“Will anyone speak in Odawa’s defense?” she asks the gathered clans. Odawa himself has refused to speak, and there’s no one else. With the evidence laid before them, his own clan members know there’s not a single reasonable argument they can make. The war Odawa almost brought upon us is too serious a matter, and it’s obvious that while Odawa might not have tried to start a war with deliberate intent, he still acted with complete disregard for the hard-won treaties we’ve made with fairy and so put every cousin in danger.

And he certainly had a hand in the bogans’ killing of a number of cerva. The silence holds for a long space of time, but it can’t hold forever.

In a moment, judgment will be passed and the punishment laid out.

In a moment, the deaths beginning with Mira and carrying on to so many others will finally be avenged.

In a moment, I’ll finally be free of the curse Odawa has laid upon my life. I’m not even aware of what I’m doing as I stand up.

“I will,” I say.

The weight of all those gazes is heavy. I see surprise. I see anger.

The truth is, I’ve surprised myself. But I’ve been thinking of Mira, of how she would feel about this. She was like the cerva in that way—at least those of Walker’s clan. She always saw the best in people. She railed against the injustices of the world and never believed that violence was a better answer than compassion and understanding.

Like Anwatan’s response to Minisino, Mira would never have agreed to a solution that meant anyone’s certain death—not even that of her own murderer.

“I don’t excuse what he’s done,” I say, “but circumstances drove him to do what he did. Perhaps when I plucked out the eyes of what I thought was a dead salmon, I also damaged something in his mind because his single-minded pursuit of me over the years, the deaths he has caused, seem to me to be caused by madness, not the calm wisdom for which the salmon clan is known.”

I don’t look in Raven’s direction as I speak, but I can feel his angry gaze on me.

“Are you saying he’s guilty or not?” Moon Song asks.

“He’s guilty,” I reply, “but I don’t believe either death or banishment is the answer.”

“And what would be the proper punishment?” Raven asks.

I don’t turn to look at him, keeping my gaze on Moon Song.