The Liberian

Chapter 39

“It would be, wouldn’t it?” His eyes fell on Halle and she was happy to have the bars keeping him out. “It would be...” He chuckled and turned. “Her trial starts soon. Make sure she’s on time.” Egmun clicked away down the hall, his emerald robes swishing about him.

Halle let out her breath.

“He seems about as pleasant as a rabid weasel in a bag of vipers,” Craig noted dully.

“Craig!” Daniel hissed, but didn’t argue.

With that remark these guards became acceptable. She remembered Prince Baldair mentioning something about the previous guards being Egmun’s men. If that was true, whose men were these? What luck was looking out for her? Halle struggled to her feet.

Daniel fumbled with the keys, opening the door. She looked at them expectantly.

“I think you’re supposed to cuff me.” Halle held out her wrists, hoping they wrote off the a***e that painted her arms as having been caused by the Northerners.

“Are we?” Daniel asked uncertainly.

“I-I think so?” Craig ran off to grab some shackles hanging on the wall. They were only over her wrists this time.

“It seems rather pointless,” Daniel mused as they started down the hallway. “You’re a sorcerer, right? What’s cuffing you supposed to do?”

“Daniel!” Craig gDylaned, “Let’s not give the person standing on trial for treason any ideas?”

Halle shifted her hands; he had a point. She dared an attempt at her magic. Tears of relief escaped when she felt a weak little flicker around her fingertips. Knowing it was returning reduced her resentment for it not being available to help against Rat and Mole.Daniel went to grab her arm.

“No!” she frantically jerked away, taking an instantly defensive stance. He jumped back, startled. “I mean, I won’t run. Please, let me go on my own.”

The walk to the courtroom was slow, due to her mad determination to do it without their help. In her mind she shifted it from an issue of paranoia over them potentially harming her to an issue of pride. She wanted to show Egmun that she could walk in there on her own two feet.

They opened the door, and she appeared to be early. The thrones stood empty and only about half the senators had arrived. They looked at her with a whole spectrum of emotions, from horror and anger, to fascination and skepticism. Halle walked up to the edge of her cage, standing as tall as she could manage.

As the room began to fill with people, it also began to fill with light. A large, circular, overhead window let in the morning sun. On occasion, the senators walked in with other people whom they sat with at the benches by the door before taking their own seats. Halle tried to see if she recognized anyone. It wasn’t until Minister Victor took a seat that she felt a glimmer of hope. He caught her eyes and nodded his head by a fraction.

When the last senator had settled into their seats, the doors to the courtroom were opened and the three male royals strode in. They each wore a white jacket, the Emperor and youngest prince donned in light blue trousers, whereas Damion wore black. Clearly, compromises had been made.

Upon the Emperor’s brow sat the flaming crown of the sun, each of its points a spear of golden light rising toward the heavens. Halle wondered how it would look on Damion. It led to the reminder that if she made it through the trial, she would someday find out. Something deep within her, under the broken and jagged pieces of who she now was, ached at the thought.

“Let this high court be called to order. On trial is Halle Yarl for the crimes of recklessness, endangerment, heresy, public destruction, murder, and treason. The prisoner has made a cry of not guilty. We will now hear those who will speak on behalf of the Senate and the prisoner. Let their testimonies be true or may the Mother strike them down with her divine justice.” The Emperor settled back into his chair. The princes sat as well, sparking the rest of the room to sit with them.

Halle’s shoulders ached from holding up her shackles, and she decided to sit also. She looked across the room at Damion. He wore an emotionless expression today, much like the day before. He didn’t look like a man who had created wanton destruction between official duties. He didn’t look like a man who had killed two guards the night before. He looked almost bored.

He briefly flicked his eyes over to her, but he looked away equally as fast, his mouth pressing into a thin line. Halle swallowed. Was he angry with her?

Egmun called the first witness to the stand. It was a Southern woman who had a very average build and plain looks about her. Halle tried to determine if she had ever seen this woman before, but she didn’t recall.

“Thank you for coming today,” Egmun started, “I realize this will likely be a great trauma for you to recall, but I will need to ask you questions about what happened two nights ago.” The woman looked uncertainly at the powerful people surrounding her. “Do not be frightened, you are not on trial. Tell the truth before your Emperor and the Mother above, that is all we ask.” The woman nodded. “Tell us, what did you see that night?”

“Uh, well, my, Emperor, princes, lords and ladies.” The woman gave a small curtsey. “As ye know, first there was the explosion and I be tryin to run. Seemed like everyun in the city was tryin to get away.” Halle’s heart began to beat faster, remembering her frantic sprint through the masses. “I noticing the prince was runnin.”

“You noticed the prince in the crowd?” Egmun asked.

“I was in such a hurry I dun bow or nothing.” She gave a small curtsey to Damion. “No offense, milord.”

“I’m sure the prince took none.”

Halle felt offended on Damion’s behalf that Egmun would presume to speak for him. If Damion was bothered by Egmun’s words, his face betrayed nothing.

“You’re sure it was the prince?” Egmun asked.

The woman nodded quickly. “I noticing because he was running toward the fire, not away. And he was all in black, as he oft is, in fine things, so I knew it was the prince.”

Damion shifted in his seat, and Halle instantly noticed the movement after he’d been so still. He rested his cheek on his fist and reclined back in his chair, his knees spreading open slightly.

“Senator,” Damion drawled, “I already said I was there. As amusing as it is to hear my story repeated through a commoner, it hardly seems a relevant way to spend our time.”

Some of the other senators chuckled uneasily. Egmun only had a cool smile on his face.

“My prince, I was merely attempting to establish that the woman was indeed there and thus her testimony is trustworthy,” Egmun explained. Continuing his line of questioning, he turned to the witness. “Good lady, when you saw the prince, was he alone?” The woman shook her head. “Who was he with?”

“He was followin’ her.” The woman slowly raised a finger in Halle’s direction.

“See, my fellow senators. I called this witness to account for the malicious intent and the heresy of the prisoner.” Egmun turned to her and Halle frowned. “Why else would a prince be following a plain girl of common birth into the center of danger? Why else would she lead him there if not to kill him?” He looked at the Emperor and senators, raising his hands dramatically.

“Because she had bewitched him with her magic; she placed our prince into a trance that even he did not realize and she brought him into her den to strike him down. For all we know, she plotted with the Northerners.” Halle clenched the bars tightly; ignoring the pain the tension in her muscles caused her shoulder. “A magic that bewitches men and steals free will alone should be a crime punishable by death. There is no other—”

“I did no such thing!” Halle cried.

“The prisoner will keep quiet!” the Emperor bellowed, slamming his staff down with a large clang.

Halle shrunk back and dropped her head.

Egmun could take anything people said and turn it into whatever he wanted. He had the Senate eating from his palms by the time the witness was done. Halle was fairly certain he could claim that she had a second head springing from her naval that sucked out people’s souls through their noses, and they gladly believe him. She raised her head half an inch to look at Damion through the curtain of her hair.

He’d yawn from time to time and made a show of looking bored with all the proceedings. She wondered if it was hard for him to sit through. It was insulting to say someone like her could command him in any way, just as it was insulting to imply that she could affect him as a master sorcerer. Then there were the rest of the lies. Halle rested her forehead on the bars as Egmun called the second witness.

The second witness was a man, a builder, who was saying that the demolished houses showed signs of wind and not explosion damage. That they may have been standing today otherwise. The third was a woman whose daughter had died in the square, and Egmun made the point that perhaps her daughter had survived the explosion but instead the wind killed her.

“The Minister of Sorcery, Victor Anzbel,” Egmun called.The minister took the dais. He had a fist on his hip and stood easily. “It’s been a while, Egmun.” Victor grinned.

The senator sneered. “This is hardly a social call, minister. We have serious matters to discuss.” Egmun was stiff.

“I can see that. I very seriously wonder why you locked away one of the most promising apprentices the Tower has ever received like some common criminal.”

Egmun raised his eyebrows.

Halle tried to keep the surprise off her face. She was officially an apprentice of the Tower? She glanced to Damion. A spark in his eyes directed at Egmun had been lit. He was amused.

“An apprentice of the tower?” Egmun seemed to have the same questions she did. “There are no rec—” He was shuffling through papers on a small desk nearby him when the minister cut him off.

“Of course there aren’t. Nothing had been made public yet. We were waiting until after the festival to announce it. She had friends in the library, and we wanted them to enjoy the celebrations. It seemed rather ill-timed to do it during the festivities,” Victor explained easily.

Halle blinked.

“If this all occurred, then where are the documents?” Egmun asked in haste.

“Oh, my apologies, senator.” Victor fussed in his bag and produced an official-looking paper. He walked over and Egmun met him at the bottom of the steps leading to the senatorial seats. “You should find it all in order.”

Egmun glanced over the parchment with a frown.

“This bears the seal of the prince,” Egmun growled.

“It certainly does,” Victor said matter-of-factly. “He is very active in the Tower, as you know.”

Halle looked across at Damion. He had a small smirk curling up the corners of his mouth. His confidence fit on him like well-tailored clothing.

“And of the Master of Tome...” The paper shook like an autumn leaf in Egmun’s hands.

Halle blinked. It had Mohned’s mark?

“Senators, I think you will find all the necessary signatures, mine and Halle’s included.”

Her signature was on there? It had been forged, and she had a suspicion she knew by who. The master wouldn’t, even if he knew it was her wishes, and Victor didn’t know her writing.