Chapter 36
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
The hour break passed in a flash for Ella, but once she began connecting the dots floating around in her mind, she was more annoyed than worried at the delay. It was a surprising feeling after the prior days’ lingering sensation of hopelessness.
She glanced over at Draikis. He turned his head, sensing her attention without hesitation or question.
He was hurt, though they’d dressed his wounds with healing salve and given him a clean top.
But despite his pain, the love in his gaze made her heart flutter.
If only she could be close to him, all would be right in the world.
Come on already, let’s get this thing started.
Well before the deadline, Nilkis brought in the requested texts as requested, carefully removing them from their floating pushcart and placing them on the long table now in front of Ella. He leaned close as he adjusted them.
“I do not know what you are doing, and I cannot wish you luck. But I do hope you find a satisfactory resolution.”
It was as close to a pep talk as she could expect from the man.
The fact that he spoke to her at all, given her situation, spoke volumes to his esteem for her.
She was a woman, yes. An outsider. But she had always been respectful.
More than that, she held books and learning in higher regard than most of the brothers.
“Thank you, Nilkis.”
He gave one slight nod and nothing more. “Hmm,” he said, then left her to it.
Ella’s mind raced, her plan in motion as she carefully began flipping through the relevant texts. This could save her. Both of them. But only if her recollection was correct.
“Where is it? Come on, I know it’s here,” she muttered under her breath.
Her face remained buried in the texts until the judge called them back into session, and even then, he had to repeat himself to pull her attention away from the ancient writings, and he was quite annoyed.
“I said, we now continue the hearing. Ella of Earth, a world not within the Dotharian Conglomerate, it was you who claimed your right for this session. To defend yourself. To face your accusers.”
“The evidence is incontrovertible,” Totaxxis called out.
The judge flashed the man a glare. “Wait your turn, Totaxxis. You know the rules.”
“I do. But she has no standing here. Yes, she found a quirk of our law that allowed her to pull this little stunt, but it is also written that she may not begin her defense until she has faced her accusations.”
“Are you requesting to do that now? It is premature, Totaxxis, and most irregular.”
“I am ready. I do not need further preparation. It was I who sent up the observation drones to watch them, and I who caught them in the act. I led the retrieval squad, and I shall now finish what I started.”
The judge sighed, annoyed by multiple irregularities in the proceedings. But his hands were tied. The law was the law.
“Very well. Make your point.”
Totaxxis turned to Ella, ignoring Draikis entirely.
“I swear and attest on my honor and vows to the Norvalian Sect that what I say is true. This female interloper has tainted the purity of our order. Bewitched one of our brothers and brought him to shame and punishment. And while he is at fault for his part in these violations, the instigator was the female known as Ella.”
“Do I get to speak now?” she queried the judge.
“Soon. Continue, Totaxxis.”
“I have little more to add than details. The fine points of her violations. I’ve been watching her and cataloging them, and I will now read them into the record.”
He did just that, providing a laundry list of infractions, from serious, though understandable from an outsider oblivious to the rules, to downright ridiculously minor. Ten minutes later he finally stopped, a look of arrogant triumph on his face.
“Thank you, Judge.”
“Is that all?”
“Yes.”
“Then it is now the defendant’s time to make her case.” He turned to Ella. “Well? Get on with it. I’m curious what an outsider thinks she can achieve with her mockery of our laws.”
“It’s not a mockery, Your Honor. In fact, I hold your ways in deep respect.”
“Contrary to your actions, you would have me believe?”
“My and Draikis’s acts were perfectly natural.”
“Elsewhere, perhaps. But not here. Not where sacred vows were made.”
“Ah, yes. About that,” she said, picking up a bookmarked text. “If you would indulge me, there is a tapestry hanging in the corridor of this very compound. One of the oldest you possess, I believe. I’ve relayed the work to one of your aides. Would you please have it projected for all to see?”
“I’ll humor you.” He nodded to his assistant, the image appearing in the air above.
“Thank you. Now, you see this image is a historical record showing the Norvalians carrying an ancient relic of some sort.”
“That’s not just a relic. That is the sacred ark of the first brothers, containing the seeds of their earliest teachings.”
“Thank you for the clarification. So, to be clear, this is one of the holiest of holies?”
“To say the least.”
“And it was very, very old, right? When this took place, this procession, it was thousands of years ago, back when the Dotharians were originally expanding outward with the Norvalians acting as emissaries welcoming new worlds into the fold. Do I understand that correctly?”
“Your depiction is accurate.”
“And this tapestry has been authenticated for originality, has it not?”
“All artwork in these grounds are original pieces, most of them priceless. Where are you going with this? I am not holding this session to give a history lesson.”
“Of course not. But, with your permission, perhaps I can.”
The judge scoffed, as did most of the priests present. “What can you hope to teach us of our own religion? Do you wish to add blasphemy to your charges?”
“No, not at all. But I wonder if you can answer me a simple question.” She pointed to the woman hidden in the depths of the tapestries ranks of priests and colonizers. “Who is this?”
The judge leaned forward, squinting.
“Let me help,” she offered, zooming in the picture. “Who is this woman?”
Gasps escaped the lips of countless men, least of them Elder Soparo himself. Totaxxis looked confused. Confused and enraged. Ella gave him a wink and continued.
“It seems there is no record of who she is, but the presence of a woman in the ranks of the Norvalians in their earliest days, as depicted in this authenticated tapestry, suggests women were not always banned from the order.”
Totaxxis lunged to his feet. “How dare you!”
“Sit down!” the judge commanded, his voice booming far louder than even he’d anticipated.
“Thank you, Your Honor. Now, I would say you could argue away her presence as maybe a servant or maid or something, but if you’ll look here,” she said, zooming in closer, “you’ll see something quite interesting. She is walking hand-in-hand with another. With a man. With a priest of the order.”
“Impossible,” the judge blurted.
“I would have thought so too, but you said this was an authentic relic. Of course, on its own, that could mean little. After all, the law is quite clear no women are allowed in the order.”
“As it has been, so it shall be,” several men in the gallery said in unison.
“Well, about that. I’ve been studying your texts.”
“Yes, you were provided copies of our laws, as requested.”
“And I thank you for that. But I’m not talking about those, though they are quite clear about the no women rule. But I’m referring to something much older,” she said, tapping the open page in front of her. “I’m talking about the ancient texts from which your laws are based.”
“You can read the ancient text?”
“There is no way that is possible!” Totaxxis interrupted.
“Silence! You’ve had your time.”
“May I interject?” Nilkis asked, quietly, rising to his feet.
“What is it, archivist?”
“I have spent time with this female, and I have seen first-hand, she in fact possesses a rare degree of skill in translating the most difficult of the ancient texts. I spoke with the Skrizzit when I first noticed the anomaly. He informed me that on some occasions a particular race reacts unusually to some of our more powerful pigments. And as this one has received a full body of runes employing precisely that, it is apparent that she has exceptional translation skills. Better even than mine, I must admit.”
All eyes were on Ella. Eyes of dislike, but also shock and even curiosity.
“It’s the oldest of the texts that really caught my attention,” she continued. “The current laws state one thing, but the original wording, the oldest of the rules upon which the new are based have been misunderstood.”
“How dare you question our laws?”
“I don’t question the laws, per se, but am rather pointing out that somewhere along the way there was a mistaken translation. And that has been compounded over the years. Women used to be allowed to be part of the order, and yes, sex was even allowed between men and women.”
Someone shouted out in distress, “Lies! It is not true. Since the first days, priests had to remain pure!”
A loud rumbling of assent rose from the crowd.
“Silence!” The judge turned his gaze back to Ella. “What you say is a provable fallacy, do you realize that?”
“But it’s not. At least, not entirely. Yes, priests were to adhere to their vows, but the originalist wording allowed for one exception.”
“What exception? There is no such thing.”
“But there is. Right here. This one sentence. And that corresponds with what the tapestry shows. Here, can you project this from the printed page?”
No sooner had she asked than the millennias-old text floated in the air for all to see.
“Thanks. Now, I’ve been told no one ever reads the oldest of texts. These hadn’t been checked out in over a hundred years from what Nilkis told me. But can you see this? This one line here?”
She fell silent, allowing the men time to read and attempt to translate the ancient language. Murmurs of confusion filled the chamber.
“I can help. This right here? It’s the symbol for Infala.
Not now, but in the earliest days. It’s the entire reason you guys added the blocking runes in the first place.
One misunderstanding led to thousands of years of blocking runes, all to prevent Infala bonding.
Without a functional rune, no man would be put in that position.
Which brings me to him.” She pointed to Draikis, her cheeks flushed with a burst of energy filling her body at the sight of him.
“As your Skrizzit said, my kind reacts differently to your pigments. I can translate better for one. But something else happened when I received the runes for the first time.”
“Aha! She admits it! She admits she was without runes when she came to us!” Totaxxis gloated loudly. “She violated Dotharian law, and the penalty is death!”
“Now wait just a minute, buddy. I have my runes now.”
“Acquired through deceit.”
“I had no idea what any of that meant when this all went down, and you know it. But that’s beside the point, because even if that holds true, a superseding law, one of the highest order, overrides it.”
“Oh? And what could that possibly be?”
“Infala bonding.”
Faces paled, all turned to gaze upon Draikis. Ella smiled brightly, ignoring the agitated men surrounding her.
“Go on, babe. Show them.”
Hesitantly, Draikis lifted his tunic, careful not to disturb his healing back.
The audience stared in shock at his faintly glowing Infala.
The blocking rune was still in place, the black ink holding firm, but the rune beneath it was straining to be free.
Elder Soparo rose and walked to examine the man’s chest up close.
“What sort of madness is this? This is impossible.”
“It’s not impossible. Just really, really unlikely,” Ella replied, walking from her place toward her lover, the guards and crowd too shocked to think to stop her.
“The law is clear. Infala bonded mates are free upon union. Clean slate, I believe the law states. Any and all transgressions are forgiven.”
“But his blocking rune is still—”
Ella reached out and touched the black ink with her finger. Her own Infala glowed bright, shining through her clothing, her fingertip illuminated, the dark pigment quivering then finally giving up its hold on Draikis, dissolving beneath her touch.
His Infala erupted with energy, the light shining out as the rune rapidly settled into the shape it had been trying to achieve. Ella lifted her top, revealing her own Infala.
The two were identical.
The display projection shifted from the text to their runes, allowing all present to see that, in fact, Draikis and Ella were as of this moment Infala bonded.
They were mates for life. As for the rest of her claims about this being a part of Norvalian life in the past, those still needed verification. But this? It was incontrovertible.
Totaxxis rushed toward them in a rage, fists raised. “No! This cannot be allowed!”
He dropped to the ground, a stun blast laying him out flat.
Elder Soparo lowered his tiny but powerful weapon, shaking his head as he walked to the poor man and stood over him.
“You should know better, Totaxxis.” He turned to the couple, his countenance seemingly lighter by a thousand pounds.
“And you two. I am pleased we will not require the assistance of the Dotharian overseer. Punishment is bad enough, but executions? Distasteful to say the least.”
Ella cocked her head, a little confused but glad for his change in countenance.
It seemed the elder was actually truly happy for them.
He had to be a hard ass to uphold the laws, and that was something he took very, very seriously.
But Draikis was like a son to him, and now?
Now he had a new member of his “family”.
“So, uh, what now?”
He rested his hand on Ella’s shoulder, a warm smile spreading across his face.
“Now? All charges will be dropped. We will figure out the rest later. But for now, you two are newly bonded, and in a manner the likes of which I do not think any of us have ever seen, let alone anticipated ever being possible.”
“Yes, it is a bit overwhelming,” Draikis noted.
“That’s one way of putting it, my boy. And as newly bonded mates, we all know what that means. I will have a little something delivered to you.” He turned to his assistant. “Escort them to their chambers. It’s time we give them a quiet place to formalize the bond.”
Draikis’s cheeks darkened with embarrassment, but also happiness. Soparo noted his shift with an amused chuckle.
“Go on, my boy. Enjoy yourselves. We’ll have much to discuss whenever you come back up for air. But please, take your time.”
Draikis took Ella’s hand in his, their fingers intertwined, energy flowing between them. He smiled so bright that Ella thought her heart might burst at the sight of him.
“That we can do, Elder Soparo.”