The Burning Witch 3: A Humorous Romantic Fantasy

CHAPTER 26 JARGON OF JUSTICE

Thank you, Lord Adam, for your testimony,” Mr. Levin called out, though even the stern assistant couldn’t fully keep the boredom from his voice.

The young man nodded respectfully and once again took his seat.

Meanwhile, Kat had her head propped in her hand, and her eyes were half closed.

Even Alina looked as though she might let loose a yawn at any moment.

Sir Herra’s father, in an effort to keep his son alive, had opted for the Tire Everyone Out approach before making his concluding arguments and appeal.

Surprisingly, Brendan Devark didn’t try to interfere with his vassal’s methods.

At first Katarina, Eric, and Alina had assumed it was because he was buying time for Finlay Ashowan to join the meeting, but even with the inclusion of the house witch, the king had sat silent as character witnesses paraded in and out. Everyone participated, from the lowliest servants, to the squires, to the knights, and now to his friends and acquaintances.

It was at the point where no one would be surprised if they brought in the family horses as evidence of his upstanding character.

Kat looked at Brendan wearily, wondering just how much longer he was really going to let things go on.

However, it was her father who wound up deciding he would be the one to put an end to the superfluous display.

“Pardon me, Lord Herra, while I recognize that you are doing your best to protect your son, you must understand that I am also trying to protect my daughter. Sir Seth Herra threw at Katarina what we have discovered to be a potent form of powdered Witch’s Brew. Which not only is an illegal drug but can also be deadly. This trial should be proceeding on the charges of attempted murder.” Fin’s voice rang sharply in the chilly council room that was already growing dim as the day wore on.

Lord Herra frowned angrily and opened his mouth to retort when Brendan Devark at last raised his hand and resumed control.

“Lord Ashowan is correct. This attack of your son’s could lead to a war between Daxaria and Troivack. As noble and hardworking as Sir Herra has been thus far, he made a grave error in judgment and has risked the lives of an entire kingdom. However,” Brendan added before shifting his gaze to the elite knight, who stood looking unkempt in shackles on the left side of the council table with guards surrounding him, “I will be open to lessening his sentence should Sir Herra implicate the men who put him up to the assault.”

“He has not said anyone helped him,” Captain Orion interrupted, his voice a little too loud.

The king regarded the military man without saying a word.

Instead, he let silence stretch in the time after the outburst. Everyone’s attention moved to Captain Orion, who, despite the biting cold surrounding them, had a thin sheen of sweat near his hairline.

“I never said ‘helped.’ I was implying that someone had ordered him to attack Lady Katarina. Though if there was someone helping him, I’d like to know that as well,” Brendan continued, his unblinking stare unnerving almost everyone. “What I had asked for was to know who ordered Sir Herra to attempt such a thing.”

“Your Majesty, why would you assume our elite knight did not orchestrate this attack on his own? He may have simply been seeking vengeance on Lady Katarina after she made him apologize,” Lord Miller pointed out reasonably.

It was Milo Miller’s turn to be subjected to the king’s weighty stare.

Again, the monarch did not hurry to speak.

It took a few tense moments, but eventually Brendan got around to letting everyone know his thoughts.

“Before answering that, I would like to turn my previous question to Sir Herra.” The king adjusted his attention to the elite knight, who showed no signs of having heard the monarch.

“Sir Herra, why did you attempt to drug Lady Katarina?” Brendan’s voice was quiet, but firm.

The elite knight’s lifeless gaze didn’t move from the floor.

Kat sat up straighter.

“Sir Herra, I will again remind you that whoever may have put you up to this task may be threatening countless lives, and as an elite knight who swore to protect the kingdom and crown, on your honor, you should answer.”

The knight still did not respond.

Kat leaned toward the king and whispered, “Can I try bringing in my familiar? She’s remarkably persuasive.”

Brendan didn’t shift his attention from the knight, but Alina leaned over instead and, matching her friend’s volume, responded, “Remember back in the king’s office that Troivackians have the old prejudice that witch’s possess magic that alters people minds? That wouldn’t help matters right now.”

Kat slumped her shoulders. “Damn … What if I just want to see her?”

Alina gave her friend a you know why that’s a bad idea look, then she, too, regarded the knight on trial.

However, the two women needn’t have hurried to end their whispering, as Sir Herra still did not speak or even lift his eyes.

“Sir Herra,” Brendan started again. “If you continue to bear this trial in silence, I will have no choice but to have you executed.”

Lord Herra shifted forward and opened his mouth to object, but when he saw the hint of pain in Brendan’s eyes, closed his mouth again.

He could sense that the monarch truly did want to find a means of saving his son …

“Seth … Seth please, please respond to His Majesty. I know you would not have done this on your own,” the man begged his son while emotions choked his voice. “You would’ve only done this if you thought you were helping our king.”

Despite his best efforts, Lord Herra’s eyes welled with tears as he stared at Seth.

“Pardon me, Your Majesty,” Eric addressed Brendan, his expression icy and formal.

Regardless of the gut-wrenching emotions being displayed, he appeared unaffected.

“I’m surprised we have not heard the testimony of one particular individual.”

Kat rounded on her husband, her golden eyes wide and shooting daggers. Eric did not need to look at his wife to know the words she was thinking.

For the love of the Gods, stop. If I hear one more testimony, I’ll jump out the window.

Brendan blinked in confusion over who the Daxarian prince could possibly be talking about.

“Why have we not heard from Caleb Herra, Sir Seth Herra’s younger brother?”

A fresh wave of unease rocked the noblemen.

Everyone had known but never acknowledged the fact that Sir Seth Herra had tried to have his younger brother murdered to stop Caleb from outshining him.

“Caleb Herra has not only trained with Lady Katarina, but he is a member of Lord Herra’s household. He may have insights or have heard something from mutual acquaintances,” Eric continued seriously.

Brendan’s expression, while not threatening per se, was without a doubt ominous.

He did not like that the Daxarian prince was seeking to make the experience even more painful for the Herra household.

However, given that Seth had attempted to harm Lady Katarina, the king could understand Eric’s reaction.

“His Highness makes a fair point. Leader Faucher?” The king looked to the military leader.

“Yes, Your Majesty?”

“Please summon your student Mr. Caleb Herra here for questioning.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Faucher was on his feet and stalking from the throne room without a moment’s hesitation.

Kat stared longingly at the doors.

“Given that it’s you he tried to drug, you’re awfully casual about this,” Eric murmured under his breath to his wife.

“I’m saving my emotional outbursts for the sentencing. If I were raging through this entire meeting, I’d turn this room into a sauna.”

“You know what a sauna is?”

Kat raised an eyebrow at Eric. “My father’s best friend is Lord Jiho Ryu. Of course I know what a sauna is. He goes on and on about missing Zinfera solely because of the saunas.”

Eric closed his eyes and nodded in understanding. “Right. I forgot. Have you ever been to one?”

“A sauna? Me? Why would I do that to myself?”

“I hate to interrupt your private conversation, but talking about saunas in the midst of a murder trial is far from appropriate,” Alina uttered, her hazel eyes flashing.

Both Eric and Kat looked at each other in wordless communication before addressing the queen.

“Sorry. It does get tiring being dire and serious all the time though,” Kat returned carefully.

Alina’s lips pursed as she leaned back into her throne, her annoyance at her brother and sister-in-law not at all improved.

Meanwhile, Finlay Ashowan, who sat across from Prince Eric, was staring at the table deep in thought.

Turning his chair the rest of the way around Fin squared himself properly to study the elite knight on trial.

He eyed Sir Herra’s hands that were clasped in front, the militaristic bracing of his feet, the vacant stare …

He didn’t seem nervous despite the fact that his life was on the line, nor did he seem angry or smug.

Was he terrified? Or was something else wrong with him?

The longer Fin kept staring at him, the more perplexed and eventually disturbed he grew.

“Your Majesty, can I have a private word with you?”

Brendan had noticed Fin’s shifting reactions and had become curious, and so with a slow nod, he and Fin rose and stepped a few feet away from the council table while everyone else whispered amongst themselves.

“Your Majesty, while you know I do not have my regular magical abilities while away from my home, there are little things I am still able to do regardless. Cook amazing meals, fold any household linen perfectly, and … sense what someone is craving.”

Brendan raised an eyebrow but did not bother prompting the house witch to continue.

“A privileged man who has been underfed in a cell for days should be craving something. He isn’t. He isn’t craving meat, or bread, or moonshine … absolutely nothing. And yet he feels somewhat balanced. Something is not right with Sir Herra.”

The king’s eyes darted briefly to the knight and then back to Fin, his features still. “What could be the reason for it?”

“I’ve never felt it before, so I can’t say. Who would have had access to him in his cell?”

“Guards and knights, all who are standing here today.”

“What about any of the nobles?”

“None of the nobility were permitted to speak with him.”

“Would any of those knights or guards be in the pocket of the nobility who are part of the rebellions?” Fin questioned next, knowing it was a sensitive topic that could cause a significant stir amongst the Troivackian courtiers should he be overheard.

Brendan pondered the question seriously. “Anything is possible.”

Fin sighed agitatedly. “What if he has taken the powdered form of Witch’s Brew? We’ve not tested what it will do to a person yet. It could potentially reduce mental faculties.”

“How long would it take to discover what it does?”

“I can ask Lady Elena tomorrow when the investigation takes place. I don’t know if they’ve had a witch who has been able to take it or if they have found another means of testing.”

Brendan cleared his throat and shifted awkwardly. A sure sign he was about to say something he was uncertain about.

“Lord Ashowan … your daughter has … a unique constitution, as I know you are aware of. It could be that—”

“I am not allowing Kat to test the drug.” Fin’s light blue eyes flashed. “Especially, Your Majesty, when someone was trying to dose her with it. There might be something to the drug that is meant to affect Kat specifically.”

Brendan paused then. “Lord Ashowan, what does Witch’s Brew do to witches?”

“It …” Fin trailed off then faltered. “Well, we are made of flesh and blood just like everyone else. It should affect us the same.”

“However, wasn’t it reported that people who ingested it took on the abilities of witches nearby?”

Fin paused before responding. “At times. Not always though.”

“It’s all tied together somehow, Lord Ashowan. I want to know exactly what it does to witches and its effects are in this powdered form. After Mr. Caleb Herra’s testimony today, I am recessing this trial until we have those answers.”

While not thrilled at the notion that his daughter’s attacker was not experiencing imminent justice, the lack of craving in Sir Herra was off-putting enough to subdue Fin’s protests.

The Troivackian king was right.

There were too many unanswered questions …

His hands finding his hips, Fin stared at the king’s back as the monarch returned to his seat before then examining the rest of the nobility present.

Despite having struggled for weeks on end to make it to Troivack, dealing with delayed and changed messages when his travel plans kept being altered, Fin had known all along that he was in for a far greater world of difficulty once he’d arrived.

It wasn’t hard to predict; he was in a court where he had no power, literally and figuratively, and had few if any connections …

Sighing, Fin found himself missing his wife more than ever.

She would have a foothold in the group in no time, but until his beloved reached them …

Maybe I’ll try making ribs and fried potato wedges to see if that’ll soften some of the nobles toward me …