Into the Gray

by Geanna Culbertson

  “Thank you, Madame Alexanders. That will be all,” Ambassador Nathan said. “If there are no more questions,” her eyes scanned the unmoving ambassadors and Fairy Godmothers, “you can move on to your final destination.”

  The professor’s eyes widened. “Wait, not—”

  Lena Lenore stood, wand in hand. “There’s a transport waiting for you outside. Allow me to hasten your arrival.”

  “No, please! I have done great things for the community. I have been a loyal teacher and good citizen for years. I have a second cousin who is a protagonist. And I was doing you a favor trying to get rid of Crisanta Knight! She is a far greater threat to the realm than half the antagonists in Alderon, you must—”

  Lenore waved her wand and a piece of glittering duct tape appeared over Madame Alexanders’s mouth. A second wave of her wand, and the professor was consumed in a sphere of raspberry red magic before vanishing without a trace.

  The Godmother Supreme settled back in her chair like nothing had transpired. I knew she wasn’t trying to do me a favor, but I was glad she had shut the professor up. I was a bit shaken by the horror in Madame Alexanders’s eyes. Her fear and desperation had gotten under my skin. For a moment I actually felt bad for her, especially when I considered that what just happened to her could happen to me shortly.

  “Anything to add, Princess Knight?” Ambassador Nathan asked.

  I shook my head.

  Madame Alexanders’s description did not paint me in a good light, but that didn’t mean it was inaccurate. It had gone down exactly as she said. Attesting anything different wouldn’t have been the truth, and just the thought of not speaking the truth caused a burning fire to creep up my throat, which must’ve been a result of the Book of Bindings spell. I rubbed my neck to massage away the fiery pain. Then I cleared my throat.

  “Can I call a witness?” I asked.

  “You already had Merlin speak on your behalf, Crisanta,” Lenore replied.

  “I know, but you got to call different people to represent your case, and I should be entitled the same consideration.”

  “That is fair,” said Ambassador Shewd, despite Lenore’s disapproving glare. “Who do you wish to call?”

  I glanced over my shoulder. All of my friends would speak honorably on my behalf and convey the case I was trying to make for my Pure Magic. Well, everyone except for maybe Kai. I decided to go with someone who bore the most clout.

  “King Arthur of Camelot,” I said. If Arthur was surprised, he didn’t show it. He rose from his seat and strode forward.

  “I’m sorry,” Ambassador Steinglass said. “But are we really supposed to believe this is King Arthur Pendragon? Legend says his half-brother Mordred killed him years ago. Last we heard, Camelot was being ruled by practically a different king every year as the realm dealt with the instability following his loss.”

  “It’s him,” Lenore said simply. “You ambassadors will receive my official update about it this week. I pay periodic visits to the other Wonderlands to stay up-to-date on their affairs. Arthur and Gwenivere recently returned to the throne in Camelot. The king was not dead; sadly he had been trapped in Neverland for years.”

  “I am touched to know you care,” Arthur said with the vaguest air of sarcasm in his commanding voice. He took the witness stand, swore the Book of Bindings spell, and looked at me reassuringly.

  I took a deep breath. I wasn’t a lawyer, and so far the ambassadors and Lenore had been leading the questions. I would have to wing this. I’d seen plays at school, I’d watched a couple of trials when I was younger, and my dad had taught us about the judicial system in Midveil. Just like with my improvised opening statement, I could do this.

  “Arthur, um, King Arthur—like Ambassador Steinglass noted, legend says you were killed by Mordred years ago, but as the Godmother Supreme pointed out, you were actually in Neverland. Can you please describe how you were able to return to Camelot?”

  Arthur gave me an approving nod. I’d asked a good question.

  He looked to the jury. “The reason I could not leave Neverland was because of a mortal injury inflicted by the same Questor Beast that the Godmother Supreme once encountered. However, Crisanta Knight was able to use her powers of life to heal me and thus return me to Camelot to fight for my kingdom and free it from the oppressive rule that had taken hold in my absence. Crisanta also healed Dorothy—who I’m sure you’re all familiar with from Wizard of Oz lore—in the same way.” He gestured to Dorothy, who waved.

  I stepped closer to the witness stand and tilted my chin toward the jury. “Can you please tell everyone about other instances in which you’ve seen me use my magic for good?”

  Arthur returned his gaze to the ambassadors and Godmothers. His face was so serious, so calm, so powerful. He could’ve spoken about any subject sans the Book of Bindings spell and everyone in the room would’ve believed his accounts were true.

  “There is no question that Crisanta Knight is powerful,” Arthur stated. “But power is only as dangerous as its holder is foolish or selfish. Crisanta is neither of those things. Like Excalibur in my hands, rule over Oz in Queen Ozma’s hands, Pure Magic in Merlin’s hands, and so on, great power can affect positive change and create a better world when it is wielded by someone who values those ideals. In addition to healing me and Dorothy to reunite us with our realms and families, I have seen Crisanta use her magic to defend the Lost Boys and Girls in Neverland, protect her friends as well as innocents she owes nothing to, and aid my family in taking back our kingdom. She is not the monster your previous witness painted her as. She is a hero at its finest—flawed perhaps, but the best of us are—and I wouldn’t have it any other way. It is why she is the first person I swore into my new Knights of the Round Table.”

  I smiled at Arthur and turned toward the jury. “Any follow-up questions?”

  “Your majesty.” A Fairy Godmother on Lenore’s right with golden, curly hair stood up. “What you are saying is that Crisanta Knight can be useful so long as she uses her powers for the right purposes?”

  “Useful seems like a patronizing way to illustrate her ability to aid others,” Arthur replied. “But she has helped all of us present in one way or another.”

  The curly blonde Godmother shot Lenore a sideways glance like they were sharing a thought. I didn’t like that.

  “Anyone else?” Lenore asked the assembly. No one responded, and Lenore nodded. “You may step down, King Arthur.”

  The king departed the witness stand, touched my shoulder supportively, then made his way back to the benches.

  “Crisanta,” Lenore said. “Would you like to call any other witnesses before we summon our final speaker?”

  “No,” I said. “I could call every person I brought with me today and they would speak on my behalf, but I think Arthur has said it all. You know by the virtue of these people being here that they stand in my defense. So let their general presence—these important, powerful protagonists from multiple realms—stand as my final testimonial. They are with me. So maybe you should ask yourself . . . why aren’t you?”

  The question hung in the air and for a moment, I really believed I could win this. There were several haters on the jury, but most of the ambassadors and Godmothers had been impartial during the proceedings until now. They had to be smart, good people to some extent to reach their current positions of power and influence. Surely they had seen reason.

  Ambassador Steinglass pressed the button on her desk. “Bring in the final witness.”

  The doors opened and a Century City guard walked in, dressed in the same uniform as all the other soldiers present. At first I thought he was simply a guard who’d come to deliver a message or something. But then he took the witness stand.

  “Ladies and gentleman,” Lenore said. “As you’ll see in your briefs for today’s proceedings, this is Sir Davenport. He is a three-year member of the Century City guard and has been assigned to Capitol Building detail for the last year. His record has no misdemea
nors and he won a medal for bravery last summer following an incident with a Manticore.”

  I didn’t recognize the guard or his name. What was his relevance here?

  “Sir Davenport,” Lenore said. “Would you please describe to our esteemed panel what you witnessed on the night of the recent Vicennalia Aurora.”

  My face dropped.

  The night of the Vicennalia Aurora in Century City? That’s when I . . .

  “Yes, ma’am,” Sir Davenport replied. “I was on duty that night. After I chased a couple of kids attempting to graffiti the Capitol Building, I stopped by the traffic circle. That’s when I saw something.” He pointed at me. “Her. She had her hands on the dragon statue and she was glowing. Then a large burst of light came out of her and shot her back. A few seconds later, the statue’s metal fractured, and the dragon came to life and started attacking the city.”

  I stood frozen. I thought no one had seen me. I thought that no one knew. I thought a bunch of things right then, but they all were crushed under one sentiment:

  Crud.

  “Why have you waited until now to come forward with this information?” Ambassador Shewd asked.

  “I didn’t know who she was,” Sir Davenport responded. “It wasn’t until I read the press release about her magic that was distributed after the Aurora that I put two and two together. Then after that . . . I was afraid. Crisanta Knight is a protagonist descended from a powerful royal family, and who am I but an ensemble character who has barely gotten started in his guard career? Then there’s also the fact that I saw how that dragon got destroyed. I was far away at the time, like most guards were—but we all watched the dragon disintegrate and plow into the city, wrapped in the same glow as when it came to life. I knew in my heart that she must’ve been the one to take the life back from it. And I figured if she can do that to a massive monster, what chance does a person like me have against her?”

  My stomach lurched at the apprehension in Sir Davenport’s expression, tone, and body language. This poor guy was genuinely terrified of me. Was this how other people felt?

  Despite his reaction, what Sir Davenport did not realize was that, given what he’d just unveiled, I was way more afraid of him than he was of me.

  “Crisa?” I turned at the sound of Susannah’s voice.

  “Did you bring the dragon to life?”

  I took a moment to respond, but I knew there was no way to deny it.

  “I did,” I said.

  A flurry of gasps and whispers went up amongst the ambassadors and Godmothers.

  I looked from face to face, hoping to see some understanding or support. There wasn’t any. “It’s not like that though,” I insisted. “I didn’t mean for it to destroy the city. The antagonists had captured my friends. They’d even killed one and were forcing me to bring the statue to life. I figured I could wake the dragon, save my friends, and then take life away from the creature again before anything too bad happened. But the creature broke free before I made it back. My friends and I moved as fast as we could to stop it, and I eventually did take it down, as Sir Davenport said. I was just a bit too late.”

  “So you took a gamble with your power that ended up costing the city enormous structural and emotional damage?” Ambassador Nathan said. “Do you even know what your actions have cost the city—not only in money, but in terms of deaths and injuries?”

  My heart cringed and my chest tightened.

  Don’t say it.

  “Thirty-five dead and ninety-seven injured.” Her words fell like hammer blows. “And yet, you and King Arthur want us to believe that you are not selfish and foolish? You risked a city to save a few people. While all of us can sympathize with your dilemma at the time, that doesn’t change the fact that what you did was terrible and exactly the kind of dangerous thing we are afraid that you as a wielder of Pure Magic are capable of.”

  She was right. I knew it as surely as I believed I was probably doomed. I felt even worse from the guilt though. How could I care so much about my self-preservation right now when I’d just learned how many lives I’d inadvertently destroyed?

  Thirty-five dead and ninety-seven injured.

  Those numbers would haunt me for the rest of my life.

  “Do you regret it?” Ambassador Shewd asked me then, a touch of kindness in his voice. “People learn from their mistakes. If you could do it over again, would you?”

  The question hung in the air.

  I regretted that the dragon had caused so much damage. I was emotionally sunk from realizing the exact number of people it had brought destruction to. And I hated that granting the dragon life had caused me to play into Nadia’s hands—giving my Pure Magic the strength to more actively control me. The Lady of the Lake literally let me know at the time that it was a fate-altering bad decision. And yet . . .

  I stole a quick glimpse at Kai then at Daniel.

  “I don’t know,” I responded honestly.

  More murmuring. Lenore smiled subtly. This had been her ace in the hole the whole time. No wonder she never seemed worried. My fate had been sealed for a while and I’d had no idea.

  “You are dismissed, Sir Davenport,” Ambassador Steinglass said. “Do you have anything left to add before the panel deliberates your case, Princess Knight?”

  As Sir Davenport left, he refused to make eye contact with me. I directed my attention back to the ambassadors and Godmothers. I couldn’t let things finish like this.

  I released a prolonged exhale then met the collective gaze of the people who held my future in their hands and voiced a final appeal from my arsenal, the only one I had left. “The Author’s prophecy for my fate says I will either help the antagonists succeed or I will be the key force responsible for stopping them. Please don’t send me to Alderon. I’ve done some bad things, but I’ve done a lot of good things too. And I can make a difference for the better if you give me a chance.”

  Lenore stood. I felt like a mortal at the mercy of a god.

  “We’ll discuss the matter and make a decision shortly. Stay there.” She waved her wand and a rush of energy like a vertical wave shot up from the floor, separating me and my friends from the jury. It was a force field. An identical one consumed the doors behind me, likely to prevent us from leaving the room. The ambassadors and Godmothers pivoted in their chairs and began talking ardently with one another. I couldn’t hear a word of it.

  “They’re Silence Walls,” Chance said from the benches. “At trials in Clevaunt, Godmothers create that type of force field once the jury is ready to discuss sentencing. It makes proceedings quicker if the court doesn’t have to call recesses and people don’t need to wait to reconvene. It also forces a faster decision. Expedites the judicial process.”

  “They can’t hear us either?” I asked.

  “No.”

  “Good. Because if I’m about to get sent to Alderon, I don’t want people eavesdropping on my last words.”

  I hoped one of my friends would reassure me that I wasn’t going to be sent to Alderon. But none did. However, Merlin already had the gears turning in his head.

  “I think we should talk escape plan,” he said. “This may very well go south. Book has no jurisdiction in other realms though, so Crisanta can be a fugitive and move to one of our worlds before they enact their sentencing.”

  He said it so matter-of-factly. I didn’t like it, but I had to be practical that this was probably going to be my life starting in a few minutes. Being a magical fugitive was a way better option than being sent to Alderon. I was gonna have to go on the run without even having packed a toothbrush.

  “SJ, are you ready with our escape contingency?” Merlin asked.

  My friend patted her potions sack. “At a moment’s notice.”

  “What contingency?” Daniel asked.

  Suddenly the Silence Walls lowered. Time was up. I wasn’t sure whether the speed of the jury’s decision was a good thing or not.

  Ambassador Steinglass pressed the button on her desk. �
�Please bring in magic items 272 and 273.”

  Before I could ask what those items were, Steinglass addressed me directly.

  “Princess Crisanta Katherine Knight. The ambassadors and Godmother high council have come to the only conclusion that makes sense for your unique situation. We all agree that you are a threat and cannot be allowed to freely move around Book with such powerful magic given your past choices and instances of lost control. However, we recognize that tossing you into Alderon could easily cause the negative version of your prophecy, and we have never sent a protagonist, let alone a princess, to Alderon. That is not a precedent we wish to set, as it would only cause more instability in a realm that is currently in dire need of reassurance. We also appreciate that your power can be useful, if regulated to benefit the realm like the Author’s Pure Magic does.”

  “Oh good grief. Are you going to send me to the Indexlands to live with Liza?” I responded with a wince.

  “No,” Lenore answered on behalf of the group. “My associate here had a better suggestion.” She nodded at the curly blonde Godmother beside her. The doors to the meeting room opened and two guards entered. Each carried a stone box.

  Lenore magically zapped the floor in front of me, causing a glass table to materialize. The guards placed the boxes upon it, removing the lids. They took out the boxes’ contents and set them down on the table. Inside the first box was a powder blue pillow with two sleek silver cuff bracelets resting on it. From the second box the guards removed an ornate, old-fashioned bottle decorated with splashes of pink, purple, and gold.

  “Hold on, you can’t do this!” Blue said from the back of the room. She got up again, but this time brusquely came to stand beside me. “No one’s enacted genie servitude in an eternity for a reason. It’s basically slavery.”

  “Wait, genie servitude? Is this a genie bottle?” I asked in clarification.

  “Blue,” Lenore said. “Do you want me to magically remove you from there or would you prefer to step back of your own volition?”

  “Lenore,” I said intensely. “Explain.”