Chapter 21 · Verdict

"All rise for the ruling of the Council."

I didn't rise. My knees were already shaking too hard to trust standing, so I stayed in the front row with the folder in my lap, my thumb pressed flat against the seam like that could keep it shut a second longer.

Across the aisle, Callum stood. Tailored black, jaw locked, hands folded behind his back like a man at a funeral instead of his own annulment hearing. He hadn't looked at me since I walked in. Days of not looking at me since the annulment filing hit the Council's desk, and now the whole pack was about to watch him do it in front of an audience.

"Archivist Pell." Elder Voss's voice cracked the air like a dropped plate. "You submitted the mark as evidence. Do you stand by it?"

"I do." My voice came out steadier than I felt. I stood, finally, and pulled back my collar with two fingers.

The mark on my throat wasn't fading. Five years past rejection and it still sat there raised and dark red, a brand that should've gone gray and dead the night he said the words. It hadn't.