Athyra POV

That damn sun was sinking over the buildings already, and my stomach was growling like a wild animal. I am so close to eating Myrra’s office curtains. Those council people said they wouldn’t be more than an hour in their deliberations. It’s been four long hours! ‘We’ll be done before dinner,’ they said. Lies. My stomach gurgled with hunger. Anger has been brewing for hours inside me. Being shackled in this form has been nauseating with all of this anger stirring in me.

“Ugh, I just want this over with!” I let the book I was distracting myself with drop onto Myrra’s desk. “There’s no book interesting enough to keep my attention on a day like this.”

“Are you anxious or is this the hungry dragon talking?” Eriz looked up from his book. He made himself comfortable on the couch a few hours ago.

“More like an angry dragon,” I pouted.

The door finally opened with Myrra beckoning us to follow her to the mess hall. My stomach continued to growl heavily, causing Myrra to comment on the growling dragon. She was the one who refused to cook anything with the trial going on. I was locked in her office all afternoon. There was no way for me to get food! Eriz was told not to leave my side until everything was settled today.

We entered the mess hall to see the council members and my brother glaring down at me. Did they hate me after today? These were people who had either just met me or wanted to use me for their own gain like my brother. Myrra sat me down in the chair in front of the council with the entire audience sitting on pins and needles behind me.

“Ms. Eshwyn,” Farah Galin began. “We have reached a decision.”

I nodded for them to continue. “You don’t need to drag it out.” My stomach gurgled loudly. “I am not sure my stomach will wait much longer.”

“Very well, Ms. Eshwyn,” Jonah Gigas agreed. “You are guilty of reckless destruction across the continent of Gleaca and unnecessary loss of life.”

Well, I knew that was coming. I nodded along anyway.

“For violating Article 29 of the Gleacan Treaty with the Dragon Nation, you are sentenced to serve the Gleaca community by completing every job assigned to you by the White Rapids Guild for the next twenty years. You will not be allowed to collect any money from the jobs, and you will remain in the care and custody of Guild Master Myrra. For the next five years, you will remain in your humanoid form, which will be maintained by Mr. Waller. When your service has ended, you will be returned to your brother for another ten years of service owed to the Dragon Nation for your crime.” Marta Black finished, and I felt my insides tumble.

My jaw dropped. How did my brother agree to such terms? Dragons weren’t meant to stay in their humanoid forms. Five years in this horrible form! They were imprisoning me in the worst way for a dragon. For twenty years, I will be penniless and a slave to the guild. After all of that is over, I will still have to work for my brother. I am only eighteen. I was supposed to have my whole life ahead of me. Now, the next thirty years were no longer mine to have.

“Ms. Eshwyn, do you accept your sentence?” Carter Wells questioned.

“No!” I shouted. Are these council people crazy or something? “How can any self-respecting dragon accept being forced to live humanoid life? Not one one of them would! Five years without spreading my wings. Five years of walking everywhere. Five years of remaining imprisoned!” Words were flying out of my mouth at this point. “You're sentencing me to five years of rejecting my entire identity. I won't be a dragon that entire time! I will be less than nothing to everyone. Kryzhany! How could you agree to this?”

Kryzhany raised an eyebrow at my behavior. “They wanted fifteen years of imprisonment in that form, Athyra. I talked them down to five. Honestly, you are acting like a baby who left the nest too early. You messed up, and now, you must face the consequences.”

Kryzhany wasn't going to help me here. He was sent here to ensure I was given a fair trial and punishment by dragon standards. I guess he sees this as fair, but it's torture. I have been like this for almost two months. It was different when I chose to stay in my humanoid form because I chose it. My choice is gone like this.

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“There has to be another way or a way to shorten the five years by some measure. Could I get off early for good behavior?” I tried to bargain with eight stern faces staring back at me.

Titan Mordue stood up with his palms firmly on the table in front of him. “This isn't for you, Ms. Eshwyn. Living a shiftless life will take a toll on you that many can't bear. I have seen plenty of beast folk die from such a burden, but you are a dragon, Ms. Eshwyn. You will live in imprisonment as atonement to these people who lost so much, trying to end your destructive temper tantrum. There is no other way. You are penniless, so you can't even pay reparations for the 113 people killed. You are too young of a dragon to have a proper horde to pay off such a debt, which is why you will work it off under our terms.”

That's how dragons got around such restrictive punishments. They paid reparations to the dead’s loved ones. What they didn’t know was that I did have a horde. It wasn’t big, but it was mine. Eriz helped me get an advance in pay from the scumbag. We had earned some coins when we did jobs for the guild as well. I bought a place not far from town where I stored my modest wealth. I can’t give it up. It’s the only thing I can hang on to in this humiliating state.

Eriz whispered to Myrra off to the side. I didn’t like the look in their eyes as they decided something about me. Hadn’t I lost enough control over my life? I am less than a dragon now, and I have barely been a dragon since the date with Katar. My pride and rage had taken over then, but it was just bottled up now in this state.

“What if she did make a reparations payment?” Myrra said, suddenly. “Would her sentence be reduced?”

“Well,” Titan Mordue considered.

“No!” I screamed. “Am I not humiliated enough? You have clipped my wings and gutted my future earnings. I am hardly a dragon at all anymore.”

“Well, that settles that question.” Titan Mordue sat down.

“Then, this concludes the Trial of Athyra Eshwyn. Court adjourned.” Grand Fairy Flora announced, and the council scattered off. Mylor Anifya was the first to run out of the room. He was probably rushing home to his prince if I had to guess.

The audience seemed content with my sentencing. No one objected or asked for a harsher punishment, so that was a good sign. Everyone disappeared around me in a blink of an eye. It was all settled. My humiliation was palpable to anyone who looked at me. I curled up into a ball on the chair where my humiliation had been branded upon me. The mess hall was nearly empty, but I felt unable to move from my seat as I tried to process it all.

I couldn’t feel my hunger anymore because of the broken feeling that overwhelmed me. There was some freedom granted to me in this sentence that the council had given me. I needed to focus on that if I wanted to stay sane in this form for the next five years in this wretched form. Myrra promised to take care of me if I kept my word to divert the council from asking about the wolf creature too much. I succeeded, I think. This was my solace for my disgraced status.

Eriz came and hugged me, trying to comfort me. “It’s over, Athyra. Why don’t we go find something to eat?”

I lifted my head to look at him. He held no pity for me. Eriz was here because he wanted to be. I am sure that will mean something to me eventually. “Not so sure that I am still hungry after that, but I can try.” I managed to answer. The anger had turned into a broken sadness inside of me, which felt worse. I traded my wings for friendship today. Was that smart of me? No. Was it avoidable? No. Can I live with it? I will try.

We headed toward the kitchen when Carter Wells stopped us. The plump woman that worked for the scumbag was with him. “Eriz,” Mr. Wells called. “Come. I have one more duty to perform before I go home to clean up another mess.”

Eriz stood next to Nefrisse at the behest of Carter Wells. He recited some words then a purple glow emanated from him toward the obsidian cuffs. He said a few more words, causing the cuffs to drop and shatter on the ground into black sand. The purple glow dimmed and the weight of what occurred set in.

“You are free from your debt to Talan Urdoy, and you may reclaim your full name once more.” Carter Wells stated before rushing off.

Eriz ran his hand over his wrist like it was foreign to him. Nefrisse cried like a chunky toddler. Eriz and his only family were finally free of the scumbag in every way. Nefrisse never had to return to that awful manor again. They hugged, and I felt tears threatening to escape my eyes.

“Growing soft, sister?” Kryzhany whispered in my ear.

I nearly leaped out of my skin at his presence. The heat of rage stoked itself back to life at the sight of him. “What do you want Kryzhany?”

“Just to ask what that guild master meant earlier. Could you make a reparations payment?” His eyes glistened with curiosity.

I knew he wouldn’t let that go. “Possibly, but I won’t.”

“So, you did start a horde.” He looked at me with pride. “Well, then. You might still be a dragon after all.” His grin was wide. “I will check on you soon, sis.” Just like that, my brother was gone.

All of the chaos subsided. Eriz and I finally got some food in us after a long freaking day. I had to endure spiteful looks from guild members and visitors alike, but there was no escaping this life. The mess hall shifted back to its normal atmosphere with people drinking and goofing off. Kids were running about with promises of becoming an S-rank adventurer. It felt calm, and I could get used to that.