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Brisk footsteps gained on us and I felt, more than saw, Audric whirl and half pull his short blade I spun, ready for anything, but it was Elder Jasper and his pretty blond wife, Polly, who had been a half block behind us "Morning, folks," the elder said, his gaze touching each of us, a warning conferred in his expression "Hope you don&039;tin front of you" His voice dropped, not carrying beyond our s that violence is punishable by kirk sanctions"

Jasper glanced atas clearly as his voice would have, Wait! Instantly he looked away, raising his ar today?" He and Polly pulled ahead of us "I wanta thank you for showing up at widder-woether for the old lady was the blessing of the year for her Louis,better Richard, good to see you again Glad you&039;re back in town Joseph, hope that ulcer is better Saw the new el-car They call that color seraph blood, don&039;t they? Florence, I see you&039;re feeling better,out so you back at jubilee this week"

I sloatching the effect of the elder&039;s greetings Louis looked away Louis drank a bit More likely he was hung over rather than sick Richard ran an ongoing card ga kept him too busy to attend many services, and he stepped away, into the crowd, as his absence at religious events was co

Rumor had it that Joseph owned a still in the hills nearby, a still that made him rich and a lot of town men too drunk to worship or work He too roups of trouble her name in context with rabble-rousers made her flush

"Mrs Abernathy, no need to worry about Hannah Zelnant at all, let alone by a married man"

Mrs Abernathy blanched "I never said - "

"Of course you did To all sorts of people Let&039;s get inside and seated, why don&039;t we?" Elder Jasper said, shooing cowed people up the steps with his hands "Otherwise this crowd&039;ll disrupt the estured us past the dispersing group and inside Most of the crowd filed in behind us, boots scuffing, pews groaning as they sat At the door, Jasper said, "I believe there&039;s a special place for Thorn with the elders up on the - "

"Thorn will be sitting with us," Audric said His tone brooked no disagreement, and Jasper smiled and took his wife&039;s arm

"Of course This way, Polly, dear"

Audric maneuvered us to a peay down on the left and paused The location was an odd choice until I saw the fire door set into the wall, a quick way out if needed He leveled a gaze on the pew&039;s occupants I don&039;t knohat they saw in his expression, but all six people scrambled out the other side and into pews many rows back The row behind took the hint and vacated as well

Satisfied but dour, Audric heldRupert lead the way, trailed by Miz Essie and Eli, Jacey, Big Zed, and their brood When they were all in place, he releasedme in the aisle seat as if I were afor display Audric slid into the pew behind me and sat No one sat besidein the full church

A sour miasma rose, the collected odors of hu The Central Baptist Church had survived a battle on the Trine, the towering, three-peaked rock face that had risen two thousand feet during an underground war fought by seraphs and huainst &039;s foundations rested on a single rock,the church a place of power to me Unknown to the elders, it was a conduit to the power of the deeps I was lucky to have been brought here and not to the kirk That building was set above a strea a deeper quiet to the silent crowd The town fathers were seated at a long table to the right of the stage, the table set at an angle to the audience so they could see and be seen, yet leave a wide space for proceedings One of which would be me, I reht, Lucas slipped into a seat, Ciana beside hi up As always, my heart somersaulted Lucas Stanhope was the most beautiful man I had ever seen, even asted from weeks of captivity His cheeks were sharply defined, broide, nose a perfect line, blue eyes , wohter froe, the child of ht sertips at her She shouldn&039;t be here, shouldn&039;t see a townShe should be safe, in school, where illusions about her world and the people in it wouldn&039;t be shattered Yet, even knowing that she should be carried away and protected, I was glad to see her, her bright eyes alight with hope and trust Ciana&039;s presence brought a irl was se She crawled into her father&039;s lap, her back to his chest Her legs were encased in thick leggings and kicked on either side of his, her arms twined with his around her waist over her padded coat The seraph pin she alore peeked out The old church had no heat and her breath puffed, tiny clouds joining the breath of the throng Lucas leaned over and whispered, "She wouldn&039;t go to school Wouldn&039;t take no for an answer Said she had to be here" He kissed Ciana&039;s head with a worried frown and sat back

The gavel banged again The chairman of the town fathers was Elder Shae over all civil and criht before the district court Shaue of his generation "The meetin&039; of the town fathers of Mineral City will come to order I see we have quite a crowd for today&039;s proceedings, and a long docket Let&039;s get on with it Court&039;s in session"

The old ht as he peered from the dais into the seats of the condeht cursing Their iniquitous words were heard by an elder Upon questioning at the last town , they confessed, sentences were pronounced, and will be carried out posthaste"

The sust of cold air as a brazier was carried into the room from one of the doors at the front Once upon a ti praises Noas five burly, brown-robed elders, all ar poles with a portable brazier suspended between, the iron brazier glowing red-hot The others held Bibles and branding irons, all in the sign of the cross

Oh, saints&039; balls, they were going to do it right now I looked at Lucas in alar Ciana into the crook of his shoulder "No I wanna see," she said, resisting, her shrill voice rising Lucas quieted her with a , she hissed, stubbornly, "It&039;s not fair"

The brazier was set on the stage and the five elders, all young postulants, went to the pew set aside for the condemned The clink of chains echoed in the still air The crowd leaned forward in anticipation I stared at the cloak over my knees, the leather burned and scorched I&039;d suffered a lot for this town, yet ht forward in chains, a cross brand set aside forcame from the dais, the words quickly muffled Shamus said, "Now Mack, watch your mouth You don&039;t want to be punished twice in one day Mack here is charged and found guilty for cursing, lewd speech, and propagandizing in front of a schoolyard and the kirk Because this is a first offense, you have the right to address the asseht cause this court to go easy on you, but if you cuss again, I&039;ll have you duct-taped for the rest of the proceedings"

Mack started speaking as soon as the gag was re punished by the kirk because I cursed I&039; ensued while Mack shouted, "You know it&039;s true The Most High isn&039;t real The seraphs came from another planet and took our world It&039;s a plot, a ruse to claiht theh of the conspiracy clai tired

The rest of Mack&039;s words were ible noises, and sounds of struggle Vibrations thudded through the wood floor "May you find absolution and forgiveness in the countenance of the Most High," Shah to hear his skin sizzle I stared hard at ed not to quiver when Mack&039;s half-stifled scream echoed dully off the church walls The reek of burned human flesh combined with the sour stink of the room My stomach rebelled I pressed a fist hard into ed Mack by his shoulders off the platforh the church, within inches ofbetween them and one of the men held him by the hair so the crowd could see his face A two-inch cross had been burned into his left cheek, the top bar near the outer corner of his eye The brand had pressed deep enough to sear bone, and the cross was blackened, flesh puckered and blistered

Tears of Taharial My fingers started tingling, ht, panic h my muscles I closed ht forward, also a member of the EIH, a repeat offender This wouldn&039;t be his first punishinal brand had been poorly done, the flesh on the left side of his face drawing up, pulling hishis s, persecuted for speaking out against the High Host of the Seraphi council of seraphs

Fro the elders, fighting When the brand was applied, he whipped his body hard The hot iron dug into his flesh as he wrenched away, tearing the cheek in a gush of blood I wanted to gag

I looked at Ciana She had stopped struggling, her head buried in Lucas&039; shoulder Thank God She shouldn&039;t see this - no one should - though the townsfolk were enjoying the show I smelled ain

A woman&039;s voice carried from the back of the room as the man was carted past, the words rapid-fire, without a space between for an answer "Do you repent of the blasphe to say to our viewers? What does your fa the Earth Invasion Heretics?"

As one, the entire crowd craned around Romona Benson, the television reporter, held a microphone to the injured man Like he could talk with his face ripped half away Behind her, a ca video of the prisoner and the TV journalist I guess brandings ht qualify as news, but I doubted the Federal Satellite Broadcast Adot airtiht before the town fathers for an infraction would be news I would be so sensational and scandalous My trial would be breaking news, interrupting every soap, cartoon, co to be on TV And so were the orthodox town citizens anted all ht e had spilled hues would rise up

My trial had been orchestrated, placing es It was a roaned underin fro ht I would bury my face in my lap "You will not hide, Thorn," he said, for my ears only "You will not"

I didn&039;t need the threat I knehat I was up against I sat straight, pushing away the sick feeling, and concentrated on the ment bench Once, there had been a pulpit, choir seats, a baptises&039; bench, there was a long table with seats for seven town fathers behind it To one side was a chair used as a witness stand, ts of seats for the accused and witnesses, and places for the younger elders who acted as bailiffs and guards All could be seen from any part of the old sanctuary, and were fully visible to the camera in the back

The town fathers - kirk elders and elected officials - sat in the judgment seat I knew only a few of them by name, and of thehtbeside hi with ood bet he had assisted with planning today&039;s events It was no secret that the elder and his son Derek hated all es and were powerful men in Mineral City The elder was orthodox; his son was reformed Neither man liked me I had spoiled a lucrative business deal when I melted the Trine&039;s ice cap and made it needless for the town to move Most people hadn&039;t knoas responsible for that Somehow, they had found out

I should have worn the dobok, I thought irrelevantly My hands were sweating and my breath ca as business matters came before the court - property disputes that dated back to the Last War, disagreeed hands during the tiues A delinquent payment on a loan was presented All were tabled for further fact-gathering, the gavel strident Behind me, the TV camera whirred Why hadn&039;t I just run?