“We are her assigned guards, sir.” Both Craig and Daniel held their salutes.

Egmun rubbed his temples with a sigh. “I realize that their standards for guards are astoundingly low, but I would have hoped you could read your assignments.”

The two men exchanged a look. “This is our assignment, sir,” Daniel said with confidence.

Vhalla’s mouth curled into a smirk at the confused and enraged expression crossing Egmun’s face.

“Where are Salvis and Wer?” the Senator demanded. Vhalla tried to guess who Mole was.

“They’re dead, sir,” Daniel answered.

Egmun lost his composure to his surprise for a brief second, and Vhalla wanted to cackle.

“Dead?” he repeated.

“Parrot,” Vhalla mumbled under her breath.

“How?” Egmun’s teeth were grinding.

“They were found stealing from the bond payment chest,” Craig jumped in. “Imperial Justice.”

Egmun paused and laughed.

“It would be, wouldn’t it?” His eyes fell on Vhalla and she was happy to have the bars keeping him out. “It would be...” He chuckled and turned. “Her trial starts soon. Make sure she’s on time.” Egmun clicked away down the hall, his emerald robes swishing about him.

Vhalla let out her breath.

“He seems about as pleasant as a rabid weasel in a bag of vipers,” Craig noted dully.

“Craig!” Daniel hissed, but didn’t argue.

With that remark these guards became acceptable. She remembered Prince Baldair mentioning something about the previous guards being Egmun’s men. If that was true, whose men were these? What luck was looking out for her? Vhalla struggled to her feet.

Daniel fumbled with the keys, opening the door. She looked at them expectantly.

“I think you’re supposed to cuff me.” Vhalla held out her wrists, hoping they wrote off the abuse that painted her arms as having been caused by the Northerners.

“Are we?” Daniel asked uncertainly.

“I-I think so?” Craig ran off to grab some shackles hanging on the wall. They were only over her wrists this time.

“It seems rather pointless,” Daniel mused as they started down the hallway. “You’re a sorcerer, right? What’s cuffing you supposed to do?”

“Daniel!” Craig groaned, “Let’s not give the person standing on trial for treason any ideas?”

Vhalla shifted her hands; he had a point. She dared an attempt at her magic. Tears of relief escaped when she felt a weak little flicker around her fingertips. Knowing it was returning reduced her resentment for it not being available to help against Rat and Mole.

Daniel went to grab her arm.

“No!” she frantically jerked away, taking an instantly defensive stance. He jumped back, startled. “I mean, I won’t run. Please, let me go on my own.”

The walk to the courtroom was slow, due to her mad determination to do it without their help. In her mind she shifted it from an issue of paranoia over them potentially harming her to an issue of pride. She wanted to show Egmun that she could walk in there on her own two feet.

They opened the door, and she appeared to be early. The thrones stood empty and only about half the senators had arrived. They looked at her with a whole spectrum of emotions, from horror and anger, to fascination and skepticism. Vhalla walked up to the edge of her cage, standing as tall as she could manage.

As the room began to fill with people, it also began to fill with light. A large, circular, overhead window let in the morning sun. On occasion, the senators walked in with other people whom they sat with at the benches by the door before taking their own seats. Vhalla tried to see if she recognized anyone. It wasn’t until Minister Victor took a seat that she felt a glimmer of hope. He caught her eyes and nodded his head by a fraction.

When the last senator had settled into their seats, the doors to the courtroom were opened and the three male royals strode in. They each wore a white jacket, the Emperor and youngest prince donned in light blue trousers, whereas Aldrik wore black. Clearly, compromises had been made.

Upon the Emperor’s brow sat the flaming crown of the sun, each of its points a spear of golden light rising toward the heavens. Vhalla wondered how it would look on Aldrik. It led to the reminder that if she made it through the trial, she would someday find out. Something deep within her, under the broken and jagged pieces of who she now was, ached at the thought.

“Let this high court be called to order. On trial is Vhalla Yarl for the crimes of recklessness, endangerment, heresy, public destruction, murder, and treason. The prisoner has made a cry of not guilty. We will now hear those who will speak on behalf of the Senate and the prisoner. Let their testimonies be true or may the Mother strike them down with her divine justice.” The Emperor settled back into his chair. The princes sat as well, sparking the rest of the room to sit with them.

Vhalla’s shoulders ached from holding up her shackles, and she decided to sit also. She looked across the room at Aldrik. He wore an emotionless expression today, much like the day before. He didn’t look like a man who had created wanton destruction between official duties. He didn’t look like a man who had killed two guards the night before. He looked almost bored.

He briefly flicked his eyes over to her, but he looked away equally as fast, his mouth pressing into a thin line. Vhalla swallowed. Was he angry with her?

Egmun called the first witness to the stand. It was a Southern woman who had a very average build and plain looks about her. Vhalla tried to determine if she had ever seen this woman before, but she didn’t recall.

“Thank you for coming today,” Egmun started, “I realize this will likely be a great trauma for you to recall, but I will need to ask you questions about what happened two nights ago.” The woman looked uncertainly at the powerful people surrounding her. “Do not be frightened, you are not on trial. Tell the truth before your Emperor and the Mother above, that is all we ask.” The woman nodded. “Tell us, what did you see that night?”

“Uh, well, my, Emperor, princes, lords and ladies.” The woman gave a small curtsey. “As ye know, first there was the explosion and I be tryin to run. Seemed like everyun in the city was tryin to get away.” Vhalla’s heart began to beat faster, remembering her frantic sprint through the masses. “I noticing the prince was runnin.”

“You noticed the prince in the crowd?” Egmun asked.

“I was in such a hurry I dun bow or nothing.” She gave a small curtsey to Aldrik. “No offense, milord.”

“I’m sure the prince took none.”

Vhalla felt offended on Aldrik’s behalf that Egmun would presume to speak for him. If Aldrik was bothered by Egmun’s words, his face betrayed nothing.

“You’re sure it was the prince?” Egmun asked.

The woman nodded quickly. “I noticing because he was running toward the fire, not away. And he was all in black, as he oft is, in fine things, so I knew it was the prince.”

Aldrik shifted in his seat, and Vhalla instantly noticed the movement after he’d been so still. He rested his cheek on his fist and reclined back in his chair, his knees spreading open slightly.

“Senator,” Aldrik drawled, “I already said I was there. As amusing as it is to hear my story repeated through a commoner, it hardly seems a relevant way to spend our time.”

Some of the other senators chuckled uneasily. Egmun only had a cool smile on his face.

“My prince, I was merely attempting to establish that the woman was indeed there and thus her testimony is trustworthy,” Egmun explained. Continuing his line of questioning, he turned to the witness. “Good lady, when you saw the prince, was he alone?” The woman shook her head. “Who was he with?”

“He was followin’ her.” The woman slowly raised a finger in Vhalla’s direction.

“See, my fellow senators. I called this witness to account for the malicious intent and the heresy of the prisoner.” Egmun turned to her and Vhalla frowned. “Why else would a prince be following a plain girl of common birth into the center of danger? Why else would she lead him there if not to kill him?” He looked at the Emperor and senators, raising his hands dramatically.