Chapter Twenty-Eight
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
What roused her wasn’t the twitter of songbirds or the crick in her neck, but the ray of evening sun piercing through the curtains to arrow into her eye. Scowling, Sarai shifted against the blanket wrapped around her and froze as the blanket moved as well.
Flushing to the roots of her hair, she disentangled herself from the crook of Kadra’s shoulder. At some point in the night, he had slightly slumped to the left, still holding her across his lap, a muscled forearm locked around her waist.
He looked younger, features relaxed in sleep. Stubble laced his jaw and cheeks and her heart gave way at the picture he made, painted in the sun.
“Drenevan.” She tested the syllables out loud.
His mouth curved. She jumped back as Kadra opened an eye and cocked an eyebrow at her.
“Good morning.” His voice was a low burr, even more spectacular when rough from sleep.
“Good morning,” she stammered, looking left, then right, then left again in the vain hope of finding anything that could assuage her embarrassment. That quest proving futile, she jackknifed to her feet and swallowed at his completely undone robe in the daylight. A valley of tanned skin freckled with curling hair trailing past his abdomen lay open for her perusal. She immediately fled from his study to the rough music of his laughter.
Hiding until he’d left for work, she paced his study, formulating and reformulating until a maneuver with a chance of success began to coalesce. If she cast enough doubt on the testimony of Aelius’s witnesses, then she could extricate herself from the calumnia charge and preempt Aelius’s no-confidence vote. It was all she had if Telmar didn’t show.
Hours passed, and he didn’t. The weight on her chest grew heavier.
As the day drew to a close, she quietly gave up. There was no point thinking about what his refusal to show meant for her. Dressing, she paid meticulous heed to her appearance. Polishing her boots and weaving her hair into a sleek braid, she eyed her grim-faced reflection.
I won’t be whipped to death , she tried to convince herself. I’ll be back here tonight . This isn’t the end .
But when she left Aoran Tower at sunset, it was with a thousand fervent prayers to the uncaring gods above.
Dusk was still new to the sky above the Aequitas. The audience buzzed, crammed into every nook of the court, roars of excitement rising when she entered the stage to mark the beginning of the trial.
Sarai bowed low. Just as many had shown up today as for the Robing. It wasn’t every day that a Petitor had to prove their decisions at the land’s highest court.
On the opposite end of the stage, the Tetrarchy assembled on the long dais to thunderous applause. Kadra seemed unperturbed, but a pale-faced Cassandane wet her lips, hands clenched on the arms of her seat. Aelius and Tullus were the image of composed serenity.
When Aelius raised a hand for silence, Sarai grit her teeth at the familiar scroll in his hand. The warrant. That he hadn’t filed it yet indicated he was giving her until the end to recant on the scuta and ruin Kadra.
“Many of you are aware of this case,” Aelius noted. “A month ago, Metals Guildmaster Helvus was murdered by former Guildmaster Admia. However, rather than be given justice, he was humiliated in his domus as he died and accused of purposefully manufacturing faulty scuta by the Petitor before us.”
The onlookers had never sounded more divided. Jeering originated from some seats, the occupants sporting the colorful robes and crests of Guildmasters. Yet there were just as many raucous cheers from those of Edessa’s social classes who had little love for the Metals Guild.
She prepared to defend herself when Aelius’s smile turned sly.
“Seeing as Tetrarch Kadra and his Petitor”—his weighted pause had many heads swiveling toward her—“will be occupied with proving these accusations, my own Petitor has stepped in to resolve the matter with fairness.”
Sarai’s heart plummeted as Cisuré emerged from the side entrance to the Aequitas, eyes hard. Whatever was on the other girl’s mind didn’t seem to include fairness.
Aelius steepled his fingers. “Bring in the witnesses.”
Wisdom and Wrath help me. Courage nearly deserted Sarai as Aelius’s vigiles opened the double doors that marked the witnesses’ entrance. She waited for a stream of Guildspeople to emerge, but a lone vigile ran up the dais instead to whisper into Aelius’s ear. The Tetrarch’s features went slack with fury.
She wiped her sweaty palms against her tunic as a figure emerged, his gait awkward. The first thing she noticed were the burns dotting his skin. Her next glance identified him as the first name on Aelius’s list.
Aelius spoke through clenched teeth. “It seems that a strike hit the Metals Guild a night ago.”
Goosebumps pebbled Sarai’s skin. Cisuré clapped a hand over her mouth in horror. The injured Guildsman’s bloodshot eyes roved across the dais before alighting on Sarai. Racing over, he dropped to his knees. A stream of hoarse words left his throat, barely audible.
She flinched, crouching beside him. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I don’t understand.”
Shaking, he pulled a crumpled roll of parchment from his robes, and thrust it at Cisuré, who quickly unrolled it and, at a nod from Aelius, began to read.
“‘We, of the Metals Guild, out of gratitude to Tetrarch Kadra for his assistance in rescuing us from a strike, hereby—’” Cisuré broke off, eyes bulging with fury. “‘Recant and admit that we’ve no knowledge of the manufacture of a scutum’s metal core. Our work was limited to a steel shell. We sought to preserve the reputation of our Guildmaster but have been punished for our lies. We repent sincerely to the gods and the people,’” she spat.
Time stood still, the world paling to a dull gray, then a blinding white. The audience’s exclamations of horror and anger faded to a tinny ringing as the Guildsman’s statement registered.
Hereby recant . Aelius had nothing by which to argue that her accusations were false or malicious. He couldn’t charge her with calumnia . His warrant was useless.
She wasn’t going to be whipped to death.
Resisting the urge to bury her head in her hands and sob, she drew a rattling breath. Gods be praised, I’m safe.
“This is preposterous!” Tullus roared, vying with Aelius for who could turn the deeper shade of puce. Both ignored the crowd, which had risen to their feet roaring for answers on the scuta. “So Tetrarch Kadra happened to be on hand to assist during this strike, did he?”
She froze, eyes flying to the man who was watching the proceedings with customary amusement.
You didn’t , she asked silently .
The cruel-eyed god who ruled her heart gave her a slow smile, and she nearly fell to her knees. Kadra, Wretched Prince of Punishment, indeed. He’d meted out justice the way he always did: in blood. And in doing so, he’d doomed himself. One strike was a coincidence. Two weren’t. The matter had his stamp all over it. If she saw it, others would too. Whispers were already rustling throughout the crowd of the Aequitas. She caught several raised eyebrows and suspicious glances in Kadra’s direction.
“Probe the Guildsman.” Tullus barked the order to Cisuré even though she wasn’t his Petitor. “Let’s see what actually happened.”
Manic fervor returned to Cisuré’s face. She took a step toward the man when he stumbled back, turning beseeching eyes to Kadra, of all people. The crowd issued a collective gasp. Tullus’s knuckles strained in his clenched fists .
“You would really have this man relive a traumatic memory to satisfy your curiosity?” Disapproval laced Kadra’s voice. “The Guild has admitted their error. Leave him his dignity.”
“We’re merely marveling at how conveniently he lost it,” Aelius responded evenly.
This is bad . The more people thought about it, the clearer it would become that the only people with anything to gain from the Guild’s recanting were her and Kadra, seeing as they’d made the initial accusations. It was all the fodder Aelius needed to bring up a no-confidence vote to kick Kadra out. Judging by the tight set of Cassandane’s features, she knew it too.
He’s been acting uncharacteristically reckless , Anek had said. How could you be so reckless? Cato had argued that night she’d healed Kadra.
Kadra, what are you doing?
On the dais, his smile was pure ice. “I was nearby. It turned out that my assistance was necessary.”
True . She was torn between horror and amazement at how he’d framed it. Inches from being booted out as a Tetrarch and he still wasn’t lying.
“Are there any witnesses to your heroism, Tetrarch Kadra?” Aelius’s smile grew. “Or should we pull the truth from your head instead?”
“Am I on trial, Tetrarch Aelius?” Kadra sounded intrigued. “If so, your vigiles appear to have misplaced the warrant they should have served me with.”
“That won’t be necessary.” Aelius rose, ivory robes aglow. “It seems the second matter for which we gathered today has arrived early. I do not doubt the intelligence of my fellow Urds, and I believe they see what I have noted from the start of Tetrarch Kadra’s appointment.”
This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. She’d intended on preventing the trial from reaching this point. She sought out Kadra’s gaze, but he shook his head, something that looked bewilderingly like resignation in his eyes.
“Despite being tasked with the administration of justice, Tetrarch Kadra has used this court as his personal dungeon.” Aelius’s voice cracked through the hubbub like a cane. “He has killed, burned, executed, and dismembered within these very walls. I have let it pass only because he was supposedly doing so in the name of justice. But I cannot let it go any longer. A grave miscarriage of justice has occurred today. Over a hundred witnesses, who should have set a good man’s name to rights, now recant. I know I speak for us all when I say that we know they were tortured into it by him .” He jabbed a finger in Kadra’s direction.
Tullus added his piece. “I have no confidence in Tetrarch Kadra’s ability to lead Ur Dinyé. As such, I formally call for the Tetrarchy and its Petitors to vote on this matter. The punishment for a Tetrarch’s abuse of power has always been clear and we will not deviate from it now. If found guilty, Tetrarch Kadra will be dismissed from his position.”
The bottom fell out of her stomach. The crowd was chaos, yells of outrage—though she couldn’t tell whether it was at Kadra or on his behalf—mixed with questions on the scuta.
A storm brewed in Kadra’s eyes and the air crackled dangerously around the stage, sparks of lightning flaring into and out of sight amid the angry yells and boos of the crowd.
Aelius sniffed disdainfully. “I’ll thank you not to bring the Aequitas down to avoid your charges. Though this display is enough to convince me that you’re guilty. The Tetrarchy will now vote. And this is my word.” His features held triumph. “Guilty.”
This can’t be happening . She saw the line of Kadra’s back loosen as though he’d been waiting for this. His head remained unbowed. He was allowing himself to be dethroned. But why would he … She halted, and took in the sparks still sizzling in the Aequitas.
He’s charging up the air .
“Guilty,” Tullus echoed with equal malice.
He’s going for another strike.
“Guilty,” Cisuré crowed.
Kadra’s hard mask splintered for a fraction of a second, but it was enough. She spotted the vicious, bitter look he slanted in Aelius’s direction, and everything slotted in at once .
I’d rather have Aelius’s head. I’d Probe the truth right out of him , she’d said last night.
And he was about to give it to her.
Features drained of color, Cassandane shook her head and stayed silent, indicating that she was abstaining. Anek did the same.
The second Kadra was dethroned, he’d strike before Aelius could so much as utter a word of victory, and give him to her to fish the truth from his head. But Aelius was the Magus Supreme, the most powerful magus in the land. Add Tullus to that and … they’ll kill each other , she realized in horror.
“Guilty,” Harion murmured after a confirmatory glance at Tullus.
The weight of almost every stare in the Aequitas struck Sarai at once, but she only had eyes for the man she loved, who was about to lose everything. He gave her an imperceptible shake of his head. Asking her to doom him.
Why is this your solution?
Her lips parted, as she tried to think of a way out, and a glint of metal caught her attention at the side entrance to the Aequitas.
Steel rolled out of the doorway, a flash of violet robes vanishing down the hallway. Relief and elation engulfed her. She could have wept. Thank you, Telmar .
A broad smile bloomed on Aelius’s lips as he took her silence for abstention. Beside her, Cisuré’s eyes welled with tears.
“I knew you could do it.” She gripped Sarai’s hands. “I’m so proud of you.”
“The Tetrarchy speaks with one voice!” Aelius roared exultantly. “Drenevan bu Kadra is hereby found guilty of abusing his power and—”
Shaking off Cisuré’s hold, Sarai ran to the side entrance.
“Petitor Sarai?”
She ignored the knife-sharp warning in Aelius’s voice and ran faster. Ducking under the arm of one of Aelius’s vigiles, she crouched to grab the scutum and hugged it to her chest. Fuck, yes .
She didn’t think. Racing to the center of the stage, she held Kadra’s gaze and ascended the steps to the dais purposefully. One step away from him, she rested a foot on the uppermost stair, inclined her head, and fanned the material of her robes back. And she knelt before Kadra, scutum in hand.
Her voice rang across the court. “Innocent.”
Then, for a long, glorious moment, she watched as Kadra was struck wordless. His features went slack, shock flaring in his midnight eyes.
Aelius roared something in the background.
Rising smoothly, she smiled placidly in his direction. “I understand your concern, Tetrarch Aelius,” she announced as the cacophony from the audience grew. “But there has been no miscarriage of justice. Tetrarch Kadra was injured that night. I can testify to his condition. He’s blameless here. I can’t say that for most things.” That gained her a ripple of laughter from the crowd. “But I can say it for this.”
She turned to the spectators before Aelius could speak, keeping her every movement graceful. Showing them someone they would want to believe.
“Citizens of Edessa, you came here for a trial on the crucial matter of the scuta you rely on.” Turning back to the dais, she snuck a glance at Kadra, who looked torn between pride and homicide. “I say that we examine the basis for my accusations. I have an ordinary scutum here, and I don’t have the skill to have engineered or warped one for this trial. Every Petitor here knows I speak the truth, and like Tetrarch Aelius, I don’t underestimate your intelligence.”
Striding center stage, she placed the rod there. “And as a show of faith, I’ll stand here, if one of the Tetrarchy would be so kind as to bring forth lightning.”
“Petitor Sarai.” Tullus shot to his feet, incandescent with rage. “You cannot dare test the gods with such little faith.”
“Tetrarch Tullus, I have more faith than I know what to do with. After all, my life is in their hands.” As murmurs spread through the crowd, she spread her hands wide. “I’m all yours. I also have a collation of evidence by two former Petitors on numerous scuta blowing up during strikes, as well as the Metals Guild’s purchase of lands after they’re struck by lightning. If that isn’t enough, I will submit to a Probe here so everyone can see what I witnessed at former Metals Guildmaster Helvus’s and Grains Guildmaster Admia’s residences.”
Cisuré looked stricken, eyes darting to Aelius, whose jaw looked liable to snap if he kept clenching it that hard.
Sarai bit back a chuckle. You can’t do it, can you ? Or everything you did in that domus will air out as well. She turned back to the crowd, who cheered their agreement. “The people want the truth.” She smiled innocently. “I am happy to provide it.”
Silence fell over the dais, Kadra looking as though he was fighting a laugh while debating on dragging Sarai away from the scutum. Aelius and Tullus seethed. Cassandane eyed the men on either side of her with a wide grin, letting the silence lengthen until it was clear that there was only one way forward.
“Very well.” Cassandane raised a hand. Silver sparks lit the air. Kadra’s features tautened a second before layers upon layers of a familiar gold shield flared around her.
The Aequitas erupted with the sounds of people getting to their feet, craning to get a better look. She held herself still, not covering her ears so as not to be accused of a lack of faith or anything else that would invalidate her test.
The air throbbed, a low hum building. Cassandane flicked her wrist and lightning scissored down from the sky. A deafening crack followed. The scutum exploded.
Metal warped, spitting fire and iron dust into the air. Propelled to her knees by the force of the blast, she hunched over. Above her, three of Kadra’s shields had vaporized. The remaining two held with fierce control. Rising, she grinned at him. It’s done!
Raw emotion burned in his eyes. He looked relieved. And furious .
A roar of anger and horror swelled across the Aequitas, several people climbing over railings to get a better look at the warped, sizzling metal. The Metals Guildsman still standing there looked uneasy.
“I believe that’s all the evidence we need,” Cassandane said wryly. “The Guild has admitted the truth as well, so it seems that Petitor Sarai and Tetrarch Kadra’s concerns weren’t unfounded.” She gave Sarai a grateful glance. “The Metals Guild and Helvus’s estate will work out the appropriate compensation for those still owning a scutum. I encourage any who know of deaths caused by scuta to bring their petitions. Tetrarch Aelius, Tetrarch Tullus? Do you agree?”
Aelius pressed his lips tight, forcing each word past them. “The matter will be dealt with as such. The Tetrarchy has spoken.”
For the second time in her life, Sarai crumpled to the Aequitas’s stage in relief, taking in the devastation and rage coming from every corner of the audience. She couldn’t imagine how many had lost people to a strike, or shouldered the blame for a death due to a lack of faith. She didn’t envy the Metals Guild right now. Four years of greed and death ended. She wished Jovian and Livia had lived to see it.
Eschewing its tradition of descending center stage for a final bow, the Tetrarchy parted. Kadra and Cassandane headed one way, and Aelius and Tullus stormed off in the other. Sarai ducked into the corridor leading outside to Aelius’s massive statue when Cisuré blocked her path.
“We need to talk.”
“No, we don’t.” Sarai tried to edge past when the other girl caught her arm.
“I won’t let you carry on like this.” The light in her eyes sent a strange chill down Sarai’s spine. “You’re going to pack your things and leave that sadist’s tower. Now.”
“By all the High Elsar, if you dare try to coerce me to lick Aelius’s feet one more time, I’m burning his tower to the ground.”
“You— ”
“Cisuré, stop,” Anek interjected, a hand on her shoulder. “You and your Tetrarch had your say in court. You lost. Live with it.”
Cisuré looked close to screaming, hands forming fists before she stormed off. Sarai let out a pained breath. Outside the Aequitas, Kadra crossed his arms, Cassandane beside him, her dark head bowed close to his. The tempest in Sarai coiled tighter at the sight of the older woman’s beautiful features, at the familiar way she caught Kadra’s elbow, apparently irritated.
Cassandane has no interest in men , she reminded herself, calming the irrational impulse to ride Caelum right between the two of them.
Following her gaze, Anek’s lips twitched. “She’s chewing him out. Deservedly, too, given that he just announced his weakness to all of Ur Dinyé.” At her pause, they tilted their head to the Academiae. “Ride with me.”
She followed with a parting glance at Kadra, noting with worry that he still seemed vaguely out of sorts. The sky was well into moonrise by the time she and Anek managed to make their way through the crowd, find their mounts, and leave the Aequitas.
“Four years ago,” Anek’s features were drawn tight in contemplation, “a body was found at the base of Sidran Tower. Smashed like a pumpkin.”
Starting at the sudden mention of the Sidran Tower Girl, Sarai winced. “I’ve heard.”
“I became a Petitor because of her,” Anek said. “If Harion had been found dead, then the vigiles would have cared. But this was a girl no older than I was. A stranger to the city. So she was dressed in rumors, swathed in apathy, and buried like so much garbage.”
Sarai’s throat burned.
“I realized that these people would do the same to me. They’d probably peer at my corpse and laugh, saying they knew my sex now.” A humorless sound left them. “But things changed upon Kadra’s election. He was vicious, but always fair.” Anek studied her. “You lied. Kadra was behind the strike, wasn’t he?” At Sarai’s silence, they smiled. “This is why people love him. He’s mad, but he doesn’t sit back and watch as people are buried. ”
“Sometimes I don’t know if it’s because he cares, or because he finds their loyalty useful in this war he’s waging,” she admitted.
“Both,” Anek said readily. “Everyone with a brain saw that he did this to protect you. Just as they’re all putting two and two together at Aelius and Tullus freezing when you pulled out a scutum.” Tension returned to the neutralis’s features. “But Kadra has survived for so long because he has had no weaknesses. He’s been as immutable as stormfall. Yet, over the past two and a half months, everyone’s seen him watching you like he’d like to—pardon the expression—throw you against a wall and have you.”
Her cheeks heated. “There really is nothing. We haven’t—” She stopped as Anek raised a hand.
“Gods, please don’t. That’s a picture I don’t need.” They steered their mount toward Favran Tower. “I’d watched you two the first few days on the job, you know.” At Sarai’s start of surprise, they nodded. “You and Kadra butted heads more often than you drew air, but I saw respect. An ability to consider the good and flaws in each other’s approaches. On the other hand, Cisuré might as well have been an extension of Aelius.”
Sarai groaned. “Gods, I don’t know what’s happened to her.”
“She’s a fool.” Anek gave her a speaking look. “She’ll rationalize everything she does as reasonable if it means saving her skin. Is it incumbent on us to allow her to ruin lives while she figures out that the world isn’t all gods and roses? Do the elites give the lower classes that kind of concession?”
Impressed, she whistled. “Careful. Best not let Aelius or Tullus hear you saying that.”
“At least until they’re toppled.” The neutralis laughed, reaching across their mounts to grip Sarai’s shoulder. “Protect that Tetrarch of yours. There’s something strange about what he’s up to. The Kadra of old would never have gone with so many blatant strikes.” Anek looked puzzled. “For someone who’s always been excellent in subtle manipulation, it’s reckless beyond belief.”
Reckless. Everyone kept using that word .
“Thank you,” she said, realizing she hadn’t acknowledged how much Anek had risked in giving her Livia’s letter. “I couldn’t have done this without you.”
They cleared their throat, looking awkward. “Yes, well. Didn’t want to see anyone dying. We’ve done well so far, yes? Lasted nearly three months.” They paused before bursting into laughter. “By the Elsar, you’re two weeks from winning that wager with Harion!”
Sarai counted the months and snorted. “Care to bet if he’ll be a gracious loser?”
“I’m not betting anything against you. Your luck’s far too good.”
Her smile wavered. That only meant it was bound to run out.
Yet, as Anek waved goodbye upon reaching their Tetrarch’s abode, Sarai turned determined eyes toward Aoran Tower.
Perhaps she could push her luck one more time.