Silence crushed the hall for a long moment.
Then, slowly, one of the senior gods stepped forward —
Agnihrid, the Fire Sentinel, voice trembling beneath forced authority:
Agnihrid (fearful but pretending confidence)
"G-Gahana-Dev… your wrath is understandable but—
Hemketu… he was… becoming uncontrollable.
For the safety of the realms, a… decision had to be made."
Banesh's expression didn't change.
He only blinked once.
Agnihrid swallowed.
---
A second official — Jalodbhav, the Sea Envoy — raised his chin, trying to defend himself.
Jalodbhav (defensive, arrogant)
"He attacked mortals, stirred storms, disrupted the balance!
We acted only because you refused to restrain him!
You treated a dangerous beast like a beloved—"
His voice died when Banesh looked at him.
---
From the left, Maithali, Goddess of Winds, spoke softly:
Maithali (hesitant, regretful)
"Banesh… I—I begged them not to do it.
I told them you would be devastated.
I knew… I knew what Hemketu meant to you…"
A tear slid down her cheek.
"But they wouldn't listen."
She shot a glare toward the council.
---
Then the sharp, venomous voice of Brahmaka, Head of Celestial Discipline, cut through:
Brahmaka (cold, judgmental)
"Hemketu was a threat.
A wild creature pretending to be a king.
His existence was a disgrace to the order of the heavens."
He pointed at the lifeless tiger king slung over Banesh's shoulder.
"He should have been eliminated centuries ago."
A collective gasp.
Even some gods flinched.
---
From the corner, a younger deity — Nalin, Messenger of Rivers — burst out:
Nalin (panicked, emotional)
"Don't say that!
Hemketu saved my life!
He wasn't a monster— he wasn't—"
His voice cracked.
He looked desperately at Banesh.
"I'm sorry…
I'm so sorry…
They didn't even let me speak…"
Brahmaka snarled, "Silence."
---
Another elder god, Surpati, stepped forward stiffly.
Surpati (political, calculating)
"Gahana-Dev, understand… we feared your loyalty to him.
You stopped storms for him.
Broke celestial rules for him.
Protected him even when he disobeyed orders."
He lowered his voice.
"You loved him… too much.
And that made you vulnerable."
He gestured around.
"The heavens cannot function when one god holds that much bias."
Banesh's fingers curled tighter around Hemketu's arm.
---
Finally, a trembling priest from the mortal sector stepped up.
Human Priest (terrified)
"I—I only followed divine orders!
We mortals… we feared him!
The tiger god… he came to our forests!
We thought— we thought he would devour us!"
He fell to his knees.
"We acted out of fear!
Fear, not malice!"
---
The hall descended into murmurs —
blame being shifted, excuses piling, lies cracking.
Some gods regretted it.
Some felt justified.
Some were simply afraid of Banesh's reaction.
And all of them sensed something monstrous waking behind his calm eyes.
---