The Girl of Many Floods- Linh Song

XI

As Linh leaped to tribunal hall, her legs turned to jelly.

Tribunals were only for the most serious of crimes- and the fact that they were holding one for her sacred her. She could end up at Exile, the intelligent species' shared prison for their most dangerous criminals. Linh shuddered at the thought.

As they arrived at Eternalia, Linh could see  the massive emerald building of tribunal hall towering over her, a blue banner flew from the dome- indication that a tribunal was in progress. She gulped, this tribunal was being held for her. According to her parents, the Council had put two and two together and suspect that it had been her who had caused the flood at Atlantis.

Tam squeezed her hand, their parents hadn't wanted him to come but he had insisted. Their parents were furious about the whole incident. According to their father, it was 'bad enough' they had twins, but now they had to face the scorn of this incident too.

However, the thing was, Linh had not meant to flood Atlantis. She never wanted to. She just...lost control.

As Linh walked into tribunal hall, she could see the glittering thrones of the Council, each with a name carved across: Ramira, Terik, Velia, Darek, Zarina, Noland, Oralie, Kenric, Liora, Emery, Clarette and Bronte.

The hall was packed with elves- it wasn't common for laws to be broken in the Lost Cities, and when one was broken, almost everyone came to watch the proceedings.

Linh's legs shook as she walked up to take a seat on a raised platform facing the empty thrones of the Councillors. Behind her sat Tam and her parents.

A dozen goblin bodyguards for the Council marched into the room and stationed themselves in front of the thrones. Then, a large fanfare sounded and everyone rose as the Councillors appeared in front of their thrones.

Each Councillor was wearing a circlet with a jewel matching their throne. Linh didn't see the Council often, but whenever she did, she felt amazed by their regal gowns and jerkins that were dripping with jewels.

"Please be seated," Councillor Emery, the spokesperson for the Council, announced.

Once everybody was seated, Emery started, "yesterday, one of our most important cities- Atlantis, was flooded. Although we don't know the exact details, we have figured, with the help of some footage and witnesses, that it has something to do with Miss Song here." Emery nodded in Linh's direction.

Murmurs filled the hall as Linh fidgeted in her seat. A reassuring hand gripped her shoulder, squeezing it. Tam.

Emery held up his palm to stop the chatter. "To better understand what has happened, we shall be asking Miss Song a few questions."

"Please stand, Miss Song. Answer all my questions honestly, and there shall be no problems," Emery said to Linh.

Linh stood with shaky legs and took a deep breath. She didn't want to lie, not because any attempt would be thwarted by the telepath monitoring her mind, but because she wanted to be honest, and she thought that would be the best way to go if she wanted to get through this tribunal.

"Were you at Atlantis yesterday, Miss Song?"Emery asked.

Linh nodded.

"And why were you at Atlantis?"

"I...my parents brought me there to run errands."

"What were these errands exactly, Miss Song?"

"I don't know," her voice cracked at the last syllable. Linh really didn't know, she wished she knew more, but her parents barely said anything to her before they left for Atlantis.