“Through magic,” Gabe said.
“The magic was used on her,” Darrow said. “It didn’t come from within her.”
“How do we know that?” Gabe turned back to me. “Kestra, none of us here, myself included, wants to pronounce you guilty of anything, I swear that. But if there is still magic within you, then corruption will follow. Can you prove that it is gone?”
A hush fell over the crowd. If I lost the trial, this would be the reason why. But I would not bow down to this fight.
“Prove that you wanted a fair trial,” I replied, feeling my temper begin to burn. To the judges, I added, “Prove that your decision wasn’t already made long before this trial began, that you came here with every intention of giving me a chance at freedom. If you cannot prove these simple things, then how dare you vote against me?”
“They are not on trial,” Gabe said. “Please, Kestra, there must be some way to assure us the corruption is gone. Give us that proof, and I will call for a vote right now.”
“How can I prove what is not?” I asked. “Can I prove that I have never seen a falling star? Never danced in the moonlight? Can I prove what is not in my mind, not in my heart?”
“Then how can we set you free?” Gabe shook his head. “I’m sorry, Kestra, I really am.”
“I can prove it.” Darrow pulled a confused-looking Harlyn forward from the audience and spoke to her. “Shoot me with your disk bow. Somewhere that might be fatal if I am not given the strength to heal.”
I stood, shouting, “Father, no!”
“That is my daughter,” Darrow said to the judges. “If there is even the tiniest bit of magic still within her, she will use it to save me. If she does not, it will only be because she cannot. And then you must find her innocent.”
“No!” I started to run down the dais, but two Coracks behind me each grabbed an arm. I searched for any magic within me to drop the two of them to the ground, I genuinely did. If I had found any at all, I would have done it, no matter what it would have meant for me.
“That is my offer, then,” Darrow said to Gabe. “I will provide the proof you require for her innocence.”
“Don’t do this!” I cried. “Gabe, I confess. I confess to the accusations, every one of them. We all know you were going to punish me anyway. So do what you will to me, but do not allow this.”
Simon stepped between Harlyn and Darrow. “Gabe, this has gone too far. If you order Harlyn to shoot this innocent man, I will take the disk myself.”
“But I am not targeting you, nor Darrow.” Harlyn aimed her disk bow directly at me. “Kestra has confessed, and now she must pay.”
“Harlyn, no!” Simon cried.
“If it saves Darrow, then let her do it!” I shouted. “I’ve lost him too many times already. It will destroy me to lose another person that I love.”
The room had gone still, and I had all but stopped breathing. I closed my eyes and waited for the inevitable. I’d been struck with a disk before, I knew what to expect. It would bite, the sting would spread from the wound, then it would be over.
I waited, but nothing happened. And when I finally opened my eyes, Harlyn was lowering her bow. She said, “There is your proof, Gabe. The corrupted cannot love.”
If there had been silence before, a single falling snowflake could have been detected in here now.
“Call for the vote,” Simon said.
Behind Gabe, Trina stood. “My vote is innocent, on all charges.”
Basil immediately followed. “Innocent.”
Next, the Antoran stood. “We have no love for the Dallisors, but she is clearly not a Dallisor. We have no love for the Endreans, but there seems to be no magic in her. The fact that this girl has had to bear the weight of both those cursed houses is punishment enough. Innocent.”
Halina, the girl who had been a half-life, stood. She had stared at me for the entire trial, without a glimmer of sympathy. I was terrified of what she might say, which only worsened when she began. “It was my plan from the beginning to vote against you. I can admit that because my reasons were just. You restored my life only because our king forced you to do it. And when you did it, you robbed me of my magic, a magic you now claim is completely gone, which means what you took from me can never be restored.”
Tears had welled in my eyes, and all the words that came to my mind were inadequate to explain myself. I was so deeply sorry, and yet, if I were in the situation again, I would have to do the same thing. How could I possibly tell her that?
Then Halina said, “If those were the charges of this trial, I would be the vote that determined your execution. But you are charged with treason and murder and corruption. If you are guilty of treason, then so are we all. I was one of those who obeyed Joth’s orders to kill the Ironhearts. I cannot find you guilty of murder and justify myself. You are also charged with corruption, and you were corrupt, Kestra. I know the hold it had on you. However, nothing I saw then remains in you now. Reluctantly, I must vote innocent.”
I hadn’t realized how long it had been since I’d breathed, but finally I exhaled and looked over at Simon, who didn’t seem nearly as relieved as I had hoped. His attention was on his commander, who stood and gave only a slight nod at Simon before addressing me.
“Half-Halderian is half a reason to believe your words. I am a father too, and I know what I would risk for the life of my daughter. It is the purest love. Seeing her willingness to sacrifice her own life is a sign of that same love.” He hesitated a moment, then said, “Innocent.”
I smiled, and then my eyes fell upon Imri Stout. If she was not convinced, none of the votes already cast would make any difference. And I already knew by the sour expression on her face that she had no sympathy for me.
Imri stood. “The question is not your guilt or innocence. It’s what we are willing to risk for our vote. There is a great risk if I say you are innocent. If you have fooled us all, then we will lose everything. But there is little risk if I vote for your guilt. Even if I am wrong, all that we have lost is one life that is no longer of any use to us.”
I said nothing more for my defense. It was obvious how she intended to vote.
Imri continued. “The Scarlet Throne is now occupied by a person who has declared himself king. He has Lord Endrick’s magic, your magic, and any magic that was born into him. What is your plan to stop him, should we release you? If it is true, that you have no magic, then I say you are not worth the risk.”
“I wasn’t fully honest before,” I said, and heads in the audience shot up. “It is true, that I have no magic within me. But I do have magic.” With my hands still bound by Gabe’s rope, I reached into the satchel at my side and withdrew the second of the disks that I had made last night. “Joth and I shared the same powers. Whatever I had, he still has. Just as Lord Endrick created the Olden Blade, I created this disk. And as the Blade could kill Endrick—”
“This disk can kill Joth,” Imri finished. She stared at me for some time, her expression warming with respect. After a deep sigh, she added, “Regardless of my personal beliefs of your guilt, I also believe that we need you alive if we are going to finish this war. Therefore, my vote is innocent.”