"Something has happened to Lucy," Octavia said.

  "She was poisoned and we've lost our child," Carlo bowed slightly. "I apologize for not protecting her."

  Octavia started toward Carlo. Lady LeClere flashed a clear light. "My regrets," said Lady LeClere. "You are not allowed to touch."

  "Why are you still here?" Octavia said softly.

  Carlo blinked away the residue of light. "Make no mistake, Octavia. Lucy will let nothing happen to you. She is your self-appointed watchdog. Being here keeps her away from the children, which also has some merit." Carlo shrugged. "There are many balls for me to keep in the air."

  "How could Helen poison her? Lucy is a blood magician."

  "My fault," said Carlo, studying his shoes. "Helen recreated my poison and not even Lucy can withstand a Borgia poison."

  "When this finishes, if it finishes in our favor," said Octavia, "I will make sure there is justice for what Helen has done."

  "Atreus claims he will beat you to the punch. My conversation with Helen earlier indicates she may not have poisoned Lucy on purpose, but a provable path leads to her, and Galt is prepared to give her up for the crime. Once again Galt proves a slippery snake."

  "You should have let Atreus die."

  "I am more than cognizant of that." Carlo handed Lady LeClere a bottle of the truth potion. "That is the exact amount," he said. "Take it when the person before you is questioned."

  "You aren't nervous?" said Octavia.

  "Not about your testimony. I know you wouldn't have killed your father without Ra."

  "These last few months," said Octavia, "I have had my doubts."

  "I have had no doubts," said Carlo. "I will see you in the dock."

  Before the examination reconvened, Carlo drank the truth potion. His spirits lifted, a welcome change from grief, concern, and anger. Small wonder people escaped their troubles with chemical assistance. Lucy stared at him, and he refocused his thoughts. Do not smile. Do not laugh. You are the maker of the potion. It does not dictate to you. He giggled slightly. That line of thinking was funny, actually. Carlo moved to the dock.

  Galt stood. His face was bruised and Carlo grinned at him. Drusus had not broken his nose, which was a shame. "I'd like to ask you questions about the episode which ended in Caius Klaereon's death. You were there?"

  "Yes."

  "Can you describe the day to us?"

  Carlo rested his hands on the railing in front of him. "On that day, my grandfather Paolo Borgia had fooled Lucy Klaereon into severing her tie with her partner Ra."

  "You mean her demon?"

  "That is a misnomer," said Carlo, smiling lopsidedly. "Ra and his fellows are the entities collectively known to humanity in ancient times as the Egyptian gods. There are many theories about what they are, but demons isn't right."

  "You are pursuing a tangent," said Galt.

  "You asked me," said Carlo. "You are pursuing one." Some small amount of laughter from the audience. Carlo grinned more widely.

  "Continuing with the day in question?" said Galt, pacing closer.

  "Once Ra was no longer connected to Lucy, he decided to use Octavia as his host. Octavia and Ra disposed of my grandfather and headed for her home in England."

  "Disposed of your grandfather?"

  "Opened a hole to hell," said Carlo, "and chucked him right in."

  "To be clear, Octavia returned to Mistraldol?"

  "To be clear, yes." Carlo covered his laughing mouth with a hand. Come now, Carlo. This is serious business. "Drusus, who was injured, suggested he and I seek out the former guard of the Klaereon Scroll, an efrit named Balthazar."

  "The scroll is the Solomon Scroll, not the Klaereon Scroll," said Galt.

  Carlo laughed. "It's not the Galt Scroll either, is it?"

  Galt ignored the jibe. "And then?"

  "We did attract Balthazar, who tried to kill me. Drusus saved my life, and we were on our way to confront Ra and Octavia, Ra for possessing Octavia and Octavia for breaking her tie to Khun, which I must emphasize she did not do, but Ra did."

  Galt took a moment to process Carlo's sentence. "Then?"

  "We arrived at Mistraldol. Octavia and Ra were attacking Lord Klaereon, whose leg had been broken. Lord Klaereon summoned the goddess Neith, his partner, who engaged Balthazar. Drusus intervened, and I left the scene to try to keep Octavia from retrieving the scroll from her father."

  "She wanted the scroll to be hers, so she killed her father," said Galt.

  Carlo snorted in disbelief and was remarkably disappointed in himself. "Ra wanted the scroll, not Octavia. I removed the scroll from the premises so they couldn't have it."

  "How did you do that?" asked the Hsieng matriarch.

  "Octavia helped me do it," said Carlo. "She didn't want Ra to succeed, and she said so in a moment of lucidity. She dragged me through the shadows into the Abyss."

  "Was this before or after she'd killed her father?"

  "Well," said Carlo, "first of all, we haven't established she killed her father, have we? Secondly, I don't know. I was in the scroll chamber. These are questions for other witnesses."

  "Is there anything else you wish to say about this incident?" asked the Hsieng matriarch.

  "Yes," said Carlo. His mood was breezy, and he decided not to fight it. "The council has already determined Octavia was possessed and not responsible for her actions. Lord Galt's foolishness has made it difficult for her to do the already difficult job of managing her family. I hope, Lord Galt, you get exactly what you deserve for your recent actions. Exactly what you deserve."

  "Is that a threat?" Galt smiled too. The bastard enjoyed this sort of thing.

  "Signor Borgia," Madame Fouchet interrupted, "please do not subvert this examination to your personal grudge against Lord Galt."

  "My apologies, Madame. Not a threat, Galt." said Carlo. "Eventually we'll get to it. I play the long game."

  Ngidi's laugh was rich. Carlo stepped away from the stand. He drank a counter potion, which was unwise, because it would give him a monstrous headache, but he had to be sharp again to ask Octavia and Drusus questions.

  Octavia smiled and waved at Drusus. From the other side of the potion, Carlo's head pounded and her potion-induced levity made him cranky. He took a deep breath and focused.

  "Lady Klaereon, once again this court reminds you of your promise to not use your abilities during this inquiry. Under the influence of this truth potion, you will continue to adhere to this promise?" Madame Fouchet waited for Octavia's answer.

  "If it is possible," said Octavia, grinning broadly.

  "Under what circumstances would it not be possible?"

  "If something occurs which makes my role as head of the family more important than this politically driven inquiry?"

  "Will you require restraint, Lady Klaereon?"

  Carlo stood. His head was splitting. "I beg the council will not complicate Lady Klaereon's testimony with such restraint. I will administer the same recovery potion to her as I have to all the witnesses if it proves necessary."

  "Not enough," said Galt.

  The three other council members waited for the prediction of the Hsieng matriarch. "This testimony will not result in any adverse action on its current path," said the matriarch.

  "We will proceed," said Madame Fouchet.

  "Lady Klaereon," said Carlo. "Would you tell us about the day of your father's death?" Carlo walked in front of the table. "Tell us the events as you remember them."

  "Drusus and I had just married, and we were touring Europe. We were in Venice. Unbeknownst to Drusus, my father expected me to take Lucy to Erasmus' temple outside of Alexandria and prepare her for her Trial with Ra. My father had always told me Lucy would fail, Ra would possess her, and I would have to kill her."

  "That sounds horrible," said Carlo.

  "I had never been enamored of the idea." Octavia laughed. "I'm sorry. It's ironic, what happened. I ended up possessed by Ra, doing all manner of evil, and Lucy saved me."

  "Could we return to your father for a moment? Why would he tell you to kill Lucy?"

  "If a Klaereon fails to master their partner at their Trial, that Klaereon goes mad. I believed Lucy would become dangerous." Octavia giggled. "And Papa knew Lucy was more powerful than me. He wanted me to follow in his footsteps. You know, he killed our mother and his brother by sending them to the Abyss. This is how he himself came into possession of the scroll."

  "I would like to point out," said Galt, "Caius Klaereon is not on trial."

  "You are a despicable, dour fellow," said Octavia to Galt. "You hated my father."

  "Irrelevant," said Galt.

  "My father did try to instill in me the same deceit,” Octavia continued. “I know Lucy would have been the chosen guardian of the scroll for our generation if she had been educated properly. Because I did not confront Khun at my Trial, I was also dangerous. I should have been killed, but my father shirked his duty because he believed Lucy deformed. She is Uncle Bartholomew's child, and well," Octavia's hand flowed with rhythm as she said, "you know how he felt about him."

  "You admit," said Galt, standing, "you were unstable before Ra because you failed your Trial. Is that right?"

  "Oh yes," said Octavia.

  "Did you wish to kill your father?"

  "Yes I did," said Octavia.

  The audience muttered and stirred.

  Octavia lashed out at the crowd. "Yes, pretend to be shocked. So many of you are hypocrites. The families are founded on power and manipulation, and you can't tell me in your families' pasts, there hasn't been this kind of intrigue. The Galt family is a predominant example of our society at its worst."

  "Lady Klaereon," said Baron Bauer, "the council wants you to control yourself."

  Octavia laughed. "You think it's so easy? You drink some of this potion and see how you fare."

  Carlo smiled in spite of his pounding head. "Apologies, Lady Klaereon, for the inconvenience. Shall we try again? You thought about killing your father?"

  "Yes. I told Khun so. Khun told Drusus."

  Carlo moved on. "But you never tried to kill him when you were connected with Khun? Lady Klaereon must tell the truth."

  Octavia laughed so hard she fought for breath. The court shuffled uncomfortably as tears came from her eyes. She wiped them away and gasped for air. "I'm sorry. What you suggest, me trying to kill my father before Ra? In my whole life until when Lucy saved me, I never made a single decision for myself. My father or Khun, and later Ra, they all manipulated my thoughts and actions. I thought a lot of things, but I thought mostly what they told me to think."

  "It was your hand," said Galt, "that ripped out your father's heart."

  "Drusus convinced me not to do it," said Octavia. "I regained myself, but Ra made me lash out at him, and then we killed my father after sending Drusus to the Abyss." Octavia tittered. "Ra liked throwing people away in the Abyss."

  "Can you tell us what happened in the scroll chamber?" Carlo asked.

  "I sent you to the Abyss with the scroll to get it away from Ra. Me this time, not Ra. Ra…made me bow to him, told me how things were going to be. I was looking for any opportunity to stop Ra, to kill myself…"

  "In your opinion, are you responsible for the death of your father?"

  "Papa set the stage for everything which happened to my sister and myself. I chased Lucy into the hands of Paolo Borgia, because she didn't want me to have to kill her. The events which led to Ra possessing me were partly of my own making because I was an arrogant zealot. I hated my father, but I was so afraid of him. I would not have killed him on my own. Ra wanted to remove my father from possession of the scroll. Papa's death was his way of gaining the scroll. Ra is responsible, although I was a willing accomplice when Papa's death was merely an idea. When the time came for the actual deed, I did not want to kill my father."

  "Convenient, blaming Ra." Galt cocked his head and stared meaningfully at the council.

  Octavia shrugged, her shoulders heaving with controlled laughter. "You should swallow this potion, tell me what you did to my sister. I would—"

  "—what would you do?" said Galt.

  "—you want me to say something violent," said Octavia. "I would put my house in order, Lord Galt, including threats to it. No one controls me now, Atreus."

  Well done. Carlo scratched his chin in consideration. "Because there is one lingering question, Lady Klaereon, let us make it clear. You say you are no longer manipulated by Ra, Khun, or your father. Did you resolve your issues with Khun?"

  "I did. He accepted me and fulfilled the contract of the Solomon Scroll."

  "How did he die?"

  "Saving me," said Octavia. "There is no threat from Khun any longer."

  "Thank you," said Carlo. "I am finished with this witness."

  "I am not," said Galt. "Why did you and Khun not settle your Trial the first time?"

  "That is none of your business," said Drusus.

  Madame Fouchet's voice carried. "Please answer the question, Lady Klaereon."

  "We were lovers," said Octavia. She smiled.

  Shocked silence gave way to outrage and surprise. Madame Fouchet pounded the crystal orb.

  "Lovers? With a demon?" said Galt.

  "First of all, he wasn't a demon," said Octavia. "The point isn't what he was, the point is I was unloved and confused. I thought Khun loved me for who I was, not what he wanted me to do, unlike my father. He thought he could save himself and save me, figure out how to break the curse of the Solomon Scroll and free his people. I love my husband now, and regret this indiscretion. It plays no role in my possession by Ra. If anything, Ra broke the tie between myself and Khun, and made my stability possible."

  "Khun has no influence over you now?" said Carlo. "Or during Ra's possession?"

  "None," said Octavia. "He had no influence over me after Ra possessed me, save that he submitted to my will at the end."

  "Anything else, Lord Galt?" Madame Fouchet asked.

  "Nothing else."

  "Thank you, Lady Klaereon."

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Octavia rubbed her eyes. Carlo focused beyond his headache as he gave the last dose of his truth potion to Drusus. Drusus' expression was like a statue's.

  "Don't drink too much," said Carlo.

  Drusus downed the dose and handed the vial back to Carlo. "When will I feel the potion?"

  "Soon," said Carlo.

  "We will begin questioning Mr. Claudian when the truth serum takes effect," said Ngidi.

  Carlo stepped away while Drusus took his place in the dock. Octavia stood off to the side. Carlo saw Lucy nodding off, and Lady Claudian whispering to her. Carlo went to the edge of the courtroom. "It's no good staying if you can't listen to Drusus," said Carlo. "Please get some rest."

  "Just a little longer," said Lucy. Her voice trembled.

  "You are stubborn and foolish," said Carlo.

  "Yes," said Lucy.

  "It does you no good to swoon in front of everyone," said Lenore.

  "I must stay," said Lucy. "I promise you, after Drusus, I will rest."

  "You know," said Carlo, "it would help me to know you were not harming yourself."

  "I will support my family," said Lucy. "Please do not continue to press me."

  Drusus' face relaxed. Carlo knew it was time.

  "I beg you will help my wife if she needs it," Carlo said to Lady Claudian.

  "You need hardly ask," said Lenore.

  Carlo moved to his position as Madame Fouchet once again began the examination. "Mr. Claudian," said Madame Fouchet, "can you recount your memories of the day Caius Klaereon died?"

  Drusus remained stoic under the truth potion, which unsettled Galt. Carlo was glad of anything which unsettled Galt, but he himself was surprised. Was this something to do with Khun? Drusus wasn't exactly like everyone else now. Could he lie? Carlo hadn't considered the possibility until this very moment.

  "What do you wish to know?" said Drusus.

  "You admit to telling the patrons at The George about Octavia's desire to kill her father?" asked Carlo.

  "Yes. Octavia and I had been fighting, I was drunk, and I wanted to hurt her. I was jealous of her past with Khun."

  Carlo paced. "There's part of the day Caius Klaereon died which we have not accounted for, when I went to the scroll chamber, and you were in the garden with Octavia. Can you tell the council what happened?"

  "Octavia, possessed by Ra, was wild and unpredictable, but I could at least influence her. I appealed to her sense of honor, which it seems she has a great deal of. I pressed my suit, convinced her she could regain control of herself. At the same time Ra and Lord Klaereon were fighting for their own agendas. Lord Klaereon saw which way the tide flowed, and he wanted to avoid his death, and he attempted to convince Octavia he was her ally. Ra would have none of it, and seized control of Octavia, and sent me to the Abyss."

  "What happened when you were in the Abyss?" Carlo asked.

  "I had to fight demons."

  "Gods?" said Galt.

  "Cosmology is complicated," said Drusus. "My opponents were actual shadowy demons."

  "How did you return from the Abyss?" said Carlo.

  "Khun brought me back to Octavia while Lucy was confronting Ra."

  "Do you believe Octavia would have killed her father without Ra's possession?"

  Drusus smiled like he had a secret. "Although the man richly deserved to die for what he did to his daughters, Octavia had no real say in what happened. She sent her own husband to the Abyss, and she's never hated me."

  Carlo ignored the throbbing in his head and glanced at Galt. "Questions from you, Lord Galt?"

  "Not about that day." Galt tapped the table, his eyes rolled back, focusing on the thoughts in his mind. "There are two aspects of the situation, however, I would like to examine with the council's indulgence, which are relevant to the question of whether Octavia Klaereon can continue to serve as the Klaereon family head."

  "Your actual goal all this time," said Drusus.

  Ngidi squinted at Galt. "You believe now Lady Klaereon did not kill her predecessor with malice?"

 

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