Sol's Arc

Chapter 2 of 5

Sol led Onyx up the marble stairs to the council hall. Wren followed three steps behind, the mirecat still on her shoulder. Sol kept his chin high. He had a mortal in tow and a witness at his back. The elders would see him finish the thing today. The hall was cold. The elders sat in a half ring. Sol's father, Soliel, sat at the center in gold and red, the sun disc bright on his chest. He did not smile at his son. He never did in this room. "Speak your charge," Soliel said. Sol stepped forward. "The sculptor Onyx Ridge carved a statue of a demigod the council erased. He shaped her in black stone. He refused a priest. He refused a hound. He shows skill that rivals our own. I bring him to answer for it." An elder leaned in. "You bring him. You do not break the stone yourself." "The law is yours to speak," Sol said. "I carry it. I do not invent it." Soliel turned to Onyx. "Sculptor. Why did you carve her?" Onyx rolled his chisel between his fingers. "She saved my life. I owed her a debt." "You gave her a face better than ours," an elder said. "I gave her the face she has," Onyx said. "Stress lines and all." A low sound moved along the ring. Not anger. Something closer to interest. Sol felt the shape of the room shift and did not understand it yet. Soliel lifted a hand. "Slate came before you," he said to Sol. "He found no fault. The god of stonework passed the work. Do you overturn him?" Sol's mouth was dry. "I bring the sculptor for judgment. That is my task." "Then hear ours." Soliel looked past Sol, at Onyx. "The statue stands. The hand that made it keeps its chisel. The council finds no crime in good work." Sol turned his head so fast his robe snapped. "He carved an erased name." "He carved stone," Soliel said. "Slate agrees. We agree." His eyes finally moved to his son. "Next time, boy, settle a matter before you drag it to our floor. You wasted the council's morning." An elder laughed into his sleeve. Another did not bother to hide it. Onyx did not smile. He tucked the chisel into his belt and walked out on his own feet. Wren watched Sol a moment longer. The mirecat bit her ear. She wrote something on her palm with her thumb and followed the sculptor out. Sol stood alone on the marble. His hands were empty. The seat they had left him was still small, and now the whole hall had seen him sit in it. He had brought a mortal to be judged. The council had judged him instead.