The king smiled wryly at the boy. “So you don’t deny being an Obsidian Court spy, then?”
The boy fervently shook his head. “I do! I’m not a spy, I swear! I’ve never used dark arcana. You have to believe me.”
King Julian cupped the boy’s face with a gloved hand. “Oh, I wish I could, Jonah, but there is just one problem with that. We have an eyewitness who says otherwise.”
Just then the guardians brought forth another fae boy, roughly the same age as Jonah.
“Zane here says he saw you conjure dark arcana that you obtained from a member of the Obsidian Court. He said he saw you use it to put a curse on one of your classmates. Are you saying that Zane is a liar?” He dropped his hand from Jonah’s face and looked toward Zane. “Zane, you wouldn’t lie to the King of the Citrine Court, would you?” He innocently asked the loaded question.
Zane shook as the king called upon him. His face paled, and he looked as though he was about to empty the contents of his stomach all over the courtyard. “No, Your Majesty. Everything I have told you is true. I saw Jonah entering a shop in the human quarter that’s suspected of supporting the Obsidian Court. A few days later, he was hanging out with one of the lads from school, and they got intoa fight, and Jonah said he was going to curse him. All of a sudden, really bad things began happening to him. It started small, like losing stuff, hurting himself being clumsy, and then it got worse. He was thrown off his horse and almost died. He’s one of the best riders we know. He’s never had an issue with his horse. He swears up and down that Jonah cursed him. I went and reported it as soon as I heard, just like we’re supposed to.”
As Zane finished tattling on his classmate, he stared at the ground, unable to make eye contact with the boy he had just helped sentence to death.
“This stupid little boy is lying to you, Your Majesty!” Jonah’s mother yelled, still restrained on the ground.
“Let her up. Let’s hear what she has to say.” King Julian motioned for his guardians to assist the angry fae woman up, giving her some sense of dignity as she tried to fight an unwinnable battle.
“My son has been mercilessly bullied by this deceitful little prick and his friends for years.” The fae woman’s face reddened as she threw an accusatory finger at Zane. “Despite everything Jonah and I have done, nothing remedied the situation. My son was pushed to his limit and uttered an incredibly foolish but toothless threat. He has never possessed the ability to wield dark arcana. He was tested at birth by your very own arcana master. He’s a sweet boy whose proficiency is in earth arcana—he loves animals and helping others. This is an egregious error. You cannot punish him based on the lies of a spoiled brat who is incapable of speaking the truth and whose family is devoid of any honour. They supported the Obsidian Court during the rebellion, and yet they’re allowed to remain here and sully our court with their presence. Our family stood steadfast behind you, and that should hold far more weight than any statement given by any member of that family. Anything they have to say should be disregarded as worthless trash. I beg you, Your Majesty, please let him go. Jonah deserves punishment for what he did, and I willfollow through on that myself. But he does not deserve death.” The sobbing fae woman fell to her knees, her hands clasped together in front of her chest. She stared up at the king expectantly, hope that her emotional appeal for leniency had hit its mark written all across her face.
The king lowered his chin, eyes fixed on the fae woman. My heart ached for him to show forgiveness and for this mother fighting for her son’s life.
“He’s going to let the boy go, right?” I whispered to Everett. “He’s not going to kill him just because of what the other one said, is he?”
Before Everett had a moment to respond, King Julian loudly cleared his throat. “Aurelia, do you have something you would like to add?” His voice boomed across the silent courtyard. Shuffling feet and craning necks were the only other sounds, as all the fae present strained to get a glimpse of the human woman the king had just addressed during a very serious matter.
I broke into a full-body sweat as I felt the eyes of everyone home in on me. “No, Your Majesty,” I replied. My face reddened under the intensity of the king’s stare.
“I insist. As you are Prince Sterling’s guest, it would be rude if I didn’t get yourhumanopinion on fae matters,” he said as he placed a hand on the hilt of his sword.
I glanced over to Sterling, who had barely moved a muscle the entire time we had been standing in the courtyard. His gaze slowly fell to mine as a cold look of indifference settled over him.
“We don’t have all day. Spit it out already,” Sterling finally said.
If he intended to upset me, he had succeeded in his task. Frustrated and annoyed, I looked at the fae woman, who was still on her knees, and took a deep breath. “I don’t think it’s right that this boy should lose his life just because of what this one said.” I pointed in the direction of Zane, who looked at me with an unsettling amountof contempt. “If you’re going to sentence someone so severely, there should be solid proof, not hearsay.”
King Julian looked at me curiously, scratching his beard as he contemplated his next words. “So you think Zane is lying?”
The boy and his family now stared at me with murderous intent. I held up my hands in defence. “I didn’t say he was lying. I don’t think his word alone should be enough to sentence someone to death.”
Zane’s father glared at me and then turned to the king. “Why are we having to listen to this human-woman tell us how to manage our affairs? My son has told you what happened. Now, punish the boy!”
King Julian’s calm indifference turned to icy rage as he looked at Zane’s father. “You presume to tell your king what to do?”
Immediately Zane’s father backed down. “No, Your Majesty. I apologize. I—”
The king flicked his hand to Zane and shouted an order to the nearest guardian. “Grab the boy. We will find out now who is telling the truth. We can’t have any innocent blood on our hands, can we?” The king’s eyes bored into mine, confirming that the last part of his statement was directed toward me.
Everett placed a hand behind my back and leaned in to whisper, “We should step back a bit.”
I shook my head. “I’m fine here.”
The guardians grabbed Zane and hauled him up the platform steps, away from his family. The boy screamed and cried, begging his father to do something. The boy’s father hung his head in shame as the guardians carried his son away, helpless to stop whatever was coming next. King Julian whispered something into the ear of one of the guardians on the platform, and shortly afterward, the guardian took off in the direction of the palace. Zane had cold iron chains wrapped around his wrists and arms, his arcana now unavailable tohim. The tighter the gloved guardian pulled on the chains, the more noticeable the sound of searing flesh became. My years as a healer had afforded me many things, and today I was most thankful for my ability to tolerate painful sights, sounds, and smells.
Zane fell hard, face-first, onto the platform. His arms were pinned beneath his body as he writhed in agony.
“Get up and act like a fae,” King Julian spat at him, while a nearby guardian kicked the boy in the gut.
Zane’s mother started sobbing loudly, while his father did his best to temper his emotions while comforting his wife. Thalos appeared, exiting the palace with a malevolent smile on his face and a small silver container in his hand. King Julian took the silver flask from Thalos. He approached Zane, grabbed him by the face, and emptied the contents of the flask into his mouth. A shocked gasp escaped members of the crowd.
