by C S Vass
“He should be here shortly, my Lord,” Lawrence Downcastle said.
He? Fiona was sure the other witness would be the servant she scared away in Lovewood’s manor. Who could he refer to?
“Well I am ready, so we begin,” the Duke said. “Fiona Sacrosin, you stand accused of breaking into the home of an honorable member of my court, assaulting said member, and slandering him with lies for which you have no basis.”
“She shot at my crotch!” Lovewood bellowed.
“Assaulting a member’s member,” Donyo Brownwater mused. “Here I thought a strapping young lad like Kevin Lovewood would have called that good clean fun.”
The courtroom rang with laughter, but the Duke was not amused.
“You close your mouth until you’re invited to speak,” Kevin Lovewood spat at Donyo as his face turned an uncomely shade of red.
“Enough,” The Duke held up his hand. “Sacrosin, how do you respond to these charges?.”
Fiona looked into the faces of the council, and only Donyo’s seemed to have any sympathy for her. She gave him a sad smile, and cleared her throat.
“Lord Redfire, I am guilty of the deeds I’m accused of. I only submit to you that I did so as a loyal servant of Haygarden. I acted in defense of the city that has become my home, because there are those within our walls that seek to harm us. At a critical moment I determined that inaction was not an option, and even now I beg you to hold Kevin Lovewood accountable for his crimes.”
The room immediately burst into murmurs, none of which made Fiona feel particularly optimistic. Sandra hid whatever she thought behind a plain face, but Donyo openly groaned and Lawrence Downcastle looked positively furious.
“You lying whore!” Kevin Lovewood shouted, as he jumped to his feet.
“Calm yourself, Kevin, or you’ll be removed,” the Duke said gruffly.
“The girl spits on the very notion of justice,” Lawrence Downcastle said. “She presumes that an outsider, born in some field beyond the walls, has a right to come to the highest court in the world and lay charges at those who have lived within the law their whole lives.”
So much for the sympathetic Downcastle from before, Fiona thought bitterly.
“I may have been born in some field, Lord Downcastle, but I still know what it means to act with loyalty towards my home, and not allow willful blindness to rob the victims of terror the justice they deserve.”
Sandra Redfire snorted. “You think yourself so wise, child,” she said. “Father, I’ve already told you my suspicions about her brother. She confirms them with every breath she takes. This snake has been exposed. What will you do?”
“I will sit and pass judgement,” the Duke responded. “But not before hearing all voices. What say you, Geoff? You are the Lord Defender of Haygarden. Is this girl a threat?”
“A threat…” Geoff Hightower’s voice trailed off, as he observed Fiona closely with his emerald eyes. “She has certainly proven herself to be something of a nuisance. That being said perhaps this entire situation could have been avoided had our Master of Horse been acting with the honor due to one of his rank, and not playing at rumpscuttle with one of his own servants.”
Kevin Lovewood made an indignant noise, but did not dare to challenge the Lord Defender.
“A minor offense, and one he will be punished for, after this matter is settled,” the Duke said.
Hightower nodded. He had not moved those sharp green eyes from Fiona’s face, and she had the unsettling feeling that there was some sort of magic at play letting him peek into her mind. “In any case,” Hightower went on. “She harmed no one. I believe she acted out of concern for her brother,” he cleared his throat, and gave Sandra an unkind look, “a man whom I still hold in high esteem. I recommend having her return home to the Leaf District to finish her education.”
“You’d throw the snake back into the tallest grass?” Lawrence Downcastle yelled with disbelief.
“You fear a maiden girl, sir?” Hightower asked.
Downcastle struggled to find words. “I fear…treachery…idle hands set to evil purpose…you’re the damn Lord Defender. You’re supposed to defend this city!”
Hightower rose. “I have never ceased in that endeavor, my lord.” His voice was solid granite. He looked to the crowds. “Does anyone dare question it?”
The room was silent as a grave at midnight. “Lord Redfire,” he went on. “I am your Lord Defender. There are no threats for me to defend against here. We who together fought and won the bloodiest war this world has ever known, to relieve ourselves from the yoke of the most oppressive tyranny ever to streak the pages of history in the red blood of our countrymen, we have lost our way if we sit here and tremble at the ponderings of young maiden. Kevin Lovewood is a member of Sun Circle’s court. He should relieve himself irrefutably of the accusations made against him. I will not sit here and treat a young girl like a war criminal, to be paraded and judged in front of all Sun Circle. I return to my duties. To the defense of Haygarden.”
The room was silent, save the echoes of Lord Geoff Hightower’s boots clicking on the cobblestone floor. Fiona was utterly stunned. She could not believe that the Lord Defender would speak in her defense, and so passionately at that. A gnawing guilt buried itself inside her. He was a man she could have trusted. She never should have spied on him. If only she hadn’t been so impulsive, all of this might have been avoided and she could be working with Fiercewind and Hightower to bring Lovewood and his accomplices to justice.
Before leaving Hightower gazed at her once more with his deep green eyes. “You are not blameless, girl. Rodrick would not be impressed with these antics.”
The words were a sharp punch in the stomach. Fiona lowered her head, unable to reply before he swept down the hall.
As Hightower left the room another voice, small but firm, spoke. “Lord Redfire, I believe there is much truth in what Lord Hightower has said.”
Sasha Rains was speaking. Fiona watched in shock, hardly believing that Sasha had dared speak without being called upon. “Lord Donyo invited me to be here as a character witness, and he was right to do so because I’ve known Fiona most of her life. She loves this city. Impulsive and outspoken as she is, she means us no harm. I pray you consider that, and show her mercy.”
Silent tears formed in Fiona’s eyes. She let them fall, unembarrassed. With her hands bound, there wasn’t much of a choice, but she wanted Sasha to see the impact of her words.
“Thank you, Sasha,” Duke Redfire said. He seemed deep in thought, and wasn’t looking at anything in particular. That’s when the door to the room opened once more. Fiona turned, and her heart soared as she saw Professor Thrushling walk into the chamber. Between Hightower, Donyo, and Sasha, things were looking up. If that final chair was meant for Thrushling, she was as good as saved.
“I apologize for my lateness,” Thrushling said as he quickly bowed and scurried up to the remaining seat. Something long and thin was wrapped in a velvet cloth in his hands. “I did not want to rush the task.” He spoke extremely quickly, and Fiona knew he was probably scared out of his mind to be speaking before the council.
“Tell us why you’ve come today,” the Duke said.
“To give testimony as to the character and morals of Fiona Sacrosin.”
“You may speak.”
“Fiona Sacrosin has been a student of mine for some time at Clearwater Academy,” Thrushling said. “In that time she’s shown that she is not like the other students. No, Fiona is a very special case. Naturally, I’ve taken an interest in her, and I’ve tried to guide her as best as I could to becoming a proper young woman of the Leaf District.
“That is why it pains me to see her come here and get mixed up in the affairs of Sun Circle. It is not her place. That much should be obvious to everyone right now. Still, this is where we find ourselves. I’ve been increasingly worried about Fiona the longer she’s been here. She has acted erratically, and in poor judgement.
“As such, with
your permission, Lord Redfire, I searched her chambers while she was imprisoned. It is with a heavy heart that I tell the court that much to my dismay, I found this.” Thrushling unravelled the velvet cloth and held in his hand the silver arrow he had gifted her when they had parted last in the Leaf District.
The court immediately erupted into chaos. Kevin Lovewood was on his feet, shrieking and pointing. Lawrence Downcastle looked so red that his head might burst. Sandra had turned a pale shade of yellow and looked almost…afraid. The crowds were murmuring excitedly, though they sounded more confused than angry. Sasha eyed the arrow with an arched eyebrow that indicated she had no idea what it was. Donyo Brownwater gave her a curious look, as if he was just seeing her for the first time.
“SILENCE! SILENCE!” the Duke screamed, his face a pit of rage. Even he could not silence the flabbergasted room, so he simply spoke over them.
“EXPLAIN YOURSELF!” he shouted.
“I don’t even know what that is!” Fiona yelled back. “I thought it was an old antique. Thrushling’s the one who gave it to me in the first place.” That was the wrong thing to say. The council looked utterly scandalized.
Thrushling appeared heartbroken and on the verge of fainting. “How could you?” he asked weakly. “After everything that I’ve done for you, you seek to blame this horror on me?”
Fiona didn’t know what that arrow was, but she understood betrayal when it smacked her in the face. With a rage unlike any she ever experienced she felt as if superhuman strength flowed through her body. Knocking the guards beside her back she charged Thrushling, ready to kill him, hands bound or not.
The professor shrieked like a wounded animal and fell backwards when he saw her assault, but before she could slam her forehead into his nose and break it as she intended rough hands were grabbing her from all sides. The court was shouting. There was movement everywhere.
“The girl is a beast in human skin,” she heard Lawrence Downcastle say.
“Fiona Sacrosin, you are sentenced to death!” Duke Redfire yelled over the crowds.
This isn’t supposed to be happening, was all Fiona could manage to think. I was going to find Rodrick. I was going to be in the Brightbows. We were going to have a happy life. That’s when the sash was stuffed over her, a boot kicked her legs out from underneath her, and a sharp blow landed on the crown of her head.
Fiona knew no more.
Hours later Fiona once again awakened in a dark cell, though this time even the most base comforts had been stripped from her. There was nothing. Just cold stone and the colder bars of iron that kept her caged. Her hands were bound even more tightly than before behind her back and the only light came from what must have been a torch some ways down the hall.
Her first thoughts were of Thrushling. He betrayed her, after everything. So many years together, so much false kindness. Had he always been a monster? Or was this some new development, a corruption of the soul she could not yet begin to understand.
As time slugged by she found she didn’t have the energy for anger. She had no idea how long it had been since she’d eaten her last meal, and she was heartsick for more reason than one. Just when Sasha stepped up to reaffirm that their friendship didn’t have to be over, to be blindsided by that snake! As her thoughts went from Sasha to Thrushling the anger swelled up again.
The rage she felt wasn’t just from the betrayal, but the manner in which he did it. To give her the item that would destroy her as a gift…she would make him pay. That meant escape. But escape was impossible. She could hardly see, her hands were tied, and she was in a completely empty room. There weren’t even any guards nearby so that she might try to fake an illness or deceive them in some way to get them to open her cell, unlikely as that would be if it were even an option.
Somewhere, echoing down from the hallway, she heard shouts. They were far away, and faint. Pressing her ear as close to the sound as she could she thought she heard more yelling, and the metallic clash of steel on steel. Was there a battle? What was going on?
The noise only lasted for a moment, and then was gone. Fiona waited eagerly, for minutes, and slowly she began to suspect that whatever had happened she would see no part of it. Maybe someone cut off Thrushling’s head, she thought, hopefully, but even now while she was bound and awaiting death because of him it only made her sad. What would Rodrick do? It was pointless to wonder, because Rodrick wouldn’t have made such an obscene mess of things in the first place, she told herself.
That was the main failure, on top of all the others. She had lost friendships, failed to enter the service of the Brightbows, failed to graduate school, and failed to make the friendship of a single soul outside of a hopeless drunk, but failing to find her brother was the masterstroke in her life of disappointment. With those thoughts in mind, she put her head into her knees and tried to sleep.
She awoke to a hallucination not unlike the one she had seen in the sewers. The rocks on the wall were rippling, as if they were made out of water. Slowly, Fiona was able to make out the image of a child-sized person pushing through stone. Heart racing Fiona quickly scampered with her legs and butt on the floor to the opposite side of her cell, and watched in fascinated horror. The wall split open and before her, face covered in the same hood as always, stood Shifter.
“You have caused a great deal of trouble,” Shifter said.
Fiona eyed the secret-keeper carefully. The Duke wouldn’t send Shifter to assassinate her down here in the shadows? Not when he had already called for a very public death, would he?
“Well, do you have anything to say for yourself?” Shifter asked.
“What do you think you’re doing? Is this some kind of rescue?”
“Fiona Sacrosin has to die,” Shifter said. “The Duke commanded it.”
“So you’re here to kill me?”
“The Duke is dead.”
Fiona felt as though her body were weightless. If she were standing she would have fallen down. “What do you mean, he’s dead? He can’t be dead.”
“He’s no godling, so he very much can,” Shifter replied. “His head is decorating the castle walls as we speak.”
“Tell me everything!”
“There’s not so much to tell. There was another attack, much more organized this time. Vaentysh Boys somehow entered Sun Circle by the hundreds. Well, most of the army is far below, and they’ve made themselves a comfortable defense in the castle. Geoff Hightower did lead an admirable counterattack.”
“He’s not…” Fiona couldn’t even ask. She didn’t think she could bear if If the old man who had defended her to the court had been vanquished.
“Missing in action,” Shifter replied. “Though it was truly something to watch him fight before he disappeared. You think you saw something at the first attack…the old warrior has a demon in him.”
“So, they have the castle?” Fiona asked.
“Lawrence Downcastle has the castle,” Shifter said. “He’s commanding the Vaentysh Boys. Hightower was furious when that piece of treachery was revealed. He cut down at least twenty men half his age to get to Downcastle, but…well Downcastle is a soundmage after all. Hightower survived a blast from a trombone that would have blown a hippo to pieces and reduced the south wall to ash, but he hasn’t been seen since.”
This was all too much, Fiona’s mind was racing.
“Getting in or out of Sun Circle will be nearly impossible,” Shifter went on. Downcastle has closed off all the entrances. They’ll expand downward gradually, into the Leaf District and then the Stone District. Once that’s taken care of and the city is firmly in his grasp, Downcastle will turn his attention to other matters.”
“Rounding up the Laquathi,” Fiona muttered.
“Among other things,” Shifter said.
“What about his son?” Fiona asked. “I don’t understand. Why would he kidnap Reggie, his own heir, his hope of marrying into Sasha’s wealth and restoring his family coffers?”
“It’s unclear,” Shifter s
aid. The secret-keeper sighed. “It does give some degree of hope though. Likely it means that if Lawrence Downcastle had a hand in these kidnappings then the victims might still be alive. I don’t think he’d kill his own son at least. This is all to assume the Vaentysh Boys are the culprits, which is by no means proven.”
Fiona’s heart swelled. “Rodrick,” she breathed. Did she dare to hope that she could still find him?
“Then tell me, why are you here?” she asked. “Whose side are you on in all of this?”
“Whose side am I on?” Shifter asked in a nasally child-like voice. “I don’t care too much one way or the other. If Lawrence Downcastle wins this little war and the city falls into Vaentysh hands then not much will change for me. I’ll still go on as before, playing with my toys, whispering my secrets to those who have a mind to hear them.”
“So then why have you come for me?” Fiona asked. “Why are you here?”
“He’s right, you do have a suspicious mind,” Shifter said. “It really is too bad you can’t let a thought pass through your head without speaking it out loud. You could learn a lot from a secret-keeper.”
Fiona groaned. “We don’t have time for this. If there’s still hope of finding Rodrick I need to get to him. Will you help me escape?”
“Yes,” Shifter giggled. It was as if they were playing an elaborate riddle game and she had finally guessed the right answer. “Not for your sake, I don’t owe you anything. But your friend has saved up quite a few different favors, and he’s calling one of them in.”
“My friend?” Fiona asked.
“Come, I’ll show you the way out.” Ignoring her question, Shifter went over to the wall he had emerged from and began tapping the surface while humming a light contemplative melody. After about a minute the stones started to ripple like the surface of a pond and melted away to reveal a long, low passageway lit by torches that flickered malevolently.
