Chapter 40:
The guard came at 8:15.
"Donnelly. Hearing."
I stood up.
They walked me through the corridors with my hands cuffed and my paper jumpsuit and my hair a mess. I hadn't slept. I'd sat on that bench all night with my hand on my stomach, counting.
The courtroom was smaller than the one in Ridgemont.
Judge Hargrove was an older woman. Gray hair. Sharp glasses. A mouth that had never smiled in its life. She looked at me over the top of her glasses and I felt like I was twelve years old.
Kael was in the front row.
He was sitting with his hands on his knees. His cut was on. His face was gray. He looked at me and he nodded once.
I nodded back.
Silas was at the petitioner's table.
Gray coat. Gray hair. Gold ring. He looked at me and he smiled.
I didn't smile back.
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Solomo
