Truth in Her Song

A crystalline judge. A human advocate. An attraction that could become evidence against them.Veya-Glass-at-Dawn once trusted flawless evidence—and sent an innocent scientist into exile. Now a refugee vessel faces forced expulsion from Cynosure, and every official instrument authenticates the recording condemning it.The Qelarin judge will not repeat her mistake. But questioning the evidence means challenging the court that defines her authority.Julian Arendt has built his career exposing the choices hidden inside supposedly objective systems. At forty-nine, the human advocate knows how a brilliant argument can ruin an innocent life. He also knows something is wrong with this case.Veya unsettles him for another reason. Her faceted mineral body can perceive sounds and vibrations he never means to share. Yet what draws him closer is her restraint: she notices—and lets him decide what to reveal.Their arguments sharpen into admiration. Admiration becomes a desire neither can ethically pursue while she holds judicial power over his case. As a rival adjudicator demands ever-greater disclosure, the refugees refuse to surrender their privacy in exchange for protection.With expulsion approaching, Veya and Julian must discover whether truth can survive a court determined to be certain—and whether love can grow without becoming another form of interrogation.