Read In Situ for Free Online

whispered to him by the Creator himself, and carved in stone—must be strictly followed. Why laws if they were not to be enforced? There was little room for exception. Exception led to anarchy, and anarchy would lead to the end of the clan.
    “Perhaps banishment. ” Another of the Arzat great Elders, Ag stood to speak, Xan automatically yielding the floor to him due to Ag’s seniority. “Mot is young. I agree that what he did was a major transgression, but who among us was not equally curious at his age?” Ag, one of the oldest of the Elders, was considered most wise, and therefore had the greatest sway with the Council. He was not particularly fond of Mot, but was not past admiring the courage it must have taken him to venture out on his own. His eyes were the color of blood, ringed with orange and yellow. His skin glistened green and blue in the light, but his scales showed the dry cracks of age. It was rumored that Ag had already seen more than seven by eight seasons. His midsection was wrapped in the finest of animal skins, a mixture of green and silver textures that were not so different from his own. Despite his age and a pronounced bulge in his stomach, his body still displayed the fine musculature of a Great Hunter—though he had long ago risen high enough in the clan hierarchy that hunting was no longer required of him, and would probably have been unwise. A part of him occasionally missed the excitement of a good hunt, but the ache in his joints as he stood before the group painfully reminded him of his age.
    “Perhaps death is enough,” he went on, trying to bring swift closure to the matter , his eyes directed at Mot. “Would the Council think that sufficient?” Death was always so much more final. With banishment, the clan was likely to wonder for weeks about Mot’s fate. By suggesting death, Ag felt he was doing the young Arzat and the clan a favor. Besides, he wanted to be done with this issue, as he had more pressing matters to attend to back in his quarters, which had been inconveniently interrupted by the news of Mot’s transgression.
    A gasp went through the room. None of the clan would dare to speak out without permission, but that did not stop some low-voice conversations from taking place. Most of them were silently praying for the death order on Mot’s behalf, although not for the same pragmatic reasons as Ag. There was not an Arzat among them that was not terrified of banishment. In the Arzat culture, it was paramount that the bodies of the dead be ritually burned if the individual was ever to have a chance to reach the afterlife. Those who faced banishment were not only condemned to what would likely be a gruesome death, but they would have no hope of ever reaching the next world. It was the ultimate disgrace.
    Fet the Wise Mother, who had been seated far to the side, suddenly stood before the group, and another collective gasp rose up in the Chamber. Ag, with his last question, had effectively asked for a vote from the other male Elders, which meant that Fet was not to be consulted on the matter of Mot. She was clothed in skins even finer than Ag’s, and more fully wrapped. Her eyes were golden and piercing with skin that matched, and it was clear even to the younger males that she had probably once been a very desirable mate. Fet was the only female allowed at the Council as the laws of Orn demanded, for it was natural that the opinion of a female must sometimes, though rarely, be sought. Since Fet was the most senior of the females of the clan, she was also the most highly revered, and therefore allowed to be present. The fact that more than a few of the males in the room were directly related to her only increased her stature. However, since she had not been summoned to speak, Fet knew she was taking a big chance.
    Xan and the other Elders were momentarily taken aback. Even Ag was confused by Fet’s sudden audacity. As far as Ag was concerned, this was a very clear-cut matter,