Gabe said, “Defend yourself with whichever of those identities best justifies your actions. For the charges against you are many, and they are serious. You are charged with treason, with the murder of hundreds of Ironhearts, not to mention all those who were assaulted by your magic. You are charged with the attempted murder of Simon Hatch, now a king. And with the attempted possession of a throne that does not belong to you, but to the people of Antora to choose for themselves who will rule there. How do you plead for these crimes?”
“I cannot deny anything that I have done,” she said. “But I will deny that they were crimes.”
Gabe had been studying the reaction of the audience to her confession of guilt, but now he turned back to her, genuinely confused. “Treason? Murder? Corruption—you deny these are crimes?”
“Is treason a crime when the Coracks seek to replace the ruler?” She looked at Gabe directly. “Are you a traitor, Gabe? Or a patriot?”
Caught off guard, he stumbled through his words. “I am … I have only sought for … for what I believe is best for my country.”
“If that is the standard, then you must either pronounce me innocent or else offer your own neck beside mine when we hang.”
I glanced over at the judges. All of them were nodding except for Halina and Imri, who exchanged a brief whispered conversation. That worried me.
Recovering, Gabe said, “There is also murder. Do you deny poisoning Simon Hatch last fall, the effects of which nearly killed him?”
Kestra looked down at me, attempting to remain calm, but I saw the sorrow in her eyes and I shook my head back at her, hoping she knew that I understood why she had done it. She said, “I concede that I was attempting to escape after Simon kidnapped me.”
“And what of the Ironheart soldiers you tricked into lowering their weapons only five nights ago? After they did, you and Joth ordered their slaughter.”
That prompted Kestra’s first big reaction. She sat up straighter and vehemently shook her head. “I swear that I did not know Joth was going to kill them. When I made the offer to set them free, that was sincere.”
Gabe’s eyes narrowed, and he stared directly at her. “If that is true, then why did you leave with him? If you were truly shocked by those actions, I’d expect you to get as far away from Joth as you could.”
“That wasn’t possible,” she said. “We were about to attack Lord Endrick. If I changed plans then, the attack would have failed!”
From the line of judges, Halina said, “And during that attack, you ordered half-lives into your service. You must have known what Endrick would do to them.”
“I didn’t know!”
“The judges may not speak,” Gabe said, though it was too late. The damage had been done.
Gabe continued. “How many of our own people did you assault with your magic, stealing as much strength as you needed for yourself, no matter the cost to them? Either you killed them, or you nearly did, on more than one occasion.”
“I took nothing more than I needed, and only when I needed it.” Kestra’s tone was becoming increasingly anxious.
“But when was it your right to take anything from them at all?” Gabe asked.
“When I became the Infidante!” Kestra nearly shouted the words, though in frustration more than anger. “When suddenly I became this person who alone could kill Lord Endrick! Did anyone really believe there would be no price for that, that no sacrifices would have to be made other than by me? Gabe, you have seen me in battle, and you have been with me when I have had to make those decisions. You know for yourself that I never touched any life without a reason.”
Gabe let the effect of her words settle in the room before he said, “I saw it when the reason was selfishness. What about those who have been killed in your place when you refused to come forward?”
She tilted her head. “Who do you mean?”
“Simon’s mother, Tillie.”
That seemed to rob her of her breath. Kestra only lowered her eyes, and in a voice almost too soft to hear, she whispered, “Guilty.”
I had entered this trial thinking that I was prepared for anything for which I might be accused and had believed that I had defended myself well.
Until this moment.
Gabe had brought Simon’s mother into this trial, and suddenly I no longer cared to fight. Maybe while under the influence of so much corruption, I had dismissed her death, but now, my senses had returned to me every whisper of heartache that I had carried since the moment I’d first understood the danger she was in. What was the point of defending myself now, when he had opened this festering wound, one almost beyond my ability to bear? If this was Gabe’s route to my conviction, then maybe he was right.
“You admit your guilt, then,” Gabe said.
“She tried to save my mother.” Simon stepped forward, almost directly in front of me but addressing the judges. “I was there. I stopped her from entering my mother’s home. She fought me and begged me to let her go, but we couldn’t lose the Infidante.” Then his eyes settled on Gabe. “Kestra fought to save you too, once you entered that same home. That’s when she finally got her way. Did you know that, Gabe, that she sacrificed herself to save you?”
From the corner of my eye, I saw Gabe look at me, but I kept my head down.
Simon continued. “The consequences of what she did led to Lord Endrick crushing her heart. She needed magic to survive it, something that would never have been necessary had she selfishly kept her place while you were killed that night.”
Gabe went silent for some time after that. I needed the silence too, to gather my own emotions. Was it possible that Simon no longer blamed me for his mother’s death? Could I hope for that?
Finally, in a quieter voice, Gabe said, “Whether she wanted the magic or not, and whether it is fair or not, she has become corrupted. Like any infection, if it is not healed, it is fatal. In Kestra’s case, it could be fatal to all of us here as well.”
I looked over at him. Nothing in this trial was more important than making him understand this single issue. “The corruption is gone. All magic I once had, that I’ve ever had, is gone.”
“Impossible!” Gabe crossed in front of me, his expression leaving no doubt that he believed I was lying. “Loelle assured us that she investigated every hope for pulling magic from you and none of them would work without killing you.”
“It is not impossible.” I held up my bound arms. “Do you think I would accept this if with a breath of magic I could pull my hands apart and set myself free?”
“Can you prove the magic is gone?” Gabe asked.
From the far end of the room, I saw a person push forward, his head cloaked, but he lowered the hood once he reached the front of the crowd.
I had already recognized him. “Father!” His face was bruised and his expression was strained, but he was here and alive. That alone gave me hope and a joy beyond anything I could have imagined, even given my circumstances.
Darrow smiled at me, as if to say everything would be all right. Somehow, despite the rumbling pit in my stomach and the persistent throbbing in my head, I believed him. I believed my father.
Standing beside Simon, Darrow addressed the judges directly. “Loelle was always correct. Magic cannot be taken from a person without killing them. That’s what happened to Kestra on that dueling platform. She was dead when I found her, but she had left behind a means with which I could start her heart beating again.”