by Matthew Ward
Elynna had been right on one count at least: it was quite the spectacle. The amphitheatre was full of serathi, the golds, blacks, creams and scarlets of their robes glorious in the sunshine. There were hundreds of them, and if the amphitheatre wasn't filled to capacity then it must have been very nearly so. Had the search for the Radiant ended?
Elynna led us through the gate and across the amphitheatre to stand before the serathiel's throne. No one announced our arrival. Only our footsteps broke the silence. Above us, the serathi watched our every move, their manner that of birds of prey who have sensed a new quarry within their roost. Perhaps they expected us to attempt escape, or something equally foolish, but no such madness was in my mind. If nothing else, four scarlet-robed graces had followed us into the amphitheatre and now formed a part of our escort.
Azyra sat upon her throne, resplendent in a close-fitting suit of golden plate. Jewels gleamed amongst the braids of her jet black hair. Whatever role she might have played for me before, the serathiel was here as monarch of her people, and presumably as our judge as well. Her expression was not particularly friendly, but neither was it hostile.
Two drudges stood motionless beside the serathiel, a male to her left and a female to her right. A short distance from the dais and facing her, stood two serathi. I recognised Adanika, and presumed the other had to be Alyndra, Speaker of Compassion. There should have been three speakers, of course, but I guessed Myrzanna was still locked away somewhere, and a new Speaker of Retribution had yet to be appointed.
"Let it be heard that the Courts of Heaven welcome our three guests." Azyra's cold, clear voice echoed around the amphitheatre. "They will account for the death of our beloved sister Irina. May their testimony be unswerving, and their acts of witness enlighten us all. Let it also be known that as we have no Speaker of Retribution upon whom we can currently rely, I shall fulfil her duties."
A babble of conversation rippled through the crowd. I leaned in close to Elynna. "I assume that's not commonplace?"
"It is not outside the serathiel's authority." Elynna's tone carried a mild rebuke. "But it is unusual." Then, remembering where we were, she shushed me. "You will bring us both a reprimand."
Elynna's fears were groundless – Azyra's attention remained upon the assembled host. "I repeat, I shall fulfil those duties," she said again, and at last the murmuring faded. The serathiel then turned to Elynna. "Please show our guests to their seats."
Elynna bowed low and walked away towards a row of seats set opposite the throne. She clearly assumed that we'd follow, but in this she was to be sorely disappointed.
"Your pardon, serathiel," I said, careful to maintain a respectful tone, "but I must ask as to our purpose here."
Elynna froze mid-step. Alyndra glowered at me. Clearly I'd committed some terrible breach of etiquette. I didn't much care. I'd never been one for courtly demeanour, and I needed to know if we were there as the accused. Ignorance was the only thing my father had believed more dangerous than arrogance; on this, he and I had always fully agreed. Besides, if I hadn't asked, I felt quite sure that Calda would have done so, just as I was certain that her words would have appalled Elynna far more.
"You will not address the Courts of Heaven unless given leave," said Alyndra sternly.
The serathiel smiled. "Calm yourself, Alyndra. They are strangers. They do not know our ways. It becomes easy to forget that things are done differently in other realms."
Alyndra bowed in apology, first to Azyra, and then to me – a gracious gesture, under the circumstances. "My apologies, Edric Saran. The serathiel is correct."
I bowed in return. "The fault is mine for disrupting your proceedings, but I must insist on an answer to my question."
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Elynna relax. At my side, Calda muttered something under her breath. Koschai and Jamar said nothing, though the latter did give me a small, slow nod of approval.
"What is it you fear, Edric Saran?" Azyra asked.
"That's a question with many answers, and I wouldn't wish to waste your time by listing them all," I replied, stalling for time as I sought a phrase decorous enough to be inoffensive, and direct enough to garner me a useful answer. In the end, I abandoned the former to achieve the latter. "Are we on trial?"
"In this matter, at least, your fears are groundless, Edric Saran," said Azyra. "You and your friends have been brought here not as accused, but as witnesses."
That was certainly a relief, though why the serathi hadn't told us from the start I wasn't sure. I glanced at Adanika, and fancied I saw her flicker of consternation, but it was as quickly covered up as seen. Apparently she hadn't been told either.
"Please be seated." The serathiel's tone remained kind, but there was a firmness there as well now, one that expected to be obeyed. "I am sure you have other questions, and I promise that whatever answers are not found here will become known to you before long."
Challenging Azyra further in front of the serathi host, even in a small way, was unlikely to do much other than antagonise her. I'd have to trust my questions would indeed soon be satisfied. One, at least, was answered the moment we took our seats.
The serathiel rose from her throne, her gaze sweeping across the assembled host. "Sisters. We are gathered in this place due to events not seen for many a long year. One of our own, one of our kindest, has been struck down. As your serathiel, I have wept for our loss, but as the Speaker of Retribution I mean to see it avenged, even should the culprit prove to be one of our own."
Another murmur swept through the host.
"One of our own?" asked Adanika. "Why was I not told of this before? To withhold information of this nature is against all protocol."
"As is your interruption," Azyra rejoined. "However, I shall overlook your impropriety, as I hope you will overlook mine."
"Nevertheless," Alyndra spoke up, "I must agree with Adanika. This is most unusual."
"So noted, Alyndra, but we shall continue."
Alyndra nodded, content to let the matter drop.
"And do you now speak as our serathiel, or as our Speaker of Retribution?" Adanika asked, with only the thinnest veneer of respect.
"That depends on which answer will quiet you, sister," said Azyra. "I take no more joy than you in what must be done, but it is necessary. So, if I may proceed?" Without waiting for an answer, the serathiel pressed on, once again addressing the assembled host. "The accused shall now be brought for judgement. Let the Radiant's wisdom guide us."
"Let the Radiant's wisdom guide us," the other serathi replied in unison. Or rather, all the serathi save one. Adanika alone remained silent. Her eyes were on a gate on the opposite side of the amphitheatre, a gate through which the accused now entered.
The newcomer was clad in robes as dark as those worn by the four graces at her side. Her hands were gathered before her, bound with what at first appeared to be a fine chain, but as she drew closer was revealed to be a silvered rope. A similar rope also bound her wings top and bottom, though what impediment it could be to a creature as strong as a serathi, I couldn't imagine.
The accused clearly knew what was expected of her, for she swiftly took her place in front of the serathiel. She walked proudly, her head held high and her gaze imperious. Yet this arrogance was offset by a stark air of defeat, as if she knew she'd find no victory here. I'd never much liked this particular serathi. I'd found her a cold and uncaring example of a difficult and distant people, even before she had brought about the deaths of goodness knows how many men, women and children. Yet, at that moment, I found that I pitied Myrzanna.
It had seemed obvious to me that the Courts could only have been convened to investigate Irina's tragic death, but with Myrzanna revealed as the accused, I reappraised. There were other things for which I could see her being brought to judgement: the unnecessary slaughter of innocents, and the unleashing of the 'Light of Radiant' – if indeed, she had been the one to do so. Moreover, Myrzanna had defied the serathiel, and even come close to
attacking her, both of which could have provoked this response. But for her to be responsible for Irina's death? I just didn't see how that could have been the case.
"Why silver?" I asked Elynna.
The blonde serathi looked slightly surprised at my ignorance, but clearly relished the opportunity to tell me, for she answered at once. "Legend tells that when the Celestial and the Radiant first fought, the Celestial suffered a terrible wound. Her blood fell upon the world, bled into the rocks and became the metal you know as silver. It hates the Radiant still, and it weakens us, her children, if we touch it. There is no better way to bind a serathi..."
"Let it now be heard that our sister Myrzanna stands accused of the murder of our beloved sister Irina," Azyra announced. "Retribution seeks justice."
"Let Truth guide it." Adanika's face and voice betrayed her unhappiness.
"Let Compassion temper it," said Alyndra.
"In the Radiant's name, so let it be done," finished the serathiel.
"Does this mean the serathiel is both judge and accuser?" I whispered.
"Yes," hissed Elynna, her eyes rapt upon the proceedings. "Please be quiet."
Azyra faced Myrzanna. "Seldom has one of our own stood here as accused. Have you anything to say?"
Myrzanna met the serathiel's gaze in silence.
"Very well. By now, every sister of the host surely knows that Irina was slain by a drudge, by one of our own trusted servants. As Speaker of Retribution, I contend it was ordered to do so by the accused. Retribution seeks justice, and calls upon Halvorn Jamar to bear witness."
Elynna rose to her feet, motioning that Jamar should do likewise,. Jamar limped ever so slightly; probably the walk had done his injuries little good, but he wasn't the type to complain over such trifles. Elynna indicated he should stand before the serathiel, roughly three paces distant from Myrzanna. To my eye it was a peculiar arrangement, to have the accused and a witness so close. Bound and guarded by sombre graces though she was, Myrzanna was still an intimidating presence.
"Halvorn Jamar, the Courts of Heaven thank you for the testimony you are about to give," said Azyra. "We appreciate that you are unfamiliar with our ways, but I must ask you to answer direct questions only. Do you understand?" Jamar gave a small bow. "Good. Can you please tell us what you remember of Irina's murder?"
"I would be happy to, although I'm afraid I have nothing much to tell," Jamar said. "Koschai and the ambassador had been gone for some time when the creature you called a drudge entered the room." Jamar could not have helped but recognise drudges as the same manner of creature as the sentinels he'd already encountered, but clearly had no intention of telling the serathi that. "I noted the drudge's resemblance to Scarface – I mean Torvald Korag – and that alerted me," Jamar went on. "May I ask, that was actually him, wasn't it?"
"As I said before, you are here to answer questions, not issue them," Azyra said sternly. "But perhaps a few are to be expected, and pardoned when they arise. Yes, that was Torvald Korag, but also it was not. He had been reborn through the Radiant's blessing, remade without sin, without pride and without anger. Our drudges redeem their wickedness through service to a greater good."
That's what I'd seen the other night, I realised. The room with the casket, the murals on the walls of a dark figure reborn in light – that had to have been where drudges were... Were what? Made? Born? Transformed?
"It's remarkable." Jamar spoke as calmly as if he were discussing the weather. "Who decides such a thing is to be done?"
Azyra was clearly taken aback at the impertinence of facing a second question so soon, but answered anyway. "It is the verdict of the Courts of Heaven, and but one form of our justice."
If Jamar heard the warning in her tone, he ignored it. "How is the transformation achieved?"
"Two questions is a sufficient indulgence. We will return to the matter at hand." The serathiel's patience was, it seemed, exhausted.
"Of course." Jamar offered a low bow. "My apologies."
The serathiel didn't say whether he had caused offence or not, but I was certainly annoyed by his behaviour. It was bad enough that Calda was distrustful and belligerent around the serathi. I didn't need Jamar to start patience. At that moment, Jamar half-turned towards me and gave the smallest of nods. Suddenly I understood, and my irritation drained away. He'd asked those questions not so that he could learn the answers, but so that I could, and without risking Azyra's wrath. I should have thought of that. Not for the first time, I wondered if perhaps Jamar should have been the ambassador. Stifling my chagrin, I turned my attention back to Jamar's testimony.
"When the drudge entered the room, Irina ordered it to leave."
"How did you sustain your own injuries?" asked Adanika.
"When it became obvious the drudge intended to harm Irina, I attacked it."
"With your sword?" Adanika sounded amused.
"No, I used a chair."
I recalled the heavy wooden chairs present in Calda's chambers and winced. I couldn't have carried one very far, let alone used it as a weapon. If Jamar had hit me with one of those, I'd have been pulverised. A drudge, on the other hand...
"Did that garner a better result?"
"No. The chair shattered on impact, but I did get its attention."
"And what form did that attention take?"
"I don't recall precisely, but as I awoke much as you see me now, I would imagine I angered it."
"Did the drudge say anything before it attacked?" Azyra asked.
"No."
"No threats, no warnings?"
Jamar shook his head.
"Thank you, Halvorn Jamar," said Adanika. "Please retake your seat. We will speak with Calda Cadvar next."
Jamar bowed once more, then let Elynna walk him back to his seat next to Koschai. Calda rose with a grimace, and allowed Elynna bring her before the serathiel, where she gave the same account of events that she'd already given me. Though she was reluctant and little given to answering questions in much detail, Calda was at least coldly polite, giving me one less thing to worry about.
I considered Jamar's testimony, which had been calm, rational and convincing. The problem lay in the fact that I was sure he'd lied. Not in a large way, and in no manner that would place the rest of us in danger – or rather, in more danger. Nonetheless, there was something in his account that he was either obscuring or else had fabricated entirely. I wasn't sure what detail of his speech or posture told me this, but it was definitely there.
Once again, I grew angry. Once again, I quickly realised I was wrong to do so. Jamar knew the dangers of deceiving the serathi, and wouldn't jeopardise his life – and, more importantly from his perspective, mine – without cause. On reflection, I didn't doubt he'd willingly bear the burden of his dishonesty if it were discovered. For that matter, it was no small thing for Jamar to be less than candid. If he was lying, it was for a good reason.
I shifted my attention back to proceedings in time to hear my name mentioned. It was time for my account. This I did in as much detail as I could remember, including the discovery of Scarface's head in the rosebush. I didn't relay my conversation with Edina, as I didn't see what it could do other than cause trouble.
Out of the corner of my eye I noticed that Jamar and Calda were deep in conversation – with Elynna at my side, there was no one to stop them. I didn't know what they were discussing, but from the grim set of Jamar's face, it couldn't have been anything good.
"This does not prove Myrzanna's guilt," Adanika said, when I'd finished my testimony and returned to my seat. "All we have ascertained is that a drudge was responsible."
"Not so," Azyra corrected. "A drudge could not have acted thus. This one was a weapon, wielded at a serathi's hand. If given an order by a serathi, a drudge cannot disobey. This is its penance and its path: to redeem the crimes committed in the life it once knew. It could not have attempted to harm of its own volition."
"Only if its conversion was completed correctly," said Adanika.
"Is it not possible that this transference was somehow unstable? There have been flaws before."
Azyra's expression darkened. "You refer to events best forgotten."
That was an interesting nugget of information, just as it was intriguing that Alyndra seemed disinclined to involve herself. It looked very much like exchanges of this nature were commonplace between Azyra and Adanika, and Alyndra did not want to be seen supporting the wrong side.
"My apologies, sister," Adanika replied. "I thought that we had no secrets from our guests."
"There is no secret here, just a shame I do not wish to share," said Azyra. "Besides, as you well know, a failed conversion leaves other... indications that would have been readily apparent." She raised her voice. "If there are any amongst the host that bore witness to any aberrant behaviour on the part of this drudge, let them now speak of it." No voice sounded to break the silence. "You see, sister? This drudge's conversion was flawless. His actions came at another's order."
"I do not yet see how this proves Myrzanna's guilt," Adanika rejoined. "If the drudge was not flawed, then it would have been bound by the law that prevents it from harming a serathi."
"There is no such law, not in absolute terms," Azyra said sadly. "Just our assumption."
"What do you mean?"
"Our drudges conform to hierarchy." Azyra gestured to the two drudges standing silently next to the throne. "A muse's instructions are automatically overridden by those of a voice. A voice's are overridden by those of a speaker, and a speaker's by the serathiel."
"I know this," Adanika said. "We all know this. It proves nothing."
"It proves everything," Azyra rejoined. "There is no law to prevent a drudge from harming a serathi, just an assumption on the drudge's part that each serathi has ordered it not to cause that harm."
"That is not credible."
"Let me demonstrate." Azyra extended a hand towards Elynna, who was once more sat at my side. "Elynna, please approach."