Mimicworld
an excerpt

"How firmly do you believe in the kaisei's loyalty, daisei? Elayn spoke at last, fixing Raven with a smile.

He paused, realizing the danger in the question. Damn seer, she had probably been waiting for a chance to suggest his own bias based on their common blood. "I could not say. I do not have all the facts."

"I didn't ask what you knew, I asked what you believed." Elayn turned to Jal. "Why not let the clan system decide? They have a way for such things, after all. I have the ceremonial dagger here," she withdrew a long blade from her sleeve, and Raven had a brief moment to appreciate the oddity of the peaceful seer carrying a weapon. "The two sei are brothers, after all. Let our daisei decide."

Jal sat up at that, thinking about it. "Let me see what he decides. Give him the dagger."

Elayn walked to Raven with soft steps, offering him the blade with both hands. He took it, feeling the weight of the heavy blade, surprising given its slim appearance. Enchanted, he could sense it.

There were two choices. Strike the heart, and he would be dead, paying for his sins with his life. Or, strike the eye, and the scar would mark him as an outcast from the clan, but he would still live, for whatever his life would be worth without his family, his team, or any place in the world. Mahja would be pleased with either choice, but most likely wanted him dead at Raven's hands. Serves our parents right, Raven thought sourly. Always thought he'd best me just because his eyes were blue. Now look at him. A worthless traitor.

He did look down at his brother then, taking in the man's pitiful appearance. Despite his lousy position and possible death looming, the man's expression was calm, eyes closed. "Answer me one question, Riko," Raven said coolly, balancing the blade in his hands. "You say you thought you made a lousy soldier. Why did you even attend school if you thought you were destined to fail?"

"...I'd rather not say," he said after a moment. "You would laugh."

"I hardly see anything to laugh about here. I'm about to decide whether you should live or die," Raven pointed out.

"It was something I wanted to do. I chose to do it. I had a reason I wanted to succeed, but it's very personal. I'm sorry, but I would rather take that with me."

He was already convinced he was going to die. Then again, that seemed to be his opinion from the beginning. And why shouldn't he? He turned against Jal. Treason was punishable by death.

Because he was forced into it, Raven recalled. Could he have said the same if his own team had been in danger? No, he wouldn't have turned against Jal, but not because of his loyalty, but his lack of empathy. Riko had always been a gentle child, worrying about others before himself, lacking personal ambition. It only made him more curious about Riko's reason for joining the military that he refused to give.

Eye or heart? What would the daisei do? No, what would he do? There was no hiding behind his rank, this was a clan matter now. It was as Riko's older brother that he was being called to judge the man's life.

"Take your dagger back," he told Elayn, casting it behind him on the floor. "I recuse myself from this."

"Running away?" Mahja smirked.

"Recognizing my bias, unlike certain other people in this room," Raven shot back. "The clan right has been invoked; this is now a clan matter. I am his superior officer. I cannot make both a clan judgement and a military one. I recuse myself."

"Well, this is troubling," Elayn said, putting a hand to her cheek. "The clan judgement has already been invoked. If not you, then who?"

Raven glared at her for a moment. Had she seen this outcome, knowing he wouldn't be able to kill his own brother? Probably the same way she had been prepared with the dagger in the first place. "Oh, there's a solution," he told her coolly. "We have another sibling. The judgement can fall to her."

"Raven!" Riko said in surprise. "Don't get Kelsie involved in this. I trust your judgement. Whatever you decide will be fair, there will be none that could say otherwise."

"Do not speak of things you do not understand, kaisei, and do not insult my honor," Raven spat. "I decide what is right by my oaths and my integrity."

Elayn disappeared, reappearing a moment later, holding the teenager by the arm. "M-master Jal," she greeted nervously, looking around the room. "Riko! Raven, what's going on?" she whimpered, chewing at her lip in her agitation.

"Riko has committed treason to Master Jal," he explained coolly, though he avoided her eyes. "Clan judgement has been invoked. The dagger is on the floor, you know the choice."

She looked from one brother to another with wide, frightened eyes, making no move for the dagger. Elayn picked it up and offered it to her. "N-no, there must be some mistake," she whimpered. "Raven, please say something."

"I have recused myself from this. You do not have that option," he told her. "You are his only other sibling. If you refuse this duty, it shall go to Master Jal to decide."

She looked back at the ruler, gripping the dagger tightly. "Mahja, she is not trained with a weapon as we are. Raise him up, that she may strike easier. I give you permission."

Mahja shot Raven a murderous look, but pulled the limp soldier up by the arms, absently running a hand down the other man's throat. If only it was his to rip out. "Raven...." Kelsie whimpered, turning to the sibling she had always been close to, that she now had to pass judgement on. "Riko, what do I do?"

"You know the clan laws," he told her, fixing her with a calm gaze. "Kelsie, whatever you decide, no one can find fault with it. What they're saying is true. I am a traitor. You don't have to be afraid of the choice. I cannot speak to you and sway your mind one way or another, but I will not hate you for choosing either option, Kelsie. It's okay."

The knife trembled in her hands as she slowly approached him, knuckles white from her grip. With a shriek, she raised the knife, plunging it into her brother's body.

Raven watched in satisfaction as his brother fell to the floor. "The judgement has been passed."