I sat at the head of the long table, my hands flat on the smooth surface. Across from me sat the five elders of the Council. They were old, they were arrogant, and they were currently trying to tell me how to run my territory. Silas sat to my right, leaning back with his arms crossed, a look of bored annoyance on his face. Killian sat to my left, his jaw tight. He hadn't said a word in twenty minutes, but I could hear his fingernails drumming a slow, warning rhythm against the side of his chair.
"The decision has been made, Alaric," Elder George said, his voice thin and raspy. He tapped a stack of papers in front of him. "The human girl is a liability. The treaties are very clear about inter-species mixing. We need to remove her from the estate before this turns into a war we cannot win."
