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Chapter Three - All The Right Choices

Avanees came quietly through the doors and took a seat at the back of the room. No one had noticed her entrance they were so enthralled in their debate. Tangora, naturally, leading the offense, as Adomas held steady on the defensive side.

“He has broken one of the most important laws we provide! He has practically killed the child himself! Would you let a murderer free to do it again? Of course not! One must learn from his mistakes. If we tap him on the hand and treat him as a toddler, what conclusion will he make of this? That he can break any lesser law and receive even less of a punishment? This is absurd! Your heart is bigger than your head Adomas, and that is not a good thing!”

“So we should banish a man for loving someone he was not supposed to? There have been plenty of things you have done, Tangora, that I am sure you regret. Do we punish you so severely for it?”

“The only things I have ever done which hold regret to me, I do for the law. I kill to protect people. I slay the darkness at the Kingdom’s hands! I too am but a tool, so do not sit before me as if you are any better than the rest of us. I am the one left to deal the punishments and make the choices you are too weak to bear. When a traitor is brought to the council, a neighbor to us, I am the one looked to to dispose of them. I am the one who hears his pleas, looks him in the eyes and still must do as I was sent to do. Do not think that my heart does not beat the same as yours, Adomas! Do I not bleed the same shade as you? Some of us just know that our heads are placed above our hearts for a reason.”

Hearing this, Avanees felt a slight pity for Tangora. It is true, that the rest of them had always held the assumption when such a gruesome fate was deserved, Tangora would be the one to serve it. She was, after all, strong and vengeful, always ready to strike her opponent, competitive to fault sometimes. The most feared on their council for many reasons. Perhaps they were wrong in doing so, unfair. She remembered a few years ago, when Tangora’s childhood friend, Dergon, had been exposed as a long time traitor to the kingdoms. He had been in alliance with the dark ones for years, stealing away with their secrets, providing the dark ones with weak points in the kingdom which they could use as entrance. That was the most enraged Avanees had ever, and has ever seen Tangora. She was a fire herself, fierce and ferocious, ready to claw her way through walls to get to him. Screaming, crying, she had bared her sword and with one quick, strong thrust, pierced his heart. Avanees remembered the scene as if it was before her now, Dagon clutching the blade in front of him, the end protruding from his back. His eyes were wide, as if in disbelief, and so dark that Avanees was not sure they were

not completely black. Blood quickly spilled through his chest, around the blade and to the floor, as pitiful, choking noises escaped his stained lips. Avanees remembered Tangora staring into those eyes, tears spilling freely, but silently. She had thought the look of disbelief along with the tears were due to the disbelief and rage of knowing your friend had betrayed you. Now she thought, perhaps, it was because she thought by acting on the command of the council, she was betraying her friend. Regret.

Kastha’s grey eyes moved across the room, resting for a moment on each council member before she began to speak.

“I do not agree that any more deaths are needed today. I do, however, agree with Tangora that a punishment must be dealt. My proposal is that he Adel must never again see Mara. Not only that, but he will never freely love another woman. He will not be permitted to marry, to bear another child. He will not know the love a father will hold for a child, or a child would hold for a father, as punishment for the child he has already created. He will be reminded daily of his actions, as he rests his eyes upon the people surrounding him. His life will not be taken, but he will live a life of little happiness. He will not get the pleasures he wishes for, and will know little of love. This, I believe to be fair.”