“I, Alistair Keith, stand here on behalf of the Keith Chieftain.We have found the one accused of witchcraft and offending the Keith clan with her treasonous ways.Who here will testify to her guilt?”
Whoa.That was fast.What happened to courts?Did they have those yet?Or at least a priest or official or someone like that?Was this something the townspeople or the local Laird handled?Could anybody go up to Alistair and claim Teagan dallied in witchcraft?
Apparently.
But it stunk more of a personal offense than a religious one, and Ailith’s historical knowledge of witchcraft only brought to mind the church witch trials of the late Middle Ages.As far as she could discern in this moment with Teagan, witchcraft was little more than another excuse to exact personal revenge than it was to remove a heretic speaking out against God.
Well,thatwas problematic.No wonder William didn’t seem to find any religious issue with Ailith and her tales of time travel.Alba had other, more pressing concerns than what far-flung churches and religious leaders thought of errant women or pagans.
A few people pushed forward while others fell back.Ailith noticed that most of the crowd did not wear the mask of fury that Alistair wore.Nay, most of the people backing away appeared more terrified than anything else.One man leveled his eyes at Ailith before retreating between two wattle-daubed buildings.
So not everyone believed this witch bullshite,she thought.But Teagan must have really gotten under someone’s skin for this reaction.
Well, if those who believed her guilty could push her way through to the front, so could she.Ailith took a moment to assess her surroundings, then her eyes landed on a banner stuck into the ground on a wooden pole.
Her thin grin returned.There it is.
Weaseling her way through the crowd, she grabbed the pole, which came out of the ground with ease, and tugged the banner off to expose the bare pole.She felt her new knife press against her thigh.The weight of her makeshift staff and the knife under her skirts gave her the courage she needed to step through the crowd.
“I demand a trial by combat instead!”Ailith shouted as she emerged in front of the platform.
Alistair Keith looked down his bulbous nose at her while Teagan’s eyes flew open wide.
“What are ye doing?”Teagan whispered harshly.“I told ye to hide!”
“I would ask the same.What are ye doing?”Alistair demanded.
Ailith gulped.Was she doing this right?God, she hoped so.William would be irate, but again, this appeared to be a life-or-death situation for Teagan, which Ailith believed qualified under her agreement with him.
“I demand her guilt or innocence to be determined in a trial by combat,” Ailith repeated in a voice loud enough to convey her false confidence.
The Keith man stared at her for several seconds.
“Ha,” he burst out.Then followed it with more.“Ha.Ha.Ha!”
He waslaughingat her.
His reaction bothered Ailith little.She’d had men laugh at the prospect of her fighting before.
“Ye?Ye think to stand as her champion and fight for her innocence?”His belly jiggled as he laughed again, as did a few villagers in the crowd behind her.“Ye have to be speaking in jest.”
She shook her head.“Nay.No jest.Trial by combat.”
Alistair stared down his nose at her again, his mouth a pursed line under his scraggly beard.Then he shrugged.
“If ye request it.A trial by combat it is.Do we have a champion for the Keith clan?”
His voice held a mocking tone as he asked for volunteers.In a sick moment, Ailith hoped it would be the man from earlier, the one assaulting his wife, but she wasn’t that lucky.
Instead, a slightly portly man with a red nose and bloodshot eyes stepped forward.Was he drunk?Sick?Bad diet?She evaluated as much as she could about him as he moved toward the platform.The more she knew, the better she could mentally prepare.
Know your enemy.Study him.He will tell you everything you need to know to defeat him,her Ju-Jitsu sensei spoke in her head.He will show you his weaknesses, and if your enemy is larger than you, his pride will be his greatest weakness.
“I will fight the lass.”The man gave her a once-over.“Too bad the witch will no’ have a chance at innocence.Ye should have kept your mouth closed to help your friend, lass.It might not have ended so badly for both of ye.”
Ailith had backed up near the platform, leaving her satchel at the edge, and Teagan spoke just loud enough for Ailith to hear her.
“Why are ye doing this?Ye canna expect to win.I was going to be found guilty no matter what.Now ye are going to get yourself injured or worse for an inevitability?”
