turned. I’d noticed him before when he’d come to the hospital with the Council. He was younger than the rest, with laughing eyes and a smirking mouth much like Zuran’s.
“Yes,” I answered him confidently. “Definitely.”
There were a few murmurings around the circle, but they were in A’li-uud. I didn’t bother asking them to translate, assuming they were just exclamations of surprise.
Zuran squeezed my hand yet again, and he finally looked at me. I saw hope glimmering in his eyes.
Chapter Fifty-One
Zuran
I had never been so angry with my brother in my life. I was infuriated he did not seem the slightest bit interested in fighting for himself, despite his having every right for himself because, as I was maintaining before the entire Council for him, he had done nothing wrong. What had happened was unfortunate, but it was not criminal, and he seemed completely unwilling to insist his innocence.
I was also angry with the Council, but that was to be expected. They were behaving exactly as I had predicted they would. Their lack of interest in learning anything new about the case was not only angering but also disgusting. These were the A’li-uud who were supposed to lead our world. These were the A’li-uud who were supposed to be fair and just. I saw no justice.
That is, I saw no justice until Phoebe was asked to speak.
I watched their faces as they listened to her. For the most part, they were enraptured. When she was finished, I saw no doubt or suspicion in any Elder’s expression, and, when they began asking her questions directly regarding the disease, I noticed they were all staring at her intently. They trusted her. They thought her credible. Venan, whether he wanted it or not, may have actually had a chance at freedom again.
Zuran: A Paranormal Sci-Fi Alien Romance: Albaterra Mates Book 6 Page 20