by B. T. Narro
It was only one of many nightmares that plagued me that night.
Rain continued into the morning with no sign of relenting. I arrived at the great hall early for breakfast and soon found myself eating voraciously. I couldn’t help feeling that Jaymes would be coming up behind me at any moment to drag me away. Darri sat beside me and laughed.
“I’ve seen pigs eat with more decorum.”
I grunted, unprepared to talk until I was full.
“There are whispers going around that you’re the reason behind all the chaos of late.”
I grunted again.
“There are other whispers about you and Shara.”
I forced myself to swallow. “What about us?”
“He speaks!” Darri clapped me on the back hard enough to make me choke if I’d had anything in my mouth. “The whispers are about exactly what you’d think.”
“There must be whispers about you, too, in that case. I’ve just gotten here, but I can see how involved you are with the women.”
“I have discretion. I’m not seen entering their rooms late at night. And I especially don’t have any women being stabbed in my quarters.”
I grunted.
“Don’t fret,” he said. “Everything will change once we leave for battle.”
“You’re fighting?”
“Everyone you’ve seen who can wield a sword will go with us.”
“How can you fight against something you believe in?” I wondered.
“I’m fighting to protect.” The levity in his tone was gone. “I can believe in the gods and still fight against those killing my people.”
“I suppose that’s true.”
He glanced about and lowered his voice. “I need to ask for my favor.”
“I can’t be seen doing much besides training these days,” I warned him.
“I just need to know if Charlotte is leaving with the others from Ovira.”
“She wants to stay and seems likely to get her way.”
“I see. Thank you.”
A moment passed as we ate.
Darri pointed. “There’s your fellow gossip victim right now.”
Shara was descending the stairs, fiercely grabbing the rail as she moved at the speed of my Aunt Nann. I hurried over to the stairs, turning too many heads. Perhaps I should’ve walked.
“Wait there,” I told her, starting up the steps.
She stopped. “I didn’t want to disturb you.”
“It’s no trouble.” I reached her and put my arm around her shoulder.
She took my free hand and looked down at the tables. “Why are they staring at us?” she whispered.
“Apparently we’ve been too obvious,” I informed her.
She clicked her tongue. “Well.”
“Well?”
“Horse piss, as you would say.”
“Yes, horse piss.”
Darri awaited us at the base of the stairs. He held out his hand to Shara. “May I help you to your seat?” Leaning in, he whispered, “Just take my hand, strange girl. Let’s try to break the rumors about you two.”
I gladly passed Shara into Darri’s arms, showing anyone interested that King Quince didn’t need to be concerned about us. Though, it was difficult to maintain my smile as Darri held her close and whispered something, spreading a shy grin across Shara’s lips.
He sat her in my seat, then handed me my plate before sitting beside her. With no empty seats around us, I took it to another table, now apprehensive about Darri’s method of breaking these rumors.
It wasn’t a surprise to find empty seats to both sides of Falister, for he was probably an irritation to most people in the castle. But I was happy for his company. Being the king’s squire, perhaps he’d know something about the trial.
His words came out with a chuckle. “Oh, it’s the py mage. Not a day goes by that I don’t hear your name.”
“From the king?”
“From everyone.”
“What can you tell me about the trial?”
“I can tell you it’s beginning as soon as breakfast is over.”
“What else can you tell me?”
“The castle has never been…how to describe it…this lively. A brawl in the library, the poisoning of a woman waiting in a man’s bedroom, the master of coin killing his squire. If the king had known what trouble taking you in would cause, he would’ve sent you to Ovira. You have something to prove during the trial if you want to stay a free man in Sumar.”
“Jaymes told me I’m going to be questioned. Do you know about what?”
“If I did, I couldn’t tell you. Luckily for both of us, I know nothing.”
We ate for a while, Falister glancing at me now and then as if thinking of a question he didn’t want to ask. I didn’t invite him to speak it, but eventually he did so on his own.
“I’d never met a pyforial mage before you and that one-armed woman. But it’s my understanding that you’ve met others. The mage who attacked the king…did you know him?”
With the trial coming I didn’t see any reason the truth should be withheld. “He was my childhood friend, though I’d only recently seen him for the first time in many years before that incident. He didn’t come to kill the king but his brother. You’ll find out why during the trial.”
“Then let me ask instead, have you met any mages of the PCQ?”
“I don’t know what that is.”
He tilted his head in skepticism.
“PCQ?” I asked, making sure I’d understood him correctly.
“Are you honestly telling me you’ve never heard of them?”
“I haven’t. Have most people?”
“No, but I thought you would’ve been trained by one.”
Before I could ask, men and women of the castle staff swarmed the tables. A few still eating hurried to fill their mouths before their plates were taken. The leftover morsels were pushed onto trays, the empty plates were stacked, and everyone was shooed away from the tables.
“The king, Quince Barryn,” someone announced from the stairs. We all turned and bowed, every server stopping in that moment and the room falling quiet.
Quince walked straight up to me as hundreds looked on. “Prepare yourself for questions. The trial will begin soon.” His voice was loud enough for everyone to hear.
“Yes, sire.”
He went across the room. I noticed Gram as his quarry, the man’s broken finger set in a splint. Quince gave him the same line as he had to me.
I couldn’t find Swenn. Must still be in the medical room. Shara came to me.
“Did you know you would be questioned?”
“Yes, but not about what.”
“His tone made it seem like it would be accusatory, but that couldn’t be.”
She doesn’t know the truth. “Shara, they don’t trust me. And after everything that’s happened since I’ve gotten here, I don’t blame them. I’ve been scolded and warned more times than I care to remember, so the questions could very well be accusatory.”
“Why are you just now telling me about this?”
“I didn’t want to worry you.”
“Well now I’m worried anyway!”
I noticed Swenn coming down the stairs, two guards in front of him, two behind. He wore a strange expression, like he was holding back a laugh.
“He doesn’t seem to be in any pain compared to you,” I said.
“He does look oddly happy.”
“Does it still hurt?”
“I don’t want to worry you,” she mocked.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
“I’m fine.”
Laney’s face popped in between ours and she blurted out an assault of words. “Mayla says I won’t be able to speak at all during the trial. I hope it doesn’t go long. I’m going to train with you today, Neeko. I haven’t been able to use py since Jaymes let me out—except for that incident in the library—and I don’t know what he’s going to have me do. Do you? Hello, Shara, and good morning to you. You look
well.”
“Thank you, Laney. You look well as well!”
“Well, I look well you say, and I say you look well!”
The two women had a quick laugh. I figured this was related to whatever game they were playing the other night.
“I’m not sure what Jaymes will have you do,” I told her. “Did Mayla say whether the whole castle will be watching this trial?”
“Not the whole castle, but many.”
Terren, Effie, Steffen, and Alex came to join the few hundred in the great hall already. Quince oversaw all the chairs being moved into rows, facing a dais where a single empty seat awaited.
Trials were simple matters in Lanhine. Guards questioned the accused the moment they were caught. Any evidence in support of or against the accused would need to be provided then and there. The guards then made a decision, the majority winning out in any disagreement among them, and that was that.
“How are trials done in the castle?” I asked Shara.
“Someone of the king’s staff questions the accused in front of Quince and whoever else the king believes should overhear the interrogation. He may ask for counsel, but it’s he who decides guilt or innocence. He also decides the punishment.” Shara pointed to Cedri nervously standing near the empty seat on the dais. “Although with psychics here, this trial is likely to be different.”
I looked around and found Charlotte now speaking with Terren and the others from Ovira. They seemed to be having an intense conversation, presumably about her staying.
“King Quince told me he wouldn’t trust Charlotte to uphold the truth of the trial,” I told Shara.
“Perhaps she’s just here to watch.”
“She can sway emotions heavily without having to be right next to someone.”
“She’s done this to you?”
“Yes.”
“To feel what?”
“Longing to obey her commands.”
I realized then that I was staring at Charlotte as I tried to figure out what she was doing here. Glancing over at Shara’s scornful eyes, I thought I’d perhaps looked a bit too long.
“What kind of commands?” she asked hesitantly.
“Nothing like that.”
Charlotte seemed to find me across the crowded room. She gestured for me to come over.
Shara and Laney walked with me. As we came near, Effie and Alex took Laney aside.
I introduced Shara to Terren. He gave a warm smile as he shook her hand. “I've heard a lot about you.”
Shara burst into rhyme. “And about you I’ve heard little, but good it’s been. Without Neeko’s committal, you still helped at the inn. I’m sorry we can’t go, to Kyrro with you. He’s stubborn you must know, even when his decisions speak for two.”
“I’m afraid I can’t rhyme in reply.” Terren lifted his finger, his tone rhythmic and excited. “Or maybe I can, that was a lie. I’m trying to play, let’s see how I do.” He paused a moment. “The weather today, is far from skies blue. If this doesn’t stop, people will worry…that the gods will…flop? Oh, I failed.”
Shara held her side as she giggled. “You mustn’t make me laugh until I’m healed.”
Knowing the trial could begin at any moment, I wasn’t in the same jovial mood. “Charlotte, have you spoken to King Quince recently?”
“Yes, he changed his mind about me. I’ll be checking for lies with Cedri.”
“Why did he change his mind?”
Terren sighed. “Because she’s just as stubborn as you.”
“Because I’m staying here,” Charlotte answered me. “He knew he could trust me after I explained that I’m going to stay and train his people until the war is won.”
“Even after his people nearly beat you unconscious,” Terren complained. “You still haven’t told me what I’m supposed to tell your parents when they ask about you.”
“Just tell them the truth.”
“You’re not the one who has to see their faces.”
Off to my side, Laney’s voice became loud. “You left me!”
“Quiet,” Effie tried as she and Alex held up their hands.
“You had your chance to take me,” Laney accused. “I heard what you muttered as you left. You called me a madwoman!”
“Please keep your voice down,” Alex said.
Shara put her hand on Laney’s back. “What’s going on?”
“They wouldn’t take me before, but now that they’ve seen I’m not crazy, they think I’ll go with them!”
“Effie!” Terren scolded. “King Quince already told us we can’t take Laney. They need her.”
“But if she wants to go with us—”
“I don’t!” Laney interrupted.
Charlotte put her hand on Laney’s shoulder. “Let’s be calm.” Laney visibly relaxed. “Of course you don’t have to go to Ovira. Effie just wanted to make sure, and she wants to apologize about misjudging you the first time you met.” Charlotte shot Effie a quick glare.
“I’m sorry,” Effie said begrudgingly.
Laney cuddled against Charlotte, sinking into an embrace. “I know you’re using psyche, but I don’t care. It feels good.”
“Everyone be seated,” Quince announced. “The trial will now begin.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Gram was the first to be called by the king. I watched from my seat in the middle of the great hall, Shara on my left and Darri beside her. Laney sat to my right, Mayla on her other side. I paid careful attention to the way Gram bowed before Quince, as I likely would follow him.
Murmurs spread among the hundreds watching as the king gestured at the seat upon the dais, the word “psychics” on everyone’s lips. Gram sat between the two young women, Cedri squeezing her hands together nervously, Charlotte relaxed and confident.
“Is he the one Swenn sent to kill Kayren?” I heard Effie ask behind me.
“One of them,” Alex replied. “I’m not sure if the others will be questioned.”
The king stood at the other end of the dais, commanding silence over the room with a firm glare. When all was quiet, he set his eyes on Gram. Being the only one sitting, Gram looked like a victim. He kept his gaze on the king. Make sure you do the same.
“When were you last in Norret?” Quince asked.
“Two days ago.”
“Why did you go there?”
“Swenn Hamres sent me there.”
Swenn wasn’t seated among everyone else. He slouched against a wall, appearing too calm considering the four guards surrounding him. Many of us watching from our seats turned to glance at him at the mention of his name. He yawned.
“And what did Swenn tell you to do?”
“Make sure a woman there didn’t come to the castle.”
“And what would you have done to follow this order if you had found her?” Quince asked.
“Anything to scare her back south.”
“Be more specific.”
“We would have threatened her.”
“In what circumstance would you have killed her?”
Gram’s brow furrowed. “Only if she threatened to do us harm and had a weapon.”
Lies! They were going to kill her no matter what. Cedri and Charlotte shook their heads. I felt the corner of my mouth lifting.
“In what circumstance would you have killed her?” Quince repeated with an edge in his tone.
“I suppose if it was clear that she wouldn’t leave or if she showed she might come back.”
Quince seemed to grow impatient. “What are the chances you would have killed her if no one would have seen?”
“Probable,” Gram murmured. Gasps burst out from the audience. “Because we couldn’t disobey the master of coin!”
Swenn had his arms folded, a look of slight surprise on his face.
“Did you want to kill this woman?” Quince asked.
“No.”
The king waited for the psychics. Neither shook their heads.
“Then why would you have followed such an
order?”
“The master of coin is a vengeful man, powerful and controlling as well. I know what happens to those who disobey him. They are killed or expelled from the army.”
“You truly believe this?”
“I do.”
The psychics did nothing but glance at Quince.
“But you say that Swenn did not tell you to kill her.”
“Not specifically, but it was clear that’s what he meant.”
“How can you know that?”
“A feeling based on his reputation.”
“Very well.” Quince shuffled uncomfortably, eyeing Swenn, who still showed no inkling of fear! It was remarkable and infuriating at the same time. “I have finished questioning you for now. You may leave the chair.”
Gram let out his breath. He stood and came off the dais, looking down to avoid Swenn’s gaze.
“Neeko Aquin.”
I stood at the king’s beckoning. He pointed at the chair.
I couldn’t quite grasp everything I was feeling. I’d never spoken in front of so many people, and to share my past, my deepest and fiercest feelings—it was as if I were about to be stripped naked.
I walked by Cedri on my way to the chair. For the slightest moment, my heart burned with compassion as she wore an expression that made her look just like her sister. She visibly reacted, letting out a gasp.
“I feel something strange from him,” she whispered nervously to Charlotte.
“What does it feel like?”
“Like when you tell someone a secret only to find out they have the same secret…and the same pain.”
“It’s your sister,” I admitted. “You look like her.”
She put her hand over her mouth. “I feel it so strongly.”
“Quiet,” Quince demanded.
I sat between the psychics, watching Cedri’s pressed lips quiver as if she would cry. She wanted to ask about Callyn. I could feel her question burning.
“Are you a danger to anyone here in the castle?” Quince asked.
The question surprised me. “Only to Swenn.”
“Which we will speak about in a moment. Is there any reason anyone besides him should be fearful of you?”
With considerable relief, I realized what he was trying to do. “No. I would never use my energy except to help people and defend this kingdom.”
