The sanctuary hearing took place three days later, in the library.
I went because Master Vale asked me to. She did not ask me to speak for her. She asked me to tell the council what had happened, and to say what I wanted done with the serpent.
I stood beside the ledger, my empty hand resting on its cover. The council members sat on one side of the long table. Master Vale sat at the other, her baby sleeping in a basket beside her chair.
Rowan sat apart from the council, stripped of his green apprenticeship pin.
Councilor Bell read the report aloud. He described the serpent's growth, the damaged enclosure, the early labor, and the bond I had chosen to complete. He didn't call my choice foolish, but the word hovered in the pauses.
When he finished, he looked at me. "Miss Vale, do you bel
