Ikelos (The Ephemeral: Book 2)

Chapter 48

My heart constricted, leaving me dizzy and breathless. 

Was I seriously being...fired?

And what did that even mean, "any capacity?" Could I still live with Siren?  Could I find my niche outside the battlefield, become a different kind of asset?  Or had Rover predicted our dissolution after all?

The captain closed his eyes, and Siren glared at the panel of judges, her disdain obvious. "It seems nothing's changed in the past six years," she said. "Rules still matter more than caliber."

"Laws are fixed for a reason," Sideburns countered, and I had to squint against the reflective sheen of his bald spot. "If our principles disintegrate, so do we.  The Ancients lost sight of that, and the lesson cost them everything."

My lip curled at his dogmatism.  How could he pretend to know our ancestors' regrets when our history had been erased and distorted? Humanity's lesson, if one existed, was either lost to the Crash or buried in the debris.  We wouldn't have found ourselves in another war if we'd learned from our mistakes.

"So what then, do you intend to apprehend every one of my girls? Every female fighter in that valley?" Siren demanded, and I could hear the unease nestled between consonants.  Her concern was a valid one.  If they chained me up for breaking the Gender Clause and my military contract, what would stop them from pursuing her and her followers?  Men and women who'd eluded the authorities for years? 

"Right now, we're interested in Miss Kingsley and her ability to kill dozens of people at the brush of her palm," the justice replied, and his obscurity sent a wave of apprehension through the group.  In my peripheral, I could see shoulders tensing, hands twitching for barren scabbards, eyes flitting from the bench to the exit.  "As you said yourself, she's a living weapon, and a rogue one at that."

I released an indignant sound from the back of my throat, and I couldn't suppress my frustrations anymore—my emotions finally boiled over.  "Look, I agreed to follow the Command's stupid training regimen, but I never agreed to obey their every order," I said. I was wearing Siren's rebellious cloak for Patron's sakes; my allegiance didn't get more obvious than that.  In fact, judging by the empty seats in this mahogany-encased courtroom, the Command refused to claim me as their problem.  "Where is Burroughs, anyway? He would never stand for my dismissal."

Long-Nose might have despised me as a human being, but he saw potential in my hands. He wouldn't boot me prematurely. Not after so many trainings, and definitely not at the cusp of battle.

"Colonel Burroughs is with our troops up north, alongside General Iver," Bittercress revealed. His sunken eyes narrowed on me like shriveled mushrooms. "But it seems you've forgotten a key detail, Miss Kingsley.  The Command is not a governing body.  We are.  And as the nation's highest court, we can declare anyone unfit for military service.  Most of all, a pair of border-crossing delinquents."

Unbridled anger sloshed onto the burner with a hiss.  "As the nation's highest court, maybe you should acquire some critical thinking skills," I seethed, and the insult sent hot blood rushing to the politicians' faces. 

Too far, their wide eyes and trembling whiskers told me. One step too far.

The gavel came down like a gunshot, and in a blur of motion, a sentinel grabbed a fistful of hair and yanked my head back.  The welt had a dagger to my throat before I could even think to defend myself, and the blade teased the edge of my scar, daring me to speak again, daring me to test him.  I would have laughed at the absurdity of it all if I didn't sense vanadium in the weapon. That stuff was no joke.