weren’t going to start considering his idea. It would also look like a ploy because someone else just held the Tribunal hostage with that very threat.”
“Exactly.” I nodded, sitting on the edge of his desk. “So, Raphael, your choices are to make an attempt to submit to the authority of the Tribunal and be given protections or run for the hills and go back into deep hiding.”
“Would you two keep helping?” he asked softly. “No matter what I choose?”
“Yes,” I answered. “I’ll always help you. That’s a promise.” It was the only one I could give.
“I’ll ask them for the protections, see if I can do this the right way before doing anything else,” he decided. “How do we do this?”
“Let’s get to work,” Cassius said, a smile in his voice.
31
Chapter Thirty-One
One minute before the recess ended, I walked into the Tribunal Chambers with Cassius and Raphael behind me. Ardghal was already waiting, and so were most of the Tribunal members with the exception of Hasan. Cassius led Raphael to sit down, and I took the floor beside Ardghal. Since we were the last two speaking to the Tribunal, we would have to be the first two. It was protocol.
Five minutes after the recess technically ended, everyone was still waiting on Hasan. While no one voiced a complaint, I could see annoyance on the faces of a few of the Tribunal members, especially the werewolves. I could imagine they didn’t like waiting around on a werecat. Then again, Hasan had been an enemy of Callahan and Corissa once, eight hundred years ago. The two most powerful werewolves of their time and the oldest werecat on the face of the earth, they had been the leaders of the werewolf-werecat war.
There was old animosity there but it wasn’t my business.
When Hasan came in ten minutes late, everyone stared at him. He walked slow, seemingly unperturbed by the looks, and sat down in his seat without any sort of rush.
“Sorry. One of my children and I were speaking.” He turned to me and tilted his head. “You never told me you were trained by my son.”
“Excuse me?” I wasn’t sure where he was going with this. I knew what he was talking about, but I didn’t see how it pertained to anything.
“You were trained by a werecat named Hisao. I’m certain you know his reputation.”
“Hisao the Assassin. Yes, I know his reputation. I also knew he was your son. I just didn’t think it was worth mentioning. He found me doing something stupid and took me under his wing. When he finished training me, he pointed me to the Tribunal to apply to be an Executioner. I got the job. Was there a reason you were speaking to him about me?”
It wasn’t exactly proper to question a Tribunal member like that, but he was digging around in my personal business, so I felt I had the right.
“My son makes it a point to know about everyone who excels in his line of work. I inquired about you because you made a very distinct impression earlier. I wanted to know who I was dealing with.”
I hated that. Hisao knew me better than most people. He was the one who found me after I ran away from Adhar. I had decided I didn’t want the life Adhar thought was right for me, keeping me locked away, even though I’d already had a taste of the world. He wanted me to find a breeding mate and start having kids as soon as I could. I had to be respectable and demure—perfect.
Hisao had watched me grow from an awkward, angry teenager into what I was today. He’d seen my hair go white of all things.
And he was telling Hasan, Tribunal member, about me.
“He says you have a knack for troublemaking. You have a general lack of regard for authority. Let’s not forget, you sometimes take the Law into your own hands.” Hasan considered me. “He also has a high amount of respect for you.”
“That’s very kind of him.”
It was Ardghal who decided to cut into this before Hasan was finished.
“Can we get started? I don’t want to waste my entire night with this affair.”
Hasan turned to the fae and snarled. It sent shivers down my spine.
“You hold no power in this room, young man. I don’t care who you’re related to,” Hasan snapped. “For that, Kaliya, you may start with your final argument first. I see you’ve brought Investigator Cassius and…that must be Mister Alvarez with you.”