Jahrra gritted her teeth and was about to shout at the crowd again but Kehllor cleared his throat and roared. Jahrra balked but it did the trick. Several pairs of eyes were now trained on her. She should be nervous but her ire burned that particular emotion away.
“I beg your leave to speak,” Jahrra said, her voice trembling slightly. She dug her fingers farther into the polished wood of the plinth.
The great hall suddenly pitched itself into silence and Jahrra could have sworn she heard the flames of the lamps and candles flickering.
She cleared her throat, the sound echoing strangely, and said, “I wish to speak on behalf of Raejaaxorix, for it is because of me he has made this decision.”
She heard Jaax hiss in a breath next to her but she wouldn’t look at him. She was still angry at Rohdann for his comment and at the members of their committee for believing it.
“What he says is true. Shiroxx did visit me while my guardian was absent and she tried to get information from me.”
The crowd engaged in their quiet murmuring again and Jahrra had to raise her voice to be heard.
“She came in the guise of a visiting friend but her words were meant to sow a seed of mistrust, to turn me against my guardian.”
“Yet it makes me wonder,” Rohdann crooned, “why is Jaax sneaking around outside of Felldreim anyhow? Are we not allowed to know what our leader is doing without our knowledge? How do we know he isn’t flying off to Rhiim or Torinn to feed information to Cierryon’s men?”
That garnered more murmurs and Jahrra gritted her teeth. Luckily Jaax spoke up, voicing Jahrra’s own thoughts on the matter.
“I was in Nimbronia, meeting with the king of the Creecemind on business concerning Jahrra. I am not afraid to admit it. But I hadn’t disclosed this with Jahrra and she used her best judgment in dealing with Shiroxx. However, this is not the issue at hand. Shiroxx used Jahrra’s loyalty and tried to twist it. For this, she is no longer welcome among our members.”
“But she didn’t outright threaten you, did she Jahrra?” Rohdann’s arrogant voice sounded over the buzzing crowd, ignoring what Jaax had said because it didn’t help his cause. “We have only your interpretation of what you thought happened. For all we know, Shiroxx was paying a friendly visit and you more than likely misinterpreted her meaning.”
There was a short period of silence and Jahrra drew a breath, trying not to lose her temper. “No Rohdann, she did not outright threaten me. What she did was worse. I know that Jaax’s decision, although perhaps a little hasty, was the right one.”
Rohdann snorted in disgust and a few others in the crowd added their own support of Shiroxx with grumbled complaints. Jahrra stood her ground but the number of those who seemed to be backing the female Tanaan dragon was larger than she expected.
“Sounds like you, my dear, might have an unreasonable dislike of Shiroxx, not the other way around.”
Rohdann’s comment brought several sniggers, an uncharacteristic outburst from Dathian and Kehllor, and a deep rumbling of anger from Jaax. It was also just enough to make Jahrra lose the last shred of control she had over her temper.
“And perhaps,” she called out over the restless group, “it is you who has been seduced by Shiroxx and not Jaax, for I can think of no other reason why someone might want to defend that manipulative, poisonous harpy.”
Shiroxx’s supporters didn’t like that comment, not at all, and Jahrra immediately bit her tongue as she clutched the podium, turning her knuckles white. Wonderful, she thought. I’ve ruined everything. Jaax is going to kill me.
Before the crowd could get too out of control she continued, shouting over the raucous Coalition members, “Shiroxx was a threat to this Coalition. Her goal, for some reason or another, was to make me miserable. I know this because she was succeeding to some extent. Every time I saw her she had some veiled insult to dish out. But do not hold Jaax accountable for this, for he tried everything in his power to get me to accept Shiroxx as she was, telling me I must respect her and count her as an equal. I tried, believe me, I tried.
“I wanted so much not to be a burden to this society that I kept much of what she said to me from Jaax. In fact, I neglected to tell him about Shiroxx’s latest visit; he found out from our housekeeper and even then I was reluctant to relate any details. I could live with it. I knew what Shiroxx was trying to do and I wasn’t going to let her rattle me.”
Jahrra took a breath and glanced at Jaax. To her surprise he looked neither angry nor disappointed. Jahrra felt her nerves melt in relief. If Jaax wasn’t mad at her for this then perhaps she could survive it. She turned and looked out at the crowd, surprised to note they remained silent, waiting for her to continue.
“I have mixed feelings about my guardian’s decision, just as many of you have, I’m sure. Am I glad he dismissed Shiroxx from our ranks? Yes. Do I think it will end her interference? Probably not. But the bottom line is, Jaax merely fulfilled one of his duties: he felt that I was threatened and therefore he removed the threat.”
And without giving it much more thought, Jahrra took a breath and said, “I, Jahrraneh Drisihn, sent by our great goddess, hereby second Raejaaxorix’s decision on the removal of the Tanaan dragon Shiroxx from the Coalition for Ethoes.”
She stepped back from the podium and held a hand up in a makeshift solute towards her guardian. The Tanaan dragon looked stunned but bowed his head to her nonetheless.
Once again and not surprisingly, the hall burst into discussion. Jahrra lowered her hand and looked out into the crowd. She found Rohdann easily, his black form rising above those around him like a tremulous thundercloud. His jaw was clenched and he looked ready to commit murder.
“I, too, second Raejaaxorix’s decision and lend him my full support,” Kehllor boomed above the banter.
There was a stunned silence for a moment, all eyes looking in shock at the young Tanaan dragon. He, like Jahrra, had never once said a word to the entirety of their group so his sudden desire to participate was a bit of a surprise. And if Rohdann had had any hope of his continuing loyalty to Shiroxx, those hopes were now shattered.
“Shiroxx may have been good to me once but her behavior can no longer be permitted. Our duty is to restore Ethoes to her former glory and in order to do that we need Jahrra’s help. If Jahrra is compromised, then so are our chances of defeating the Crimson King.”
He glanced up at Jaax then down at Jahrra, his mouth curved in a smile but his eyes sad. He faced the crowd again, looking Rohdann in the eye. The meek dragonling was gone, replaced by a young golden warrior. “It was I who was asked by Shiroxx to spy on Jahrra.”
If the Coalition received any more surprises that night Jahrra was sure the glass oculus far above them would shatter from their explosive reaction to it.
She shot a look at Kehllor, her face paling and her heart clenching in a multitude of emotions: surprise, fear, anger and hurt. Above all hurt. She kept her eyes locked with Kehllor’s for a while; long enough to read the truth in them. She had never seen anyone look so disappointed with himself in her life.
“I’m sorry, Jahrra,” he whispered past an equally surprised Jaax. “I was supposed to report back to Shiroxx that night when we watched the Sobledthe celebration but I couldn’t, and I never did after that. I swear it.”
Jahrra narrowed her eyes, ignoring the shouts and complaints of those around them. She believed Kehllor; she knew he was telling the truth. The anger and hurt released its grip on her heart but its bitterness remained. I’ll deal with you later, she told herself, referring to her bruised heart. Instead, she smiled weakly and nodded to Kehllor, acknowledging she accepted his apology.