“Time?” Covey laughs. “Time, son? What you have done is run out of time. This woman has earned no kindness. She killed her own mother with plans to turn with the Rebellion—”

My heart drops. What is he saying? “My mother?” I whisper. I look at Arek and then Sassi in terror. Sassi shakes her head when she notices me.

“Covey, come out and show people who you are.” Arek turns to the rest of the table, “You all stay quiet, yet I know many of you knew she wasn’t guilty. Yet you all sit idly afraid. If you can give me time, I will prove to you that Navin and Japha spent years orchestrating this.”

“Your same old arguments won’t change the combined decision of the Powers and Prophets.” Covey raises his voice, while still indifferent.

Arek turns to the crowd and media standing chest to chest all the way to the back wall, “Many of you don’t believe in Remy’s ability to do this. Many of you stood by her through it all and declared war when she was executed. Where are you now?”

“They have no relevance,” Covey calls out. However, he quickly regrets what he has just said.

Arek swiftly capitalizes on the mistake. “You all heard it. Covey says your opinion has no relevance. Are you irrelevant?” The crowd begins to murmur. “Isn’t it strange that after the truth comes to light that Remy is The One—The One we’d heard about since we were children, who would bring peace to this world; after the world finds out about the edict over her, she is dead? Remy’s fight was always to liberate us while Navin’s ill-guided attempts for Genocide of the Ephemes . . .” He quietly turns to the Prophets and the few Powers there, “Yes, Remy stood against your control, Covey, over the Velieri. Was it you, Covey? Did you decide she’d become too powerful and so you told everyone that she was The One? Knowing the danger that would cause her? We spent many years of her life before her execution looking over our shoulders.”

The room erupts as Covey jumps to his feet. “That is contempt, Mr. Rykor.”

“Did you?” Arek yells.

“Take him. Now,” Covey orders the guards.

“No.” Arek’s hands tell the guards to stop moving toward him. “I will stop if you let me have her. This is not Remona, no matter how much we want to tell ourselves that she is.”

Covey is growing agitated. “She murdered Lyneva Landolin, a prominent figure of Velieri Electi, because Lyneva found out valuable information. There is proof that Remy was working with Japha and Navin for this Genocide, as you call it.”

Arek glares at him. “Prove it. And give us time to prove otherwise. There is obviously a reason that she has come back to us.”

Covey is finished with Arek and looks at me. “Mrs. Rykor, is this you? Fighting with Mak and Arek?”

“Yes,” I whisper.

Arek continues to fight, “Mannon, Jenner, Hawking . . . give us time. It is you who put the target on her back when you allowed the prophecy to be released. You owe us the time.”

Covey places his hand over the microphone and turns with red cheeks and a heated tone. For several minutes they speak, until two of the Prophets angrily stand and walk away. Covey continues, “Mrs. Rykor, you are hereby detained and must remain in the Cellar until further notice.”

“Hawking!” Arek calls out one of the Prophets by name. She is a woman with red hair braided down her shoulders and her eyes are as callous as Covey’s. “She will be killed within those walls and you know it.”

Hawking leans over to her microphone, “If we do not send her, what will people think of our justice system, Commander Rykor? What will they think of our ability to keep control? The safety of our people is most important.” She turns to Covey, who waves his men forward with an obvious command to take me. They have their weapons drawn.

“Navin and Japha won’t let up until they have her,” Arek calls out.

Covey grins even more, “Then what better place to keep her than the Cellar?”

The guards push me through the crowd. It’s hard to hear anything through the chaos.

“Are you irrelevant?” Arek yells at the crowd. “Is everything Remy did for you irrelevant? She fought for your freedom . . .”

The crowd starts to erupt, angry and fierce, making the guards work harder.

“Commander Rykor, stand down!” Covey yells.

They quickly pull their weapons and grab Arek and the others. It is obvious the guards are torn. Many love Arek but are bound.

Nearly five guards push me through the crowd, away from Arek, toward the entrance of this strange underground arena.

“Arek?” I call out, not knowing what to do, as my head still feels like it is underwater from Gyre’s digging.

The men tie my hands behind my back and lead me through the doors, saying nothing. We pass those who cry out for my freedom and those who cry for my imprisonment, but I can see in Covey and Hawking’s eyes that my release is not an option.

Suddenly someone breaks through the crowd, running straight toward me. The guards try to stop him, but he is faster and smarter. He slides on the ground beneath their arms, taking out my feet so that I crash to the floor. Then another man punctures the line, then another, then another, until the Prophet’s guards are outnumbered. The yells through the hall are deafening, as I feel the pressure of several people ripping, hitting, and pulling at me.

I am in darkness. I can hear Briston, then Kilon and Arek yelling—desperate for someone to handle the situation. Finally, several bodies pile over me, breaking me from the attack. Arek, Kilon, and Briston have thrown themselves through the crowd and lie there.

“Is this what you want, sirs?” Briston yells. The room quiets down as he cries out. “If she is Remona wouldn’t she have been able to help herself?”

The opposing sides of the crowd begin to chant. Hearing the chaos, the other Prophets, Mannon and Jenner, return and are now standing in the doorway. They watch the scene with bitterness, then turn to Covey and Hawking with Prophet Zelner just beside them.

“Arek, take her to the conference room,” Leigh calls out.

It takes Kilon and Arek several minutes to push their way through the crowd, and we enter a smaller room with a large table and chairs; several Japanese paintings line the walls. Soon the Prophets arrive, looking quite a bit older up close. Mannon and Jenner smile at me. Jenner is a woman with soft African features. Her skin is deep brown with freckles speckled along her nose and breathtaking eyes that expose clear intuition. She appears to be in her sixties, however that means so little in the Velieri world. Mannon is a kind looking man with pink cheeks and a round nose. He looks just a bit like Santa Claus, which is dynamically different from the cautious almost cold stares of Covey and Hawking. Zelner is the only Prophet that I am completely unable to read. He seems the youngest, with a straight face and silver rimmed glasses.

“That was a mess,” Arek bitterly reprimands his father.

It is obvious that Arek’s liberty infuriates Leigh, but before he can speak, Mannon takes center stage. “I refuse to allow this woman to enter the walls of the Cellar. She is not Remona, no matter the illusion that you are under, Covey.” Mannon’s belly moves in and out as he takes deep breaths due to his size.

Briston steps forward, “Send her with us. One week, sirs, and we will be better prepared. She will be better prepared. One week isn’t too long. And meanwhile, we have your word that your investigation into the whereabouts of Navin and Japha will continue.”

“Wherever she is, they won’t be far behind.” Kilon can’t help himself as he speaks under his breath.

“We’ve not asked you, Mr. Pierne,” Covey says to Kilon.

This only infuriates Kilon, so he continues. “They came for her. Are we supposed to believe they weren’t a part of the original attack?” Kilon’s confidence takes over the room. “The attack that left her for dead. If we hadn’t been watching her, we all know this would have ended very differently.”

“You’re this close, Pierne,” Hawking warns with long fingers. “You know what it means to question us. You are on dangerous ground.” Her eyes glare directly into his.

Kilon grins at Arek, “That’s a place I’ve never been before.” Arek can’t help but smirk.

“We take a vote,” Jenner says, her eyes stealing the attention. Everyone nods. “One week under Arek and Kilon’s care. What say you?”

Mannon declares, “Aye.”

“Aye,” Jenner says.

Covey begins again with a shake of his head. “There is only one answer and that is the Cellar. When the people hear—”

“Zelner?” Jenner interrupts Covey.

Zelner takes what feels like an hour. “One week. We can’t send her now.”

Jenner doesn’t need Covey and Hawking’s approval. “There you have it. Three have agreed. But one week and Briston . . .” She waits for his eyes to fall on her. “Only one week. She is still a criminal.” She turns to Arek and Leigh. “Leigh, it is your job to put out the fires this creates. Talk to the Reds and the CTA. I don’t envy you in this day and age.”