The (Not) Satisfied Dragon - Colette Rhodes Page 0,91

seat with his arms crossed, his face glowing with pride as he watched his son commanding the floor. “I can't think of a single reasonable objection to that request.”

Nerio’s eye twitched as he nodded to an Enforcer who disappeared down some stairs I’d never noticed before that seemed to lead under the rock. He emerged with a small vial of what must be angel root tincture, presumably The Alchemist’s own creation.

He moved efficiently down the row of prisoners, pinching their noses shut until they were forced to breathe through their mouths and forcing the liquid down their throats. Within a few minutes, all the defendants were coughing on the bitter tonic and red-faced with rage.

//Shira.// Ezra's voice commanded my attention, breaking me out of my haze. //Would you like to do the questioning?//

The offer took me by surprise, and judging by the sharp looks the other four sent Ezra; they hadn't been expecting it either.

//Yes,// I replied instantly, not thinking it through.

With a confidence I didn't feel, I marched into the center of the floor and planted myself in front of the captives, crossing my arms and tilting my head back so it at least felt like I was looking down on them. There was no mistaking the sounds of disapproval from the audience, nor the satisfied grins of the flight kneeling at my feet.

Golds didn't interrogate prisoners. Golds didn't like to hear about violence. Golds should be tucked up safely in their dens, pretending the world outside their homes didn't exist.

Golds could be whatever they godsdamned wanted to be.

“Did you issue a formal challenge to duel Flight Laoch?” I asked, proud of how stern my voice sounded.

“No.” The muttering from the crowd immediately ceased. The silence only heightened my nerves.

“Did you give them any indication that you wished to challenge them for their territory, formally or informally?” I pressed.

“No,” the Alpha growled, the vein in his neck bulging more with each answer.

“When you attacked them, did you do so with the intention to kill them?”

“Yes.” The word was guttural and vicious, and met my gasps of shock and horror. The hypocrisy was almost overwhelming. For years, these same Councilors had served next to Flight Milain and had all but chosen not to see the truth that had been staring them in the face.

“Flight Galon—” Nerio tried to interrupt, but I wasn’t having it. I wasn’t done.

“Where is Flight Laoch’s gold dragon?”

“Dead,” the kneeling Alpha gritted out, the answer falling unwittingly from his peeled back lips.

“Were there children?”

“Yes.” His voice was now so strained from the effort to contain his incriminating words, I had to focus hard to understand him.

“Where are they?”

“Dead,” he choked. There was a roar of fury from the Councilors behind me, and I turned on my heel, glaring at them incredulously as my temper got the best of me.

“What did you expect? You call it a dishonorable duel because you are too cowardly to call it what it is. Murder. This flight murdered Flight Laoch — their males, their gold dragon, their children. Shall I tell you what it is like to watch your family be murdered in front of you?”

I spun back to face the prisoners. “Did you creep silently into their den while they were sleeping? Come, share with us how this was just an innocent flight trying to rise above their station. Did the children run or did you drag them from their beds? Did the gold die trying to keep her babies safe? Were the males shielding their family when you took their lives?”

There were more gasps behind me. Shouts of anger. Outraged mutters. Disgusted exclamations. I ignored them all. As far as I was concerned, the Council had made their position clear. The kneeling Alpha nodded, his chants of “yes” barely above a whisper.

//Careful, my love. Don't incriminate yourself,// Ezra reminded me as I opened my mouth to retaliate. He was right; I knew he was right. I had to stop. But my anger was making my thoughts hazy.

How dare they sit here and act like this was just a duel gone too far? A whole family was dead, and the Council had been prepared to give their killers the benefit of the doubt. They wouldn’t have even tried them as murderers had we not suggested it. Why was I playing along with this system, trying to work my way into it, when it was so broken?

“This is a sham. This trial is the worst of us, the worst of our