by Eva Brandt
Shit. Why did I get the feeling this would be even tougher than Darius’s case?
* * *
Malachai
Sometimes, being a vampire could be really frustrating. Even under normal circumstances, we didn’t sleep a lot. With the looming threat of either dying at the hands of the Alarians or potentially losing my mind to bloodlust, I couldn’t get any rest for two whole days.
When the day of the trial arrived, Alois kept his promise and popped up in my cell. He eyed me from head to toe and said, “You look horrible.”
I didn’t acknowledge his words. It was too dangerous to have a conversation with him now. He might be able to cast something to distract the guards, but the last time he had done it, the Alarians had gone crazy and tightened security measures. It might be best if I just kept my mouth shut.
Alois seemed to approve of this approach because he didn’t try to poke me into having a conversation with him. Instead, he simply reminded me of our plan and of the advice he had already given me. “Don’t forget. Ask for the High King’s Privilege. And be ready. There will be consequences.”
I shot him a look of disbelief. I didn’t like the sound of that, and I wished he had elaborated a little bit on those consequences when we’d actually been able to talk unhindered.
Was I making a mistake by trusting the ghost/astral projection of a stranger? Damn it all to hell.
“Relax,” Alois told me, having obviously noticed my skepticism. “It won’t be anything unpleasant for you. Well, not really. It’s just that the High King’s Privilege is in a somewhat interesting location. It’ll be a bit problematic for The Pure Council of Alaria to get it to you. But don’t worry. It’ll work out.”
“You’d better be telling the truth,” I whispered, “because if you’re not, I’ll find a way to track you down and—”
“Tear my throat out with your teeth?” Alois cut me off, sounding bored. “Been there, done that. Now, look alive. The inquisitors will come for you soon.”
He was right. It took less than a minute for Inquisitor Chen to show up, looking like his usual stoic self. “I am here to take you to your trial, former Guardian Braun,” he said. “Get up.”
I frowned, wondering if the hold Bjorn had on his coworkers was starting to wane. “There’s been a development earlier,” Alois explained, “during Prince Darius’s supposed trial. Lucienne lost her temper and Bjorn was forced to intervene. It appears that it might have had some side-effects on the people Bjorn used his magic on.”
I couldn’t believe he was being so nonchalant about this. So much of our plan was relying on Cardinal Vaughn and the fact that we’d successfully coaxed him to see things our way. If the mind control on him was broken, we wouldn’t have to worry about the curse for much longer. The Alarians would kill us before the trial was even over.
My dread must’ve been pretty obvious, or maybe Alois had the power of reading the mind of every person he harassed because he decided to reassure me. Sort of. “They haven’t killed you yet, have they?” he asked. “Don’t worry. It’s not time for you to panic yet. I’ll tell you when.”
That implied that a panic-inducing moment would arrive in the near future, but I supposed that made sense. Otherwise, Alois would have never gone to all this trouble, come to see me in my cell, or given me cryptic hints about a forgotten heirloom of the High King Alaric.
I said nothing, pretended Alois wasn’t there and went along with everything Chen told me to do. He was as professional as I remembered him to be, not too harsh, but not kind either. He was careful to not do any more damage to me than I’d already received. He even provided me with some feeding serum and a small dose of silver poisoning antidote in an apparent attempt to help me deal with my wounds. I didn’t really need it since I’d drunk blood from both Lucienne and Bjorn, and that had protected me from the natural side-effects of wearing the cuffs. Still, I wasn’t about to refuse it. I might have never liked the serum, but the nutrients would come in handy. And when it came to silver poisoning, an Accursed could never be too careful.
Once I was about as ready as I was going to get, he ushered me out of the cell and toward the courtroom. People stared at us as we passed, but I paid them no heed. The whole trip turned out to be both funny and unnerving since I had to watch Alois walk through several dozen oblivious Alarians.
The sight confirmed the fact that Alois was not a simple astral projection, and his nature was far more complex. After this was all over, I would ask him more about his true identity. I would ask him about that past life when we’d supposedly known one another. But to do that, I had to survive today, so I needed to stay focused on the present.
Walking into the courtroom was about as staggering as I’d expected it to be. The first time I’d been arrested, my case had been dismissed before I’d had to face judgment. I had been too busy worrying about Lucienne and Declan to feel grateful for it, but it was only now that I realized how lucky I’d been.
There was something really unnerving about being in the presence of so many Alarians, all of whom were completely focused on me. It wasn’t that I was afraid of them, not exactly. I’d faced worse. I’d gone against Mathias Vandale at a time when he had wanted to kill both me and my soulmate. But for a person who was a mind mage or had even the slightest inclination in that field, the emptiness that existed inside an Alarian could be a blow just as serious as a deliberate attack. I had never had a problem with it before, but today, the discomfort was very much present, and I suspected it wasn’t just because of my change in diet.
Lucienne was already there, with Bjorn standing by her side. She didn’t look well. Sweat beaded her brow, her hair was in disarray, and she was paler than Alois—which shouldn’t have been possible since he was practically a ghost.
My heart fell. She was clearly having a lot of trouble handling this, far more than I had believed she would. “Don’t panic,” Alois said in a warning tone. “This was always going to happen. It will take time for her to get used to the devastating power she can wield. She can handle it, as long as nothing else goes wrong. So stay focused on yourself and follow the plan.”
I did my best to obey, knowing he was right. It wasn’t easy, but I believed in Lucienne, and I had to keep my promise to her.
“Malachai Braun, you stand accused of engaging in scavenger activities, cooperating with the plague known as Mathias Vandale and attacking Inquisitor Bjorn Lindberg,” the king began. “How do you plead?”
“I consider myself not guilty of all charges, Your Majesty,” I replied.
It was true. Alarian law dictated that fallen guardians needed to be treated like scavengers, but that was stupid since I hadn’t done anything to deserve that name. I would have never hurt my soulmate, even if I had drunk Bjorn’s blood during the fight with the plagues.
“That’s not quite true, is it?” a dark voice whispered at the back of my mind. “You might not have attacked Lucienne before, but you wanted to drain her dry in the cell. It’s only a matter of time until you take the final step.”
I gritted my teeth and tried not to let my misgivings show. If I displayed any kind of uncertainty, the Pures would eat me alive. Things were already difficult enough without me allowing my self-doubt to sabotage our plan.
“So be it,” the king said. “Let the prosecution step forward and proceed with the case.”
The inquisitor who was in charge of a particular interrogation always led the prosecution in a case. For me, that was now Bjorn. He might have been injured in the incident, but his work took precedence, and the Alarians had not had any reason to change that approach.
He stepped forward, leaving Lucienne’s side and smoothly walking up to me. His face was blank, showing no apprehension over the fact that he deserved being tried by the Alarians even more than I did.
The barrage of questions that followed was pretty much the standard fare any prisoner of The Pure Kingdom of Alaria could expect.
“State your name and rank.”
> “Malachai Braun, Senior Guardian, former member of the Alarian Guardian Corps. Partner of Declan Whelan.”
“Former Guardian Braun, when did you meet Mathias Vandale?”
“A little over a week ago, during the battle with the plagues, near Lucienne’s apartment.”
“You had no connection with him before that date?”
“None whatsoever.”
“What about your partner? Do you know if Declan Whelan met with him before?”
“I think he was the one who shot Declan at the club, but I’m not sure. I wasn’t present at the time.”
“Why did you start drinking blood once again?”
“I did what I had to do. The battle with the plagues took place during the day, and I didn’t have the strength to fight them off. Prince Darius and most of his subordinates were either busy or incapacitated. If I hadn’t drunk the blood of the plagues, they would have beaten me.”
“If that was your reasoning, why did you attack me as well?”
“Feeding from you had a secondary purpose. It helped us connect our minds. If I hadn’t done it, you and I wouldn’t have been able to free Prince Darius and Lucienne from Vandale.”
“You are aware that regardless of your goals, you have still broken your vow to The Pure Kingdom of Alaria?”
“I’m aware, but it would have been more treasonous to let my superior die due to inaction.”
“And the fact that your soulmate was involved in the battle had nothing to do with your decision?”
I twitched in irritation at the question. It stood to reason that he’d start asking me uncomfortable things, but I still disliked his phrasing. “I’ve already said that I wanted to help Lucienne too. I don’t think I should be blamed for that.”
“Wanting to help your soulmate is not a crime,” Bjorn answered with a meaningless smile. “I am merely establishing the facts. You just claimed that your main motivation was rescuing your fellow Alarian fighters, but that is obviously not true, considering Ms. Hastings’ presence.”
“It was a combination of factors,” I answered between gritted teeth. “I wanted to save Lucienne, yes, but I wanted to rescue everyone else too.”
Did he really have to be such an asshole about this? What was I thinking? Of course he did. Bjorn Lindberg had been born with the asshole gene.
We had an agreement, damn it. We might not like one another, but we’d sworn to stand together. Had he forgotten about it so quickly?
He hadn’t. Apparently deciding that his questioning so far had been convincing enough, he turned toward King Sterling and finally said the words we’d settled on together.
“Throughout the past couple of days, we have repeatedly looked into former Guardian Braun’s mind. While there was some resistance at first, it seems related to his belief that he is about to die. My assessment is that his intentions were indeed to protect his soulmate and to a lesser extent, Prince Darius. At this time, I believe he doesn’t pose a threat to The Pure Kingdom of Alaria.”
“Yes, but does that matter, Inquisitor Lindberg?” Countess Christensen asked. “He is still a scavenger and he has shown no regret regarding his actions.”
I wanted to scoff. What would an Alarian ever know about regret?
“If he’s fallen into blood-drinking again, there is no turning back,” Earl Wagner pointed out, speaking for the first time since I’d arrived. I’d never liked the man. He was one of the most conservative Pures and he was actively against the Guardian Corps, even if it was a well-established institution and its members had proven to be a great asset in the fight against scavengers.
“I wouldn’t say former Guardian Braun is a lost cause,” Cardinal Vaughn said. “After all, the whole process of a non-Alarian Accursed becoming a guardian involves them giving up on their previous food source. If he did it once, he might be able to do it again.”
“But is it a warranted risk?” Earl Wagner asked. I tried very hard to not glower at him. Things had been going so well and he just had to open his mouth and ruin it.
Lucienne reacted poorly to his words. “Of course it’s a warranted risk,” she exploded. Knowing her temper, I was surprised she hadn’t intervened sooner. “You take risks every day when you go out and fight scavengers. How can you not do that with your own people?”
“It is different, Ms. Hastings,” King Sterling answered, still the epitome of calm. “We can anticipate the actions of scavengers and that allows us to minimize those risks. But if we cannot rely on our subordinates to follow the rules we set in place, we cannot be an efficient fighting force either.”
“As a future princess of The Pure Kingdom of Alaria, you must understand this as well,” Queen Sarai said.
Future princess? It looked like I’d missed something big while I’d been trapped in my cell, with only silver poisoning for company.
“We are told that you are the soulmate of not only Darius but also Malachai Braun and Declan Whelan. That will not work, Ms. Hastings. You will have to make a choice. It is unacceptable for a member of the Alarian royal family to have a soulmate bond that is so anomalous. If you truly wish to support Darius like you claimed earlier, you cannot do the same for Malachai Braun.”
Lucienne’s mouth opened and closed as she took in the king’s harsh words. She obviously did not know what to say. I couldn’t blame her for it. The Alarians might need Darius to continue their line, but he was still in a coma, badly ill. It was a miracle he was still alive now. If something went wrong, that could quickly change.
On the other hand, I was in a more tenuous position legally and the Alarians could dispose of me without it being a real issue. What had made them do this when it had been so obvious that they wanted to use me against Lucienne?
I’d have loved to ask, but I doubted anyone would have answered me. In fact, even if I was the topic of the conversation, I doubted anyone was paying attention to me at all. Lucienne’s hands were starting to glow slightly and the light in her eyes reminded me far more of Mathias Vandale than I would’ve liked to admit.
Bjorn had obviously noticed the problem as well, as he left me where I was and returned to Lucienne’s side, his eyes fixed on the Alarian sovereign. “Your Majesty, I really must protest. I can understand your point of view but--”
“If you understand my point of view, you will be silent, Inquisitor Lindberg,” King Sterling cut him off. “We’ve been generous in our treatment of Ms. Hastings, but there is only so much we are willing to allow.”
“You’re not wrong, Your Majesty,” Cardinal Vaughn mellowly intervened, “but we must consider the extenuating circumstances.”
“They have been considered.” King Sterling waved his hand dismissively. “I’ve heard out all of your arguments and those of your inquisitor. None of them justify Malachai Braun’s actions. No matter what his reasoning might have been, he still defied Alarian law for his own self-interest. As Earl Wagner said, if he did it once, he is bound to do it again, and next time, he might very well betray us to the scavengers.”
Well, he wasn’t wrong.
“Okay then,” Alois said. “Now would be a good time to start panicking. Go ahead and say what I asked you to.”
This was the moment of truth. If I trusted Alois and went along with his suggestion, things could spiral out of my control. But that probably wouldn’t be much of a change compared to the current state of affairs. Besides, I’d already decided that Alois seemed well-intentioned. I couldn’t turn back now.
I opened my mouth and started to speak.
Nine
Privilege
Bjorn
If I wanted to be perfectly honest, I’d been aware for ages that the trial would go badly. Finding out about the curse had only confirmed what I’d already known. Between the council’s regular tendency for mercilessness and the enchantment we now knew was on us, we didn’t have a chance that this would go smoothly.
Even so, I’d maintained a brief spark of hope that we might be able to buy some time throug
h my plan. My utter failure left me temporarily frozen, unable to do much except stand next to Lucienne like a useless statue.
Was this it? Was this really how it would end? Could I do nothing but watch the Alarians execute Malachai? He and I weren’t close. If anything, he loathed me for having included Lucienne in our plan before we’d even known the truth about the curse. Still, I didn’t want him to die. I respected him, and Lucienne would be devastated should the worst come to pass.
She was already dealing with this whole thing poorly. She’d been agitated since this morning, and she’d almost attacked Queen Sarai during the conversation about Darius. I found it somewhat miraculous that no one had addressed that beyond casually dismissing it. Then again, the king had suddenly decided that Lucienne had received enough quarter, so perhaps he had not been so inclined to let the matter go as he had originally seemed.
Either way, we were in trouble. Lucienne could not control her abilities properly. I could try to absorb them and calm her down, but that would blow my cover and incapacitate me for gods only knew how long.
It was Malachai who intervened, although the method he used left a lot to be desired. His voice rang out through the courtroom like thunder as he said, “I would like to call upon the High King’s Privilege.”
Everyone turned to stare at him. Utter silence fell over the courtroom, a million times heavier than before. I didn’t think I’d ever been so shocked in my life, not even when I’d realized that Lucienne was my soulmate.
Had Malachai lost his mind? Where could he possibly be going with this? Why would he ask for such a thing?
Perhaps Malachai himself realized that it was crazy because I could sense his uncertainty. He was trying to put up a brave front, and he was doing a good job in that no one but me seemed to realize the extent of his anxiety. However, just the fact that he experienced it was a bad sign.
If he was unsure of this approach, what had made him say the words? Had he been keeping something from us? If he’d had a trick up his sleeve all along and he had not mentioned it, I would not be happy.
