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Yes, I know that too. But I wouldn’t undo it. I will not allow them to lay a hand on her even at the cost of my own flesh.
“Yes, you are right, Councilor,” Hildebrand acknowledges, then turns back to me. “We all know the facts, agreed, Mr. Montgomery?”
“Agreed.”
“The charges are serious, and in invoking Vicarius, you save this court the trouble of a hearing. You admit guilt and submit yourself to the penalty.”
“Correct.”
“Due to Mercedes’s actions, she has opened The Society up to the scrutiny of the outside world. This brother of the courtesan…” He looks down at the papers before him. “Vincent Douglas. He will not simply go away. He wished to witness Ms. De La Rosa’s sentence carried out, but we would not allow that. We punish our own, but we also protect our own. The Tribunal will absorb the cost of his silence.”
“Very generous,” I say.
“It is.” He closes the folder and sighs deeply. “As we discussed previously, each member of The Society is equal before The Tribunal. And as such, the sentence passed down to you would be the same as if it were any other member.”
I nod, wishing he’d get on with it. I have an idea what to expect. But I won’t know the extent of it until he spits it out and I think he enjoys this too much to rush.
“For her offenses in the law we are all guided by, which we must follow to the letter, Ms. De La Rosa is hereby sentenced to the maximum penalty.”
My heart slows to a heavy thud against my chest.
“Which in a case with such grave consequences to The Society as a whole is twenty-four lashes.”
I don’t move. Don’t breathe. Don’t blink. All while blood rushes my brain.
Twenty-four lashes. Christ. Mercedes would not be able to withstand that, and they would revive her every time she passed out before continuing. She would be made to feel every single one of those twenty-four strokes.
“Given the delicate state of this matter, it would behoove The Tribunal to keep this proceeding a secret and not upset the general population. No public announcement will be made. And the lashes will be dealt in private.”
Well, there is that. “I understand.”
“All that remains is a date to be set—”
“Now,” I say, speaking before I can think.
Hildebrand appears surprised. “That is out of the ordinary. I will choose a—”
“It is my right, Councilor.” I know IVI law to the letter as well as he does.
“Yes, Judge, it is. So be it.” He closes the folder, and the gavel comes down at the same time as he gestures to one of the guards standing by to escort me. I am then led through the door to a passage that will carry us to the cells and, at their center, the interior space where punishment in these delicate matters, as Hildebrand put it, are meted out.
I don’t think. I walk. And no one lays a hand on me as we enter the large space, one I’ve seen multiple times. One where I’ve borne witness.
There, I take off my jacket and vest. I tuck my cuff links into my pocket and remove my shirt. Mercedes would be made to strip naked. It’s how the women are handled. Not the men, though. I hear some of the things she’s said to me over the past few months, about how women are treated as second-class citizens within The Society. And she’s right. We are not all equal before The Tribunal. Not even close.
A guard steps forward to bind my wrists to the poles, but I shake my head. “Not necessary.”
“It is customary.”
“No.”
He hesitates but nods and steps back. He will witness and report back to the councilors that the tithe was paid. And once it’s over, Mercedes will be free. They will not be able to punish her for this.
It’s that thought that gives me the courage to step between the ancient wooden beams worn by centuries of use. It’s her face I see as I wrap the chains around my hands where I would have been secured and hold tight. And it’s her eyes I envision looking up at me in that way she has when she’s lying in my arms as I nod, and it begins.
25
Mercedes
