Page 96 of Turncloak

He wasn’t far from the truth.

Auria tried not to be too rankled by the testimony. She had a powerful rebuttal, and while she’d never been skilled at polderdash—Killoran always mocked her for folding too early—she knew the card would have more impact if played later.

She cross-examined him, mining that ravine of uncertainty, having Dallar confirm repeatedly that he had not heard a word. Perhaps a wishy-washy tactic, one that often didn’t play so well with juries, but Auria knew that a judge as experienced as Nercan worshipped at the altar of reasonable doubt.

Once Dallar left the stand, Karvas continued his monologue. “I believe Marriosan and Naszi lied about the presence of a third-party intruder inside the Order on the night of the crimes—sorry, the night of the events—and that they went to extreme lengths to stage the violence that purportedly forced their hands. Of course, it is difficult to prove that they were acting alone, that there was no third party inside headquarters—much like trying to prove that a deity doesn’t exist. But I can certainly call them to the stand as witnesses anyway, catch them in a lie. Marriosan, if you please.”

Expecting this tactic, Auria took to the stand, masking her nerves with a coy smile. “I’ve never lied in my life, so good luck with that.”

“I somehow doubt that.”

Auria shrugged. “I’d down a vat of truth elixir right now, if such things were permitted.”

“Well, that’s a matter for the Grand Arbiter. Speaking of which, I understand you have career aspirations of the highest seat. This blemish on your record will make that borderline impossible, no?”

Auria lifted her chin. “Charges are yet to be brought.”

Karvas shot her a sickly smile. “You were caught red-handed burgling your superior officer. Unless you’re disputing that I did, indeed, catch you in the act?”

“No, Captain.”

Karvas resumed his slow pacing, hands clasped behind his back. “You also admit that when the supposed intruder arrived in the common room, you were almost delirious from your headache and your night-shift fatigue, correct?”

Auria gritted her teeth. She loathed when non-migraine sufferers equated them to simple headaches. “I don’t believe I used the word delirious, no, but I was feeling hazy.”

“And so how can you be sure there was a third-party intruder in the room, and that the supposed ‘invisible outline’ ”—scathing air quotes—“was not just a figment of your aura headaches?”

“Because figments cannot hold blades to throats,” Auria replied calmly.

Karvas’s questioning continued in a similar manner, designed to rattle rather than discern any new information. When Nissa was called to the witness stand, he attempted to undermine her credibility, focusing on her time out of service and the aftereffects of her grievous injuries at the docks. Was it not possible that trauma had caused her imagination to fabricate the illusion of an intruder?

Nissa bared teeth. “Either you believe that Marriosan and I were calculated enough to fake the presence of an intruder, as you initially posited, or you believe that we were both so physically and psychologically compromised that we became delusional. I don’t suppose both can be true.”

Auria smiled to herself, until Karvas said, “All rather inconsequential, isn’t it? The fact of the matter is that you were caught burgling your captain. We’re only really debating your motives and methods, rather than the crimes—sorry, the acts.”

Finally, it was Auria’s turn to present evidence and call witnesses. She fought the childish urge to crack her knuckles, as though preparing for a bar fight.

“I’d like to call Captain Vel Karvas to the witness stand.”

Karvas strode to the bench with a confident ease, as though he were the one in control.

A common thing, to mistake power for control.

“Captain Karvas, you suggested ‘aiding and abetting’ when describing our potential breaches of the Constitution of Laws. Surely this would imply that there was a third party present on the night in question?”

Karvas shook his head. “I meant aiding and abetting in the sense that you were stealing the letter for a former colleague—a former colleague who is now a Bloodmoon, no less.”

“What exactly are you trying to suggest happened? As Detective Naszi pointed out, you cannot seem to decide whether it was an elaborate scheme or a consequence of delirium.”

“I believe that you and Naszi staged an intruder inside the building in order to justify your burglary. And I believe, though I cannot prove it, that Saffron Killoran was waiting outside my office window for the letter to be dropped into her hands.”

Auria gave an exaggeratedly confused smile. “You did not think to pursue Killoran, in that case? You could have been out of the window in an instant, hot on her tail. But instead you focused on reprimanding your own detectives.”

“I had just woken up, and my well was far from full.”

“Did you at least cross to the window, in an attempt to positively identify Killoran?”

A muscle twitched in Karvas’s jaw. “No. I assumed that she’d be under the guise of an invisibility tincture or similar.”