Barb Hendee - Rebel Fay

Wynn stepped in close to Magiere, ready to translate.

Sgaile looked as worn as Leesil as he stepped to the clearing's center. His hair was a mess, streaming down around his pointed ears in a white-blond tangle. He called out, "The review of the claim will continue. Advocate for the accused may proceed."

Brot'an stepped out as Sgaile backed away, and the crowd fell silent in anticipation. Magiere watched the faces around the clearing, and when she reached Gleann, he lifted his chin to her with a wry, subtle smile.

"I call on Osha of the Alachben," Brot'an said.

Wynn whispered in Magiere's ear, " Osha of the Rock-Hills clan."

Osha approached, and Brot'an lifted Leesil's winged blades, still in their sheaths. He drew one, raised it for all to see, and then turned to Osha.

"Can you tell us what this is?" he asked.

"It is one of Leshil's weapons," Osha answered quietly.

Brot'an cocked his head toward those of the gathering. Osha cleared his throat and repeated with stronger voice.

"Unique blades," Brot'an continued. "Do you know where he found them?"

"I believe he designedthese himself," Osha answered.

"And what are these used for?"

"To destroy undead, or so he said… by taking their heads."

"Irrelevant!" Freth shouted. "Leshil is not accused and these weapons have no bearing on the claim in dispute. The accused's advocate will keep to relevant testimony."

"Relevance will be addressed," Brot'an replied calmly. "If the opposingadvocate will refrain from further interruptions. As Sgailsheilleache is not permitted to witness for either side, I have turned to another in this matter."

Magiere followed Brot'an's seeking look toward Sgaile.

"Objection noted and rejected," Sgaile proclaimed. "But the accused's advocate will be expedient in making this line of questioning relevant."

As Wynn translated, Magiere wondered about the proceeding's rules. Brot'an seemed to have some freedom in questioning, but she wasn't certain why he was concentrating on Leesil's weapons. It seemed that Sgaile's limitations as adjudicator now worked against Brot'an, for Sgaile was the most familiar of all with Leesil and herself. Sgaile had been present in Bela when they hunted undead in its streets and sewers.

Freth whispered in Most Aged Father's ear. He glowered but kept silent.

Brot'an turned back to Osha. "How did you learn the use of these weapons?"

"Leshil told me and the others who escorted him to Crijheaiche."

"Did he work alone?"

"No, he said Magiere and the majay-hi"-he pointed to Chap-"hunted with him. Destroying undead was their vocation."

Brief and broken murmurs sifted through the crowd. Magiere remained tall and straight, with crossed arms, and tried not to meet anyone's eyes.

Brot'an held both his arms wide. "Her vocation was to destroy the undead. And why would one so-claimed undead"-he turned toward Most Aged Father-"hunt its own kind?"

"Hearsay!" Freth shouted. "And conjecture. Your opening statements are concluded. Keep to the presentation of what is verifiable… or be done!"

Sgaile cut in before Brot'an could reply. "Objection upheld. What was heard by the witness from another is not direct testimony unless the original speaker is not present."

"A valid point," Brot'an replied. "Then let us hear it directly… I call Leshil as witness."

"He is not one of us," Freth shouted. "He is notan'Croan and may not speak before the council."

Brot'an paced back to his table. He ripped aside the shimmering cloth, and lifted what hid there into plain sight.

It was a smooth branch, glistening bare of bark.

"Once again, you presume to speak for the ancestors," Brot'an called to Freth. "And yet here is a branch from Roise Charmune. How is he not one of us… if he was given this?" He pointed the glistening branch at Sgaile. "I call upon the ajudicator to confirm."

Sgaile nodded slowly. "In my presence… the ancestors gave it freely to Leshil."

"They gave it to him directly?" Brot'an asked. "He did not procure it with their implied blessing?"

The hiss of whispered voices surrounded the clearing. Magiere looked down at Wynn in confusion, but the sage only translated the words and shook her head, looking about with uncertain worry on her round face.

"Yes," Sgaile finally answered. "They appeared to Leshil and one gave him the branch of Roise Charmune."

Brot'an and Sgaile were the only ones who didn't look stunned. Murmurs among the elders and clans grew until the noise drowned Sgaile's shouts for silence. Across the field, Freth stood silent. She looked back at Most Aged Father, but the old man only stared at Leesil. Even his spite was masked in surprise.

Leesil scowled with his eyes on the ground.

Magiere was so lost. If Leesil had the branch, why had Brot'an waited to reveal it like this? It seemed one more trick he played on his patriarch, perhaps to keep Freth and the old man off balance. Magiere wished she could risk asking Leesil questions in the middle of all this.

"Not enough," Freth called, though it lacked her usual sharp conviction. "Even among our own, only those who've taken their full place as one of us can speak before the elders when in council."

"Another true point," Brot'an answered, and Freth looked wary, as if she'd stepped into a trap. "Blood is not enough. A name is needed to bean'Croan… to be recognized as one of us."

"Leshil does not have…" Freth began, but the last of her words had no voice and were only marked by the movement of her lips.

"He does," Brot'an answered, and turned upon Leesil. "Speak your true name for all to hear and recognize your rights."

Magiere looked at Leesil.

"It doesn't mean anything," he whispered to her. "Whatever it takes to get you out of here… I don't care what they believe."

"The witness will refrain from speaking," Sgaile called loudly."Except as directed by the council, an advocate, or the adjudicator."

Magiere wanted to grab Leesil and make him tell her what had happened.

Leesil took a long breath. "Leshi… Le… shi-air…" He sighed in frustration. "I can't pronounce it."

Sgaile frowned, the tan lines of his face creasing, and he shouted out,

"Leshiarelaohk!And it was not chosen by him… it was given by the ancestors themselves."

All sound in the clearing faded instantly. Then a low thrum of voices grew and erupted into a deafening chaos.

Magiere spotted Gleann leaning forward upon his small stool. He was silent, staring down to the field at Leesil. But unlike the shocked disbelief or outrage of others, his expression was eager-and even excited.

Leanalham stood behind him with confusion on her young face. She touched Gleann on the shoulder, whispering in his ear. He reached up and patted her hand with a satisfied smile but said nothing in return.

Whatever the name meant either it wasn't clear or the meaning had raised disturbing questions among the council. Or maybe it was that Leesil had acquired any name at all. Magiere looked to Wynn for help.

The little sage wrinkled her nose and then whispered, "Something about 'grief' and… maybe 'tear'? I cannot fully decipher. Its construction seems older than even the dialect spoken here."

Brot'an stood erect with the branch gripped at his side, ardent and determined pride in his eyes as he looked upon Leesil. Clearly he knew what the name meant and it pleased him. This worried Magiere most of all.

He raised the branch, turning before the crowd, until the gathering's noise settled enough for him to be heard.

"Tell us of what happened on hallowed ground," Brot'an said to Leesil.

Freth offered no further objection.

Leesil recounted briefly, and Brot'an translated for the gathering.

Not all of it made sense to Magiere. Leesil was reluctant and spoke simply, like the times she caught him in some foolishness and forced him to confess. By her guess, he wasn't telling everything. But he offered enough to bring all voices to full silence as the elders and others listened in rapt attention.