by David Ekrut
Movement from behind the platform silenced the lingering whispers.
In pairs, the same inquisitors as the year before entered and filled the seats upon the dais, the last being the dwarf and the large Kalicodian. Then the bald man in white robes stepped from the doorway onto the platform and stood behind the center chair.
He was named Jorus Teblin, High Inquisitor. Mother had researched him. She had not ascertained as to why Jorus had been stationed in Justice, or even how long he had been here. She did know that Jorus was from Alcoa and had proceeded in many trials. In one hundred seventy-two trials, Jorus had only spared four of those accused of breaking the Laws of Life. Most of those tried had been children coming into their power.
Zarah took a deep breath and watched Jorus.
He had the same robe with the Guardian’s crest and still held a thick shepherd’s crook in his right hand. His face was not readable. Jorus raised the crook vertically for a moment, then he slammed the end against the floor three times. His voice held no emotion.
“Let us all, under the Lifebringer, bear witness to the proceedings. We call forth His righteous truth to guide our hands over the fate of one Elwin Escari, who under the powers of the Elements has prematurely ended the life of another, Biron Onderhill of Justice by way of the Elements. We, the Guardians of Life, Seekers of Truth, will judge him under the Lifebringer’s wisdom. Let the proceedings continue.”
Three more times he pounded the floor with the shepherd’s crook in slow succession. Then, as one, the seven inquisitors took their seats.
Jorus cleared his throat. “Whom, if any, has come to serve as the defender of the accused?”
Who, not whom, Zarah wanted to say. She couldn’t abide pedantic people.
Her mother’s voice commanded attention. “I, Jasmine Lifesong, High Counselor of the White Council, right hand to his majesty, King Brannon Justice the twenty-sixth, have come once more to defend the accused.”
“Please,” he said, “what have you discovered from this annum by studying the accused?”
Zarah wanted to roll her eyes. More pedantry. Why annum when year would do? Besides, she was fairly certain per annum was a merchant’s term.
“I am even further convinced of Elwin’s innocence,” Mother said in a confident voice.
“Please,” he said, “elaborate. What action has he taken to convince you so?”
“A person’s goodness is not measured by a single action,” she said, “but by the sum of his actions. Elwin cares for others and wants not for himself. He humbly accepted all his gifts from the palace and has asked for nothing. Of all the elementalists that I have taught, he has the potential to be the greatest of them all.
“For a year, I have watched his remorse over Biron’s death. For many months, every night, before bed, he would fly to the highest spire of the castle and weep for Biron’s loss. I have heard Elwin pray to the Lifebringer and beg Him to take his powers in exchange for Biron’s life. Tell me, are there any Death bound that would act in this fashion?”
“Hmm,” the man said. “Is it possible that the accused was aware of your presence?”
“No. I was under a veil, and I was taming Air to eavesdrop on him from quite a distance. There is none gifted that could have sensed my presence.”
Zarah found herself wondering how many times Mother had watched her in such a fashion. She would bring it up later, and she would use Mother’s lecture about rudeness.
“That is interesting,” he said. “But, tell me, where is the accused now?”
“That is not your concern,” Mother said. “By the edicts of the Laws of Life in accords to the Ninth Treaty, specific to the nation of Justice and the Guardians of Life, the nature of the training of an acolyte is to be determined by the appointed master. As I am the assigned master to the accused, he is in a location of which I am aware.”
Zarah saw Jorus’s jaw clench and eyes narrow for a brief moment. Despite her best efforts, Zarah could not keep the smile from her lips. She wagered the High Inquisitor was not accustomed to having his own rules told to him.
“This is true,” he said. “So, the accused is in a location of your choosing?”
“I have given him a very specific task of which I am certain, he will perform,” she said. “As I said, the details are not your concern.”
Zarah almost smiled. Not one word was false.
“Is he in anyway connected to the events that have transpired in his home town of Benedict? This village was attacked by a Death bound, was it not?”
“As all here are aware,” Mother said, “war has made its way to our shores, and Benedict has been attacked. Elwin was visiting his town for the Summer Solstice Festival when the attack took place. He, like many, barely escaped with his life. Elwin is as much a victim as anyone else there.”
That is quite the understatement, Zarah thought.
“How can you be sure?” Jorus said.
“I have spoken to Elwin, and I have seen the evidence of the destruction myself. The damage was caused by taming Fire, and Elwin only knows talents in Air at this moment. I have begun his instruction on how to tame Water, but it will be some time before he learns any talents of destruction. He has a natural aversion to it. ”
“Indeed,” Jorus said in his monotone voice, “have you anything further to add?”
Mother was silent for a moment. “Not at this time. But, as master to the acolyte, I reserve my right under the Ninth Treaty to speak at a later time and to question any further witnesses.”
“Yes. Yes. Of course. Are there any others here that would like to bear witness to events of the accused?”
“I would,” the voice came from behind her. It sounded like the man named Gond.
“Jasmine Lifesong,” the inquisitor said. “If it would please you, stand to the side?”
She took three steps to the side near Zarah and faced the center aisle. Her face was a mask of composure. Zarah was sure that her own face was not nearly so composed.
“Please,” Jorus said, “come forward and bear witness.”
He stepped into the aisle and walked up to where Mother had stood.
“I am Gond Forsithe,” he said, “and I witnessed attacks made by Elwin Escari on innocents.”
Several people gasped and began to whisper.
Jorus struck his crook three times. “There will be order.”
After the crowd quieted, the inquisitor said, “Please sir. Continue.”
“I have never feared more for my life,” Gond said. “The boy with the blond hair, Elwin? I heard his friend call him Son of Bain.”
Again, people began to whisper.
“Order I say.” Jorus struck his crook. “We must have order.”
Gond spoke over the lingering whispers. “The boy, Elwin, lights surrounded him and his eyes started glowing. The next thing I know, the front of the inn was on fire. The front door and half the wall was just … gone. There was another man there, too. He walked through the fire like it was air, and out into the square.
“That was when I helped the old man, he called himself Poppe. I helped him and the blacksmith, I don’t know his name, get the little ones locked into the wine cellar. Then I ran out the back. I left my horse for dead and ran west. I passed men at an outpost and told them what happened. Then I came here.”
“Tell me,” Mother said. “How much ale had you drank?”
“I’m sorry?”
The inquisitor’s eyes widened as if Mother had cursed him, but she continued as if the room was her own. “Were you sober when the events took place?”
“I think I may have had two or three,” Gond said. “But I sobered up in two shakes of a dragon’s tail when the stabbing began. I know what I saw.”
“You have not mentioned stabbing,” Mother said. “Please, elaborate.”
“It was all kind of a
blur,” Gond shivered. “The man in black robes stabbed people with this jagged sword. I hid behind the bar. There was an older woman there. But she had fainted. I just knew I was dead for sure.”
“Tell me,” Mother said, “this man was stabbing people before or after the front of the inn caught fire?”
“Uh,” Gond scratched his chin, “it was before, I reckon.”
“How did you see the accused’s eyes glowing from behind the bar?”
“Well,” Gond said. “His eyes... They glowed before then.”
“Where then,” Mother said, indignantly, “was the accused, during the massacre?”
“I …,” Gond said. “I don’t know if I can say.”
“Hmm. That is interesting. Perhaps we have the wrong person on trial here. We are fighting a war with Death bound after all.”
Mother was silent for a moment and Jorus stared daggers into her. She returned his gaze with a quiet serenity.
Gond’s feet began to shuffle, and he glanced over his shoulder toward the door several times before looking back up to Jorus.
“You heard this man in black call the accused, ‘Son of Bain’ ,” Jorus said in a tight voice. “What happened before the murdering began? Start from when you arrived at the inn. Tell us about that.”
Gond had a dirty kerchief out and wiped at his brow. “Well, I had arrived a little later than most. It was raining, so everyone was inside. There was only one table with spare seats. The man with the jagged sword was sitting at it. A man wearing black robes and cloak in the dead of summer? I should have known he was wrong from the start.” Gond shook his head.
“I walked up, put a hand on a chair, and asked if he minded. He just looked at me with cold eyes. They was cold as the dead of winter, those eyes. Never said a word. He just tapped a finger on the hilt of that jagged sword. It was clear that the man didn’t want conversation, so I decided I’d find a seat elsewhere.
“I made my way to the bar and got a few drinks. On the third or so, that’s when I saw the dark man offer Elwin a seat at his table. I about dropped my drink. I know his name was Elwin Escari, because I asked the old bar maid if she knew who they were. She told me the boy’s name and said that she had never seen the stranger before that morning. He had been there all day, waiting on someone. Old bar wench must have seen lots of strangers in her day. Even she sounded concerned.”
He wiped his brow again. “I had to know what they was saying. I got closer. That’s when I heard him say that Elwin was the Son of Bain. The music was loud, and people was talking everywhere. So, I didn’t hear much else. I circled toward the fireplace to get a better look at Elwin’s face. Then he stood up and his eyes began glowing. I felt a breeze, right there in the inn. That’s when I did drop my drink.”
Zarah almost cursed. She knew it. Fool boy attacked a trained elementalist. One who was Death bound to boot. Next time she saw him, she would slap some sense into him.
Gond unfolded his kerchief and wiped his entire face. “Everyone was screaming and running for the front door. I jumped over the bar and bumped into the old …,” Gond wiped his face again. “What I mean to say is that I jumped behind the bar. The bar maid had already fainted. She still had a heartbeat. I swear.” He wiped his brow again.
“Well,” Gond said, “I done told the rest.”
“Indeed,” Jorus said. “Would you like to say anything further?”
Gond shook his head, vigorously.
After a moment, Jorus said, “Are there anymore witnesses to come forth?”
Zarah’s heart began to beat faster. She wanted to say something, anything that might help. But what would she say? She suddenly felt envious of her mother’s poise.
The inquisitor looked to Mother. “Does the master of the accused have anything to add?”
Mother pursed her lips and said in a confident voice, “There is my testimony versus the words of a drunken fool, who is not even clear on what happened. I am sure there is nothing further to discuss.”
“It is done, then.”
As one, the seven white robed figures rose.
Jorus struck the crook’s end three times. “Let us enter a day of prayer to ascertain the fate of the accused. We will reconvene at the sixteenth hour on the morrow.”
A day? No! She was supposed to depart after the trial. Why did they need an entire day?
Zarah watched the seven inquisitors exit through the dark doorway. Jorus had sentenced so many to die. How much influence did the other six have? Did Jorus have the final say in the matter, or was he simply the orator?
Zarah felt angry tears begin to rise to the surface when Mother caught her eye. Her smile was warm. Her mother gave her the slightest of nods. It was an answer to the unspoken question.
Everything would be alright. Her mother would not let anything happen to Elwin.
Somehow, everything would be alright. It had to be.
The afternoon sun burned bright in the sky, sending heat through the leaves of the trees above. Feffer wiped sweat from his brow and leaned back against the wide redwood. He hadn’t wanted to stop, but his arm was numb from swinging at the brambles. Practicing the forms with each strike, he had grown almost as good with his left hand as he was with his right.
Elwin laid curled up next to him. He shivered as if cold, and his muscles jerked and spasmed. Mumbled words escaped from him, but few were audible.
Feffer removed the bandage to look at Elwin’s shoulder once more.
Two tendays they had traveled. During the first tenday, Feffer had redressed Elwin’s wound every hour or so. It wasn’t until the third day he realized, Elwin’s shoulder wasn’t healing. By the end of the first tenday, Elwin started losing his strength. That was when Feffer noticed the dark puss coming from the puncture hole and blackened lines winding outward from the wound. The wound wasn’t natural.
A normal wound would have begun to heal by now, but Elwin’s shoulder was worse every time Feffer looked at it. He covered it with a fresh bandage. It had been days now since he had any healing salts. They hadn’t done much for Elwin anyway. At least the bandages kept the dirt out. He needed to reach Jasmine, so she could heal him.
This morning, Elwin hadn’t woken up at all. Feffer had even doused him with water, and Elwin hadn’t budged. There was still a tenday until the mountains and a couple a tenday or more of hiking and climbing to make it to Goldspire.
He looked at his friend’s pale face. Feffer had to find help before that. The Children of Nature were said to be in the Carotid. Maybe the Chai Tu Naruo would be able to help him. If he could find them. At this point, he would ask a mountain giant for help if it stepped out of the trees.
He walked over to Haven and patted her long neck. The mare nibbled on some dried grass.
“Elwin won’t last that long,” he told her. “I’ll likely starve before then as well. At least you have plenty to eat.”
Feffer had given most of their food to Elwin. Every time he had found a tree with berries or nuts, he would pick what he could. But the nuts were not easy to get open. What he wouldn’t have given for a wooden nut cracker. He had been forced to use the base of his hilt to crack them open against rocks, and he had gotten his thumb as often as not. But now he was out of nuts and berries. And his remaining wineskin was only a quarter full.
“If you’re up there,” Feffer said to the sky, “I could use a little help here.”
Feffer leaned against the tree, waiting to see if the Lifebringer had any immediate assistance. The sounds of the forest were many. Squirrels and other rodents were running in the trees. Gnats and blood flies were in abundance. Feffer hadn’t seen any larger animals, but he had seen paw prints too large to belong to a fox or wolf.
Feffer sighed, deciding that no assistance was coming.
“I guess that just leaves me then.”
He stood up and slung the pack over h
is shoulders. Then, he grabbed Elwin by the good arm and hoisted his friend across Haven’s saddle.
Every swing of the sword was heavy, but Feffer forced himself to keep moving. When the way allowed, he took the path that would avoid brambles. It was easier to take more steps to avoid thorns than to try to slice at them.
The hours stretched on, but he tried not to count them. Every time he stopped for a rest, he wetted Elwin’s lips with a few drops and did the same for himself.
He didn’t allow himself to think about what would happen when he ran out of water. He kept moving north. Every step was a matter of will, not strength. Every thought was for the purpose of moving forward. The waning light cooled the air, but Feffer had long given up the attempt to keep sweat out of his face and eyes.
His arms and shoulders burned, and his legs felt like fire worked through his muscles. It was not quite night, but the sun was not providing enough light to travel safely.
Feffer eased Elwin from the saddle to a grassy knoll, then plopped down beside him. He had not passed a single nut or berry. And he had been looking. How much longer could he go without food? How much longer could Elwin?
Feffer leaned his head back against the tree. “I should have listened to Poppe and Momme. We are going to die out here. And it’s my fault.”
There was a rustling in the trees above him as something large jumped from tree to tree. It was probably just a monkey. This had happened many nights, but it hadn’t bothered him before. He had known Elwin was watching over them from his shadow realm.
But there was no way to be sure that Elwin could see him now. Elwin had said that he could watch them when he was sleeping, but Feffer wasn’t sure if the same was true in his current state. Even if Elwin did watch over them, how would he warn Feffer?
Feffer laid his sword across his lap.
Elwin sat up. “Wilton, how could you?” His eyes looked dark in the waning light.
Before Feffer could say anything, Elwin slumped back to the grass. Feffer realized that he was gripping his sword hilt and let his hand relax. Elwin was dreaming. Only, Elwin said that he didn’t dream anymore.