“No!” Kyle screamed, and threw himself out of his chair, stumbling around in his hobbling chains. “No, you can’t do this to me! You can’t! No!”
Claire stood up. She wasn’t shackled; maybe that was a sign they respected her more, or just weren’t afraid of her at all. She didn’t know. But she looked directly at Amelie and said, “Don’t do this. Please don’t do this.”
“He’s guilty of the worst crime that may be committed, short of attempting to kill me,” Amelie said, and Claire had the feeling she was no longer talking to the sometimes-almost-kind person Amelie could become. She was talking to the Founder, or to the long-ago royal princess Amelie had once been. “There are times one cannot afford mercy without showing weakness. Weakness invites worse outrages.” She nodded to her guards. “Remove him to the cage.”
Claire opened her mouth to protest again, but she saw both Richard and Hannah sending her warning looks. Hannah actually made a “sit down” gesture and mouthed, Don’t be stupid.
Claire slowly sank into her chair as Kyle was dragged out of the room. She felt sick and angry, but mostly, she was scared. While the guards were busy, she could have made a run for it, found Shane, done . . . what? Tried to get out of Morganville? She knew better than to even try it. Security was tight, and getting tighter.
Amelie was still watching her, and anyway, Amelie could catch her before she got within touching distance of the door.
“Now to you,” Amelie said, as Kyle and the security detail disappeared down the hall, and his screaming was muffled by distance. Another security guard, this one female but dressed in the same black suit and sunglasses, stepped into the room and shut the door behind her.
It seemed very, very quiet.
The Founder sighed and sat back in her chair, and it seemed to Claire as if she became a different person. One who was irritated and unhappy and sad. Hannah and Richard sat down, too. After a moment, Amelie continued. “Claire, this is a very unfortunate situation. You know that, don’t you?”
Claire nodded, thinking, It’s really damn unfortunate for me. But she didn’t say it.
“Having just harshly sentenced Kyle, I can now afford to show leniency toward you. There are mitigating factors—you were definitely acting in defense of your own life, and all of the witness statements support it. The vampire you staked was known to be extraordinarily violent, and we have been considering for some time what to do to restrain her appetites; you have removed this problem for me, and although I can’t be seen to celebrate this, I must acknowledge that you did me a service in this matter. Again.”
Amelie’s long white fingers tapped the table in a little dry clicking rhythm, and her eyes went half-closed as she stared at Claire. Finally, she looked to Richard Morrell. “What say you?”
“She acted in self-defense. It’s unusual, but there are plenty of precedents—I did it myself once, and you found that what I did was justified. I don’t support any kind of punishment for her.”
Amelie looked at him for several long beats after he’d finished, and neither of them blinked. She turned her attention to Hannah. “And you?”
“Not guilty,” Hannah said. “You changed the rules in Morganville. You gave humans rights to defend themselves, even if it cost vampire lives. Claire was within the law to do what she did, and she saved her own life and the lives of at least some of the people in that room.”
Amelie closed her eyes for a moment, and said, “I’d have preferred you to use nonlethal methods in your heroic defense, but I cannot deny that there is right on your side. On mine, there is only tradition, but tradition is a very powerful force to vampires. It will be quite difficult to convince them that you shouldn’t join young Kyle in the cage. Oliver already cast his vote. I will be obliged to overrule him.”
Claire knew, without Amelie saying so, that overruling Oliver in his angry mood would be hard, if not impossible. Amelie and Oliver had struggled for control of Morganville in the past, and even though they had developed a kind of respect, that didn’t mean they couldn’t fight. Viciously, if necessary.
Amelie opened her eyes and said, “As the Founder of Morganville, I rule that Claire Danvers is innocent of the crime of deliberate murder. However, she is not innocent of all charges. Claire, I give you two alternatives. First, you will be given into Myrnin’s charge until you complete the repairs for which he requires your assistance. During this time, you cannot leave his lab, nor see your friends or family, nor rest until the repairs are completed to Myrnin’s satisfaction. I will not deny you food and water, however.”
Claire swallowed. “What’s the second alternative?”
“You can choose someone to suffer punishment in Founder’s Square in your place,” Amelie said. “One of your friends, or your family. It will not be the punishment Kyle faces, but it will be severe, and it will be public.”
If a vampire said it was severe, then it was nothing Claire even wanted to think about. And choosing one of her friends? Her mom or her dad? She couldn’t do that. She could never do that.
“Think carefully,” Amelie said softly. “The first alternative may sound reasonable, but there will be no sleep, no rest, no contact until you have finished your work. It may well be a death sentence on its own, if the problem is as complex as Myrnin tells me. You’ll find that such a sentence is brutal in itself.”
“At least it’s my risk to take,” Claire said. “I’ll do it.”
Hannah sighed and looked grim, and Richard shook his head. “For the record, I lodge an objection to this,” he said. “She isn’t guilty. You’re bending the laws to benefit vampires.”
Amelie raised her pale eyebrows. “Of course I am,” she said. “Morganville is still my town, Richard. You’d do well to remember that.”
“Then why have us sitting here? Just to make it look legitimate?” Richard shoved his chair back. “The kid’s not guilty. And you’re manipulating things to get what you want.”
Amelie didn’t bother to reply this time. She looked at the security guard instead. “I believe Mayor Morrell and Chief Moses are finished,” she said. “Please see them out.”
The vampire woman nodded, opened the door, and gestured for the two humans to proceed. Hannah looked like she might protest, but it was Claire’s turn to shake her head. Don’t, she mouthed. I’m okay.
“No, you’re not,” Hannah muttered, but Richard put a hand on her shoulder, and they left the room together.
That left Claire and Amelie. No guards. No witnesses.
“You knew I wouldn’t let anybody else take my place,” Claire said. “Why’d you even ask?”
“Because if I had not, Oliver would demand that I did so,” Amelie said. “I asked, you chose; there is not much room for him to disagree with the outcome.”
“This is bad for you, isn’t it?”
Amelie looked down at her clasped hands. “It is not the best situation I can imagine. Oliver has been increasingly unhappy with the attitude of the younger humans, and the liberties they’re taking. I can’t blame him; I am less than happy myself. This incident . . . We cannot allow humans to roam in packs like animals, victimize our people, and commit cold-blooded murder. It would destroy us. Measures must be taken.”
“Why not? You allow vampires to do it!”
“It isn’t the same.”