Chapter 19: The Gift That Cannot Be Hers

Kael asks Maren to hear my case, then pulls a chair beside the bed so I can sit within her reach.

'You have heard what the council has scheduled,' he says. 'Will you speak to the founding entry before the panel?'

Maren's hand rests on the grey shawl folded over her knees. The council order lies on the bedside table, its seal facing up.

'I will speak,' she says. 'I will swear to what I entered and what I witnessed.'

The offer reaches me before its condition does. I keep my hands folded in my lap. Maren can see them from where she lies.

'You are certain?' I ask.

Her eyes settle on mine. Age has thinned her face, but not the answer in it.

'I have spent too long letting other people decide what my silence means.'

I want her hand over mine for a moment. I keep that want out of my voice.

Kael takes the chair's back before he sits. He waits for me to answer, as if the room belongs to the person who speaks last.

I watch him instead of answering. If he offers a promise, I need to know what it will cost him to keep it.

Amber gathers around Maren's head. Her thoughts sound beneath her words, faint but clear enough to catch.

A sworn word is still mine. The seal must be in my hands.

The shimmer thins. I shift my attention to Kael.

'What do you need from us before you testify?' he asks.

Maren looks at the order, then at me. 'The black river-glass seal. I will hold it while I speak.'

Kael's fingers close on the chair back. His face stays composed. I watch the pause before he answers.

'It remains in the archive,' he says. 'Under Aldren's keys.'

'Then it must be brought here.'

'Its route has already been compromised.' He sits at last. 'I can't promise access without knowing who would carry it, or under what authority.'

Maren's mouth tightens. She has offered the testimony. She has not offered it cheaply.

'Would a council order be enough?' I ask.

'Not to make the archive safe,' Kael says. 'And not to restore a chain of custody that has already been questioned.'

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