The Edge of Shadow, page 7
part #5 of The Kin of Kings Series
“I came here to help the Academy and to face my punishment. I was with Ulric before this. I had won his trust.” Her voice rose. “He wanted me to counsel him. I would’ve had a life in the castle. It was the very life I had planned for myself from the beginning: I was going to bring my mother back, marry Tauwin, and eventually take control of the castle from him, killing him if necessary. He was one man who, I knew from the start, didn’t deserve to live. He’s done nothing but hurt Kyrro, and I wanted to be the one to take him from this world. Ulric and I had a plan, but it was disrupted by a man whose name I learned to be Neeko. When he couldn’t kill Tauwin, he tried to kill me instead. Because I figured out he was allied with the Academy, I risked my own life to help save him as a psychic disabled him. Ask him, and you will see that he might be dead if it were not for me.”
She pointed at Basen. “He might also be dead if it weren’t for me.” Emotion put a strain in her voice, as it sounded like the planned part of her speech was over. “Ask him. Ask the both of them! And I plan to save many more lives by fighting against Ulric. My power should not be ignored! I can help. I want to help. I need to.”
Her chains complained as she shuffled about. “I’m not asking you to forget about my terrible crimes. I agree with everyone here that I deserve punishment, but let that punishment be a life of reparation. I promise to spend the rest of my time in this world helping those who deserve it, the allies of the Academy and of my victims. It’s these people who deserve to win this war, your people. Let me help them. By killing me, more of yours will die. Don’t let my horrible mistakes cost any more lives.”
Basen’s pulse increased at the end of her speech. Soon it would be his turn to speak, giving him the unfortunate responsibility of concluding the trial. He wished he could hear from Cleve and Effie again, especially Effie. He needed her anger to remind him of his own, as Sanya had done too good a job of convincing him that it would be a waste to execute her.
“Basen,” Terren called. “Sanya requested one person to be here to support her, and you will be the last to speak today. Come down here and stand next to Reela. Sanya, go back to where you were.”
Abith came out of the disorganized line that was the jury to carry Sanya back into the audience section. He dumped her on top of the arena wall and let her get herself onto the bench. Basen still hadn’t figured out what he was feeling. It was even worse that psychics would be right next to him.
“Go on,” Terren encouraged. “Or is there nothing you want to add?”
Basen caught Sanya gesturing for him to speak. He felt sick.
“I think both Effie and Sanya have a point,” Basen said. “We can’t let a murderer go free, yet Sanya could be of great benefit to us.” He asked Reela and Vithos, “Were the two of you able to confirm she meant everything she said? She wants to fight with us?”
“Yes,” Reela answered as Vithos nodded. “She can no longer lie to us without us knowing.”
He thought for a few breaths. “Sanya, I wish you’d never put us in this situation. You could’ve stayed with the Group One warriors and fought beside us all along, yet now you’re forcing people to make an impossible decision. Like Effie, I’m still angry. But it’s not like I can ignore what you’ve done to help me.”
He turned to the jury. “And we especially cannot ignore how much she can help all of us. In the end, what matters most is whether she’s changed, whether we can trust her, and whether the others who aren’t in this stadium right now can live with the results. I think it’s that final question that’s the most difficult to answer. Personally, I can live with my anger. But Effie and others might never be able to. Sanya’s presence here might cause more problems, even if she does nothing directly to harm us. You as the jury have no correct answer in this. I don’t envy you. But I do trust that whatever you decide will be the best for all of us.”
“Thank you, Basen,” Terren said. “The jury will speak now. In the meantime, Reela and Vithos will escort Sanya back to her cell.”
They won’t decide and tell us now? The lack of a culmination was unsettling.
Sanya fell down off the wall. “I’d like to say something else!” she tried.
“It’s over,” Terren said with finality.
Reela and Vithos came for her. She didn’t resist, but she didn’t keep quiet either. “No matter what you decide, I’m going to fight for you. I’ll find a way.” The psychics escorted her out of the stadium as she yelled back at the jury. “It would be wise to work with me instead of against me as I’ll do everything I can to help. I will make up for my mistakes!”
Basen glanced at Effie and Cleve but found nothing neighborly about the way they looked back at him. He gave a questioning look to Abith, who fluttered his hand for Basen to leave, then pointed north to imply he should be training.
It was strange to go back to his normal routine as if nothing had happened, but he didn’t see another choice.
*****
“How long will they take to decide?” Sanya asked her escorts. She could probably fight her way free, but there was no chance she would make it up and over the wall without anyone stopping her.
“I’m not sure,” Reela answered. “Terren didn’t tell us.”
“Sleep,” Vithos advised.
None of them had taken more than a short break from their training in the last day, but Sanya had been up since the day before last. She was beginning to feel dizzy, her body in constant pain.
Reela and Vithos locked her back in her cell and left. She had a bad feeling about all of this.
Forcing herself to stay awake, she began to gather energy around the base of two bars. But after just a few minutes of effort, the prison cell began to spin around her. She fell to the cold, hard ground and then crawled her way up onto the bristly bed of straw.
She would just sleep an hour.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Basen returned to Warrior’s Field to practice. He trusted himself not to catch the grass on fire as he tried to familiarize himself with dodging while gathering energy. Thoughts of Sanya distracted him, but soon he was pushing himself too hard to worry about her.
After several hours, he needed a break, and thoughts of her returned with such force that the grunts and clangs of the warriors and Krepps around him fell to near silence in his mind. Guilt roiled in his stomach before he realized why it was there: He would partly be relieved if she died so this confusion and anger could be over.
But she could’ve killed him when she had him roped and gagged, yet she didn’t. And she had saved him when Fatholl had him pinned.
Did he really just tell himself he wanted her dead so he wouldn’t have to deal with any more confusion or anger? What a terrible thought. Her execution wouldn’t even put an end to it all. Only if he forgot or forgave her would the anger stop, and he would never forget.
He acutely missed Alabell the same way a patient might crave medicine, feeling that her presence could heal his misery.
Abith did not come back before lunch hours. Basen looked for him and the rest of the jury in the dining hall but eventually came to the conclusion they weren’t there. Unfortunately, neither was Alabell. Cleve and Effie sat together at a table full of students. There was a spot for Basen if he wanted it, but he would be more comfortable with the Krepps at this point.
When he noticed Micklin, he sat with the boy. At seeing Micklin’s eyes go wide, Basen was glad he could at least make this dining experience special for one person. Micklin chatted away about his growing ability with pyforial energy and how he missed Neeko’s instruction. Basen was glad he had almost finished his food by the time the boy asked him about Sanya.
“I don’t know what will happen,” he told Micklin. “Unfortunately, I have to get back to training.”
The boy nodded. “I do, too,” he said proudly.
Basen didn’t see Abith in their spot past the north wall, so he went back to Warrior’s Field to feel less alone. Abith should see him here when he came looking.
But he didn’t that day. By the time dinner hours began, Basen had made great progress gathering energy while performing several defensive maneuvers. He didn’t see anyone from the jury in the dining hall, where he ate quickly and then made his way south. On his way to his student house, he stopped at the medical building.
Neeko was looking much better as he sat in his bed and made two towels hover in front of him. He was so concentrated on circling them around each other that he didn’t notice Basen come up.
“You seem well.”
The towels dropped. “Alabell says it’ll only be a couple more days before I’m fully healed. I told her I’m ready to go back to teaching tomorrow, but she advised against it.”
“I’m glad you’re listening to her. She’s wise.”
Neeko looked down bashfully. “I wouldn’t have, but Shara demanded it.”
Basen chuckled. “Is Alabell here?”
“She went home to rest.”
“I see.” Disappointed, Basen said good night to Neeko and headed out of the medical building. But just as he turned into the hall, he nearly bumped into Alabell.
“You’re here!” he blurted.
“It’s still early.”
“Oh, he must’ve meant Shara,” Basen said to himself. Neeko was still healing with the assistance of potions. His mind probably wasn’t all there.
“What?”
“Never mind.” As Basen drank in the beautiful sight of her, he forgot all his worries.
“It looks like I have a few moments,” Alabell said, her smile warming his heart, and other parts of him. “Tell me about your training.”
“It's boring to talk about.”
“Boring is what I want right now. And hearing about your improvements makes me feel more secure. It’s how I know you’ll protect yourself.”
So he told her about his training, and she grinned as if he’d given her hope.
“I’m glad for Abith,” she said. “I’m looking forward to hearing what else you can accomplish with him.”
“Yes, Abith is great.” Basen hurried to get to the reason he’d come. “So are you headed back to your student house soon?”
“You would like to walk with me?”
“Yes.”
“I need to check on a few people first, and then I’ll be leaving.”
“Good. I need to tell you something.”
“Now I’m eager to find out.” She scowled. “I hope you’re not saying that to get me to hurry.”
“No, I don’t like to play those kinds of games. There really is something.”
“All right. You should keep Neeko company while you wait.”
So Basen returned to Neeko’s bed and watched him as he juggled towels with sleepy eyes. When Neeko noticed him, the towels dropped again.
“You’re back.”
“Thought you could use some company as I wait for Alabell.”
“Thank you.”
“I spoke to Micklin. Is he improving as much as he would like to think he is?”
“He is,” Neeko confirmed.
“So when can we expect him to fly?”
Neeko chuckled. “Not for a very long time.”
“What about controlling swords in the air like you do?”
“The same.” There was no chuckle like before. “I should’ve come to the Academy as soon as Shara and I arrived in Kyrro.”
“I’m glad you’re here now. Has anyone told the two of you what happened during the Redfield announcement?”
“Effie did.”
“I’ve seen her in the dining hall, still wearing bandages.” Though the bandages were off during Sanya’s trial. She probably didn’t want to look weak.
“She comes and goes for treatment, like many people here. I’ll be one of them soon enough.”
“Shara must be happy the scars of your burns are nearly gone.”
Neeko scoffed. “I’m the happy one. But it could be a long time before my eyebrows grow back. I made the mistake of looking into a mirror recently.”
“It’s not that bad.”
“Right,” Neeko said sarcastically. “My eyes look so small and naked. It’s even worse when I smile. I look like a crazed Krepp.”
“I’m sure you’re exaggerating.”
But then Neeko smiled wide and Basen couldn’t stifle his laugh quickly enough. As Neeko’s face stretched, he looked bordering on mad, as if he would be delighted to taste Basen’s flesh.
“I told you,” Neeko said as the two laughed together.
*****
It was night by the time Basen and Alabell finally walked toward their student homes. “Don’t keep me in suspense any longer,” she said as soon as they left the medical building.
“Sanya’s trial was today.”
“Was there an announcement?”
“No. It doesn’t seem like most people even know it happened.”
“How do you?”
“Sanya wanted me there to speak on her behalf.”
Alabell looked surprised. “What did you say?”
“Before I tell you—and I will tell you everything that happened—I’m curious what would happen to Sanya if it were up to you.”
Alabell blew out a long breath. Basen expected her, as a healer, to want to preserve life in all circumstances. So he was shocked when she gave her answer. “As callous as this might sound, I think all murderers should be punished in the same way. Even if Sanya wants to help us or she repents for her crimes, it shouldn’t matter.”
Alabell had danced around saying Sanya should die. Basen doubted she would’ve advocated execution if she had to be the one to take Sanya’s life, but he wouldn’t challenge her on that.
“What do you think?” Alabell asked.
“I think it’s easy to talk about what Sanya deserves, but it’s difficult to answer what’s best for us. Her power cannot be ignored.”
“I think about that, but then I imagine that she killed someone I loved, and none of it matters anymore.” Alabell showed him a sad smile. “I’m feeling guilty now.”
Basen took her hand. “The same thing happened to me.”
“Why do we feel this way?”
“I think it’s important for you to ask yourself that instead of hearing my answer.”
She nodded. They walked in silence for a while.
“Are you ready for more pleasant thoughts?” he asked.
“Sarcastic pleasant or actually pleasant?”
“Actually pleasant.”
“Yes, please.”
“What will you do when the war is over?”
She forced out a light laugh. “I haven’t thought about that for even a moment. When the war is over—bastial stars, it doesn’t even matter what I’ll do. I’ll be happy.” She hugged him.
He could hold back no longer, cupping her face in his big hands and pressing his lips to hers.
When their kiss came to an end, he said, “You should stay at the Academy afterward. I’m sure there will be a position for a woman of your talent.”
Her eyebrows lifted. “Would you say the same if you were sent elsewhere after the war?”
“Of course not. I would be talking about how your talents could be put to great use wherever I go.”
She smirked.
When they arrived at their neighboring houses, Basen had grown more curious about something she’d said. Even though their conversation had taken many turns since then, he had to revisit one part or he might never get to sleep.
“Why would I be sent somewhere when the war was over?”
“You have abilities. Depending on the war’s outcome, those abilities might be needed.”
He couldn’t tell if she was scared or worried about this, though it was one of the two.
“You’ll be needed as well,” he said, confused. “So will Cleve and Effie and Steffen and Reela and Annah…I could keep going.”
“But not in the same way as you, Basen.” Alabell produced her key and shoved it in the door lock.
“You could join me in my house,” he offered. “So we could finish our conversation.”
She gave him a knowing look. “Is that all we would do?” As his cheeks reddened and he tried to think of something to say, she continued. “We can finish our conversation in the future. When we’re ready.”
*****
Abith still didn’t show up the next morning. Basen checked both training spots, asking some of the students on Warrior’s Field and the guards on the wall if they’d seen him. None had.
Basen decided to take advantage of this time and visit Sanya. She was already calling to him before he rounded the corner and saw her in her cell.
“Basen! Have you heard the results of the trial?”
“I haven’t,” he said.
She clung to the bars as if she might fall if she let go. After a moment of staring at him, she muttered a curse and spun away.
“They’re going to kill me,” she said to the floor. “It’s the only reason they haven’t told me anything yet.” She glared at him over her shoulder. “You could’ve argued more for my cause.”
“I wasn’t going to lie, Sanya.”
She straightened her neck to stare at the wall. “Why are you here?”
“To talk about portals. You must know something about them. You were going to kill me for making them, after all.”
“And you’ve come to get all the information out of me while you still can, because even you think they are going to kill me.”
“I don’t know that.”
“But it is the reason you’re coming now.” She spun and came at him. He tried to get far enough away from her, but it was too late as she reached out and grabbed his shirt. “It’s fine. It’s good! Allow me to help as much as I can, but then you must leave.”
She sounded insane.
“Why must I leave?”
“I cannot tell you,” she said. “Ask what you need to ask. What about portals?”
“Let go of my shirt first.”
