Up and down. Up and down. Up and down the hallway Nannade was pacing. Garrett had tried to get her to stop and sit down, but then she would just dig her claws into the chair in her nervousness. It might not be as bad with Elissa’s furniture, but this wasn’t even her country, and they looked much more expensive. So instead, Garrett watched the girl pace up and down, biting her claws while the tips of her ears vibrated under the tension.

They were still waiting for the judges to announce their decision, Nannade wanted to get out of the stuffy court room, but the hallway outside was as far as the guards would permit her to go. They feared she could jump from the skyways to escape. Elissa was still inside, talking to Luissos, he didn’t know what plans and secrets that man was planting in her head again.

Eventually, the door to the courtroom opened and a Guard notified them that the trial would continue momentarily.

Nannade rushed to her seat, hoping to hear and answer the moment her butt touched the cushion, but the other people in the court room were less eager to be so calm and attentive. Finally, even the most talkative ones had put down their conversations. Louissos and Elissa were exchanging a last few words, then Louissos gave Elissa a peck on the cheek and returned to his seat.

“Rise for the entry of the Trusted Judges of the Lodge of Sturreland.”

The people present did as told and the twelve Trusted Judges entered and sat down on the podium where the tribunal of five had remained.

Nannade sat straight, her knees fidgeting, her ears turned forward, her claws digging into the wood of her chair. Garrett tried to appear calm, but his hope and concern for the girl cramped his insides.

“We, the twelve Trusted Judges of the Lodge of Sturreland, have come to the following conclusions:”

Nannade and Garrett held their breath as the head judge paused for it.

“The previous vote on the accused’s guilt has not been overturned, Nannade of Sturreland is guilty of engaging in a blood pact with a spiritual entity.”

Nannade's tension deepened, it was as if her body could withstand a battering ram.

“She is not liable to the death sentence, since her crime has not lead to the loss of her humani-... personhood, and since she has shown great restraint and cooperation with authority and peers.”

Garrett saw it as only a minute victory, there were still horrible punishments left to choose from.

“Thus, the punishment most appropriate of the crime and person has been determined branding with the mark of the sinner. No further restrains shall be placed on her.”

A heartbeat of silence. Then Nannade's “NOO!” was heard. Then the room filled to the brim with talk, ruckus and other noise.

The girl turned to Garrett and shook his arm. “Not the brand! There must be another way, they can’t do that to me! I won’t let them put that damn sign on my face!”

Garret wanted to say appeasing words back to the girl, but when he looked into her eyes wide open in frightened determination, he halted for a moment, a gasp of last strength rose up in him. He stood up and drew his voice from deep within his chest. “I want to file an appeal to the tribunal of five!” The words sounded loud and clear over the noise in the room.

The room grew silent again, the judges turned to the five, awaiting their reaction; Garrett exchanged a few quick glances and nods with the one presiding over the tribunal of five, who then turned around and whispered to his peers, then turned to the judges again.

“We file an appeal to the Trusted Judges of Sturreland, regarding the extent of the sentence.”

The judges talked a few more times with the master of ceremonies and finally, he raised his voice again.

“The appeal hearing will take place tomorrow after noon. All witnesses are asked to remain within the city walls.”

The astonishment of the people in the room was audible. Elissa herself expressed hers. “That they’d let her go this lightly and then allow an appeal...”

The head judge gave a sign to the master of ceremonies. “Session dismissed.”

The people present got up and left through the wide doors. Elissa looked to Nannade, who looked to Garrett, who tried to not let anything slip pass onto his face. He understood why she would not want the mark of the sinner. It would forever be visible on her forehead, a spell not unlike the seals that marked the hands of mages, but burned much deeper, onto the very soul of the sinner. Everyone who looked at the mark would recognize Nannade as a sinner, the symbol was so widespread throughout the lands that any child could recognize it, even draw it themselves. Simple but cruel it would blaze on her face, forcing her to always answer any question regarding the mark and the sin truthfully and in its entirety. Yet nobody believed a sinner; they were widely distrusted and excluded from almost every part of society. All things highly detrimental to subterfuge, secrecy and infiltration. Or a healthy life of a developing youth.

“What happens now, Teacher?”

Garrett stroked the girl’s hair. “I’m sorry, but everything is out of our hands now. We must trust our colleagues. I hope you realize that the mark of the sinner is the least sentence you could hope for. After all, it is proof that you have been punished and served your sentence. It is proof that you stand under the protection of the Lodge. Nobody will be allowed to strike you down, even if you are an abomination.”

Nannade's face did not let up. It was a sort of cruel thing to say, but she would soon come face to face with the reality of the punishment. A sudden urge arose in him as he looked deeply into those wet eyes and he snapped her arms around her tight in an brace even he himself didn’t see coming. “You stupid little girl.” She was surprised at first, but then he felt her hands on his back pressing them even closer together. “Don’t you know how much we worry and hurt for you? You stupid girl! I pulled you from that basement, cared for you, trained you, made sure you had everything you needed, and you throw away everything with such a stupid pact.” He felt himself close to tears, but managed to calm himself. “I know how stupid and hopeful you are, but I can’t refuse your begging and pleading. You’re so cruel.”

Tears welled up in Nannade's eyes, too.

“I’m sorry. I never thought about that. I just... I just wanted to be free. Look where I am now!”

“Not all is lost. We can still make it!”

Nannade pushed herself loose from him. “You will not put anything more on the line. You will not help me escape or anything like that! I know you must have SOMETHING like that in your plans, but I won’t allow you to drag yourself in, too! If I must be punished, let me be punished alone!” Her face, although teary-eyed was so full of command and determination, he did not dare to protest.

She was not wrong. He had written many secret letters, whispered many conspiring words. But she decided to bear her fate alone, if she had to bear it. She truly started to detach herself from him and Elissa. What were the dark things she had seen on her travels? What did she have to endure? What did she do to come back after making it thousands of leagues away from this horrid place that had nothing but punishment and scorn in wait for her?

Garrett didn’t have much more time to contemplate before the guards stepped up to her and put her back in chains. She looked back over her shoulder, with a somber face, and Garrett knew that it would stick with him all the way into his dreams. He decided to put on a masque of surety and strength. For her.

They returned to their room in a hotel – not fine, not crude – where both of them felt like pacing up and down. He’d have to face the tribunal and the judges the next day, the words he'd have to address them with occupied his mind and would not let go. Eventually, he decided to put banish them onto paper. He sat down at the small table and started writing. Verbiages and formalities filled most of the paper. Should he remain stoic and cold or try to sway the tribunal with pleading words of urgency? He made many attempts and was never really happy. Balls of crumbled up paper started to litter first the table, then the floor around it. At some point, Elissa leaned over his shoulder to peek at the paper. She was surprised when he did not try to shield his words from her gaze and even more so, when she saw what he had actually written.

“And here I thought you’d write another conspiracy. You actually listened to her. Or is it all just code for something different?”

She got off his back and sat down on her bed, sighing heavily. Eventually, she spoke up. “The girl grew quite a bit.”

Garrett tried to concentrate on formulating his proper appeal. “Hm hmmm. I noticed that every time I returned from a longer contract. Maybe it’s just the separation.”

“Oh, she did grow. Especially in her femininity. Maybe that growth tonic really was suppressing her.” Elissa spoke those words with loving care and nostalgia.

“I didn’t really pay attention to that.”

“Of course not. That’s why I had to.”

“As if that was a choice of yours.”

“Shut up.”

A pause returned silence to the room, safe for Garrett’s scribbling on paper.

“Do you think you can get her out of the branding?”

Garrett gave up and put down the quill, then turned around to Elissa. “I don’t know. I don’t know what else can be done. I can’t get her off without punishment, and I don’t think they’ll just put her in prison for a few months and let it be over after that, or hit her with some fine that she’ll be able to pay off with a few contracts. They’ll do something to the rest of her life.” He noticed his own resignation. “But... I will try something. I can’t let her down. After I invested so much in her – be it gold or time or something even more valuable – I can’t just turn away from her. I will give her that future. I will not let them put chains on her. I promised her mother. Her mother died for her freedom.”

He caught himself trailing off into memories. He never found out what exactly the mother had said to the girl in those last moments of her life. It was merely the first shadow in the girl’s life that he failed to lift. He allowed that other shadow to grow until it seduced her. Now she was forever beyond his reach if she willed so. Yet she returned. Why did that stupid girl return? Why couldn’t she just 'get lost' in the wilderness? Why couldn’t she just stay in the mountains of Stakkarun with that Olybrius? She would have had so many shots at a better life. That stupid, cruel girl!

He put his head in his hands.

Elissa had noticed his despair. “Is everything alright?”

He took a moment. “She wanted no more conspiracies on her behalf.”

“Yes, she did. Did that throw off your plans that much?”

“I’m used to plans failing and I'm used to backup-plans never being used. But this is... powerlessness on her behalf. After I make the appeal tomorrow, I’ll have to let her walk into the fire all by herself.”

Elissa got up from the bed and sat down on the other chair at the table. “This is her life now. She starting to get fully fledged. It won’t get easier from here on out. But she decided to come back to you. Isn’t that enough?”

Garrett thought about it for a moment. Maybe she wouldn’t be happy with escaping punishment. She might be frightened of what was to come, but she had been raised to be a tool of justice. And now a deity of justice was with her. Would the serpent allow the girl to flee from punishment?

“Garrett?” Elissa put her hand on his. “Are you still there?”

“Yes...” he shook his head free of all those contemplations. “I have to do right by her. She returned, yes, that is great, you are right. Now I must make sure that she can leave and return again. A bird that returns home on its own needs no cage; to cage her now would be the cruellest and stupidest of punishments.” He looked back at the sheet of paper before him. “I will make sure that this is the best and most honest appeal I can make.”

He picked up his quill again and started writing. The ink flowed not fast enough for the words.