“Yes.”
“Do you plead guilty or not guilty?”
She hesitated. Neither word fit. She’d done it, and didn’t regret her actions. But guilt, to her, meant malice. And there had been none of that. They’d wanted to save Vallenna, not harm it.
Finally, she lifted her chin. Tried to ignore how her heart raced.
“Not guilty.”
Deep down, she knew it wouldn’t save her. But it was the truth. And today, that was all she had left.
The judge nodded once. “Proceed.”
It was Galen Caldris who leaned forward first, hands clasped before him. “Are you the Karalynna Hale who was sent by this Council to capture Sebastian Thorne and secure the Arcanth Shards in his possession?”
“Yes.”
“And did you do this?”
Yes, and I shouldn’t have.
“I did,” she said at last. “But then I saw why he did it.”
Simone Navyr scoffed faintly. “Go on.”
Kara drew a breath. “He had a vision. The Arcanth called to him – showed him what’s coming. Draknor are returning. He believed uniting the Arcanth Shards is the only way to stop them.”
Merrick Durent spoke next, low and disbelieving. “So you committed treason based on a man’s dream?”
He’s risked everything for you, and you’re mocking him.
“It wasn’t a dream.”
“The Arcanth has not spoken in generations, Lady Hale. It seems... rather unlikely that it truly called to Sebastian Thorne,” Elias Lyra said.
“It did,” she insisted.
“You believe he’s telling the truth?” asked Evelyn Sorrel, her dark eyes sharp. “Thorne are not blessed with visions. Perhaps he lied to you to make you let him go.”
“No. I saw his mind. It was no lie. It was the Arcanth itself.”
He only wanted to protect Vallenna.
“How? That is not your gift,” Evelyn asked.
“Henry Caldris taught me.”
There was a long silence, broken only by the scratching of the quills. Then Elias spoke again, voice low. “And what of the cost? In the time since those Shards were taken, storms have torn through Hale, earthquakes in Durent, floods in Navyr, in Lyra. People have died.” He leaned closer. “Do you believe it was worth it?”
Kara faltered. “I believe... doing nothing would cost more.”
“And yet you acted without authority,” Merrick Durent snapped. “So did he. That is not courage. It is arrogance. Recklessness. And now we are weakened because of it.”
“If it is true, what you say,” Simone said. “Why didn’t Sebastian Thorne tell the Council of this vision? Report it to us in the proper manner?”
Kara stared directly at her. “Would you have believed him? Allowed him to remove the Shards?”
An awkward silence fell. Everyone knew the answer.
