Fight or Flight

CHAPTER FIVE

A harsh clang jolted me awake. The golden light of late afternoon trickled through the single-barred window. Disoriented, I blinked into the warm glow, rubbing at my practically fossilized joints. Looks like I had slept for most of the day.

A Guardsman stood at the cell door, keys jangling in his hand. "Get up," he barked.

When I shot a defiant glare at him, he roughly pulled me to my feet. He checked to make sure my wings and wrists were still bound before hurling me out of the cell.

"Walk," Another concise command.

My stomach churned as I recognized faces in the crowd- women I had played mothers with as a child, now clutching their daughters close as if to shield them from my presence. Sylia, who I'd shared secrets with under blanket forts since the age of five, now glared at me with naked revulsion. Even Miss Frita eyed the bodice of my latest coat purchase, like she wanted to rip the fabric straight from my body.

"Traitor!" someone shouted, and others took up the cry. "Murderer!"

My escorts tightened their grip on my arms. I flinched as rotten fruit pelted my back and the sickly-sweet smell of decay filled my nostrils. I stumbled, nearly losing my footing on the uneven cobblestones.

The crowd's anger pressed against me from all sides, a palpable, crushing weight that threatened to suffocate me. I wanted to scream my innocence, to beg them to remember who I truly was. But my voice was trapped in my throat, choked by despair and the understanding that no one would listen.

The injustice of it all burned in my throat, a scream I couldn't release. My guilt had already been decided.

As I neared the edge of Riem, the crowd parted slightly, and I saw him: Eylan. I was too far to be able to read his expression, but our glance met across the distance. Hope surged through me.

"Eylan," I called out, my voice cracking with desperation. "Please, tell them what I told you! About the Shadow."

The crowd fell silent as the Guardsman held me from running to him and everyone turned to Eylan. This was the moment. He would speak up, defend me, make them see reason! As he moved closer, though, the look on his face made my bone freeze to the marrow. It wasn't an unwilling belief in me; it was doubt.

"Eylan," I pleaded again, softer this time, my voice barely above a whisper.

"You stand accused of the gravest crime against Riem," he began, his voice steady and formal. "As a member of the Avian Guard, you should be aware that it is my duty to uphold the laws that keep our people safe."

This couldn't be happening. Not Eylan, too.

He continued, his words cutting through me like shards of ice. "I, alongside the Councilors, have reviewed the evidence against you. The Council's decision is just and final. Your actions have betrayed not only Riem but every citizen who trusted you."

Tears stung my eyes as I searched his face for any hint of the boy who had once promised to protect me. But all I saw was the impassive mask of a Guardsman, loyal to his position and to Caulder.

"Eylan, please," I whispered, my voice breaking. "You know me. You know I would never—"

"—I thought I knew you," he interrupted, his voice carrying clearly to the crowd. "But the Aria I knew would never have conspired with our enemies. She would never have betrayed her own kind."

Each word was a dagger. I watched as the last shred of doubt left the eyes of those around us. Eylan's condemnation had sealed my fate more surely than any evidence. I tried to stare at him, but tears rippled and blurred my vision. This wasn't happening.