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DRAXON
Seven thrones rise above me.
I stand within the black circle carved into the Council floor, unarmed by decree and watched by half the storm-court. The public galleries are open from floor to ceiling. Volvath horns form jagged ranks beneath house banners. Trolvor wings crowd the upper tiers. Soz'garoth charms glimmer in the charged light.
Humans line the rear wall.
Beatrix stands among them with two House Obsidius guards. The Council placed her there rather than at my side, a reminder of the position its law assigns her. Her mouse-brown hair is bound with leather. Green eyes remain fixed on me across the chamber.
We read the edict together two nights ago.
Its penalties did not surprise me. Demon law has always preferred destruction to uncertainty. What disturbed me was the precision with which it named the life we have begun rebuilding.
Affection rather than contract.
Devotion beyond protection.
Treason.
I expect Korgath to use it. I have spent two days preparing arguments against the law's purpose, authority, and concealed history. None will matter unless the Council first accepts that the charge applies.
Korgath intends to prove exactly that.
He waits before the lowest throne in a cloak of metallic gold and black. His ebony carapace has been polished until each old scar gleams. Both broken horns are capped with silver today, turning signs of defeat into ornaments. His blind right eye remains milky yellow. The red left eye follows every movement in the galleries.
Zira raises her dark metal staff.
The chamber quiets.
"Lord Korgath has demanded judgment concerning the conduct of Lord Draxon Obsidius," she says. "He alleges violation of a royal edict governing the human breeding program. The Council will hear the charge and its support before deliberation."
No verdict today, then.
The distinction offers little relief.
Zira lowers the staff toward Korgath. "Speak."
He turns to the galleries, granting the court a view of his damaged profile.
"House Obsidius enforces the King's law," he says. "Its lord carries Council sentences into the Grand Arena. His authority depends upon obedience to the same order he imposes upon every thief, cheat, and oath-breaker brought beneath his axe."
His voice carries easily. Korgath has spent years turning grievance into performance.
"Yet Lord Obsidius now places himself beyond that order. He elevates an assigned human above her lawful station, grants her authority within his house, and displays attachment forbidden since the first years of the breeding program."
He produces a narrow metal cylinder.
The markings match the copy Vulmar opened in the archive.
Korgath removes the metallic parchment and hands it to the nearest Council attendant. The Zonak climbs seven steps and offers it to Zira without lifting his eyes.
"Royal Edict Seventeen," Korgath says. "Issued under the seal of King Asmodeus. Never repealed. Never amended. Binding upon every demon who accepts a human breeding assignment."
Zira unrolls the edict across the arm of her throne.
"Read the relevant provision," she orders.
