Marcel gave her a guarded look. “Life for outcasts and traitors is rarely easy.”
“No,” Ain said with undisguised loathing. “I suppose not.”
Saunders cleared his throat. “What exactly are you implying of our guest, Sayidaty Abdel?”
Ain’s smile added an entirely new level to her insults. “I’m sure I don’t know, Elder.”
For the second time that morning, it was one of the other council members who dragged things back to the matter at hand. “If, perhaps, we could continue…?”
The council returned to business, starting with the dry, mundane notes of the previous trial before moving on to the present.
One of the council members Abigail didn’t recognize tapped a hand on the tabletop after they’d finished going over the notes. “Miss Orne…were you informed that a trial was to be held over your…
