by Chloe Cole
"Valkyrie Mina Silva, item one three nine seven."
"Ms. Silva, please stand. Ms. Secretary, read the charges."
Mina stood while the cat shifter lifted the sheet of paper in her hand.
"The Council of Shifters do charge Valkyrie Mina Silva with knowingly and willfully breaking the law against creating a new shifter without prior consent. Furthermore, since Ms. Silva was under contract to the Council at the time of this incident, she is charged with violating a proprietary interest of her employers.”
"Oh, come on," she whispered to Rene who stood next to her. “Prior consent? Prior consent has never been given before. It wasn’t even an option.”
"The charges are read," said Gerald, sending her a quelling glare. "Are there any other motions on this case?"
The prosecutor cleared his throat. "I would like to add the additional charge of assault upon Council-appointed representatives."
"That's not fair," Mina muttered, not even trying to whisper now. "They were sent to kill us. I suppose I should’ve just sat back and let it happen?"
"Any objections to the additional charge," said Gerald, ignoring her and looking at the other Council members.
"I object," said Hilde rising from her chair. "And I submit that all these charges be dismissed."
"Sit down, Commander Hrist," said Gerald. "We will hear from you shortly. Since there is no objection from the Council members, the new charge will be added. Ms. Silva, how do you answer the charges?"
Rene spoke up before Mina could open her mouth. "She does not answer any of the charges, Vice-Council Leader. The Valkyries do not recognize this Council's authority to judge them."
Murmurs ran through the crowd. This was heresy. Every shifter species signed the compact to recognize the Council. It was the only way to stop the devastating shifter wars eighty years ago.
"Ms. Secretary," said Gerald, nonplussed by Rene's announcement. "I believe we should enter a de facto plea of not guilty. Proceed, Mr. Prosecutor."
"I call to testify, Mina Silva."
"Ms. Silva, stand where you are. Mr. Babbage will question you there."
Babbage stared at Mina for a long moment before baring his yellowing teeth.
"Ms. Silva, did you willingly create a Valkyrie out of one human named Taya Briarcroft?"
"Yes, I did."
Murmurs ran through the spectators and Gerald banged his gavel.
"Quiet, or I'll clear the auditorium."
"Prior to that, were you tasked by the Council to return Etienne Beauchamp back to France?"
“I was.”
“And did you also willfully disregard that directive?”
"No, I did not."
"Pardon?” The prosecutor looked around at the audience as if puzzled and then chuckled. “Well, I was told you did not escort him back to France.”
"Right. I didn’t."
"And why is that?"
"Have you ever tried to make a dragon do something he doesn’t want to do, Mr. Babbage?"
Laughter rang through the galley and Babbage's face flushed.
"What I said I would do,” Mina continued, “is talk with him and try to persuade him to give up a relationship with Taya Briarcroft and return to France with me. I had thought to trade on my longstanding friendship with Mr. Beauchamp to help him to see reason. I could not convince him."
"Why did you make Taya Briarcroft into a Valkyrie?"
"Because it was the right thing to do."
"Patently false. There are prohibitions against the creation of new shifters which specifically tell us law-abiding shifters that it is, in fact, the wrong thing to do.”
"And still, I stand by my decision."
Babbage looked toward Gerald and the Council and threw his hands up. “Esteemed Council members, this is a guilty plea clear and through. She’s admitted she committed the crime with the foreknowledge that it was a crime. I move to strike the de facto plea and enter a guilty plea on the original charge based on the defendant’s confession.”
Gerald held up a hand and turned his wizened face toward Mina, his voice low and grave. "Why did you do it, young lady? Get to the meat of it before I lose patience."
Mina wet her lips, and nodded. Of all the Council members, she hated him the least, and if he was willing to listen, maybe all wasn’t lost. If they found her guilty, surely charges against Dan would follow, and that was unacceptable.
"Because it is my belief that Taya was worthy of becoming a Valkyrie and if I failed to turn her, Etienne Beauchamp would die."
Whispers ran through the crowd, but she kept her gaze locked on Gerald.
"That's a stunning statement, Ms. Silva. What led you to believe that?"
"I determined very quickly that Ms. Briarcroft was not a casual sexual liaison of Mr. Beauchamp, but that she was and is his bonded mate. Should she have died, Mr. Beauchamp would not have recovered from the loss and would have died himself." Mina held her head higher and spoke louder. "We'd have one less dragon in the world, not to mention their potential offspring. I believed my actions were in the best interest of the species as well as of my friends."
"That Taya was human would make her an inappropriate mate for Mr. Beauchamp. Preservation of the dragon species is a top priority for the Council."
"And now, thanks to me, happily that problem is solved."
“Illegally.” Gerald’s white brows caved into a dark frown. "And you essentially traded one problem for another, potentially, more serious problem. You know why we stopped turning humans, Mina. Loved ones notice changes. Questions are asked. Shifters take liberties with consent. It’s a slippery slope. What made you so sure that Ms. Briarcroft was worthy of becoming a Valkyrie that you would risk such consequences?"
"She attempted a selfless act. I found her trying to leave Mr. Beauchamp and risk her own safety to protect him from the judgment of the Council."
"Attempted,” Babbage scoffed. “Meaning she didn't actually do it."
"Because I intervened," Mina snapped, vowing then and there that, if she were to be sentenced to death, she would leap over the table and take him with her.
"But she did not complete the act."
"No.”
"No further questions. The prosecution rests. And since Ms. Silva has admitted to all the charges, I submit a motion for summary judgment."
"Motion denied. We will hear Ms. Silva's defense."
"I call to testify the Valkyrie commander Hilde Hrist,” said Rene, standing to break his silence.
Hilde rose again and the other Valkyries flanked her.
"Commander Hrist, I believe you have a statement to make."
"I do. For thousands of years, shifters of all kinds have relied on the Valkyries to navigate the muddy waters between right and wrong. We have been your moral compass and your conscience.” Her voice shook with conviction, and it warmed Mina from the inside out. “First on the battlefield, and then, when this Council was formed, in the political arena. You employ Valkyries to make the tough moral calls. Now, today, Mina Silva is being tried for making one of those tough calls. It’s unjust.”
She leaned forward and pounded a fist into her open hand.
“And we cannot allow it. If we are to function in the manner in which you have come to rely on, then we must have a freer hand. If you persist in this prosecution, then we have no choice but to withdraw our services not just from this Council, but from shifters everywhere. No liaising, no mitigation, no ‘lie detecting’. And no one to step in and stop the slaughter when one species lashes out against another. The shifter wars of eighty years ago will look like a post-football game street riot in comparison.” She gestured to the women behind her and then nodded curtly. “We are of one mind in this.”
She sat, and the other Valkyries followed.
Babbage's aggression amped up and rolled off him in thick waves as the Council members looked at one another nervously.
"A cross-examination, please?" he muttered through gritted teeth.
&nb
sp; "Objection. As a statement, it merits no cross," said Rene.
"Council members," appealed Babbage.
"As the defense said, a statement is exactly that, Mr. Prosecutor." Gerald turned his attention to Rene. "Do you have anything else, Mr. Beauchamp?"
"Just my summation." Rene took a deep breath. "Council members, as I stated at the beginning of this...procedure, the Valkyries as a group do not recognize the authority of the Council to judge one of their own. And I agree with them. I move to have all charges dismissed."
One by one, reluctantly, the Council members nodded their heads and began muttering amongst themselves. There were a few feeble protests, but she could sense the way the wind was blowing, and her heart began to pound.
A few moments later, Gerald banged his gavel and nodded. "Then that is decided. The charges against Mina Silva are withdrawn and the contract on her life is terminated. But in this, she must agree to stand by her unilateral decision. If there are any negative repercussions from the turning of Ms. Briarcroft, this Council reserves the right to revisit these charges at a later date. She is also hereby suspended from Council work for the next twenty years. We do not have to employ you Ms. Silva. You are further advised that this Council will not tolerate any interference from you during the term of your suspension. Cross us again and we will not be this lenient."
Gerald looked toward Hilde Hrist. "Does this satisfy matters for you?"
"It does," Hilde said grimly.
Mina stood, shell-shocked at this turn of events. Around her, the audience hall exploded into excited conversation. She turned to Rene, emotion clogging her throat.
"I can't thank you enough," she started, "for coming to get me, for standing by me--"
"I wouldn’t have it any other way. Now go on, I'll catch up with you later. I have other business with the Council."
She nodded as Hilde Hrist and her fierce complement strode toward them.
"Commander," said Rene with a cheery smile, "wine tonight?"
"I'll check my appointment book," she said tonelessly.
"Call me then," he said with a wink.
The commander scoffed. "Incorrigible."
Rene just smiled back at her.
"Come along, lieutenant. We'll get you out of here."
The Valkyries formed a protective wall around Mina and the commander walked at her side.
"Do not worry," said Hilde after they pushed through the crowd and got out the main door. "I have other work for you."
"You do?" Mina couldn't imagine what it was.
"Yes. I’ll call you."
With that, the Valkyrie commander and Mina's sisters melted into the crowds walking the streets of Paris leaving Mina alone.
She stood trying to figure out what she’d do next. Mina needed time and space to sort through the myriad emotions crowding her.
A hand landed on her shoulder from behind.
"Do not think this ends the matter of Taya Briarcroft. She is only a turned shifter. That does not mean she'll bear a dragon child." The words were whispered in an insidious and evil way into her ear. But when Mina tried to turn to see who it was, there was no one there.
Chapter Twenty
An hour later, Mina stared at the glass in front of her, peering into the blood red liquid like it held the answers to the universe. God, if it were only that easy.
She lifted the crystal goblet to her lips and took a long sip.
"So what now, daughter?"
Mina stiffened at the sound of the male voice behind her and turned to face Rene, who stood a few feet away with a half-smile on his wrinkled face. He either didn't sense her "leave me alone" vibe, or opted to ignore it, choosing to lower his massive body into the seat beside her.
He plucked the wine glass from her unresisting fingers and sniffed the contents.
"An American wine?" he said. "I didn't know we had any in France. Missing home?"
Damn him and his unerring nose. "I don't know what you’re talking about. I'm a citizen of the world. I have no home.”
He took a sip of the wine and scrunched his nose. "Why are you still here, anyway?" he asked with a lazy insouciance that was maddening.
She snagged her glass back from him with a frown. "Where should I be rushing off to?" she asked, taking a long sip of California merlot.
She knew she was being churlish, and it was petty after all he'd risked standing by her, but despite their victory today, she felt broken inside.
"Have you spoken to my nephew and shared the good news?"
She shook her head and shoved aside the stab of guilt that came along with his question.
"Not yet."
She should've called Etienne the second she left the Council, but the very thought of talking to him with Dan so close was unbearable. She was one gust away from disintegrating into a million pieces and that would be the thing that would send her over the edge.
"Chicken shit."
She winced at Rene's words, but nodded in wordless agreement as she toyed with the stem of the glass.
"You're right."
"I think you owe him and the others a call, at the very least."
Given that the three of them had risked their lives for her, that was an understatement. "If I do, will you leave me be for a while?" she asked, meeting his all too perceptive, gray gaze.
"Not until you tell me what's going on in that stubborn heart of yours."
His voice had lost the teasing edge he so often used with her, and she wasn't sure she liked the change.
She let out a long, pent-up breath.
“It’s too hard. It hurts too much..." Her voice trailed off.
"What? To love?" he finished for her as she tried to think of how to categorize what Dan was to her.
Even those words felt too small to explain it, but she nodded miserably. "Yes."
“And why is that?”
"Because the more time I spend with him, the more I'll care. And the more I care, the harder it will be when we have to part."
She hated this. She felt so exposed. So vulnerable. But Rene had risked so much to stand for her. She could hardly shut him out now.
"We aren't right for each other. Like a pair of mismatched shoes. He's human. And I'm not interested in watching him die, Rene." She scowled at him then, using her thumbnail to scrape at a spot of dried up soup stuck to the bar in front of her.
"Right. Which brings me back to what I said before." He reached out and took her chin in his hand, tugging her head until she met his challenging gaze. "You're a chicken. And until you decide that's no way to live, you're going to continue missing out on the things that really matter in life."
Anger shot through her, as deep and swift as the arrow that went through her that last night she was with Dan, and she pushed her stool back and leapt to her feet. "You have no right--"
"You think I'm judging you, but I'm not," he broke in with a slash of his hand through the air. "I was exactly like you. Going through life, a bachelor, making sure that if I interacted with others, it was all surface. Nothing that meant anything. Not really." His laser-like eyes went soft and his lips twitched into a half-smile. "And then my Cecilia came. You want to talk about wrong for each other? We were total opposites. She was as sweet as I was salty. She taught children and volunteered at her church while I was busy screwing and looking for the next juicy battle. But you know what? None of it mattered even a little. Once I fell, I fell hard. And had she lived, we'd still be together."
Taya's heart ached as her foster father described the woman she'd never had the chance to meet.
"Why didn't you die when she passed? Any other shifter would."
"Ah, but I'm not any other shifter am I? I'm the oldest dragon, and the others needed me, needed my example. So I hung on. I could've shut down. Ended it all. Hell, I almost did, a thousand times. But I endured the loss, pain and loneliness even during those days and nights when I thought those demons would engulf my soul and end me. Then Etienne came along and breathed new l
ife into me. You followed years later, and I had a purpose again."
His solemn expression and the way truth rang in his voice as he spoke sent a rush of wistfulness through her, bordering on envy.
"How do you get yourself to risk it…caring like that again? What if something happens to one of us? Doesn't it terrify you?"
He cocked his head to the side and considered her question for a long moment before answering.
"No. What terrifies me is the thought of going back to the way I was before Cecilia. Before you, and Etienne. Alone, with a hole in me that I didn't have the tools to fill. It was an empty existence. If I lost one of you now, I would be broken. But I would thank god for every single moment I ever got to spend with people I loved, because each one was a gift."
Mina stared at him, stunned into utter silence. Could that possibly be? She only had to tune in to the warm, soft glow around him to see the truth of his words. Fact or not, he believed what he was saying, and that alone floored her.
"How do you do it? Give over such power to another person willingly? The power to break your heart?"
"Who ever said it was willingly?" he said with a laugh. "I wouldn't change it for the world, but the first time I loved, it was the last thing I wanted. I fought it tooth and nail. The funny part, dear daughter, is that you still think you have a choice."
His words rang in her head like a church bell, true, and clear, and her hands began to shake.
He was right. She loved Dan and nothing--not time or distance or death--would change that. And here she was sitting in some seedy Paris bar wasting what precious time she could have with Dan.
If he still wanted her.
She leapt to her feet and grabbed her coat, bending low to press a kiss to Rene's weathered face.
"I love you, old one. But I've got to go!"
Chapter Twenty-One
The winds whipped around Dan as he stared out over the lake before him, watching the sun dance on its surface.
Instantly, the mental description brought Mina's beautiful face to mind and pain lanced his chest again, reminding him that, no matter how much it seemed otherwise the past week, he was very much alive.
