Once the scuffling had calmed, the men, Teagan included, made their way back down the road.
“Where are ye taking me?”Teagan shouted – again for Ailith’s benefit.Perhaps she wanted Ailith to follow or find William to help rescue her.
“Ye are to be tried as soon as we reach Stonehaven,” the man declared.
Ailith clutched at a branch.Everything inside her screamed to run out and help her new friend, while the slightly more rational part of her brain told her nothing good would come of that, and she couldn’t do anything for Teagan if she, too, was arrested, or whateverthiswas.
Witch.
A witch hunt.
Oh my god.
Is that what William worried about, too?That if Ailith said or did the wrong thing, she might be accused of being a witch?
It was hundreds of years yet until the infamous witch trials would occur across western civilization, but Ailith knew from both her studies and her tour research with her father that people, women in particular, had been accused of witchcraft since the understanding of gods in ancient times.It was the catch-all by the slowly growing Christians for anything that smelled heretical, like the Vikings or ancient Celts, like the fairies and druids.
What did theydoto witches in the tenth century?Not burn them, she didn’t think.That was a more modern witch trial outcome – Salem and Joan of Arc.The tenth century, while not executing witches, might as well have.
If Ailith recalled correctly, were Teagan to be found guilty of that or the more common heresy, she would be imprisoned, tortured, banished, or perchance killed if they thought her dangerous enough.But putting one to death was rare in this century.
Ifshe was found guilty.
Ailith moved from the trees and started to follow them, keeping a fine distance and hiding from tree to tree, lest she be seen.Where was William?She could run for him and his aid, but he could be anywhere in the southwestern MacDougal lands.What if she didn’t find him in time?
So it came down to her.
Could a trial happen that fast?If the church wasn’t involved, only angry villagers, perhaps.In her mind’s eye, a film clip of villagers chasing Frankenstein’s monster played in a black-and-white reel.
She did not think they’d throw Teagan bound into a pond or a loch.Those techniques were more church-driven and didn’t happen until the later Middle Ages and beyond, but the officials running this farce would take testimony against her.And from what these men had said, they had more than enough to find her guilty.They were angry and would find any reason to bring Teagan low.
As she followed them down the path, Ailith smiled to herself, a thin, knowing smile.
Ah, but it was beneficial to know history.
Guilt or innocence could also be determined another way if the accused had someone on their side to fight for them.
Literallyfight.
In the early Middle Ages, trial by combat was a common way to decide one’s guilt or innocence in criminal, civil, and religious cases.It was simple enough.If the accused’s combatant won, the accused was innocent.If they lost: guilty.
And that combat did not have to be to the death.The winner would be whoever gained the upper hand andcouldkill the other.
Teagan might not know it, but Ailith wasn’t about to let her new friend be found guilty.Not when she could do something to stop it.
It was as both Master Park and William had told her.
Men always underestimated the fighting abilities of women.
Chapter Nine
Severalpeopledalliedonthe main road into Stonehaven.Instead of the marketplace thoroughfare, the men and Teagan veered to the right, stopping at a central area complete with a wooden raised platform and a horrific, blood-stained post.
Real, live, whipping post, complete with notches and dark stains where injured criminals had fought against the lash.
At least there wasn’t a noose.Ailith was grateful for small favors.
The men threw Teagan onto the platform, and the one she had called Alistair stood next to her.
