73. Aurora
AURORA
“They’re ready for you now.”
The guard’s voice made me jerk my head up. I’d been in the brig for a week, and every day was like the others.
My cell was a dark, cold cave located under the Old Drake and the flickering lamp high up near the ceiling threw barely any light over my bare surroundings which consisted of a cot, a toilet, and a sink.
My uniform had been taken, and I was dressed in a dirty gray jumpsuit that was made of a scratchy, burlap material that irritated my sensitive skin.
I wasn’t allowed to take baths, but I washed myself in the sink as best I could.
My meals were bread and water—sometimes some clumps of cold, fatty meat in congealed gravy.
I bitterly missed the delicious food from the Mess Hall—especially the Dragon Custard.
I wasn’t allowed to have visitors, but I was keeping in touch with the outside world through L’eesha, who was in an absolute rage that I had been locked up.
At first she’d wanted to flame the Head Master, who had ordered me locked away. I had to order her not to in the strongest terms I could and make her understand the consequences of her plan.
“If you do that, they’ll have you destroyed!
” I told her, keeping our communications strictly mental so none of the guards would know I was having to talk my dragon out of committing homicide.
“And then I’ll be without you—I can’t live without you anymore than you can live without me.
You have to behave and be patient. I’ll get out eventually. ”
“Ryse says the stupid Head Master is mad at you, just because he thought you were a boy and you’re a girl instead!” she told me. “what a stupid thing to be mad about! anyone could tell you are a girl—he only had to smell you to know it!”
“The Head Master doesn’t go around sniffing his students,” I said dryly. “And they don’t allow women riders. I did break the rules.”
“but you helped them win the battle,” she said plaintively. “we both did. without us, the Madlings would have won.”
“I know,” I said quietly. I had been thinking the same thing, myself. “But I still broke the rules.”
“Ryse is angry too,” L’eesha informed me. “he has been to the Head Master many times but he says the Head Master won’t listen.”
She gave me other tidbits of information too—which was how I learned that I was going to be tried in front of the whole Academy for “treasonous behavior.”
Apparently today was the day of the trial—not that anyone had bothered to tell me.
“They’re ready,” the guard said again as he unlocked my jail cell.
He led me down a long, underground tunnel that gradually headed upward until at last we were on the First Level of the Old Drake.
I walked behind him, wishing I’d been able to take a bath and wash my face before I left.
Though I had taken a cat bath the night before, I didn’t feel clean or presentable at all.
“Where are we going?” I asked the guard, but he only grunted. A moment later, I found out for myself.
It was the Auditorium—the very first place I’d ever been inside the Academy. Had it only been six months ago? Then I had been sitting by Jorn-o, listening to the Head Master’s address to the new cadets. Today I would have to hear him accuse me.
And all because I was a woman instead of a man.
My heart burned with the unfairness of it, but there was nothing I could do but follow the guard to the very front of the Auditorium where the long stage had been set as a kind of courtroom.
I tried not to look at the cadets and professors watching me—all of them were sitting as close to the stage as possible.
I wondered if they had been instructed to sit there or if they just didn’t want to miss the show.
On the right of the stage, behind a tall podium, the Head Master stood with a stony look on his face. He was wearing his dress uniform—minus the jeweled dagger I’d used to stab the Madling, of course, and he frowned coldly as he saw me take my place.
The guard placed me in the center of the stage where a wooden box had been built. I sat in a hard wooden chair inside the box, feeling like it was just another kind of cell, though at least I could see out.
On the left side of the stage was another, shorter podium. It was empty for now, at least. Probably they would call witnesses to stand there and speak against me, I thought dully.
“what is it? where are they taking you? what’s going on?” L’eesha demanded to know.
“It’s a trial,” I thought back to her. “I can’t talk about it now. But here…”
I opened my mind for a moment, allowing her to see through my eyes.
“where is Ryse?” she asked after a moment of looking. “why isn’t he there defending you?”
I had been wondering the same thing myself. But before I could reply, the Head Master began to speak.
“Aurora Lysandra of the Great House of Lysandra,” he boomed, his voice coming out sounding deep and self-important.
“You stand before us today, accused of High Treason. You have deliberately and knowingly infiltrated the Academy and pretended to be male, though you are a female. Are you aware that female dragon riders are against the code of the Academy?”
“Yes,” I said, lifting my chin. I wouldn’t lie, I told myself, but I wouldn’t let them shame me, either.
“And yet you took your brother’s place and infiltrated our ranks,” the Head Master went on. “You even Impressed an egg and bonded with a dragon, all the while knowing full well that it is against our laws for a female to ride a dragon. Do you deny the charge?”
“No,” I said. “But—”
“Answer my questions and nothing more!” thundered the Head Master. “I won’t tolerate any more of your lies, young lady! You are here on false pretenses and your very presence violates the Academy’s code of conduct.”
I heard the cadets murmuring in the audience and wondered if all of them agreed with him. Was it really so bad to find out they’d had a woman among them? Did I somehow invalidate all their glorious traditions and tarnish their honor, just by being female?
“And now, I will call the first witness,” the Head Master said. “Jorn-o Twaller, come to the stand.”
My friend came up to stand behind the podium on the left. He glanced at me, and I could see the misery on his face.
“Son, you have been in classes with this female,” the Head Master said to him. “Did you ever have any inkling that she was not what she claimed to be?”
“No, Sir,” Jorn-o said miserably. “I thought…I mean, she looked like a boy. Just another cadet.”
“Yes, she had us all fooled.” The Head Master nodded wisely. “She wore a magic pendant around her neck that caused her to look like a man. That is all—you may step down.”
Jorn-o stepped away from the podium and started to walk off the stage—then he turned around.
“Everyone is saying it was Auri and her Golden Queen that helped win the battle with the Madlings,” he said. “Without her, we would have lost!”
“That is enough!” The Head Master said sternly, glaring at him. “We are well aware that the accused meddled in the battle. That charge will be addressed in just a moment. You may step down. Now.”
Jorn-o shot me a glance, and I could tell he wanted to say something else. But the Head Master was glaring at him so sternly, he clearly didn’t dare.
Shoulders slumped, he walked off the stage and went back to his seat by Toady and Leaper and Bugs, all of who had glum looks on their faces.
My heart swelled a little. At least not all my friends hated me now.
The next witness the Head Master called was Professor Zephyr. She came to the podium quietly with a neutral expression on her face.
“Head Healer Zephyr,” the Head Master began. “Did you or did you not witness the accused using unsanctioned powers to perform illegal acts of magic here on Academy grounds the day of the Madling attack?”
“I did,” she said, nodding.
“Very good,” the Head Master said, sounding smug, I thought. “And have you ever seen any such powers in your life before?”
“No, I have not,” she replied. “But I have to say, Head Master, that I believe the powers Aurora Lysandra displayed on that day were purely powers of good. I sensed no evil intent and indeed, she used her powers to save a life.”
“Yes, she did,” the Head Master acknowledged, much to my surprise. “But if she had such powers, why did she not use them before? If you recall, she was also present during the death of Chud Larson, another cadet who died after warning us that the Madlings were coming.”
Ahh…suddenly I understood. I hadn’t even known that the Head Master had noticed me watching when Chud died. But clearly, he had seen me and now he wanted to know why I hadn’t saved his son’s life the way I’d saved Ryse.
No wonder he’s angry at me—this isn’t just about me being female, I thought. He’s mad I didn’t save Chud.
“why would you want to save that nasty boy?” L’eesha demanded indignantly. “isn’t he the one who tried to hurt you so many times?”
“Yes, he is but he was also the Head Master’s son,” I sent back.
I wondered how I could explain why I hadn’t saved him. Would the Head Master believe I hadn’t known I was able to channel L’eesha’s power at the time Chud died? I really doubted it.
“In all fairness, Head Master, Chud Larson had been bitten three days prior to when he reached us,” Professor Zephyr said, breaking into my train of thought. “I don’t think it would have been possible for Cadet Lysandra to save him, no matter how strong her power is.”
“Well, we’ll never know since she didn’t even try,” the Head Master snarled. Then he cleared his throat. “Dismissed, Head Healer. Thank you for your testimony.”
She nodded her head gracefully, sent me a look I couldn’t interpret, and stepped down from the podium.
“And now, we will address the charges of tampering with preapproved Academy battle formations,” the Head Master said. “Professor Humbolt, please come to the stage.”