Fourteen
The Trial
Summer 922 MC
The darkness closed in on Albreda, hunger gnawing at her stomach, thirst ravaging her throat. Lying on the cold stone floor, too weak to even move, she waited for the death she suspected would soon be delivered.
The sound of footsteps came to her ears, but she was too feeble to respond. The door opened, and guards moved around her, then a bucket of water was thrown over her to wash away the stench. They made no attempt to scrub her, instead hauled her, dripping wet, to her feet. A guard to either side of her took her arms, grasping them painfully, and started moving her from the cell. Two more fell in behind, their spears at the ready. She wondered if her time had finally come.
They went down a long corridor and then out into the morning sun—her first
