I faced him, tears still falling. “I said go. I don’t care where. Leave this stupid cult camp if you hate it so much. Just stay the hell away from m-m-me.”
A fresh sob overtook me, and I stomped into the shelter and threw myself onto the hard earthen floor. I was already freezing, but I didn’t go outside to get a blanket in case he was still there. I didn’t hear the crunching of leaves, so I assumed he was brooding in front of the fire.
“Screw you,” I muttered into the darkness. “I hope you freeze out there.”
“Wha?” Marco mumbled. He’d slept through the whole fight.
I curled up with my arms around my knees. “Go back to sleep.”
Marco turned over and began to snore.
Eventually my tears stopped, and I drifted in and out of sleep. In the middle of the night, when the fire had died down and no longer cast light into the shelter’s open door, I jerked awake to see Ember and Reid had returned, resting peacefully. I stared at them for a moment then put my head down again.
I wasn’t cold. Someone had put my blanket on me, and the air smelled like Benjamin, spicy and sweet. For a second I wondered where he was, but then I remembered he was on watch.
I laid in the dark, thinking about our fight. I didn’t understand much of what he’d said, and we needed to talk about it. The more I thought about the fight, the less angry I was.
I hoped he was dressed warmly and didn’t trip over anything in the dark, and that the other people on watch would treat him with respect.
One thing he’d said still bothered me, though.
“We’re not a cult,” I mumbled. I pulled the blanket around my shoulders and closed my eyes, but I was still awake when the morning sun peeked through the trees.
It was time for the tribunal.
9
Benjamin still hadn’t returned to the campsite at zero seven, a full hour after he was supposed to return from watch. Reid and Marco had gone off in search of him, leaving Ember and me to get ready.
Half an hour before the tribunal, I pulled on the cleanest, least-wrinkled uniform I could find in my backpack. Ember and I brushed each other’s hair and arranged it in elegant rolls called chignons, which we’d discovered months before on the internet. Not only did the chignons make us look more dignified and respectable, it hid the true length of our hair.
She straightened the hood of my tunic for the third time. “Remember what I said yesterday. No matter what, we’ll be there for you. We all love you.”
I caught her hand. “I know.” Ember chewed on her inner cheek and said nothing, so I embraced her and asked her what she never had to ask me. “What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking I might lose my best friend.” Her voice cracked, and she hid her face in my shoulder. “I’m thinking that they’re going to be horrible to you. I’m thinking they might hurt Reid or Marco.”
She began to cry in earnest.
I held her for a long time, searching for the words that would comfort her. What could I say to her if I myself had the same fears? What would make me feel better if she were in my shoes?
The best thing I could do was shut down the irrational fears.
I rubbed her back. “I’m the one in trouble. We all know that. I left the team. I took up leadership. I fought Patrick. We all have to testify, but I’m the one in trouble. So don’t worry about Reid or Marco, and certainly don’t worry about yourself.”
She sniffled. “But they might take you.”
“No matter what they’ll do to me, you’ll have Reid, and Marco and Benjamin. Benjamin and I had a fight last night, but I know we’ll make up and he’ll stay on the team. Even if the worst happens, you’ll have the guys.”
“I don’t want to be the only woman on the team!” she wailed. “I’ve done that twice!”
That was true. Ember had served as the lone woman for months alongside Reid and Patrick, before Marco and I were assigned to Saint Catherine, and then again when I’d abandoned the team. I hadn’t given much thought to how she felt about it, but now that she had brought it up, I wagered that my presence was desirable.
“But these’ll be nice guys,” I reminded her. “No Patrick. You’ll know them, you’ll like them, and they’ll look out for you. And you never know, if I’m removed from the team, they might replace me with another woman.”
“Oh, yay, some dumb rookie.”
I let go of her, a twinge of heat in my stomach. I’d been so afraid of the elders that I hadn’t considered that Ember might be afraid, too.
“There’s no guarantee I’ll be removed from the team. But listen to me. You’re all going to be okay.” I put my right hand over my heart. “They can do what they want to me, but I swear to you, I won’t let them do anything to you guys. I’ll die before that happens. You want me to be brave and confident again? This is it. I will not let them hurt you.” I breathed in through my nose, then exhaled slowly out of my mouth. “So don’t be afraid.”
Ember’s wan smile made it all feel a little less bleak. We walked out of the shelter, past the smoldering fire, and down the rocky path toward the meadow.
The main meadow was filled with people from all over Chattahoochee camp. They arranged themselves in neat lines and rows, awaiting the entrance of the elders. There were at least two hundred people in attendance.
Off to the side, away from the main crowd, were three dozen trainees, ranging in age from five to late teens. They stood up straight and tall, their faces blank.
As I passed them I pulled my shoulders back and made eye contact with every one of them. Though I was facing disciplinary action, they all bowed their heads a fraction in deference to the active superhero who’d acknowledged their presence.
Ember craned her neck. “Where are the guys? There are so many people here that I don’t want to listen for them. Talk about a headache.”
I stood on my tiptoes and scanned for our team. They were at the far end of the meadow, huddled under a tree in deep conversation.
Ember and I ran to them. As we approached, the man I thought was Benjamin turned.
It wasn’t Benjamin, but rather a young man in his mid-twenties who looked a lot like Reid. They had the same strong jaw, light hair, tall frame, and gray eyes. He wore a sharp uniform that comprised a snug thermal top and khaki trousers, like my own.
Was this one of Reid’s brothers? If so, what was he doing here?
He turned, allowing me to see the codename stitched in neat letters over his breast: Obsidian.
Yep, this was Reuben Fischer, from the Baltimore team. I assumed his codename was a nod to his superpower, which Reid had once told me was the ability to manufacture and manipulate a mysterious “shadow” substance, which could be crafted into weapons and other shapes.
“Hi there.” I held out my hand. “You’re Reuben, aren’t you? I’m Jillian, your brother’s leader.”
I expected him to tut at me or roll his eyes, but he gave me a firm handshake. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, ma’am. I’ve heard a little bit about your accomplishments. I’m so happy that Reid can serve with a decent commander.” As he said ‘commander,’ he shot a dark look toward the crowd.
Ember offered her slim hand. “I’m Ember Harris,” she said shyly. “Your brother and I are courting. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Reuben smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “It’s a pleasure, Miss Harris. Reid was just telling me about you.”
Reid sighed. “But you still haven’t told me why you’re here.”
“I said you’ll see. I don’t want to have to explain myself twice today.”
So Reuben was here to “explain” himself. Isabel had mentioned another tribunal—what the heck had he done? Was his whole team in trouble?
“Is the rest of your team here?” I searched the crowd for familiar faces. “I haven’t seen Lark or Berenice in years.”
“They’re in Baltimore. It’s just Peter and me.”
Marco let out a derisive laugh. “I hate that I share
a last name with that guy. You have to be a special kind of weirdo to call yourself Imperator. ‘Hi, I’m the commander, so I’m going to call myself Commander. Latin makes it cool, though, right?’”
Reuben didn’t join our laughter. “Don’t let him catch you making fun of him. He’s a sensitive little boy.”
I had a feeling that Reuben and I would have been good friends if we were on the same team. His sardonic air reminded me a little of Benjamin. Speaking of whom… “Hey, where’s Benjamin?”
Marco made a pained face. “I don’t know what you said to him last night, Jill, but he was a pissy little brat this morning.”
Reid nodded. “Marco’s not exaggerating. We went to get him as he got off watch, and he told us to buzz off and that he didn’t want to see you. When we reminded him that the tribunal is today, he said he didn’t give a, uh, crap about what the elders decided, and that he hated this place.”
I rubbed at my gummy eyes, not allowing myself to cry in front of my team or Reuben. I struggled to comprehend that once again Benjamin and I were at odds over my upbringing.
We’d had our disagreements before, and I’d admitted that the elders hadn’t dealt fairly with us and our educations, but was he really so disgusted with us that he was skipping the tribunal?
Half a dozen rowdy men walked out of the woods behind us. Ember whipped around and groaned. “The hunting team is looking for me. Damn it, I hate hunting.” She pecked Reid on the cheek. “I’ll be back to testify later.”
One of the men waved at her. “Hey, Harris! They said you’re with us today!”
I heard her mutter a stream of curses, but she waved back. When she joined them, she turned around gave me one last sad wave, then disappeared into the woods.
A few seconds later, the clanging of cowbells around the meadow announced that the tribunal was about to begin.
Reuben’s complexion turned sickly, but he held his head up high. “Let’s go.”
As we walked toward the center of the meadow, we passed a large post with two iron cuffs on each side, and a large campfire with a long metal rod sticking out of it.
Reuben shuddered when he saw them, and his hands began to tremble.
Though I did not know what his crime was—and he had obviously committed a serious crime—I put my hand on his shoulder.
He shrugged off my hand. “Don’t worry about me. Be a good leader and look after your team.”
10
Elder St. James entered the meadow first.
Garbed in black, he strode up to the middle of the three wooden chairs and sat down. His face, so similar to Marco’s father’s, betrayed exhaustion. His black hair had turned dark gray since I’d seen him last, and his dark brown skin was lined with more wrinkles than I remembered. Had the last year been so terrible? He looked like he’d aged a decade.
Immediately after Elder St. James had taken his seat, two men also dressed in black appeared from the woods.
I took an instinctive step back.
Elder Campbell bore a resemblance to Patrick that was so striking, it was as if my former leader had been resurrected and was coming to exact his revenge on me for usurping him.
Though I’d seen him before on the recorded speeches we’d had to watch, I saw now that the similarities went beyond mere facial features. Elder Campbell had the same haughty air, the same scowl, the same raw power oozing from him. He would never take my side.
Elder Lloyd, leader of Coeur d’Alene camp in Idaho, had a quiet air. He was tall and balding, with light eyes that showed his unhappiness. He appeared to search the crowd.
When his eyes fell on the Fischer brothers, disappointment became evident on his face. He’d traveled all the way across the country to hear testimony from not one, but two of his camp’s sons, and Reid’s camp was even stricter than mine.
“There will be silence during the tribunal!” Elder St. James bellowed.
Complete silence fell on the crowd.
Elder St. James put his hands on his knees. “Peter St. James, come forward.”
Peter St. James, one of the many St. James family members, stepped out of the crowd. Though he and Marco shared a surname, they couldn’t have been more different.
Peter was tall and white, with neatly-combed light brown hair, a pointy face, and a heavy brow that gave his stare a permanent intensity. His uniform was identical to Reuben’s, except for the name stitched on the breast: Imperator.
Elder St. James leveled a coolly distant expression at Peter. “Peter St. James, you requested judgment today from the tribunal regarding your teammate, Reuben Fischer. State your case.”
Peter took a deep breath. “Earlier this year I found out that Reuben was seeing a civilian woman in a social way. I confronted him and told him that I knew about his behavior, and I told him that he had to stop seeing her.”
So there it was: Reuben had been visiting with a civilian.
What he’d done was bad, but not the end of the world by any means. When I’d still believed Benjamin to be a non-powered civilian, for a little while in the café, I hadn’t given too much thought to breaking that rule, because it was commonly broken. Patrick would’ve gone berserk, of course, but most leaders would’ve given their teammate a slap on the wrist.
The real danger lay in being caught having sex with a non-powered civilian. We were supposed to be paragons of virtue; being caught in bed with a member of the public was a serious crime.
Elder St. James all but rolled his eyes. “I assume something else happened to warrant this tribunal. We’re not interested in minor infractions that can be handled within the team.”
Score one for Reuben—even Elder St. James didn’t want to hear Peter’s whining about such a minor quibble.
Peter fidgeted. “I caught him again. I followed him when he was supposed to be on patrol. He went into the house of the same woman and stayed there for several hours.”
The crowd gasped, but Reuben’s face remained a smooth mask. I felt a surge of judgment, but then I remembered that I’d intended to seduce Benjamin the night before. Maybe I couldn’t condone a sexual relationship with a civilian, but I wasn’t in a position to condemn him, either.
“And then what happened?” Elder Lloyd asked quietly. “I assume you confronted him.”
Peter’s demeanor changed. His shoulders slumped and he gazed at Reuben, shaking his head. “I did. I told him that I was going to send him to another team to get him away from her because she was obviously a temptation. And then… and then he said…”
Reuben stiffened. “Say it,” he growled.
“He said they’d gotten married.”
There was chaos in the meadow.
Men and women pointed at Reuben, screaming that he was perverted, a traitor, a deviant, and a disgrace. Someone yelled, “Punish him!” and then the chant began: punish him, punish him, punish him, punish him…
Reid tried to shield Reuben from the crowd, but Reuben gently moved his brother aside. “I don’t want your protection.”
I waited for the revulsion and betrayal to come. Reuben had removed himself from our gene pool. It was one of our most absolute laws: we could not marry non-powered people. Marriage was for the begetting and training of children, who would hopefully have a power that could serve either the public or the camps.
How could a child born of such a mismatched union possibly grow up in an edifying environment if one of their parents was a civilian?
Reuben’s crime was a very serious crime indeed. He’d be flogged.
But I served alongside a reformed supervillain from one of the forbidden families. I’d also committed a crime worthy of the whip.
The elders yelled for quiet, and the crowd settled down.
Elder St. James stood up. “Reuben Fischer, step forward.”
Reuben threw back his shoulders and strode to the middle of the meadow.
“What do you have to say for yourself?” Elder St. James’s voice was a low rumble.
“I love Gabrie
la. We were legally married a year ago and I have no intention of leaving her. I wish to leave service and live as a civilian. I told Peter that, but he insisted on a tribunal.” Reuben threw a cold look at Peter, who stared straight ahead at the elders.
The crowd tittered, and Elder Lloyd held up his hand. “Leave service? Is that your final statement?”
“Yes.”
Elder St. James nodded. “We will retire for deliberation and return in half an hour. Peter, Reuben, you are not permitted to leave the tribunal site. Everyone else not involved in today’s proceedings is ordered to go to the south field. The public portion of the tribunal is over.”
Elder Campbell and Elder Lloyd followed him into the trees. Their crunching footfalls grew fainter and fainter, until they were so far away that I would not be able to overhear.
Peter retreated to the far side of the meadow. Nearby, at the edge of the tree line, a lone fox sat watching in the shadows.
I waved, and the fox dipped its head once. Ember was a wily woman.
The enormous crowd moved south, toward the main gate.
Marco, Reid, and I dashed forward and grabbed Reuben, pulling him into the tree line.
“What the hell, Reuben,” Marco whispered, checking to make sure that nobody was listening. “You married a civilian? Does she have powers? Please tell me she has powers.”
“No, she doesn’t have powers. But yes, I married the woman I love.” Reuben spoke without inflection. “People do it every day.”
“Superheroes don’t marry civilians every day,” Marco shot back, rubbing his temples. “Oh my God, they’re going to kill you. They’re actually going to kill you. It’s happened before.”
“No, they’re not,” Reid said. He steepled his hands, tapping his index fingers together. “I think Elder Lloyd is going to fight for you. I mean, what can they do to you, right? You’re married. It’s done. You’re legally bound to Gabriela. That’s her name, right?”
Sentinel Page 8