The Return Undeserved

The vast antechamber of the Eastern Tribunal was colder than the wind outside.

Tall iron braziers lined the hall, their flames casting restless shadows across walls etched with the names of every accused who had stood here across a thousand years.

Jin Mu stepped across the threshold without pausing, Su Lin at his left shoulder, Shen Yan at his right.

It felt as though the stones themselves were holding their breath.

The Justiciar who had greeted them in the yard led them through a labyrinth of corridors, each more silent than the last, until they emerged at a high ironwork door flanked by armored sentinels.

"You will wait here," the Justiciar said. His eyes swept over Su Lin, lingering on the ragged edges of her sleeves, the old slave collar she still wore though the sigils were dead. "Your companions may remain silent, or you may enter alone."

"They stay," Jin Mu said, his voice soft but leaving no room for refusal.

The Justiciar inclined his head with the smallest flicker of distaste.

"As you wish."

The chamber beyond was built like an amphitheatre: rows of ascending benches in a crescent around a dais of dark marble. Twelve figures occupied the highest benches, their faces half hidden by the shadows of ceremonial hoods.

A hush fell as Jin Mu stepped to the foot of the dais.

One of the hooded judges leaned forward, pale hands clasped.

"Identify yourself."

He met that faceless gaze unflinching.

"Jin Mu," he said, letting the name carry. "Formerly of the Cloud Root Prefecture. Now of no house or allegiance."

A rustle of parchment, as scribes seated along the benches took down his words.

"And your companions?"

He turned, gesturing.

"Shen Yan. A free swordsman under no compact."

Shen Yan inclined his head, saying nothing.

"And Su Lin. A liberated captive of the Concord."

Su Lin's voice was small but clear.

"I…stand as witness."

A different judge spoke, this one's voice brittle with the patience of the old.

"You claim to possess proof of crimes."

"I do."

He extended his hand, palm up. The sealed sigil hovered above it, spinning slowly in the still air.

"This contains a full record of the Concord's transactions. Names. Routes. Bribes paid to magistrates."

Silence stretched.

He could hear Su Lin's breath behind him, ragged in the cold.

At last, the first judge made a small gesture. A scribe hurried forward, took the sigil in gloved hands, and retreated to the side.

"Have you evidence this is genuine?"

"I have my own Mark, by which it was extracted," Jin Mu replied.

"Show us."

He raised his right hand, pulling back the sleeve to bare the sigil etched in the flesh between thumb and palm. A flicker of white light pulsed there, the Order Mark that had cost him days of agony to forge.

The nearest scribe took it down.

Still, the judges did not speak.

The wait stretched on.

In that silence, he felt the weight of Su Lin's presence behind him.

She had no understanding of the Tribunal's politicking.

No sense of how much inertia gripped these halls.

To her, this was simple: they had evidence of atrocity, so justice would follow.

He envied that simplicity more than he could say.

One of the judges at last broke the hush.

"You come before us unbidden. You bear accusations against one of the oldest Concords in the East. What assurance have we that your motive is not vengeance? Or personal gain?"

His jaw clenched, but he kept his voice steady.

"My motive is what you see. This evidence."

"And no other?"

He met the hidden eyes above him.

"Do you think it matters why I carried this here?" he asked softly. "If the names it bears are true?"

A different judge shifted, the heavy folds of their robe whispering over stone.

"Truth is never the only measure," they murmured.

It was Su Lin who spoke then, her voice breaking as she stepped forward.

"My brother died because of them."

Every eye turned to her.

Jin Mu felt his pulse surge, but he said nothing.

"I watched them drive a blade through him," she whispered, trembling. "Because we were property. Because the law said they could. If you let that stand, you're no better."

No one replied.

But in the high benches, a ripple of discomfort passed from hood to hood.

She took a single step closer to the dais.

"I don't care why he brought this," she said. "I only care that someone finally did."

One of the scribes returned to the dais, laying the sigil in front of the senior judge.

"The Mark verifies," the scribe said, voice flat. "The records match known codes. Cross-referencing will take time."

The judge laid both hands on the marble, fingertips brushing the ancient runes etched there by predecessors long dead.

"You will wait in our custody until the validation is complete," he said at last.

Jin Mu inclined his head.

"We will."

Shen Yan's mouth quirked, but he said nothing.

Su Lin lifted her chin, and though her eyes were rimmed red, she did not look away.

They were escorted to a small chamber beneath the main hall: bare stone walls, a single table, three chairs.

It was warmer here, though it felt no less oppressive.

Jin Mu sank into one of the chairs, exhaling slowly.

Shen Yan leaned against the wall, arms folded.

"You've a gift for winning hearts," he observed dryly.

Jin Mu closed his eyes.

"They needed to hear it from her."

Silence gathered.

When he opened his eyes again, Su Lin was watching him.

"You didn't answer them," she said.

"About what?"

"Your motive."

His throat worked, but the words came anyway.

"Because it doesn't matter. Nothing I could have said would make them trust me."

She nodded, as though she'd expected no other reply.

Time stretched.

Servants brought stale bread, weak broth.

They ate in silence.

When the tray had been cleared away, Jin Mu leaned back and let his gaze rest on the unlit brazier near the far wall.

A thousand memories moved behind his eyes.

Old nights when he'd believed justice was a thing that could be claimed by simply proving the truth.

Older nights when he'd thought power was its own justification.

And the last night of all: the moment when the Concord's enforcers had come to his family's door.

When he'd hidden among the rafters, listening as they took everything from him.

He felt Su Lin watching, though she did not speak.

She didn't need to.

Hours later, the door swung open.

A different judge stood there now, a slim figure in a robe that gleamed with woven sigils.

"We have validated portions of the record," the judge said without preamble. "The ledger is authentic."

Jin Mu rose, slow and deliberate.

"Then you'll act?"

The judge's eyes were old and tired.

"The Tribunal will convene further council. It may be some days."

Su Lin made a choked sound of disbelief.

"Days?"

The judge did not look at her.

"You will remain here, under our protection. It is likely the Concord will attempt to silence you."

"Let them try," Jin Mu said softly.

As the judge departed, the door bolted behind them, Jin Mu turned to the others.

"We have to assume they'll come."

Shen Yan's expression didn't change.

"I'm counting on it."

Su Lin's voice was hoarse.

"And if the Tribunal decides not to help?"

Jin Mu looked at her across the small, dim room.

"Then we find another way," he said.

She nodded.

In that moment, he knew she believed him without question.

It frightened him more than any blade.