“This isn’t right,” Kar said.

  Aunt Nat’s eyes had never been larger. The seated High Elders wore various expressions of outrage and astonishment.

  “Kar!” Nat tried to whisper. “You can’t be up here!”

  He ignored her and locked eyes with the Speaker of the Council.

  “This is unacceptable,” the man said, his gaze piercing and his presence heavy.

  “No. What’s unacceptable is this sham of a trial, or whatever you want to call it. My aunt has done nothing but protect and care for us.”

  Guardians had approached Kar from behind and now stood at the bottom of the steps. He glimpsed them in the corners of his eyes as the Speaker jerked his head sharply toward Kar.

  They surged up the steps, then halted as Erio and Tharn cut them off and positioned themselves behind Kar.

  The silent support of the Valorcryst bolstered him.

  “To challenge the Council in this way is the greatest sacrilege!”

  Tharn snorted quietly. “To disregard the will of the Source, that is sacrilege. This is merely embarrassing.”

  The Elder who had introduced himself to Kar, Tobi, looked absolutely delighted by this turn of events. He leaned forward in his chair, both hands clasped tightly together.

  Kar glanced toward Granna, who hid a small smile of her own, then looked back to the Speaker.

  “I know that my father was driven mad at the Source. Anyone who spends too much time there eventually is. I won’t stand by and let my aunt be forced to face that fate.”

  The Speaker drew himself up fully. “She was the one who suggested it. And someone has to do it!”

  “Kar,” Nat practically growled, “this is not the time or place for this discussion.”

  Kar clenched his fists.

  “We were never given the time or place to have it. I don’t understand why anyone has to be solely responsible for the Seal.”

  He glared at Nat, then at the Elders before continuing, “and if someone must carry that responsibility, then the only one who will… is me.”

  To accentuate his words, Kar Ember-forged a replica of the Speaker’s staff and brought its butt down hard on the stone platform below. The impact rang out with heavy finality, and Kar’s words echoed throughout the amphitheater.

  The crowd erupted into stunned whispers and gasps.

  Granna stood slowly and ambled toward the center of the platform.

  “Natalie cannot go unpunished, Kar, whatever your personal opinions,” she said. “So what exactly do you suggest? Because anything less than what has already been decided will seem insufficient.”

  Kar’s mind raced as he struggled to comprehend the dilemma. This all seemed so silly to him. Yet, he recognized he had already disrupted things enough—that he had more than crossed the line.

  “You have to let me do this, Kar,” Natalie begged. “For the sake of our family, for the Enclave.”

  Kar shook his head fiercely. “This isn’t what you want. Or what you deserve.”

  What was an alternative to imprisonment?

  He locked eyes with the speaker and asked, “What about exile?”

  Stunned silence fell across the platform.

  “What?” the Speaker said.

  “If she must be punished, then exile her from the Enclave. From the Upper City.”

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  Nat looked at him as if he had stabbed her in the stomach.

  Kar refused to meet her eyes.

  If she were exiled, then all the better. She would never be allowed anywhere near the Source Chamber or the Seal again. She could join Aldwin and the others from Riftwater and have a life of her own.

  “Exile?” The Speaker’s lip curled. “You presume to dictate punishments now?”

  “That seems like the best possible suggestion, all things considered,” Tobi interjected loudly, springing from his seat and striding around the Speaker to stand beside Kar.

  “Most of us get what we want this way, yes? Justice is served. Our Marked here is bound to the Enclave, which I know has been the aim of most on this Council.”

  A mix of dissatisfied and intrigued grumbles spread among the gathered High Elders. No one openly dissented, though the robes of many shifted uncomfortably.

  Tobithal stepped to the Speaker’s side and spoke quietly to him.

  “Say the words, smooth this over with the crowd, and let’s make this official, shall we? No need to let this become any more of a ruin than it already is.”

  The Speaker stared daggers at Kar.

  “Very well. If no one wishes to speak otherwise.”

  His gaze passed from one Elder to the next. Even Granna remained silent. If anything, Kar thought she looked satisfied.

  The Speaker’s staff cracked loudly against the stone.

  “The will of the Source has spoken through the one it has Marked,” he proclaimed. “Natalie Asenia is henceforth exiled from the Enclave and from the holdings under its protection.”

  Kar finally allowed himself to meet Nat’s gaze.

  There were tears in her eyes. She shook her head slowly, as if in disbelief.

  Hopefully she would thank him later.

  Only now did Kar feel the full weight of what he had done.

  The amphitheater erupted again. Some voices cheered softly, others shouted in outrage as Natalie was led from the platform by the guards who had brought her out in the first place.

  Kar hurried after them and noticed Isa running over to join him.

  She smacked his right arm hard, then grimaced in pain when all she struck was solid crystal.

  “What in the Rift is wrong with you?”

  Kar just shook his head. “We’ll figure this all out, okay? But I wasn’t going to let them stick her in the Source Chamber. You don’t understand what it’s like. What it does to you.”

  “Well now that’s just going to happen to you, you idiot!”

  They exited the Forum through a side tunnel. Nat spun on them both the moment they were out of sight of the crowd.

  “Have you completely lost your mind?” she demanded. “Do you have any idea what you’ve just done?”

  Kar opened his mouth to answer, then shut it again. “I was just trying to keep you alive,” he finally managed.

  Isa looked between them, wide-eyed.

  “You think I need saving?” Nat shot back. “You have no idea what you’ve just thrown yourself into. And now, thanks to you, I won’t be around to help you navigate any of it.”

  “You suggested they lock you in the Source Chamber!” Kar yelled. “Do you even hear how insane that sounds?”

  Nat stepped closer, lowering her voice but losing none of the intensity. Her wrists were still bound.

  “Yes. I suggested it. Because someone has to stand watch over the Seal, and because I knew the Council would never accept anything less.”

  Kar stared at her.

  “I won’t let you sacrifice yourself,” he said quietly.

  “I was trying to take responsibility,” Nat replied. “Something you just made infinitely harder.”

  Isa folded her arms. “Okay, someone explain why everyone’s acting like this is the end of the world.”

  Nat rubbed her temples.

  “Exile isn’t freedom, Isa,” she said softly. “I’ll never be allowed back here. Not to the Enclave. Not to the upper city. Not to the Source.”

  Kar’s jaw tightened. “That’s better than you going mad in that chamber.”

  Nat shook her head slowly.

  “You still don’t understand, do you?”

  Before Kar could answer, footsteps thundered down the tunnel.

  The Speaker appeared a moment later, robes flaring behind him. Several Guardians followed close at his heels.

  “You,” he said, pointing his staff at Kar. “Have caused quite enough disruption for one day.”

  Kar squared his shoulders.

  “Maybe if the Council listened to people before making decisions—”

  “You will not lecture a High Elder or this Council,” the Speaker snapped. “Not after the spectacle you just created.”

  Erio and Tharn shifted behind Kar, their crystal forms blocking the path forward.

  The air in the narrow tunnel thickened.

  “Careful,” Tharn rumbled.

  Before the Speaker could respond, another voice cut in.

  “Oh, for the Source’s sake, must we continue this here?”

  Tobi strode into the tunnel with a look of mild irritation.

  “You’ve already had your dramatic moment, Brother Artaeus,” he said lightly. “Let’s not turn the hallway into another Forum.”

  Granna appeared behind him, casually forging an Encryst cane from thin air to lean on, as if the entire situation bored her.

  “That will be enough,” she said.

  The command in her voice silenced everyone.

  The Speaker bristled but did not argue.

  Granna’s sharp eyes moved from Kar to Natalie.

  “The judgement stands,” she said calmly. “Natalie will depart the Upper City before nightfall.”

  Kar clenched his fists again.

  Granna lifted a finger before he could speak.

  “But,” she continued, “you will be given time to say your goodbyes. To accompany her down to the Rift Bridge.”

  Natalie exhaled slowly.

  Two Guardians stepped forward.

  “Come,” one said quietly.

  Nat looked back at Kar and Isa.

  “I could box your ears, you big… dummy,” she said.

  She stepped close enough to squeeze Kar’s arm once, hard, and brush Isa’s hair tenderly. Then she allowed the Guardians to lead her away down the tunnel.

  Kar stood frozen, watching her disappear around the bend.

  Granna sighed.

  “You truly do take after your father,” she said.

  Kar looked at her sharply.

  “I just saved her.”

  Granna’s expression was unreadable, though her eyes lingered on him a moment longer than they had before.

  “Yes,” she said. “You might have.”

  She turned and began hobbling back toward the Forum entrance.

  “Come along, children. You’ll want to gather your thoughts before you head back down the mountain.”

  Kar remained where he was for another moment, the echo of Natalie’s footsteps fading into the stone.

  Only then did the weight of what he had done settle onto his shoulders.