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Whadgaf sat for interrogation before a panel of elders. The punishment for murder at the Auburn Order lair was death and the order has been ruthless in the execution of the sentence in the past. The panel of elders had sentenced one of their own to death before Whadgaf’s arrival. He had unknowingly baked bread with mold that caused the sickness and eventual death of two members of the order. He too sat for interrogation before a panel of six elders who listened thoughtfully to his responses to their questions. What is your process to ensure that these things don’t happen, Why were you unharmed by food that you prepared, Can you identify harmful substances in cooking materials? The man endured the battery of questions with no complaint and it lasted for hours, before the panel decided that his negligence was inexcusable. Death sentences on Hafjeran are generally very cruel because they exist to deter the masses from certain actions. As such, the man’s wings were severed from his body and he was pushed from the grounds of Auburn Order lair. Needless to say, the subsequent baker was very diligent about the ingredients that he used.
Before Whadgaf’s interrogation, there was an order-wide meeting to discuss how the family would continue in light of the death of their leader. Liuar led the meeting, he was the family’s unofficial highest ranking member in the absence of Marfgad and everyone looked to him for direction. They looked to him until they decided that he was unjustifiably sympathetic to the woman, Whadgaf who had killed their leader.
The members of the order gathered in the formal dining room that only accommodated their numbers because everyone stood as Liuar stood at the raised table. He felt uncomfortable leading the order from such a vaulted position and there was an obvious look of panic on his face as the murmuring of the order’s members pooled to create a crescendoing ruckus of dissatisfaction. One of the elders had to stand to quiet the room. The old woman, whose Auburn wings had dulled to pastel, almost pink, stood below Liuar, just in front of the raised table. She lifted a hand and as members of the order noticed it, they began to quiet down. When it was silent, the woman turned to Liuar and yelled up to him,
“We did not choose you as our leader, but you were closer to her than anyone else. We know that it is impossible, but we need you to speak for her, to decide what will be done with her killer, and to decide when we will choose a new leader.”
The woman stood there for a moment with her head cocked back, her beak pointing at Liuar.
He stammered at first. The look of revenge in the eyes of his family members startled him, mostly because he did not share their feelings.
“I…” Liuar stammered, and members of the order yelled at him to raise his voice. “I think we should…I think we have to exercise restraint. Nothing… there is no way to bring Marfgad back. But, she…she had a plan that we can choose to execute…”
A member of the order cut him off, “I understand that you had no confidence in her plan.” Other members chimed agreements.
Liuar’s head was spinning and he tried to focus. “I never questioned our leader…I questioned her…I gave her my counsel…but I always followed her orders. We should protect the girl. Whadgaf made a mistake…we can punish her for it, but we would lose the advantage that Marfgad has died to obtain.”
“He is not fit to speak for Marfgad,” someone yelled. “His voice is trembling, he’s petrified. We should choose a new leader immediately.”
The man’s suggestion was met with praise and it seemed that most agreed. Liuar descended the platform of the raised table and left the room. He would make no more decisions as a leader of the Auburn Order.
He would visit Whadgaf every day in her cell while the order chose a new leader, the elder known as Tiuel who was a general of Liuar’s brother before his death, and while they deliberated on the fate of Whadgaf. Liuar would take her meals and he would take her to sit before panel deliberations that occurred nearly every day after the new leader was chosen. When Liuar sat with Whadgaf in her cell, the guards would look at him and whisper curses at the man who had sympathy for the murderer of his own family member. Liuar didn’t seem to mind that derision and he focused on consoling Whadgaf who was usually hysterical after panel interrogations.
“They are going to kill me.” She would say with tears streaming her face. “I didn’t want to kill anyone. I was trying to be good. You know that. Tell them. I don’t know what came over me.”
Liuar believed her. He had watched the entire encounter, and Whadgaf looked to be possessed by a fury that reminded Liuar of old legends of fierce Hafjeris warriors who had fought with such veracity and honor that they were able to bring prosperity to the Hafjeris. Like that Hafjerais who first left the planet Wiis and defended the new planet Hafjeran from the bitter Bromeris who did not want them to leave. Or like the earliest members of the Realfen who gave their lives in pursuit of equality on Hafjeran. Whadgaf’s fighting spirit in the face of impossible odds had reminded Liuar of his own brother and that connection made him question his leader. It is why he simply watched as Marfgad was killed, because Whadgaf was responding to the primal threat that the Bromeris have always represented to the Hafjeris and there is never a justification for their involvement in Hafjeran affairs. Marfgad had brought the enemy into their home and Whadgaf had punished her for it. Liuar could barely blame her for that.
But he could do nothing to sway the opinion of the panel and at the conclusion of their questioning and deliberation, they sentenced Whadgaf to death. She was inconsolable until Liuar sat with her while she sobbed. She quieted but she never stopped crying. She was terrified that she would never see her mother again.
On the day that Whadgaf was to be executed, Liuar led her out of the entrance of the lair. It had been a year that Whadgaf had been a prisoner at the lair and Liuar thinks about the evolution of their interaction. He had been her overseer, he had administered punishment. And by the time she made the slow, shaky march to the executioner, he was her only defender.
Members of the order stood in a somber line with red hoods obscuring their faces as Whadgaf approached the man with the big, shiny axe that was bigger than her body. She was shackled and as she looked at the man, her reality came crashing down on her. She would die. The red wings meant to kill her. Whadgaf’s mind blanked in a familiar way, a sensation that had become familiar. Liuar heard her chains break and he knew that the girl would survive the day. He was not sure if he would, if he even deserved to.
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