I slumped in my chair, grateful when Sam sat next to me; they hadn’t let anyone visit while I was in the hospital.
“Today’s session is closed.” Sine focused on me, her gaze hard and holding back all emotion. “And it will probably stay closed. Typically we are in favor of sharing our decisions with everyone in Heart, but this—Ana.” She said my name like heartbreak.
Everyone stared at me, but I didn’t look away from Sine. I just waited.
“Deborl’s methods were reprehensible, but he did uncover several unfortunate truths.
“First, you were in possession of Menehem’s research.” She pressed her palm on the diaries, as though she could crush them into dust. “The same research that describes how he created Templedark. You lied to us. You hid information regarding our existence and our history. Regardless of whether Menehem left the research in your care, it was never yours to keep.”
I clenched my jaw and said nothing, because nothing I might say would help. I had kept the research. I had lied. Those things were true.
“Second, there’s Meuric.”
The name alone conjured memories of his stench, his grating voice, and his manic laughter when he told me that Janan ate souls. I shuddered and swallowed the taste of acid in my throat. Below the table, Sam took my hand and squeezed.
“Is what Deborl said true, Ana?” Emotion cracked through Sine’s voice when she asked, “Did you kill Meuric?”
Had I? I’d thought so before, but then he was alive in the temple. He would have stayed alive, but Deborl brought him out. Both Deborl and I were responsible, but if I hadn’t stabbed and kicked Meuric to begin with… “It was self-defense. He tricked me into the temple. He was going to trap me there. We fought. I won.”
“And you decided not to tell anyone.” Sine glanced at Sam, probably knowing I’d told him, but if she was going to punish him for not coming forward, she wasn’t going to do it now. “That brings me to the third complaint.” She touched the temple key and books, and confusion flickered across her face. The other Councilors, too, seemed unsure what they were looking at.
“Those were Meuric’s,” I offered. Technically the books weren’t, but he could have shared them with the community. He’d decided not to.
“And yet,” Sine said, “when you came into possession of them, you hid them.”
It wasn’t like anyone else would have remembered them. Deborl would have taken everything, and I would have no answers.
Maybe I had too many answers.
“Do you remember what happened to Cris?” My voice caught on his name.
The Councilors glanced at one another, muttering, until Sine shook her head. “He was killed during the mob on market day.”
My fists balled up and my jaw ached from clenching it, but there was no point in arguing. They wouldn’t remember that Cris had become a sylph, or what Janan did to newsouls, or that they’d all agreed to bind themselves to him in the first place. The forgetting magic was too strong.
They’d only remember that they didn’t trust me. That I’d lied. That I’d kept things from them.
“Ana.” Sine leaned on the table. “I know the newsouls are important to you.”
She had no idea.
“The Council had several emergency meetings after market day. We did listen to what you had to say, and we’ve already put laws in place to make sure newsouls are protected. Anid and Ariana are safe. So are any others born.”
And me? I’d never feel safe again. Neither would those inside the temple. Still, it was more than I’d expected. “Thank you.”
“But,” she said, “I’m afraid given what we’ve discussed today, the Council has decided to revoke your status as a guest in Heart.”
Everything inside of me spun, dropped, slammed. She couldn’t do that.
“Be reasonable—,” Sam started, but Sine held up a hand to stop him.
“This was not an easy decision to come to.” Sine lifted her voice, glancing between Sam and me. “We agonized over it, trust me, but the fact of the matter is that Ana has not held up her end. By lying and withholding important information and items, she betrayed our trust.”
“No.” Sam’s voice was low. Dangerous. “You betrayed her trust. She hasn’t been safe in Heart since she arrived. And would you have believed her, even if she’d come forward? People have tried to kill her; Deborl—a Councilor—and his friends set explosives to try and kill more newsouls. The moment she arrived in Heart, the Council betrayed her by making up laws to prevent her from joining society.”
Sine closed her eyes, and her tone was much too calm. “As a result of your actions, Ana, I’m sorry to say you are no longer welcome in the city. Dossam will no longer be your guardian. While we will not force you beyond Range—that would surely be a death sentence—you are hereby exiled from Heart.”
“No!” Sam lunged across the table, and within heartbeats, every Councilor was up and shouting.
Exiled.
Screaming and fighting built around me. I stared at my hands on my lap.
Exiled.