Chapter 91: The Hearing
The noble council chamber filled slowly, high-backed chairs arranged in a wide half-circle around a raised speaking floor, the assembled lords and ladies dressed in the kind of careful, understated finery that signaled serious business rather than court spectacle.
Mika stood near the edge of the floor, smoothing his sleeves with practiced composure, satisfaction humming warm beneath his careful, respectful expression. Weeks of quiet cultivation had led to this moment, and he intended to make the most of it.
"The council recognizes Guide Mika Sorren," the presiding chancellor announced, "Formerly of the border academy, to present his concerns regarding the ongoing search efforts for Guide Julian Valerian."
Mika stepped forward, bowing with careful precision before addressing the assembled nobles. "My lords, My ladies," he began, voice pitched into practiced, reasonable concern. "I come before this council not out of malice, but out of genuine worry for the Empire’s stability. in the span of two months, we have lost dozens of Sentinels — trained, valuable lives — in pursuit of a single Guide whose loyalty to the crown remains, by any honest accounting, entirely unproven."
A murmur rippled through the assembled council, some heads nodding slowly, others exchanging skeptical glances.
"this Guide," Mika continued, warming to the familiar rhythm of his rehearsed argument, "rose from F-Class to SSS-Rank in a single evaluation, an occurrence with no precedent anywhere in the Empire’s recorded history. within days, he had secured the attention of the Crown Prince, a border commander, and eventually the Emperor himself, each competing for his favor while resources and lives were spent chasing him across hostile territory not once, but twice."
"you’re suggesting," Lord Ashwynne said from his seat, voice carrying easily across the chamber, "that this pattern was somehow deliberately engineered."
"I’m suggesting," Mika said carefully, "that this council deserves a full accounting of exactly how such an unprecedented rise occurred, before further resources are committed to a search effort that has already cost this Empire more than most military campaigns of the past decade."
More murmurs, some louder now, several nobles leaning toward their neighbors to exchange low, uncertain commentary.
"a fair concern," the chancellor said slowly. "does the council have any response prepared."
A side door opened before Mika could fully savor the moment, and Reid strode through it, still dressed in travel-worn armor, clearly having ridden hard and fast the moment word reached him of the hearing’s timing.
"I have a response," Reid said, voice cutting sharp and clear across the chamber, and every head turned toward him at once.
Mika’s satisfaction curdled slightly, though he kept his expression carefully composed. "Commander Calloway," he said. "this is a closed council session—"
"which I was informed of exactly one hour ago," Reid said, striding to the center of the floor without waiting for formal permission, "conveniently timed for when the Emperor and Crown Prince are both occupied elsewhere with the search you’re currently criticizing."
The chancellor’s expression tightened slightly. "Commander, this council has the authority to—"
"I’m not disputing the council’s authority," Reid said. "I’m disputing the accuracy of what’s being presented to you." He turned to face the assembled nobles directly, jaw tight with barely restrained fury. "Guide Valerian’s rank was verified by three separate proctors, using the same evaluation methods applied to every single Guide in this Empire’s history. there was no manipulation. there was no deception. there was simply an unprecedented amount of raw talent that nobody, including Julian himself, expected."
"that’s a convenient claim," Mika said, some of his earlier composure slipping toward defensive sharpness, "coming from someone who’s made his own personal feelings for the Guide rather publicly known."
Reid’s jaw tightened further, but he didn’t let the accusation derail him. "my feelings," he said, voice hard, "have no bearing on the facts. Julian held a mountain pass against a horde of corrupted Aberrations while barely conscious. he protected two strangers who found him wounded on the roadside, at cost to his own safety. he single-handedly destroyed a core-class Aberration our own classification system had never even encountered before, dropping himself to complete exhaustion in the process rather than let a single Sentinel die that he could have saved." He swept his gaze across the assembled council. "these are not the actions of someone manipulating his way toward power. these are the actions of someone who has, at every single turn, chosen to sacrifice himself for people who owed him nothing."
Some of the murmurs shifted tone, several nobles exchanging uncertain glances now rather than skeptical ones.
"and the resources spent searching for him," Lord Ashwynne pressed, though his earlier certainty had visibly softened. "the losses. surely those figures speak for themselves regardless of his character."
"they do," Reid agreed. "they speak to exactly how dangerous the enemy holding him actually is. an enemy this council should be considerably more concerned about, given that it’s demonstrated the capability to slaughter Sentinels by the dozen and coordinate horde movements with a precision this Empire has never encountered before." His voice sharpened further. "the question this council should actually be asking isn’t whether Julian is worth saving. it’s whether this Empire is prepared for what happens if the entity holding him decides its next target isn’t a single Guide, but this capital itself."
The chamber fell into heavier, more uncertain silence at that, several nobles shifting uncomfortably in their seats.
Mika, sensing the tide beginning to turn against him, pressed forward with renewed sharpness. "regardless of the enemy’s danger," he said, "that still doesn’t address the question of resource allocation. how many more Sentinels, how much more of this Empire’s strength, should be spent on one Guide, when that same strength could be directed toward defending our borders more broadly?"
"That’s a fair question, in isolation," Reid said. "except you’re not actually asking it in isolation, are you." He turned to face Mika directly for the first time, something cold and pointed entering his voice. "you were dismissed from the Guide corps for your conduct during a war council briefing. your resentment toward Julian predates any of these carefully rehearsed concerns about Imperial stability. this council deserves to know that context before deciding how much weight to give your testimony."
Mika’s composure cracked visibly this time, color rising sharp across his face. "that’s completely unrelated—"
"is it," Reid said flatly. "because from where I’m standing, this looks considerably less like genuine concern for the Empire, and considerably more like a personal grudge dressed up in political language."
The chamber erupted into a fresh wave of murmurs, several nobles now openly skeptical, exchanging glances that carried far less sympathy toward Mika than they had only minutes earlier.
The chancellor raised a hand, calling for order, though it took a long moment for the chamber to settle back into something resembling composed silence.
"this council will take both testimonies under advisement," the chancellor said finally, voice carrying the careful neutrality of someone unwilling to fully commit to either side just yet. "further discussion will be scheduled once additional information becomes available regarding the search’s progress."
Mika bowed stiffly, fury and humiliation both burning hot beneath his composed exterior as he retreated from the speaking floor, Reid’s cold, pointed accusation still ringing loud in the chamber’s uneasy quiet.
’this isn’t over,’ Mika thought, jaw clenched tight as he made his way toward the exit, several nobles’ skeptical glances following him the whole way. ’they’ll come around eventually. they have to. I’ve invested too much to let one commander’s outburst undo everything.’
But beneath the stubborn, wounded certainty, something colder and more uncertain had crept in for the first time since he’d begun this entire campaign — the small, unwelcome possibility that he might have badly, publicly miscalculated exactly how this would go.