Charles shrugged. “These things tend to iron themselves out. Especially for a dragon. I’m sure that if the Empress isn’t happy with the outcome she will step in.”
His optimism annoyed her, especially since he knew how dire the situation was. “Not in time. If they sentence him to death he will be dead before the Empress can do anything.” Though she did wonder if the Emperor would something.
Charles raised an eyebrow and asked, “Tell me again why you are so sure he isn’t the one that is attacking people.” Her heart sunk. If he didn’t believe her with just what she had seen then even with solid evidence he might not move on it.
“I told you, I was there.” Her voice low but adamant. She didn’t want anyone else to hear her.
“And of course because you are female they don’t believe you. Why didn’t you take Larkin with you?” It was clearer now that Charles was aware of people’s views of women and had protected her without her even realising it. Maybe he wasn’t as ambivalent to the situation but he also wasn’t going to be the knight in shining armour that was going to solve all her problems. When it came to Maynes and Victor she was on her own.
She sighed and settled into the seat. They would have to stop talking soon as the sessions started. Rayne felt a little guilty that she had left Larkin out but she didn’t want him to ruin his reputation amongst the other officers if he supported her while she went on a hunt for one of their own. But she had to give Charles another reason for not including her partner.
“Larkin is seeing a lady. I didn’t want to interrupt his courting for a hunch.”
He hummed to himself as he thought, but he didn’t divulge if he had come to a conclusion on Victor’s guilt and the session was starting so she would have to wait.
By the time it was Victor’s turn to appear before court she was on the edge of the seat and her leg bounced up and down in anxious energy. Charles reached forward and rested his hand on her leg, reminding her to hide her concern. Her heels clicked on the wooden floors sharply just as Victor was guided into the room and placed in the pen.
Victor glanced around at people. They had cuffed him and placed something around his neck. She knew of these devices as there were a set in the Yard but she had never seen them even taken down, let alone used. They were supposed to keep a dragon trapped in his human form and they must work as Victor didn’t walk with his usual arrogance. She would even risk saying he was scared.
Her hands clamped around her knees as she stopped herself from rushing to his defence. The magistrate called out for attention as everyone who had an excuse to be here had wheedled their way in to the bailey. He droned through the accusations and when the magistrate added in Sebastian and Eleanor’s deaths she knew things were not going to go well.
The trial was less than an hour and mostly that was because people argued over how the Empress would see the outcome of the trial. The only one who had presented evidence was Maynes and there had been no counsel for Victor. He could clearly afford one but she wondered if it would have made a difference even if he had one. Everyone had convicted Victor before they had come to court.
Rayne looked around for Harlen and his dragon hunter wife, Lala. She eventually spotted them on the other side of the bailey. They must have snuck in as they were standing in the doorway. All the seats had already been taken.
Harlen stood with his arms crossed over his chest. Lala frowned at the proceedings but that could be in concentration to make out the several different conversations that took place on the floor. It was clear they weren’t planning to make any move or give an opinion on what the Emperor of the dragons would think of the humans trying and executing one of his own.
When Victor was convicted and sentenced to death the air left her lungs and she felt light headed. She had known it was coming but when the door shut on the inevitable it crushed her.
Chapter Eighteen
It was harder to find Harlen than she had expected. He didn’t have a home in Londinuim and he hadn’t been staying with Victor. Apparently dragons were territorial and unless they were in the same collection they never cohabitated. In the end she found Harlen staying at a posh hotel.
Nervous, she straightened her coat before she knocked on the door. The adjustment did little to put her straight as the rush to find Harlen and Lala had discombobulated her. As an afterthought she patted at her hair to make sure everything was still in place as she waited for the door to open.
Lala answered the door. Seemingly unsurprised to have a female bobby at her door, she stepped back silently inviting her inside. Lala was no longer masquerading as a lady and wore leather leggings with a multitude of weapons strapped to her.
Harlen asked, “Who is it?”
“Victor’s mate.” Lala called back to Harlen. Rayne had introduced herself at the ball so Lala knew her name. It bothered Rayne that she had managed to acquire a new label.
Rayne coughed. “We aren’t mated.” It frightened her that there was a silent ‘yet’ in that answer. Lala must have heard it as well as she raised her eyebrows. Rayne wasn’t sure where Lala had heard that Victor had offered for her. But since their job was to investigate it actually gave her hope that they were good at their job.
Harlen came into the room from the dressing room. He was buttoning up his top and asked, “What does she want?”
Rayne didn’t prevaricate, “We have to save Victor.”
Lala sighed. Maybe she felt like Rayne, genuinely sad at the outcome of the trial and the situation they all found themselves in. “We can’t. We’d love to but there has been trouble here already. The humans keep accusing us that we interfere in England too much. If we were on the continent they wouldn’t pretend and just acknowledge that they can’t do anything without the dragons interfering.”
Harlen let out a pleased sound and said, “You are sounding like me, love.” He finished dressing and ran his hand through his hair as the entirety of his ablutions.
Lala ignored his interruption and said, “It has to be a human who interferes here.”
Rayne was almost too angry to hear the undertone of Lala’s words. She paced and came back a little calmer. “Are you saying that I should rescue him? I would ruin my career.”
Lala’s eyes softened. “Is he worth it? Is a man’s life worth it?”
Harlen added unhelpfully, “Dragon.”
Lala flapped a hand at him to urge him to silence as she kept her gaze on Rayne.
Rayne let out a breath. “It isn’t that easy.”
Lala let a sad smile touch her lips. “Life is complicated.” She turned to Harlen. “Do you have anything for her?”
He narrowed his eyes. “Why do you keep giving away my collection?”
Lala placed a fist on her waist and raised an eyebrow at Harlen. “Our collection. Now hand it over.” If this was slavery between dragons and their mate she could see what Victor meant when he said it was about owning each other.
Harlen sighed and a small flash of blue light revealed he had brought a small box into reality. It was decorated with carvings of the Han on the sides. He handed it to her and said, “This should be helpful. Now we have to leave. We can’t be here when this all goes down or they will accuse us of having a hand in it. Even if we did.” Looking significantly at the box in her hands. She wondered what they had given her.
He returned to the dressing room probably to finish packing. Lala patted her hand that was around the box and said, “It will work out.”
Rayne hated that Charles’ sentiment was echoed when all Rayne could see was death and darkness. “I’ve heard that but I can’t see it.”
Chapter Nineteen
Katherine patted the covered cart and said to Everett, “He’s ready.”
Katherine smiled at Rayne and said, “Don’t be so worried. This will work.”
Rayne had always known that when society let her down there was one bastion that never failed her. Family. She hadn’t gone to her parents but instead her siblings. In this case t
heir expertise for trouble was in need. But her family always had her back no matter how mad her plan was.
“This is crazy,” Rayne countered though she was aware it was their only option if they wanted to save Victor and her career at the same time.
Everett lifted the handle of the cart and said, “Come on guys we need to be in place before the crowds appear.” He started moving without waiting to see if they were ready.
Katherine stayed behind as she had a different role to play. She held the box that Harlen and Lala had given them and smiled at them as Rayne and Everett went outside the gaol to where the gallows stood.
It was early. Even the bakers weren’t out yet on the way to work. It could technically be considered night time by most people’s standards. Rayne tugged her black coat close around her against the cold.
The gallows sat lonely in the courtyard outside the gaol. It was one of the few still left for the amusement of the crowds. Other gaols had started holding their executions inside their walls. The public uproar had convinced the authorities that a public execution was for the better. For Rayne it meant they had a chance to come up with an eleventh hour rescue.
Everett crouch down by the platform of the gallows and lifted the trap door. He scrambled inside. Rayne hesitated but went for the cart and took out the item covered in the canvas and slid it into the gap under the gallows. Everett pulled it in, his hands the only part of him she could see in the shadows.
Rayne hid the cart in a courtyard a block over and returned to the gallows.
Everett lay on the ground with his head out of the hole. He called, “It is going to be a tight fit.”
She crouched to fit in next to him. There was barely any space. They moved until the trap door wasn’t obstructed by their bodies. It was going to be an uncomfortable stay but one necessary for their plans. Also, a lot safer to go with this than any other plan they had discussed. She had called the mission crazy but it was well thought out and all risks minimized as much as possible. It would also mean no one would know she played a part in Victor’s rescue and that would mean her career was safe.
Everett asked into the silence, “Are you going to marry him?” She could have scolded him to be silent but there was no one outside who could possibly hear them yet.
“Let’s rescue him first before you start planning the wedding.” He chuckled at her sharp retort but kept quiet.
A while later they could hear people outside gathering around the gallows, ready for the spectacle that would happen later in the day. Rayne tugged on the collar around her neck. It was getting stuffy in the small space as the sun rose and beat on the wooden slats above. It was too tight to remove her coat so she would have to suffer the heat.
She could make out the shape of Everett on the other side of the space but the item they had dragged in here was between them and obscured him. With the lack of light she couldn’t make out his features though.
When the noise made by the crowd would cover whatever noise they made when they started moving the last pieces into place. They covered themselves and the item in black cloth and shifted everything so they wouldn’t be seen when the trap door dropped.
They had a little food but Rayne only nibbled as she knew they were going to be there for hours without any chance of privacy from her brother.
Footsteps on the wood above them heralded that the main event was about to begin. Her heart beat so hard in her ears that she didn’t hear them bringing Victor onto the platform. She jumped when the magistrate slammed a cane on the floorboards, slapping a hand over her mouth so she didn’t make a noise as he droned out the accusations against Victor.
The hangman brought Victor over the trap door. His frame casting gaps of shadow and light as they shifted him to where they could slip the noose around his neck. His head was covered with a hood so Rayne couldn’t even try to see what he was feeling not that she could make out much with the awkward angle and obstruction of the platform.
The crowd were extraordinarily loud as they jeered. Usually it was directed towards the hangman but this time it was towards Victor.
When the hanging commenced it shocked her enough that she jerked with surprise. The trapdoor dropped and Rayne couldn’t help gasping. Victor’s feet came into view and flailed around.
Rayne muttered, “Now, Katherine.” Even though her sister wouldn’t be able to hear her.
A whistle pierced the sky and then a bang had the people on the platform above them scrambling for cover.
Rayne hissed, “Now.” Shooting into action they uncovered themselves and she rolled so she was under Victor. His feet finding purchase on her shoulders and she rose a little. He slipped and gagged above her. Eventually he found his footing. He still struggled to breathe above her as the noose had already tightened and didn’t easily come loose but he wasn’t gagging. She closed her eyes, glad that the hangman had a penchant for not setting the knot to break a person’s neck. Charles at least had been a font of knowledge on the procedures around executions.
There were more whistles and bangs and Rayne could see that the crowd had also gone for cover. No one would see that Victor was no longer strangling. His foot slipped again but he caught himself.
Everett cursed and said, “A little higher.”
She arched her back, lifting Victor up a little more and taking the tension off the rope.
Everett called, “Now.”
She moved, rolling again into the shadows cast under the platform. Victor slipped off her back and slumped into the hole of the trapdoor. Crouching, she rolled Victor who still had the hood and his hands tied, so he was further under the platform. The noose no longer around his throat he could at least breathe easily so she didn’t have to worry about him suffocating.
She grabbed the item Katherine had given up for this rescue mission and wedged it under her shoulder. Everett caught hold of it and helped with the dead weight. He slipped the noose over the covered face of the body and then they both dropped down into the trapdoor. The body swung from their manhandling.
Her heart beat so loud that she couldn’t hear the fireworks anymore. She rolled further into the shadows and pressed up against Victor’s side. She covered the two of them with the black cloth, hiding them from a casual view from above.
Everett was crouched in the small space made by the trapdoor. He struck a flint and applied it to the pants leg of the dangling body. A whoosh above them and the heat told her that the body had caught as easily as Katherine had insisted it would. Apparently many of the chemicals she had used to preserve the body would aid in its combustibleness.
Everett took his own place again under the platform in the shadows. The cries from people were still in fear of the fireworks. None were about their body switching antics.
The fireworks stopped as suddenly as they started. Officials rushed onto the platform but the flames kept them back. The flames finally caught on the rope and the body slammed down onto the platform. Its legs were in the hole but most of it above them on the slats of the platform.
Rayne gagged at the smell of cooking flesh. She shifted the cover over them more as melted flesh dripped on them through the gaps in the floor boards. A splash of water drenched them more than the body aflame above them.
She tightened her arms around Victor and whispered, “Keep still and quiet.” She felt the nod of his head rather than saw it.
The wait was harder than the one before. Bobbies and other officials studied the now charred body, but at least no longer on fire, on the platform.
The officials muttered to themselves. One swore and said, “Freaky dragon stuff.”
Another said, “I didn’t know they burst into flame when they died.”
The first answered, “Who knows. One hasn’t died in a long time.” As she hoped they assumed the fire was a dragon thing. She had hoped if they hadn’t believed that dragons were weird that they would assume whoever had set off the fireworks had also managed to set fire to the body. It was better not to try anti
cipate people’s conclusions.
The burning had been essential to cover the tattoos and the clear difference in facial features between the dead pirate and Victor. The burnt remains were eventually taken away. The commotion went on longer than she expected even after the body was taken away.
When it was quiet again she shifted and offered Victor some food. Given permission to move he pulled the hood off his head. His breath taking in fresh gulps. She reached around him and untied his hands.
He ate while her fingers explored the band around his neck that kept him in human form. She couldn’t find where it latched. That would have to be a task for Everett and his tools.
Victor said in a whisper, “Thank you.”
She patted his arm. They were far from free from this situation. They had to prove Victor was innocent and convict Maynes for the murders before they could have their happily ever after.
Everett passed over some water but she didn’t take any. She already needed to go. Everett had produced a jar for Victor but there was no way she would relieve herself while in the small confines with Victor and her brother.
Eventually the sun that had beaten on the wooden boards above them abated and the cool of sunset settled on them.
It was much earlier than expected when Katherine tapped on the side of the platform and opened it up. She looked inside and said, “All clear.”
Rayne scrambled out first and rushed to an abandoned alleyway to relieve herself. By the time she returned Katherine was tucking Victor into the cart. Everett rolled up the evidence of their presence under the platform and tucked it in beside Victor.
Kathrine said, “It went swimmingly. Those fireworks really put the fear of dragon into the crowd. No one popped their head higher than a knee while they were going off.”
She chuckled as she remembered the whole thing. Rayne was just glad this part was over.
Lady Golden Hand Page 11
