It would be obvious Rory was uncomfortable with the decision. She hadn't said much else on the way back.
Emerson looked at Ellis, frowning. "Ellis," he said quietly. "You need to go." Ellis looked up with a frown, tilting his head. "Go?" "Leave. Leave the clan. You've been placed on temporary departure." The rest of the group fell silent with the exception of Aisling, who frowned at Emerson. "What? Why?" Emerson paused, his gaze flickering to her. "If my suspicions are correct, he is fully aware of what he did. If not, well, there's no shame in having him leave for a little bit." "I have no idea what you're talking about, Emerson," Ellis protested. "Can you explain it to me?" "Charlotte," he said sharply, and everyone in the room sensed that his patience was growing thin. "Charlotte. Maya. Now get out." He opened his mouth in confusion and Emerson's guise broke. "Get out!" he yelled, a little bit of fury in his voice. "Out! If I see you back here before a conclusion has been reached, you'll be exiled permanently. Get out!" "Emerson, you can't do this," Aisling said, sounding quite irritated herself. "Come on. Let's just talk about this." Emerson's gaze flickered to her and he raised an eyebrow. "Alright. You too. Get out." "What?" "Get out of my clan. You're too close to Ellis to be trusted. Get the *squee!* out of here."
Rory wanted to protest as well, but found she couldn't speak, her words catching in her throat. Blaise came in her brows furrowed and her head tilted. "What's going on?"
He raised an eyebrow, looking over at her. "You can be gone too, Blaise," he said flatly. "All of you are gone until further notice. Until we get to the bottom of this." "So what?" Aisling retorted. "You're being ridiculous, Emerson. You're acting like a child." He advanced upon her so quickly, it seemed like he might hit her. She didn't cower, however, looking up at him furiously from her 5'1" perch. "You can't scare me, Emerson," she shot at him. "You're acting like a bully." "Ellis may be guilty for murder, Aisling," he shot back. "Still think I'm being dramatic?" The room fell silent.
Blaise scoffed, her narrowed eyes watching him carefully. Hesitantly, Jaz stood up and went to Blaise, standing behind her and a bit at her side, as if preparing for anything that could happen. "Prove it," she told him, folding her arms.
He raised an eyebrow before turning to Ellis. "Fine. Ellis," he said, speaking very clearly. "What happened to your mother?" Ellis opened his mouth to respond before frowning, blinking in confusion. "My mother...?" "Yes. What happened to her? Where is she? Why is she not with you now?" "She... she..." He stammered, seeming to not have an answer. "She..." "Fine. Follow-up question. Where is my mother?" He didn't seem to have an answer for that either, looking at Emerson completely baffled. "See, this is my problem with the whole thing," Emerson said sharply. "He doesn't even have an alibi. Ever since we were kids, he's claimed he doesn't remember what happened to his own mother. Something doesn't seem right there, right? And now, I have information that suggests that Ellis should know exactly what happened to his mother, and the only defense he can muster is that he can't seem to remember what happened to her."
Blaise shook her head. "That's not good enough. That's not good enough evidence to claim murder and kick him out of the clan." She raised an eyebrow and approached him. "And you tried to kick Aisling and me out as well. Aisling didn't even do anything, and well.. I live here. This is my home. These people that you joined are my people. If anyone were to leave it would be you."
He looked down at her, raising one eyebrow. "You told me to lead you," he said sharply. "I have been given possible evidence that Ellis may not be exactly who he claims to be, and I have been offered no rebuttal. They have been told to leave temporarily until we can figure out what is going on. This home that you claim to love and belong to could be in jeopardy because you refuse to acknowledge that you may be sleeping with someone who has been deceiving you. Look at him, Blaise. He can't even tell you."
She hesitated, looking over at Ellis for a moment before her gaze returned to Emerson. "And what if he did forget? You wouldn't know."
"I remember how my Clan got stormed," he retorted. "I remember my father telling me to run as Plaguers descended on him. I remember the entire camp, watching it go up in flames. I remember arriving at the emergency hideout and seeing Ellis already sitting there. I remember having to find food for Ellis and I that first winter. I remember having to go out and scrape bark off the trees because Ellis couldn't get out of bed from pneumonia. I remember all of that. How do you propose that I remember all of that, and he remembers none of it?"
Ellis looked back at her, at a loss for words. Emerson hesitated, looking over his shoulder as Rory left, before looking back at the others. "I don't want this to be true," he said after a moment. "I don't want to believe it. That's why I'm not exiling you right away. I've done a lot more for a lot less. As I say, it's a temporary separation of Ellis and those affiliated with him and the rest of the clan."
He glowered at her, evidently exhausted from the stress of the day. "I'm not going to let him stay if I think there's even the slightest possibility that he could be a murderer, Blaise. One night out in the city won't kill him." "I'll go," Ellis interjected quietly. "I'll go. I didn't do it, Emerson. I don't know why I don't remember what you're describing, but I didn't do it. I think I would know if I killed your mother. But I'll go until this is figured out. Let the others stay, though. Blaise is right; they didn't do anything. If you're getting rid of anyone who's close to me, you should be leaving as well. Let them stay."
Emerson sighed, a little of the fight seeming to have gone out of him. Now, more than anything, he just seemed sad. "Fine. Blaise and Aisling can stay, but I want you out. You can come back in 24 hours and we'll see if we've uncovered any more information." He nodded and after casting one last look at Blaise, turned and headed to the door.
She was glaring at him, her arms folded tightly. She relented, though, looking back at the floor with a sigh. Rory was in her room, sitting on the floor against her bed.
Emerson left the room, heading towards his office, feeling sick to his stomach. * * * Lucy came over to Blaise, her brows furrowed. "Are you okay?" Aisling was fuming, looking after where Ellis had left. "This is such bull*squee!*," she said, anger sparking within her normally imperceivable face.
