Chapter 377: The Forest Table Again

The Forest Table had not changed, but Martin had.

That was the first thing that crossed his mind when Rangar led them beneath the enormous canopy and into the chamber where Forest Hidden's elders gathered. The polished table still stretched through the center of the room beneath living branches, while warm light filtered through the leaves overhead and fell across the wood in irregular patches.

Several elders changed expression when they noticed the Sairren delegation. Their attention moved from Mireva to the route-keeper and the elderly woman beside her before settling briefly on Martin.

Rangar stepped forward.

"They came from the Sunken Belfry."

That removed any uncertainty about why they were here.

One of the elders leaned forward. "Sairren?"

Mireva answered for herself. "Yes."

The elder studied her wings, then gestured toward the table. "You are welcome to sit."

Mireva remained standing. "As what?"

The question stopped him.

"Guests."

Only then did she take the offered seat.

The elderly Sairren sat beside her, while the route-keeper remained standing until another chair was moved closer. Martin stayed farther back with Alexandra, Kumoe, and Rias.

One elder noticed. "You brought them here, Emperoar. Are you not speaking for them?"

"No."

Martin looked toward Mireva. "They know what they need better than I do."

Mireva's ears shifted slightly.

The elder nodded. "Then we will hear from them."

Rias opened the evidence display but did not begin speaking until Mireva did.

Mireva explained the attack on the Sunken Belfry first. She described the copied route-song equipment, capture seals, and the recovery request tied to an ancestral-right claim. She explained how the attackers had learned enough about Sairren systems to corrupt trusted routes and imitate signals used by children.

Rias supplied evidence only where it supported something Mireva had already said.

The dark market request.

A copied tuning device.

The capture seal classification.

She did not display the Belfry map.

The elders did not ask to see it.

Martin caught the route-keeper watching them closely when that omission passed without comment.

When Mireva finished, one elder rested both hands on the table. "You are asking Forest Hidden to help defend the Belfry?"

"No."

Mireva did not soften the answer.

"We are asking whether Forest Hidden could serve as temporary shelter for Sairren who choose to leave until our home can be made safe again."

Another elder frowned. "How many?"

"We have not asked our people to decide yet."

"That makes planning difficult."

"So would asking them to choose before we know what they are choosing."

The elder considered that before nodding.

The elderly Sairren woman leaned forward. "If Forest Hidden can house twenty people but not two hundred, we need to know that before anyone hears the word refuge and imagines something else."

"That is fair," the elder said. "Capacity will matter." ℯℯ𝑙.

"Then do not speak as if it does not."

The bluntness carried no humor. It was a warning against letting hopeful language outrun reality.

The first elder continued more carefully. "Forest Hidden can provide temporary shelter, but not without limits. Housing, food, and security all have practical ceilings. Restricted training zones remain restricted. Dungeon access remains governed by academy rules. Guests cannot build wherever they choose or interfere with academy operations."

Mireva nodded. "Restrictions are not the problem."

The route-keeper lifted one claw. "Unclear restrictions are."

The elder looked toward him.

"If you know an attack is coming here, you tell us. If one of your people brings something into Forest Hidden that could expose us to the same threat, you disclose it."

The route-keeper's ears shifted. "Something like what?"

Rias answered before the definition could widen too far. "A copied route-song device?"

"Yes."

"A compromised capture seal?"

"Yes."

"A private Belfry route that the attackers might want?"

"No."

The elder looked directly at the route-keeper. "We need to know about threats entering Forest Hidden. We do not need your home's secrets simply because you are asking for shelter."

The route-keeper nodded. "That distinction matters."

Another elder looked toward Kumoe before turning back to Mireva.

"Forest Hidden already receives hunters who travel with bonded beasts. We need to understand whether Sairren consider themselves part of that structure."

Alexandra's posture tightened, but she did not interrupt.

Mireva answered immediately. "No."

The route-keeper followed. "We are not beast companions."

The elderly woman added, "And we will not enter this academy as a resource category waiting for a hunter."

The elder nodded slowly. "Understood."

Mireva held his gaze. "Then I want that understanding made practical."

"How?"

"No forced bonds. No ownership claim over route-keepers. No study of Sairren children without permission from their families."

The elder answered each point without hesitation. "Agreed."

Mireva continued. "No private Belfry routes demanded as payment for refuge."

This time, the elder paused.

The route-keeper noticed. "Why?"

"Because routes created inside Forest Hidden would fall under academy security."

"That is not what she asked."

The answer came sharply enough that the room quieted.

Mireva clarified the distinction. "We will not surrender the routes of the Sunken Belfry. Anything built here is a separate matter."

The elder nodded. "Agreed."

The route-keeper relaxed.

Martin watched the exchange carefully. This was what he had wanted when he suggested Forest Hidden, though he had not known how to put it into words. The Sairren were not asking for generosity. They were forcing every vague promise into something that could later be tested.

Mireva continued. "If a family comes here temporarily, it may leave. Forest Hidden does not gain a debt because it provided food or protection."

"Agreed."

"No hunter may later claim that shelter itself created a bond."

The elder's expression changed. "That would be an abuse of the arrangement."

The elderly Sairren woman leaned forward.

"We were attacked by people carrying legal language that called ownership an ancestral right. We are not interested in whether you personally find that absurd. We are interested in whether your rules leave room for someone else to make the same argument."

The elder's expression settled.

"They will not."

That answer carried more weight because now he understood why the condition existed.

The room quieted.

Martin had expected the difficult part to be convincing Forest Hidden to shelter the Sairren. Instead, the real work was exposing every assumption before trust had a chance to grow around it.

Mireva was not asking whether the elders were good people.

She was asking what would still protect her people if somebody here stopped being one.

One of the older elders finally looked toward Rias.

"You also brought a question about Cassandra Selfmore."

The atmosphere changed immediately.

Mireva answered. "Yes."

The elder folded his hands over the table. "Then we should settle that before we discuss whether Forest Hidden deserves the trust you are asking us to earn."