"Counsel Network."
High Chancellor Magnus Blackwood's voice cut cleanly through the chamber.
"The Council has already ruled those documents inadmissible."
Percy did not lower the pages.
"Then permit me to ask one question, Your Excellency."
Magnus regarded him in silence.
"Have you read these documents before?"
A pause.
"No."
The answer came too quickly.
Percy nodded "I see."
He unfolded the first page.
"I shall read them regardless."
Magnus struck the silver table.
"You shall do no such thing."
Two guards immediately stepped forward.
Their boots echoed across the marble floor.
My pulse quickened.
Percy neither flinched nor retreated.
He simply looked at the guards.
Then at the Council.
Finally at the packed gallery.
"Three hundred years ago," he began, his voice carrying over the hall, "the First Council declared that Jean and Furla began the Blood Wars through their forbidden union."
"Enough!"
Magnus's command thundered through the chamber.
The guards reached Percy.
Before either could touch him...
Seraphine Velos rose.
"I object."
Every head turned.
Magnus frowned.
"On what grounds, Counsel?"
"On the grounds that no witness has been heard."
"No evidence has been examined."
"And yet the Council seeks to suppress both."
Her expression remained perfectly composed.
"If the documents are false, let Counsel Network embarrass himself."
A murmur of agreement rippled through the gallery.
Magnus's jaw tightened.
Percy offered Seraphine the slightest nod before continuing.
"The first document before this Council is a military dispatch written by General Rowan Ashcroft."
He held the brittle parchment high enough for the courtroom artists to sketch it.
"It bears the royal seal of the White Colony."
He read.
'The eastern villages have fallen. Fighting between the Houses has entered its twenty-third day.'
Percy lowered the page.
"The date."
He looked directly at the councillors.
"Twenty-three days..."
He paused deliberately.
"...before Jean and Furla were declared fugitives."
Silence.
No one moved.
No one breathed.
Percy's voice became quieter.
"The war had already begun."
A woman in the gallery whispered,
"That's impossible..."
Percy reached for another page.
"The second document is a speech prepared by Furla "
Magnus rose abruptly.
"The Council orders those papers surrendered!"
No one obeyed.
Percy continued reading.
'No child should inherit authority merely because of blood. Let those who govern earn the consent of those they govern.'
He lowered the page.
"These are not the words of a woman declaring war. They are the words of a woman demanding elections."
The hall erupted into whispers.
Percy raised another document.
"A letter written by Jean Greyfen."
He read.
'If the Seven Houses refuse the people's voice, then history will remember not their crowns, but their fear.'
He closed the letter.
"Jean Greyfen was not attempting to overthrow civilization.He was attempting to reform it."
The emerald-robed councillor slammed her hand upon the table.
"Lies!"
Percy looked at her.
"Then permit the court to inspect the originals."
She said nothing.
Magnus did.
"The originals are sealed."
Percy smiled.
"There are originals."
The Chancellor froze.
The mistake hung in the air.
He had admitted they existed.
The realization spread through the chamber like wildfire.
Reporters scribbled furiously.
Students stared at one another.
Moira Files looked slowly toward the High Chancellor.
Confusion clouded her face.
"You... have the originals?"
Magnus did not answer.
Percy unfolded the final bundle.
His voice lost all trace of performance.
It became reverent.
"This..."
He swallowed.
"...is the birth record."
My heart hammered.
"The child born to Jean and Furla ."
Someone behind me laughed nervously.
"The abomination."
Percy looked up.
"No."
He read.
'Male child delivered healthy at the third hour before dawn.'
Another line.
'Removed from Tish under the protection of refugee escorts travelling west toward the Black Colony.'
The courtroom stopped breathing.
Jordan stared.
Seraphine stared.
Even the councillors looked stricken.
Percy turned one final page.
"The First Council publicly declared the child dead."
He looked at the seven figures seated beneath the great painting.
"They lied."
Magnus's fist struck the table.
"ENOUGH!"
The sound echoed like cannon fire.
"It is enough," he said, rising to his full height, "to dig up old bones. It is enough to reopen graves.It is enough to invite another war."
Percy did not look away.
"No, Your Excellency."
He lifted the final document.
"It is enough..."
His voice trembled for the first time.
"...to introduce the court..."
He unfolded the genealogy.
"...to the child who lived."
His voice rang louder
"LIAM NETWORK
Founder of Ogef.
Inventor.
Scholar.
Citizen of the Black Colony".
The gallery erupted.
My eyes nearly popped out of my sockets.
Ogef.??
My hometown???
Percy continued over the noise.
"Liam Network married a human woman.They had children.Those children had children.The bloodline continued. No monsters. No plague. No apocalypse. No end of the world."
Only people.
Only families.
Only history.
Then Percy slowly lowered the genealogy.
His eyes found mine.
Then they returned to the Council.
"My name..."
He said quietly.
"...is Percy Network."
The uproar became deafening.
I looked at him with my mouth hanging open.
I finally understood.
He wasn't merely defending me.
He was standing in the witness box himself.
Across the chamber, all eyes turned to Magnus Blackwood.
The old Chancellor closed his eyes.
When he finally spoke...
His voice carried the weight of three centuries.
"I warned them..."
The room fell silent.
"...that one day..."
He opened his eyes.
"...the truth would return."