Fledgling

On the second night of the Council, Katharine denies Shori’s accusation and claims to not know where Jack Roan is. Like the Silks, Katharine accuses Shori of not being Ina because of her biological immaturity and human DNA. Although some members stand by Katharine, the majority of the Council ultimately votes to remove her because she is racist. The proceedings continue with the Silks questioning the Gordon family. The Silks call upon their own doctor to attempt to present evidence of Shori’s mental incapacity. The doctor finds her memory loss curious, but in the end, reaches no damning conclusions. When it is Shori’s turn to call upon someone, she questions one of the younger, unmated Russell sons because she assumes he will be more inexperienced with lying. When she asks him whether or not it is wrong to use humans as tools for murder, he vehemently says that it is wrong, but even she can tell he is lying. She is certain that the Council will sense the Silks’ guilt.

After the meeting, Shori goes for a run to clear her mind and returns to Theodora’s empty room in the guesthouse. She remembers how Theodora, shortly after arriving at the Gordons’, found her reading Ina history books and was fascinated by them. Later, Joel carries Shori to his room, and she asks him why he wants to be part of her family. He tells her that he likes who she is and how she makes him feel. She feeds from him roughly and immediately feels guilty about it, but he assures her that he is fine. Shori physically and verbally claims Joel as her own.

The next afternoon, Shori and her symbionts take a short road trip to distract themselves before the third and final Council meeting. As they picnic along the coast, they wonder about the Silks’ relationships with their symbionts. Shori asks her symbionts if they would be comfortable living with the Braithwaites for a short time while she acclimates to Ina life and comes of age. She also shares her plan to add more symbionts to their family and eventually join forces with another lone adult female.

Before the evening’s meeting, Shori approaches Margaret Braithwaite to ask about living with her family for a while. Margaret claims Shori may not want to live with them if the Council rules in the Silks’ favor. Shori still wants the Silks and Katharine to die for their crimes. Margaret tells her to be patient and to find her after the Council ruling.

During the final meeting, Russell makes a speech that appeals to his long-standing ties to the other Ina families and is meant to make Shori feel like an outsider. Shori chooses to question Preston. Because she is unfamiliar with Ina law, she asks if there is a process for Ina to make formal complaints about others’ harmful-but-nonlethal behavior; Preston tells her that this would call for a Council of the Goddess. The purpose of this line of questioning is to remind the judges that the Silks had less severe options for objecting to the genetic experiments of Shori’s family.

Preston goes from judge to judge, asking for their ruling. Some of them side with the Silks, citing Shori’s amnesia and the Silks’ upstanding reputation as reasons for their judgement. However, the majority side with Shori and find the Silks guilty of racism and murder.

The Silks are sentenced to disbandment. Their unmated sons will lose the Silk name and be adopted by different families all over the world; the remaining adult Silks will also lose their family name and be forced to keep the peace with the Matthews and Gordons for a minimum of 300 years. Each member of the Silk family must verbally accept their sentence or be sentenced to death. Russell Silk angrily refuses, launching himself at Shori and calling her several slurs, suggesting she will be the downfall of the Ina species. He is stopped by his brothers and sons, while the Gordons stand with Shori, ready to defend her. Russell then asks if Shori will join another family, and she realizes he is looking for a loophole: If Shori is no longer a Matthews, he can kill her without defying the sentence. Eventually, Russell, Milo, and the other Silks grudgingly accept their sentence, and the younger Silks are taken away from them.

Katharine is sentenced to amputation of both legs. She rejects the sentence because she claims murdering Theodora was a “minor crime” (303). Shori is outraged. Even when threatened with execution, Katharine refuses to accept her sentence, which prompts Preston to call for a break so she can rethink her decision. During the break, as Shori and her symbionts talk outside, Katharine charges toward Shori with a rifle. As Shori rushes to protect her symbionts, Katharine fires and hits her; Shori tackles her. They struggle on the ground until Shori tears out Katharine’s throat and breaks her neck before passing out.

When Shori wakes in her bed, she smells “meat” and blindly grabs for it—before realizing it is a yelling Wright. She stops herself from attacking him, and he offers her beef to help her recover. Shori scolds Wright for risking his life by being near her while she is injured, but he says he trusted her not to hurt him. He explains that the Gordon sons beheaded Katharine and burned her body, because the host family is responsible for executions. Katharine’s sister accepted the judgment on her family’s behalf, so Shori is safe from future attacks. Wright says the Braithwaites have invited Shori and her family to stay with them for a few years. Shori realizes that with her Biological Family (and Theodora) avenged and her symbionts safe, she can move on with her new family.