by Karen MacRae
“Where were you employed?”
“In Straton, milord, in Miss Grayson’s establishment.”
“Grayson, as in Alyson Grayson, sister to Morris and Reganald Grayson?” interjected Lord Cassidy.
“Yes, milord.”
“Please tell the panel what the nature of the establishment is.” Anna could see Lord Cassidy’s aura flicker with amusement as he asked. He knew the answer.
“It’s a brothel, milord.”
Anna heard a small intake of disapproving breath from Lady Kuri. Clearly, she didn’t support the need for prostitution. Anna wasn’t ashamed. Because of the brutality of men, these women had needed her mother and her. Why shouldn’t they help?
“Such a worthy set of patients,” Lord Cassidy sneered.
Anna looked him straight in the eye. She knew it hadn’t been a question, but she would defend the women who’d treated her kindly. “More worthy than most and most definitely in need. They are often beaten and abused for the enjoyment of men.”
Lord Cassidy’s purple aura flushed with anger. Anna cursed her stupid mouth. She couldn’t afford to antagonise these people.
“What was your interaction with the Graysons?” he barked at her.
“I didn’t have any, milord, except with Miss Grayson. My mother was employed there when I was a child. When I grew old enough to help, I became her assistant. My employment was terminated when my mother’s Healing well overflowed.”
“You never had any dealing with the male Graysons?”
“No, milord.”
“With Morris Grayson?”
“No, milord.”
“With Reganald Grayson?”
“No, milord.”
“You expect us to believe that you never had any interaction with these men in all your time at Miss Grayson’s brothel?”
“Yes, milord. It’s the truth.”
“I find that very hard to believe, Miss Northcott.”
The King held up a hand. “Lady Braxton?”
“She speaks the truth, sire.”
“Lord Cassidy, kindly move on.”
Lord Cassidy opened his mouth to argue but thought better of it. Lord Edevan stepped forward to take up the questions. “How did you come to meet with Masters Peyton and Ffion?” he asked.
“I basically met them because I bought Blue, Finn’s horse, although I was told his name was Kai in the beginning. Anyway, a livery owner had taken ownership of Blue because of unpaid fees. Blue was happy to let me ride him around town but refused to leave. A stable boy recognised him and thought I’d stolen him. He was convinced that Blue would never be abandoned so I determined to try and find out what had happened to his owner. I met Sy when I was running away from Morris Grayson’s having overheard that Kai… Finn was en route to Tullen. I met Spider when I returned to the inn where the stable boy worked.”
“You are being disingenuous, Miss Northcott.”
“No, milord. I’m trying to be concise.”
“Very well, I will be more precise. Did you or did you not use forbidden Shaping on the horse Blue, Master Peyton and Master Ffion?”
“Yes, milord. I sa…”
“A simple yes will suffice, Miss Northcott.”
Lord Cassidy jumped back in to help his colleague circumvent any invented explanation by the Shaper.
“How many times have you broken the law in your life, Miss Northcott?” he demanded.
“I don’t know, milord. I’ve never counted.”
“Then an estimate will suffice. Ten times? Twenty times? A hundred times? A thousand times?” Lord Cassidy walked closer with every statement, almost spitting in her face at the close.
Anna saw the calculation in his aura. He was more controlled than his voice would suggest. She breathed deeply and refused to rise to his bait. She ran through her time at the brothel. Perhaps ten times a year on average? Then there had been all the times since she left Straton. Did she count each person individually?
“Please, milord, I’m not sure how to count. Would yesterday count as fewer than ten or more than three hundred?”
The sound of smothered laughter came from the table to her right. Lord Cassidy reddened and his eyes bulged at the impertinent child.
“If it helps, milord,” Anna continued calmly, “before I met Spider and Sy, I would estimate I had Healed approximately ten times per year since the age of nine so perhaps ninety times. I had only ever used my gift to Heal.”
“It seems you’re a bad influence, Master Ffion, Master Peyton,” King Rybis interjected, raising his eyebrows at the two men.
Sy and Spider grinned at their master. “Yes, sire. Sorry, sire,” they acknowledged.
Lord Edevan frowned at Lord Cassidy’s blunder, but returned to his list of questions. “You have only ever used your gift to Heal, Miss Northcott?”
“Until I met Spider and Sy, yes.”
His eyes flew to Lady Braxton. “Truth?” he enquired.
“Truth,” came the reply.
“And after you met the two men?” he asked Anna.
“I learned I could do more than Heal. I learned I could hurt people… I learned I could kill.” The two interrogators saw the Shaper’s eyes fill with tears. Lord Cassidy wondered if the girl could be good enough to playact without alerting Lady Braxton. Lord Edevan thought the girl’s sorrow was real, but he would not let pity undermine his attempts to uphold the law. Shaping was an offence against humanity. All Shapers must die.
CHAPTER 22
S pider and Sy felt their hearts sink to their bellies. Sy put a hand on Spider’s arm to stop him reacting and leaned over to whisper. “We’ll have a chance to speak again if they don’t let her. Have faith in the King.”
Spider nodded, but he was growing angry at the treatment of the girl who’d twice saved his life. He would not remain quiet if these bigots didn’t give her the chance to explain. He heard Lord Edevan ask Anna to describe the times she had used her gift to do anything other than Heal.
“The first time was when I knocked Sy unconscious when I thought he was going to kill me,” she began. “I used the same method at different levels of intensity to stun various robbers and others during our travels to rescue Finn and get here. I regret that I also killed two men during that same time. One was about to stab Sy. The other had taken me hostage. It was done in the heat of the moment. I didn’t intend to kill either. I also used my gift to prevent the rape of two female prisoners and made three officers of the King’s Guard more empathetic so they would ensure that the prisoners would be better cared for.” Anna looked up to the King. “It was terrible, sire. Disgusting conditions, a lack of food and blankets, illness killing the weak and young, women used against their will…” Anna tailed off, suddenly realising that everyone was staring at her in shock.
“Young woman!” roared Lord Cassidy. “How dare you make up such stories? We will not be so easily distracted!”
The King waved him silent. “Lady Braxton?” he asked.
“She tells the truth. She has an enormous capacity for empathy. She also has a very strong sense of justice. She believes that offenders should pay for their crimes, but she does not believe they should be tormented while they do it.”
Anna was shocked at the accuracy of the Reading. Unlike Aibreann, Lady Braxton’s summary was without pauses, ems or ums and had required no probing questions. She’d Read it all from her aura and body language.
The King saw Anna’s surprise. “There’s no hiding anything from Lady Braxton, Miss Northcott. There is no Reader with her finesse or accuracy.” His eyes turned to the Reader’s husband. “General Braxton, please look into it.”
“Yes, sire,” came the immediate response from Finn’s father.
Lord Edevan stepped in to recap and press Anna to continue to list her crimes while she was with the prison caravan.
“I also blocked the Captain’s lust and nurtured his leadership ability. Oh, and I blocked Sy’s nose because he was finding the stench unbearable. I thin
k that’s all.”
“And since that time?” he asked.
“I knocked out more assailants and put some people being held captive into a gentle sleep. Oh, I also knocked out Finn when he tried to Friend me and then used that Friending to turn six attackers against their allies. I used the same method to replicate the King’s Oath in twenty-seven gangsters. I think the only other thing I’ve done that wasn’t Healing is tweak their auras so they have more empathy and selflessness. Then, of course, there was yesterday…”
The shuffling and note-taking on the Councillor’s table had stopped. Only Lady Braxton looked interested, but unconcerned. On the other table, Conal’s mouth was agape.
Lord Edevan cleared his throat. “You replicated the King’s Oath?” he asked with a noticeable wobble in his voice.
“I’m not sure what else to call it. After I put energy into a crystal, I can pull it back out then channel it into someone else’s aura. If I link with multiple people before I channel, the energy goes into them all. There must be a limit, I would think, but I don’t know what it is.”
King Rybis sat forward. “Miss Northcott. Do you swear that you have received no training whatsoever in the use of your gift?”
“Other than what my mother could teach me about Healing, sire, no, never.”
On his left, the King saw Finn stand. “Master Braxton? You have something you wish to say to the panel?”
“I do, sire. I wish to stress that Miss Northcott replicated the King’s Oath with my express approval and cooperation.”
“Thank you, Master Braxton. It is noted.”
Lord Cassidy stepped forward, awaiting the King’s nod to speak. He took a deep breath before the next question. “Miss Northcott, do you swear that you had no knowledge that yesterday’s attack was an exercise, that it was not genuine.”
“I do, milord.”
“Explain how you circumvented the King’s armour.”
Anna hesitated. She remembered Aibreann telling her that Lord Cassidy had been instrumental in having the armour developed.
“We have been assured that it is impregnable to aura attacks,” the man added pompously.
“It certainly protected the King, milord, but I’m afraid it’s not impregnable. It leaks.” Anna saw the man’s aura redden with irritation and tried to explain. “Milord, when I try to stun someone, I don’t have to target any particular place in an aura, I just push at it. The first time I pushed, the King was unaffected, but he identified the source of the attack so something definitely got through. I might have been more successful with a more powerful attack, but I realised the armour was protecting him and decided to try something different. When the King attacked again, I blocked him then sent energy back along his aura link to the source. It definitely got through the armour because it almost made him lose his balance. When he started walking towards me, I thought I had no choice but to try to kill him. I thought that if he got to me before I could stun him, he would just kill me with his sword and then he might get to the King. I mean, obviously he wouldn’t because he is the King, but I didn’t know that.”
“Your final attack used the tiny gaps between the armour plates?”
“No, milord. I aimed straight for his heart.”
Davy, still hiding behind the curtain, forgot he wasn’t supposed to be there and gasped aloud. Boy, oh boy, had he got her wrong.
“Davy Braxton, get down here now!” the King roared.
A cheeky ginger-haired ten-year-old with big ginger freckles pretended apology and regret as he stood in front of Rybis.
“What have I told you, Davy?” the King asked the boy.
“That if I’m going to snoop, I need to learn to be good at it, sire?”
The King’s lips twitched in amusement, but he kept the frown on his face. “For that, I add an extra day. You know full well that you are not to snoop on my Council meetings. Now, take yourself out of here and report to Mistress Oclare. You are hereby sentenced to three Fifthdays of hard labour without any time off for sports or snooping. And don’t cross me, young Davy. You push my patience.”
“Yes, sire,” intoned the boy, already planning how to get out of three whole extra days of his governess’ tuition. He bowed to his King before leaving. As he passed Anna, he gave her a huge smile. “Way to go!” he whispered. His smile disappeared when he saw his parents’ faces. Perhaps he wouldn’t be getting out of that tuition after all. Ah, well, it was worth it.
Lady Kuri had been revising her opinion of the Shaper. This was someone who was far too dangerous to live. All this soppy rubbish about not wanting to kill people in defence of others made her feel nauseous. Then, when she does try to do it deliberately, she nearly kills the King. The girl was completely useless to their cause without extensive training and a much harder heart. Unless they threw resources at it, neither would be achieved in the time they had left.
Lord Witheridge was excitedly scribbling on his notepad. General Braxton glanced across at it and saw a mess of words and doodles with a web of lines criss-crossing everywhere. He was even more convinced that the old man was losing it.
Lady Braxton was feeling more and more maternal towards the girl Shaper. She was impressed by her honesty, her spirit and her ability to instinctively adapt her gift.
Lord Edevan had listened to everything very carefully. He had promised the King an open mind and he was holding to that promise. As yet, he was undecided. The girl could be the difference between defeat and success. She could also be an enormous risk.
Conal had decided he was in love.
The doors slammed behind the youngest Braxton son and Lord Cassidy once again cleared his throat. “If we could return to proceedings?” He checked his list before striding in front of Anna.
“You did not know it was the King?”
“I did not, milord.”
“Lady Braxton?”
“She tells the truth, Lord Cassidy.”
He nodded thoughtfully. “Why did your attack not kill the King?”
“I have no idea. Perhaps the armour? Perhaps I didn’t use enough power? Perhaps a bit of both? Perhaps, like Sy, the King’s gift helps to protect him?”
Lord Edevan pounced on her final point. “What do you mean by that?”
“The King’s gift? I didn’t mean anything in particular. I don’t know how the King’s gift works. I don’t know what the King’s gift is. It’s just that I used the exact same degree of power on the robber that I used on Sy, but it killed the robber and not Sy. I only learned afterwards that Sy’s gift is Health. It must have protected him. If I’d known that, I’d have toned it down so I didn’t kill the robber.”
Lady Kuri rolled her eyes. Conal sighed. Lady Braxton noted her middle son’s smitten expression and decided it was high time he had a nice long visit with his grandmother.
“You ran across the bailey to the King. Why?”
“I can’t Heal from a distance. I have to cross auras with the patient.”
“You were seen struggling to remove the King’s helmet. The armour prevented Healing?”
“Yes, milord. I tried bathing the body, oh, excuse me, sire, I mean I tried bathing the King in energy and pushing it through the holes in his armour, but I couldn’t see if it was helping. I needed to be able to see his aura. Once Spider had removed the helmet, I saw he was still alive. His aura was almost gone, but I knew I could save him if I could get enough clean energy into him.”
“How did you know?”
“Because it was how I saved Sy when I depleted his aura that first time we met, when I pushed him unconscious.”
“Why did it take so long, Miss Northcott?” Lord Edevan asked.
“Because I’m a fool, milord.” Anna raised her eyes to the King. “I am so sorry, sire. If I’d realised sooner, you might have awoken there and then. I could have spared everyone the anguish of fearing your death.”
“Kindly elucidate, Miss Northcott,” came the royal voice.
“I pulled more and mor
e energy out of my crystals than I’ve ever used before, sire, but your aura kept rejecting it. I was close to passing out when it dawned on me that your aura is exactly the same colour as the energy the King’s Oath generates. I thought perhaps it was rejecting me because it didn’t recognise me as a friend. So I swore the oath and pushed with everything I had left. If I’d just realised sooner, I’d have had longer to get energy into your aura and you would have been fine straightaway.”
Lord Witheridge looked greatly perturbed. He spoke to the Shaper for the first time. “Miss Northcott, are you telling us that the energy you used yesterday came solely from your crystals?”
Anna looked confused. “Well, yes, milord. Where else would it come from?”
Lord Witheridge and Lady Braxton shared a long glance.
Lady Braxton coughed softly. “Anna, you were drawing energy from the ground.”
Anna gaped. “I was? But how?”
“A very good question, my dear. Stanley, I believe that is one for you.”
“What? Oh, yes, of course Vivienne. My pleasure.” The old man nodded and went straight back to his scribblings.
“I have one final question, Miss Northcott.” Lord Edevan waited until Anna had got her thoughts under control and looked up at him. “What is the mark on your skin?”
Anna flushed pink and her aura spiked with blues and reds. She felt angry and humiliated. Tears welled in her eyes and her hand unconsciously lifted to cover the scales visible on her face.
Lord Edevan felt ashamed of himself. The girl had somehow wormed under his skin, light help him. He felt sorry for her. “I mean you no distress, child. Lady Braxton witnessed it acting as some sort of core for your Shaping yesterday.”
Anna gaped for the second time. “She did?” came her astonished voice. “I had no idea.”
CHAPTER 23
K ing Rybis looked on as the arguments raged.
“She is much too dangerous. Untrained, impulsive, naive and powerful with a reluctance to make hard decisions. It is a bad combination.”
“She’s just a child.”
“Would you not have killed Nystrieth if he’d fallen into your hands as an untrained youth?”