Fledgling

As Ina begin arriving for the Council, Shori discovers that many are distant relatives to whom she must explain her amnesia. She learns about many of the families’ connections and wishes to meet an Ina female, as she has only met males so far. Finally, she meets Joan and Margaret Braithwaite, who share more of Shori’s family history across Europe and explain that Ina need companionship to survive. They advise her to make female friends and to find an Ina guardian to take her in; according to them, Shori’s ability to stay awake during the day is an appealing advantage for any family. They exchange information and promise to keep in touch.

Daniel finds Shori and assures her that he and his brothers still wish to mate with her, despite her being alone. Hayden has reservations about their mating because solitary females produce fewer children, but Daniel and Preston believe Shori’s unique DNA will allow her to bear many. When Daniel hugs Shori, she is surprised by her desire to bite him. He tells her to wait because a bite would permanently tie them together, and she is not old enough. He prepares her for the Council’s proceedings and questions. The older Ina Council members will use their years of experience to detect lies and seek the truth, instead of blindly following laws like humans. Shori and other witnesses must convince the Council that her amnesia does not make her mentally unstable and that her account of events is true.

While punishment for lesser crimes is usually limb amputation (as Ina limbs regenerate), Daniel tells Shori that the Silk family will be disbanded, not amputated or killed, if they are found guilty. Disbandment is the most severe punishment because family is everything to the Ina. Before Shori leaves, Daniel almost lets her bite him, but she does not want to risk making him infertile with other females in case she is killed, so she restrains herself.

Later, Shori and company prepare a large room for the Council proceedings. Most of her symbionts join the ongoing festivities with the other symbionts; there is dancing, music, and food outside the meeting hall. Wright stays with Shori, and they wait for the proceedings to begin that evening.

Because he is the oldest Ina present, Milo Silk, one of the Silks’ elderfathers, must open the proceedings with a blessing. Shori is nervous but unafraid. We are introduced to more Council members and spectators. Shori tells her story into a microphone. Vladimir Leontyev, one of Shori’s maternal grandfathers, volunteers to be her advocate and help her through the proceedings. Milo assigns Katharine Dahlman, his oldest niece, to be the Silks’ advocate. The Silks try to frame Shori as mentally ill and unreliable, suggesting that she may be slower to mental recovery because she is part human. When Shori firmly assures them that she is Ina, Milo angrily denounces her as a “clever dog” (238). Joan Braithwaite reminds Shori to keep calm and keep her murdered family in her thoughts so as to not succumb to the Silks’ goading. Brook massages Shori’s neck to comfort and relax her. When the meeting resumes, Russell Silk, one of the Silk sons, takes Milo’s place at the stand.

Russell continues to deny his family’s involvement in the murders, and he and Katharine question Shori to make her seem dishonest and irresponsible. When Russell notes how short Shori is for her age, she calls attention to Katharine’s less than average height as well. The Council questions Shori, the Silks, and Daniel to seek the truth.

After the meeting, Shori and her symbionts go home to rest; Shori feeds from Celia. Shori notices that Celia has recently had sex with another Ina’s symbiont. Celia worries that Shori will be jealous. Her previous Ina, Stefan, did not mind, and this bothered her because she wanted him to be jealous. Shori assures Celia that she still wants her and accepts her. Celia claims that the feeding process is finally becoming more pleasurable like it was with Stefan.

The next afternoon, Martin tells Shori that Theodora has been found dead.

Shori is distraught upon seeing Theodora’s body, blaming herself for bringing her to the Gordons’. Guided by the various scents on the corpse, Shori narrows down her list of culprits. Martin assures Shori that the Gordons will take care of the burial and funeral. He also makes her promise not to kill the culprit should she find them. Although she is angry, she senses that killing a visitor on Gordon property would be against Ina law and therefore promises not to bite or kill anyone unless attacked first.

Shori investigates which party Theodora attended before her death. Celia recalls Theodora dancing with two men, symbionts of one of the visiting Ina. Shori and Joel question these men, who reveal that when Theodora left the party alone, two other men left after her. Shori matches one man’s description with one of the scents from Theodora’s body. The man is Jack Roan, one of Katharine’s symbionts. The other man who left the party after Theodora, Hiram, approaches Shori himself and remembers speaking with Jack at the party. Hiram says Jack left because he claimed to have forgotten to do something for Katharine. Joel knows this is a lie because symbionts biologically cannot forget their Ina’s orders.