The Day They Buried Their Luna

A Not So Fair Trial

With her head down, Seris entered the chamber. I relaxed at the sight of her. Of course. Well of course it was Seris. She would face the council and explain the truth to them, and this nightmare would not even have started.

I could not help myself, "Tell them," I said, "tell them what you saw in that sickroom, tell them I did all I could.”

She looked up to my face and for a split second I saw something flash in her eyes. It was no more, it was buried under a veil of sorrow so real, I could see it through my own eyes.

"Lysara," she whispered, "I'm so sorry."

"Sorry for what?" I mumbled.

Elder Bastian raised his hand. “Seris Valehart, you have brought information to the council about the death of Elowen Draven. The council will now hear your testimony.”

Seris took in a shivering intake of breath, placing her hands in front of her, as if preparing for the most difficult task she had ever undertaken. “I am sorry… I can’t do it anymore. The Luna’s ghost haunts my dreams. I can’t keep quiet to a crime I witnessed.”

"Witnessed what?" I demanded. “Seris, what are you saying?”

Seris said his voice shook, "I saw her. I came in three nights before Elowen died to change the bed linen in the sickroom, and I noticed Lysara put some powder in Elowen's tea. At the time, I didn't think much of it, I trusted her completely. But, that same night, when Elowen's health deteriorated, I—“ She put her hand to her mouth. “I should have spoken up then, I will never be able to live with myself for not saying a word.”

“No that's not true,” I shouted. “That is a complete fabrication. I did not give Elowen any remedies without the presence of Wren; all my remedies were recorded and all my doses were measured before witnesses. Ask Wren. “Ask any one that worked in that sickroom with me!”

“Already the council has communicated with the healers on duty,” Elder Bastian said. “No one could vouch for you every hour while you were with Elowen. There were times when you were alone with her.No one could vouch for you all the time while you were with Elowen. There were moments when you were alone with her.”

I laughed. “I was alone with her because I sat with her, all night long, so the other healers could rest. It's not a crime, it's devotion, Elowen was more than patient to me she was family, she was going to be my child's grandma.”

“But, she died the night after I saw you with that powder," Seris said softly.

"You're lying." I had clenched my fists at my sides. “Why would you make up this? Why would you do this to me?”

“I would never lie about something so serious," Seris said, now her eyes filled with tears. I loved you Lysara, too but this…. This is destroying me.

Looking at Kaelor, I felt the urge to pull a face off his head. Kaelor. “Say something. You know me. You know I would never hurt your mother, I would never hurt anyone. Please.”

His jaw clenched and his eyes never met mine, but held on to something beyond my shoulder. He said nothing. Not one word. What he didn't say was worse than what Seris had said.

Again, "Kaelor," I said, my voice breaking. “Look, look, look at me.”

He didn't.

After a pause Elder Bastian spoke again. “The council has listened to both sides and we believe there is enough evidence to be satisfied of a guilty verdict.”

I said, "You can't be serious. You're accusing me based on the testimony of one witness, and no evidence anyone else can vouch for?"”

“The law does not demand further proof if a witness is sworn in to testify in a case where he or she personally saw a crime committed, “Elder Bastian said. “But, since you are carrying the Alpha's child, the execution can not be made until after the child is born. You will be imprisoned until that time. The council will then meet to decide the final judgment, according to the s*x of the child, and the matters of succession.”

I repeated myself, "Matters of succession. You are going to kill me, based on whether my child is a boy or a girl?”

Elder Bastian said to the guards, "Take her to the dungeon," and he didn't even look at me.

Before I could object any more, my arms were being gripped. I turned around again and again, looking for Kaelor and hoping he would, would do something, say something, anything.

He just still wouldn't look at me.

They dragged me out of the chamber, my sobs reverberating off the stone walls, down, down, down they dragged me, till the world was all iron bars and darkness.

—

I jumped up suddenly, gasping for breath, my heart beating against my ribs.

I was stunned for a second, not knowing where I was. Then the cold stone under my feet, the thin straw mattress and the iron bars just beyond my reach, it all came rushing back.

“Moon goddess.” I mumbled as I placed a shaking hand on my chest and held it in place to calm my breathing. It had all happened months ago but I am forced to relive it every night.

From outside the bars came a guard's voice, "You're awake. Come on, good, you can go out to eat, Council's orders.”

I said nothing. I just stood up on shaky feet and trailed him out, my body reacting automatically, my mind still in the nightmare. I took what was offered me, and came back to my cell when I was asked to do so.

I curled into the corner of the little room, pressed my hand to my tummy, whispered sorry to the child in me, the cold, the fear and all that I could not protect them from.

The pain struck right then.

It began as a vague tingling sensation in my lower tummy, which I blamed on stress, on exhaustion. But in a few minutes it turned into something far worse and it was holding me so tightly I couldn't breathe.

I held on tightly to the bars, gasping, "Guard!I held the bars tightly, breathing out in a gasp, "Guard! “There's something amiss, guard,”

The guard did not turn around, but replied, "Save it.

“Please,” I cried, as another wave of agony swept over me, and I knelt on the ground. My baby is not well, I need a healer!

"I said save it." He barked.

The next time it hit, it was even worse, and I couldn't help but let out a shout before it could be silenced. I heard footsteps then, fast and concerned; the guard's face emerged at the bars, his expression from irritation to fear.

"Goddess," he muttered. "She's not faking. Send for the healers, quickly! NOW!"

Everything thereafter became a blur: hands reaching out to me, voices yelling, a jolt of moving as I was lifted out of the dungeon into the harsh light of the corridors above. I heard snippets of words. Too early. Take her to the hospital. Hurry.

All other things were swallowed by the pain.

I can still hear the healers' hands pressing on my stomach and their voices urgent. I recall hearing someone say “labor” and “premature” and words I couldn't comprehend in the midst of agonies tearing through my body.

Then, mercifully, blackness came upon me.

I looked out my eyes once more and the world was soft and misty and my body was hurting in a way I'd never imagined. Wren's face was white, her eyes full of tears that she did not shed.

“Wren,” I whispered, my voice raw. "My baby. Where's my baby?"

She didn't answer right away. She just touched my hand and gripped it with shaking fingers.

"Wren," I said, as panic clawed up my throat. "Please. Tell me."

"Lysara," she said softly, "I'm so sorry. Our little one was a still born.”