Discordant Note: Crescendo | TBATE

Chapter 265: The First Hearing

Thank you to my beta reader and editor, GlassThreads!

Toren Asclepius

The Forumground was familiar. I had never seen about it before, but I had read of it.

Balconies of black wood encircled a raised platform of gray marble, giving the many gathering phoenixes of the Asclepius Clan a place to sit with ease to peer down at the central platform. Those familiar vines—each with leaves the color of autumn fire—encircled the pillars of dark wood in an almost caring way. As with everywhere else in the Hearth, those vines inched everywhere I looked, caressing the gray marble and leaving a true sense of wonder and beauty.

The smells of burning hickory and fall leaves were ever-present as I sat out of sight on the side, covertly watching as more and more phoenixes drifted into the large chamber. I spotted Sundren as he entered with a pair of others, before he drifted up and toward to sit into a seat with the rest of his kin.

There were no stairs to the balconies, of course. Phoenixes flew.

A central, raised platform not far from me gave me a place to speak. And inlaid into the gray marble was another thing I had read about in a novel from another world.

The cityscape of the old Faircity of Zhoroa–one of the djinn's great bastions of life and learning–stood prominently in etched beauty in a central display.

At my side, Aurora rested a hand on my shoulder in her usual way. "This will be your time, Toren," she said quietly. "You know the rules of the Forum, what it entails."

I sighed lightly, feeling my nerves tingle from the stress. I would be given three chances to plead my case to the Clan before a deciding vote would be held. The Forum was unique in that it allowed a single member to plead their case to the entire collective Clan, something that Mordain had taken from the long-departed djinn. A way of honoring their memory, I supposed.

But it also gave me an opportunity. I wanted to call this family of mine to action, and this was the best way. But the price of failure... if the Hearth voted to stay out of Seris' rebellion, then that would bind Aurora and I, too.

That just means I can't fail this, I thought, grinding my teeth as I took a deep breath. Simple.

I had three chances to take a stand and respond to any questions from my audience. Three chances to sway their hearts and draw them to my point of view.

Aurora and I had planned our arguments out precisely. I would take the first stand, she the second. And depending on how we were received, we could direct our third and final argument as needed.

Mordain stepped from the shadows, seeming to glow with his own light as he observed the central podium. Aurora stared at him forlornly, noting the quiet tension between us.

I knew it hurt her. She loved her brother deeply, and seeing the strained emotion that rippled in the space around us made something in her wither that hurt to feel.

But regardless of our squabbles, Mordain was here as an arbitrator. He was the mediator of the talks, ensuring everyone who wished to speak would be heard.

"It seems everyone is gathered," the Lost Prince said, his hands slotted in the waistband of his loose clothes. "Have you made sufficient preparations, Toren?"

I rolled my shoulders, looking out at the crowds gathered around the balcony. Though their hair were all different shades of a hearty campfire–from burning orange to smoldering darkness–their eyes were like half a thousand breathing embers at the bottom of a dying bonfire as they contrasted the black wood around them.