From The Ashes.

Chapter 28

I sat at the table, attempting to use the cutlery with thick bandages around both my hands. Caerun was laughing at me where as Dot was looking at the red marks on the white cloth with concern.

"Honestly, I leave you alone for an afternoon and this happens!" Zak sighed, piercing a slice of meat and feeding it to me. I smiled at him, my mouth full.

"What about you? Did you manage to get any sleep today?" I said as I chewed. He groaned and flopped his head onto his arms, his hair sweeping over his hands.

"We were in that damn meeting for hours. No one could understand what Brian was trying to do." Caerun shook his head, reaching for a cupcake when Dot slapped his hand away.

"That's not yours." She demanded and Caerun pouted.

"Come on, we don't even know if Hana will join us!" He cried just as the door swung open and two people walked in.

"Of course I would, you really think I'm missing out on dinner?" We all looked up as Hana walked in, energetic as usual but her shirt bulged where the bandages wrapped around her ribcage. A smile spread across my face as Hana sat down at her spot at the table. At least, until I paid attention to the man who'd entered with her.

"John." Zak said as both him and Caerun stood up to shake his hand. The man towered over us and now that he was closer I could see that he had a light blonde tuft of hair on his chin. He seemed nervous, like he was trying to make his huge self as small and nonthreatening as possible. "How are you feeling?" Zak asked as he sat back down next to me. John shrugged, rubbing his arm as he thought.

"My punishment for talking back came through." John swallowed, his deep voice quiet as though the words themselves were painful. "They said I disrespected them and undermined their authority in front of outsiders so..." He paused, looking away as his eyes began to glisten. "I am no longer a member of Traceur." You could have heard a pin drop, the silence in the room was so thick. Dot covered her open mouth as Hana hung her head. Caerun turned away from the table, his face twisted with fury and Zak took in a deep breath, trying to keep his expression straight.

"I don't know what to say, John." Zak started, his voice low. "Thank you for standing up for yourself and Hana. I also believe that it must have taken a lot of inner strength to stand up for your beliefs like that and losing your family..." Zaks voice cracked and he sighed heavily. "That has nothing to do with who you are and everything to do with them." Something about Zaks words tugged at my heart, begging me to pay attention to them but I pushed it away. This moment was not about me.

"I brought him here because he didn't know what else to do and I thought the dining hall might be too painful at the moment." Hana said, picking at her plate of food. Zak leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table, pressing his fingers to his lips in thought.

"I have no problem with you eating with us, John, but it may surprise you to know that when we're sitting at this table, I am not the one in charge." Johns eyes widened as he looked at every person sitting around the wooden table. The silence stretched out as every pair of eyes turned to look at me, waiting for what would come next. I smiled and looked down at the little boy snuggled into my side, eyeing the stranger warily.

"What do you say?" I asked and John instantly looked at Zak in shock. "Can John eat with us?" Cody looked up at me with wide eyes before they gained a determined glint and he turned to John. He choked several times before the words started to make sense but no one in the room dared interrupt him.

"What's... favourite... colour?" Cody finally managed, like it was the most important question in the world. John hesitated, looking at us like he was trying to figure out if we were serious. When no one said anything he scratched the back of his head.