by Ben Wolf
“Don’t come near me, Condor. I mean it.”
Condor held up his hands. “I’m going to help you. Be calm.”
“I don’t want your help.”
“Whether you want it or not is irrelevant. You need it. Unless you can reset your shoulder on your own, you will endure profound pain for a long time. Unnecessarily so.”
Reset his shoulder on his own? Axel didn’t even know where to start. When Magnus had done it after the fight with the Gronyxes, Axel hadn’t paid attention to how it had happened. He’d been too exhausted and beat-up from the battle.
Now he could barely see in the darkness of the cell, and the thought of even touching his shoulder made it hurt worse. But was the alternative of Condor fixing it for him any better?
In the end, he acquiesced. “Fine.”
Condor nodded. He floated over and cupped Axel’s left shoulder with one hand and his shoulder blade with the other. “This is going to hurt. A lot.”
“Just do it, already.”
“On the count of three. Ready?”
Axel nodded and clenched his teeth.
“One—”
Something popped, and a thousand arrowheads jammed into Axel’s shoulder. He screamed and flailed at Condor with his right arm, but missed entirely. He had to fight to keep the tears pooling in his eyes from streaming down his cheeks.
Condor stood on the edge of the shadows with that same smirk on his face. “I told you it would hurt.”
“It’s been dislocated before. I knew it would hurt.” Axel blinked away the remaining tears in his eyes and slowly rolled his left shoulder. “But you said you’d count to three.”
“It’s an old trick I learned from General Balena. He said that if you wait to count to three, the injured person will tense up and it’s that much harder to pop the joint back into place. How does your shoulder feel?”
“Better,” he admitted, though if it went anything like last time, the real soreness would come in a few hours.
“It appears you can move it now.”
Axel rotated his arm slightly.
“In the meantime, at least you’re right-handed.” Condor chuckled again. “You screamed so loud, I bet they heard you all the way up in Aeropolis.”
“Just stop, alright?” Axel rubbed his left shoulder. “I’m not in any mood.”
“Nothing you can do about it anyway. I could cackle all night and all day, and you couldn’t stop me.” Condor leaned against the cage wall again and smiled. “Fortunately for you, I’m not the gloating type.”
Axel growled, then slumped down onto his rear-end. “Is there any way outta here?”
“Don’t even think about it. You can’t fly, remember?” Condor waved his arm in a half-circle over his head. “In my three years as Captain of the Royal Guard, I dropped more thieves, brigands, derelicts, defectors, and villains in this cell then I can remember. There’s no way through the bars, and even if there were, you’d never get back up to the fortress.
“There isn’t a rope or a chain in this world long enough to reach down here.” Condor’s annoying grin returned, full-force. “Best to just accept that you’re stuck in here. But at least you have me for company. And…” Condor squinted at him. “Yes, it seems we even have matching scars.”
Axel touched the scar under his right eye. He couldn’t see Condor as well in the dim light, but he remembered Condor had a similar scar in almost the exact same spot on his face, too. Axel chalked it up as nothing more than a coincidence.
He scanned what he could see of the tube. “Where are we, anyway?”
“We’re deep within the pillar that holds the Sky Fortress in the air. It’s the perfect prison to put anyone who can’t fly: out of sight, inaccessible, and dark. The bars are too thick for almost anyone in Kanarah to cut through, break, or bend, including your Sobek friend.” Condor smiled. “Welcome to the Sky Fortress’s version of living death.”
Axel frowned. “So…”
“So you’re stuck in here until they feel like letting you out.”
Axel sighed. “They said we’ll have a hearing tomorrow when the council gathers.”
Condor nodded and ran his fingers through his black hair. “Yes. The Premier doesn’t decide the fates of prisoners on his own. A council of eight high-ranking Wisps, including Falcroné and General Balena, assist in passing judgment. Avian serves as the ninth vote.”
“So I can count on at least those three of the nine ruling against me?”
“That’s a safe assumption. Given that your advance was on Princess Lilly, I’d be surprised if even two of the council members sided with you. Aside from Premieress Zephyrra, she is the most beloved citizen in the realm. At times, perhaps even more beloved.”
Axel clenched his teeth. “And if they rule against me?”
“A unanimous vote is required for the death penalty. If you lose their favor in the hearing, a lifetime of slavery or servitude is a common punishment doled out to the worst offenders.”
“And my crime classifies me as one of the worst?”
Condor sat in front of Axel. The light from the torch flickered in his sharp blue eyes. “It’s all contextual. What you did pales in comparison to my crimes, for example. You’d better pray that the council calls me first so I get the bulk of their wrath and that little remains for you.”
Axel stared at him. “Why did you help me with my shoulder?”
“I already told you why. If we’re going to settle our conflict someday, you need to be healthy and confident.” Condor reached out and patted him on his left shoulder, and the thousand arrowheads tried to carve their way out of Axel’s arm a second time.
“Ow!” Axel tried to kick him, but Condor moved away too fast. “I hate you.”
“Good.” Condor grinned his perfect smile. “Never change, alright?”
Through clenched teeth, Axel said, “I won’t.”
“So you and your friends are searching for Lumen?” Condor folded his arms.
“I’m not searching for anyone anymore,” Axel grumbled.
“Stop being so overdramatic.” Condor tilted his head and smirked. “Looking for the Arcanum, are you?”
“What do you care?” Axel glared at him.
“It’s not an easy place to find. The Premier’s scholars might be able to point it out to you on a map, but it’s hard to reach.”
Axel raised an eyebrow. “And how would you know that?”
Condor shook his head and receded into the shadows, out of Axel’s sight. “That’s my secret, Farm Boy.”
“And you said I was being overdramatic.”
“I prefer to think of it as theatrics.” Condor stepped forward again, back into the light. “What time was it when they brought you down here?”
“It’s a few hours after sundown, and I’d like to get some sleep.” Axel grunted, then closed his eyes. “Try not to kill me while I’m sleeping if you can help it.”
“Likewise. And if you happen to find yourself inclined to get me in the night, just remember that you don’t need any of your man-parts to fight. Come at me while I’m asleep, and I promise you won’t have them when we finally do cross blades. Crystal?”
Axel rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”
The next day, Calum watched as the council assembled behind a long oak table set up just in front of the throne platform. Eight Wisps of superior stature and reputation within the Sky Realm sat at the table, four on each side of Avian, who sat on the ninth chair in the middle.
Falcroné sat immediately to Avian’s left and General Balena sat to his right, both clad in their dark armor, but Calum didn’t recognize any of the other Wisps.
“This council will convene immediately.” Avian raised his hand, and the room fell silent. “We will first hear the case of the human, Axel, to whom we have granted all the rights of a citizen of the Sky Realm. Bring him forward.”
Two Wisps ushered Axel over to the table from behind a pillar on Calum’s right and positioned him directly in
front of Falcroné. Thin white ropes bound his hands in front of him. He still wore his dress clothes from last night, but wrinkles and grime tainted the fabric.
“Axel, you have the right to face your accuser and defend yourself,” Avian said. “Princess Lilliana, come forth and profess your accusation.”
Lilly drifted into view from the opposite side and stood near the far end of the table. Her eyes met Calum’s for an instant, then she focused on Axel.
Calum had tried to meet Axel’s eyes several times, hoping to reassure him, but he hadn’t looked back.
Ganosh had explained the process to him: Lilly would accuse Axel of his crimes in detail as they happened from her point of view. Then Axel could refute the claims by telling his side of the story.
After that, witnesses from both sides of the conflict would come forward and testify to both the character of the accuser and the accused, as well as to their personal experiences with the supposed crime.
Once both sides presented their cases, the council would confer and then convey a ruling over the incident. That ruling could land Axel back in the dungeon for several months, if not forever, since he’d been accused of attacking the Princess of the Sky Realm.
Calum still didn’t want to believe that it had happened, but Axel’s temperament had fractured more and more the longer they traveled together. What’s more, he knew how Axel felt—used, betrayed, and then forgotten.
It’s not that Lilly had deserved the attack—not in the least. Such a thing could never be justified, but Calum could at least appreciate the source of Axel’s frustrations and the emotions that might have led him to behave so rashly.
Lilly stared at Axel for a long time, but he refused to look back at her.
Finally, she exhaled a long sigh. “I withdraw my claim.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Falcroné pushed up and away from the table so fast that the back of his chair smacked against the marble floor. “What?”
Axel’s eyebrows went up, and he turned toward Lilly. Why was she saying this? He had, in fact, been the aggressor, but now she wanted to withdraw her claim?
“You said he attacked you.” Avian’s blue eyes fixed on Lilly’s. “Are you suggesting something to the contrary?”
“Axel came to my room and we had an argument,” she began. “He told me he loved me, and I told him I loved Falcroné. I tried to leave, and he blocked my way because he wanted to keep talking, but I overreacted and hit him with my chair, then I kicked him while he was down.” Lilly lowered her head. “Then I went out and told Falcroné that Axel had attacked me.”
A subtle smirk formed on Axel’s lips, and the heavy weight of the situation lifted from his shoulders. He couldn’t believe it.
Maybe she did love him after all.
Falcroné hovered over the table and landed next to her. He took her hands in his and looked into her eyes. “The shock and fear you conveyed when you told me what had happened—those emotions are not easy to falsify.”
“I was shocked and afraid of what I had done, and you heard my story with ears attuned to my well-being rather than the truth of the situation.” Lilly shook her head and broke eye contact with him. “I lied to get myself out of trouble at Axel’s expense. It is I who deserve punishment.”
“You are aware that if you withdraw your accusation now, you may not ever bring the same accusation before the council again?” Falcroné said more than asked.
“Yes, I know. I choose to withdraw my claim, and I will face the consequences of my actions.”
“You will not be charged with any crimes, Lilly,” Avian said.
General Balena cleared his throat and stood. “I apologize for what I am about to say, but, Premier, the princess is bound to the laws of the realm just as you or I or anyone else would be. Her punishment is no longer a matter that you may excuse since it has been brought before this council.”
Avian gave General Balena a glare that could have split a mountain in half. “I will not subject my daughter to a hearing.”
“You will, or by law you must assume her place as the accused.” General Balena’s deep voice shook Axel’s insides. “That is, if Axel chooses to make an accusation of the princess’s guilt in this matter.”
Avian’s gaze whiplashed over to Axel.
Axel swallowed the lump in his throat and stared at Lilly, who met his gaze with eyes full of remorse. He could serve her up before this council’s judgment with one sentence if he wanted to. He could make her pay for her lies, her duplicity. She had been right when she said she deserved punishment.
But he couldn’t do it.
“No,” he said. “I’m not gonna accuse her of anything.”
“You do not need to fear repercussions for accusing the princess of wrongdoing.” General Balena’s dark eyes glanced between both Avian and Falcroné. “You are protected under our laws, the same as she or any other citizen of the realm.”
Axel eyed Avian again then rotated his sore shoulders. “I’d rather just get outta here and never return, if that’s alright with all of you.”
General Balena motioned to the two Wisps who had escorted Axel into the throne room. “Free him at once.”
One of the Wisps unsheathed a curved dagger from his belt and sliced through the ropes that bound Axel’s hands.
“You may rejoin your friends.” General Balena extended his open hand, palm up, toward Calum and Magnus.
Axel shook the bonds from his hands and nodded at General Balena, then he cast a lingering gaze at Lilly before he headed back to Calum and Magnus. She’d done the right thing in the end by following her heart, and he’d been right about her all along.
She gave him a solemn nod and then looked away.
Axel chuckled to himself. Still playing aloof.
The stares of dozens of Windgales who had gathered in the throne room for his hearing weighed on him, but he walked toward Calum and Magnus unashamed and confident.
“I don’t believe it.” Calum held his arms out at his sides. “You’re free.”
“I guess so.” Axel admitted, “I wasn’t expecting that.”
“Why? Because you actually did accost her?” Magnus asked.
Axel frowned at him. “That’s none of your business, Scales.”
“I have my answer, nonetheless.” Magnus folded his arms across his chest and scowled at him.
Axel started to say something, but Avian’s voice filled the throne room again.
“The council’s next and final hearing is that of Condor, the disgraced former Captain of the Royal Guard and leader of the rebel faction known as the Raven’s Brood.” Avian motioned toward the pillar to the right of the throne, and four Wisps, all of them clad in dark-purple armor and wielding swords, escorted Condor into view.
Where the Wisps had only secured Axel’s hands with ropes, a thick chain bound Condor’s wrists behind his back, and a matching strand stretched between his ankles. One of the Wisps gripped another chain attached to a steel collar around Condor’s neck.
To top it all off, no one had bothered to change out the bandage on Condor’s hand. The same ragged, frayed, and bloody cloth that they’d wrapped around his wounded hand after catching him still covered his hand.
Axel rubbed his sore left shoulder and recalled Condor’s words from last night in the prison. You’d better pray that the council calls me first so I get the bulk of their wrath and there isn’t much leftover for you.
Too bad exactly the opposite of that had transpired. Axel and Condor might not get their day of battle after all.
“Good luck,” Axel muttered. His shoulder had already started to feel better.
When Condor’s piercing blue eyes met hers, Lilly’s heart beat faster.
At first she disregarded the uneasiness in her stomach as the result of him trying to take her hostage, but the longer he stared, the more she realized the source of her anxiety wasn’t their history—it came from him.
Just him.
Lilly had to look
away.
“Since the accusations against you are innumerable, this council has elected to reduce the number of claims to the following list.” Avian held up a scroll. “Insurrection, rebellion, treason, attempted extortion of the Premier for personal gain, theft, and the battery and murder of multiple Sky Realm citizens.”
“I object.” Condor’s voice indicated very little, if any emotion whatsoever. He stood tall, stoic, and stared right at Lilly’s father.
Avian shook his head. “You cannot object. These are the summations of the countless accusations we received from citizens regarding your—”
“I object because I do not recognize this council’s authority.”
“Regardless of your objection, this council stands in authority over you.”
“You have me in chains, in shackles. You’ve kept me in a jail cell for the last week, or however long it has been. But you do not have any authority over me. Why are there only Wisps on this council and not mere Windgales as well?”
“Please do not play coy with us,” Avian said. “You know full well that Windgales are not appointed to the council because—”
“Without representation from the lower caste, this council is a farce,” Condor interrupted, shaking his head. “Everyone knows that you make the final decision on every issue. Everyone knows that the only man bold enough to side against you consistently is General Balena, and even he—”
“Condor, enough.” General Balena held up his hand. “Your beliefs are not the subject of this hearing. Do you deny any of the Premier’s accusations?”
“I deny all of them.”
Grunts and murmurs swelled throughout the crowd. The Wisps who guarded Condor exchanged subtle glances, but Lilly noticed.
“So you deny that you instigated a rebellion?” General Balena leaned forward.
“No.”
“You just said you denied all of the accusations.”
“I deny that it was a rebellion. The people took a stand against corruption.”
