Page 78 of Last of Her Name

“Can you offer any explanation for your actions?” asks the judge.

Riyan pauses for a moment. His eyes flicker across the audience, resting on me for a brief moment before settling on his father. “I acknowledge that I transgressed our sacred laws, and fully accept punishment for that. I ask you to consider, however, the circumstances of my crimes.”

Damai and her sisters sit up straighter, exchanging surprised looks. I hear her murmur, “That’s it, brother. Fight back.”

Though he addresses the elderly judge, Riyan’s gaze fixes on his father, as if they were the only two in the room.

“My sister Natalya and I have always been close. I knew she was thinking of running away, and I should have done more to stop her. Her disappearance is my fault, and I had to make it right. She is my sister. My actions were taken out of love, and given the chance, I would do them again.”

Damai groans, her face falling into her hands.

But Riyan keeps his head high. He stares at his father, unafraid.

As I watch him, I can’t help but think of Clio, and the things I’ve done in the name of saving her. Risking Pol’s life, exposing the Loyalists to their enemies, getting Mara’s father killed, even landing Riyan in this trial. The list seems to be getting longer with each move I make, the collateral damage piling up.

And yet I know, given the chance to start over, I too would do it all again. Saving her doesn’t justify any of the terrible things I’ve done, but if the price for her life is my soul, it’s one I’ll pay a thousand times over.

It’s seems Lilyan Zhar was right.

Maybe this is me becoming the monster.

“Your words have been heard,” says the judge to Riyan. “Now we will cast our Stones.”

She looks to the judge on the end of the line, and he raises the object in his hand. Legacy Stones, Damai called them. As the judge focuses on the metal pod, its petals begin to unfurl, revealing a light in the center that glows white.

“A vote for clemency,” Damai whispers excitedly.

But the next judge’s Stone shines red, and Riyan’s sister sucks in a sharp breath.

One by one the judges share their verdicts, and not all of them are in Riyan’s favor. I look around the room, gauging the reaction of the other tensors; they seem divided, some nodding when a vote is cast for clemency for Riyan, others when one is cast for condemnation. The lights of all the Legacy Stones seem to swell brighter as each one is opened, soft beams of red and white blending and tinting the faces of the onlookers.

I narrow my eyes.

Then sit up straighter.

The light emitted from the flower isn’t just light—it’s some sort of hologram that plays over the crowd. I raise a hand to run it through one of the beams and see symbols dance over my skin.

“It’s a code,” I whisper.

Pol shake his head. “What are you talking about?”

“The Stones are projecting data all over the room—don’t you see it?”

“I don’t see anything.” He gives me a worried frown. “Are you sure—”

“You can read it?” asks Damai, pushing Pol back so she can stare at me.

I nod, eyes scanning the streams of data playing over her face.

Damai’s eyes widen. “But you’re not a tensor. You shouldn’t be able to read the sacred words. They’reours, the record of our genetic code, not to be shared with any outsiders!”

This must be the cybernetic code Riyan told me of, the one Zorica Leonova created. I’m looking at the pattern of symbols that comprise the tensor gene, only it reads as garbled text that makes no sense to me—all except for one word, which I see repeated over and over, rippling over the faces and bodies of the gathered tensors, flashing over Damai’s cheeks. I blink rapidly, to be sure I’m reading it right, as my skin seems to tighten on my bones.

“Pol,” I whisper, my heart beginning to pound faster, “Pol, there’s a word I know.”

“What is it?”

I lower my hands and meet his eyes.“Firebird.”