Chapter 66 — The Trial, Part III

“Amilee, I take no pleasure in seeing you brought before us and called to account in this way. Generations of Clearwells going back before this village’s founding have been reliable retainers to House Vorshan and have performed a great many services for Vorshan’s Hills since before my own grandfather’s time. Your family received its name and title as a reward from the first Lord of Vorshan’s Hills for constructing this very well below me. For the past twenty years I have entrusted your father with managing this village’s finances and assisting me with planning, and his father the twenty years before that.

“Before the gods and your fellow villagers, for your own sake and your family’s honor, I recommend that you speak only the truth.”

Lord Vorshan waited, allowing Amilee to take in his words before continuing, “Did you make the ritual circle in the Seville house’s basement?”

“…I did.” Amilee’s voice was weak, but it carried clearly in the silence that followed such a direct question.

Murmuring swelled in the crowd at her answer. Even if the evidence gathered and presented by Captain Bastach had left little doubt of Amilee’s guilt, Ria herself was surprised that Amilee would simply admit to her crime.

“Did you use that ritual circle to bind the souls of the missing pets as described by Master Rigure?”

“Yes.”

This time the crowd began shouting, some going as far as calling for Amilee to be put to death, and Lord Vorshan had to again calm the crowd before returning his attention to Amilee.

“Why?”

Amilee looked up in surprise at the question, but the moment soon passed. Her eyes tightened and upper lip raised before she looked away, taking a deep breath and letting it out. “Why else? I wasn’t born with my sister’s talent with magic… and always being compared to my sister, I wanted more than…” Amilee paused to choose her words. “…what the gods had given me.”

Gasps sounded out from all around at the blasphemy, Keira quietly groaned in frustration at her friend’s lack of discretion, and Priest Dohan sighed with a frown while rubbing his forehead. But it was a sentiment Ria could identify with, having her own personal resentment against the gods. As Ria watched, Zoe hugged her sister tighter and whispered something that looked like, ‘I’m sorry.’

“How did you learn the practice of Necromancy?” Lord Vorshan asked, moving to his next question without a visible reaction to the audacity of Amilee’s reply. “Learning Spirit Magic from a book would be difficult for even the most outstanding of students, but advancing to necromancy without the aid of another seems unlikely.”

Amilee stood up a little taller at veiled praise for her accomplishment and raised her head as she replied, “The Sevilles were unlicensed Spirit Mages. Keth'yan was the husband's familiar. After they died, he sought a new contractor. He gave me their grimoires and taught me Spirit magic.”

“Keth’yan, that is the name of the shapeshifter?” At her confirming nod, Lord Vorshan added, “Did Keth'yan kill them—the Sevilles?”

Amilee hesitated, looking less confident than just a moment before, and glanced down at her chained wrists. “…he says he did. But only when required to do so by the elderly couple who felt their lifespans were coming to an end.” She raised her eyes back to Lord Vorshan almost pleadingly. “Even if I’m put to death for my crimes, he’s not a threat to Vorshan’s Hills. And was a friend to me when I needed one most. Please don’t hunt him.”

“That ‘friend’ led you to the actions resulting in your current predicament,” Lord Vorshan reminded then sighed, and his shoulders sagged a bit. “What did you promise away in your pact?”

The crowd stirred again at the implication of a dark pact but almost breathlessly awaited whether an answer would be forthcoming.

“To share my inner energy through the spirit-bond,” Amilee directly answered and defiantly corrected, “Not a dark pact. It was a familiar contract. The spell is in the grimoire, and Master Marlow can confirm it.”

“If I may, Lord Vorshan,” Master Rigure spoke up. “I am not an expert in Spirit Magic and would have to study it more to be certain, but the familiar contract found in the confiscated grimoires did seem to be an older version of the contract currently taught in the academy. If that was indeed the spell used, then what Amilee has asserted is plausible.”

“Your knowledge is appreciated, Master Rigure.” Lord Vorshan nodded his thanks. “I think now would be a good time for the elders to ask their questions of the accused.”

Ria was confused at both Lord Vorshan’s question about the familiar contract and Master Rigure’s answer. From what Keira had said, Amilee had already told them about using the familiar contract in the grimoire, and Master Rigure had surely verified the spell before the trial. Were they staging the questions and answers for the other elders? The crowd?

Elder Emmer was the first to ask a question: Did she use Spirit Magic on any villagers, alive or dead? And thankfully, Amilee firmly answered no, as expected. Ria’s planned appeal of leniency for Amilee depended on that to be true.

The elders took turns asking questions, and Amilee gave them short and direct answers—all things that Keira had already asked Amilee before the trial, and the answers were as Keira had relayed.

“Did the shapeshifter attack or kill anyone inside or outside the village.” (Elder Harron.)

“What did it do for food?” (Elder Alstin)

“Had the shapeshifter coerced or recommended other illegal or immoral behaviors?” (Priest Dohan.)

“Had it attacked anyone’s livestock?” (Elder Emmer again.)

The questions and answers continued quickly until Master Rigure’s question brought everything to a halt. “Have the soul-bindings caused changes? Are you still the same Amilee from before the bindings?”

Amilee froze in place as if a rabbit spotted by a dangerous wolf. The crowd also seemed to take in a collective breath.

“Of course not,” Amilee eventually scoffed, and with the way she narrowed her eyes, Ria could almost imagine her as a cat swishing its tail in annoyance. “Change is a part of being alive. Are you the same person as yesterday? What about the day before? A year ago?”

“No strange or uncontrollable behaviors or thoughts?” Master Rigure pressed.

“No,” Amilee lied.

Whether Hemse, whose name was invoked at the beginning of the trial, would hold Amilee’s lie against her, or whether Amilee had offended Justari, who watches over trials and judges those who bear false witness, Ria didn’t know, but she did know that in the stories and histories she had read, bad things happened to those who lied before the gods—particularly those who lied in trials and temples. Though the temples of Xander and Mythra might be exceptions…

After the silence hung for a while, Master Rigure sat back down. “I have no further questions.”

“Amilee, are there any witnesses that you would like to have called to speak in your defense?” Lord Vorshan asked when no other questions seemed to be forthcoming from the other elders.

Amilee’s mom whispered something to her daughter, but Amilee shook her head and answered Lord Vorshan with a “no” that had a sense of finality to it.

There was some surprise at Amilee’s choice, but with Captain Bastach’s surprisingly competent presentation of the evidence, there was little doubt as to Amilee’s guilt. What good would it do her to further drag out her and her family’s shaming?

“Then we will proceed to the deliberations and determinations of guilt.” Lord Vorshan paused and let his eyes sweep over the gathered crowd, pausing momentarily on the blond-haired man who was still hiding his finery under a cloak before returning to the elders. “Elders how do you find on the crime of unlicensed use of Spirit Magic?”

“Do we need to deliberate?” Master Rigure asked, looking to the other elders.

Elder Harron spoke without rising from his chair. “No.”

Each elder stated their finding of “guilty” in turn.

“I acknowledge the advice of the council of elders and declare Amilee Clearwell, daughter of Marshen and Lerielle Clearwell, guilty of unlicensed use of Spirit Magic. So it shall be recorded,” Lord Vorshan pronounced. “And on the crime of endangering Vorshan’s Hills, how does the council of elders find?”

Again, Master Rigure spoke up first, “I think the question of whether Vorshan’s Hills was intentionally endangered by Amilee’s actions is much less clear, particularly when considering that the shapeshifter has apparently been residing in the village for… possibly decades. It’s hard to blame a teen girl for not reporting a potential threat that’s been here for longer than she’s been alive.”

“I would tend to agree,” Priest Dohan followed after. “It is reasonable to consider that she would hide the creature’s existence due to her unlawful use of the familiar contract, and because the creature was bound to the familiar contract, she didn’t see it as a threat to the community.”

“Her views on the monster’s danger to the community aren’t the issue here,” Elder Harron challenged. “She knowingly harbored a shapeshifter and intentionally hid its true nature, as was clearly evidenced in the testimony. Whether through reckless naivety or self-serving indifference, she clearly endangered Vorshan’s Hills. As it is, the girl has testified that the monster has admitted to killing two villagers, and we only have its word concerning the circumstances and whether there haven’t been other victims.”

“Even so, the familiar contract would have prevented the shapeshifter from acting in such a manner without the direction of the mage to which it was bound,” Master Rigure rebutted.

Elder Harron scoffed. “And what assurance can you give us that the shapeshifter didn’t demand a modified contract that differs from the one in the grimoire that was found?”

Master Rigure didn’t have an answer to that.

“I find Harron’s argument more convincing, considering the evidence presented,” Elder Emmer weighed in. “With threats of barbarians and murderers without, we can’t risk dangers inside the village hindering our defense at a key moment.”

“If even the farmers and ranchers who brave the outlands are concerned about dangers inside of Vorshan’s Hills then what confidence can merchants have to do business?” Elder Alstin added. “If rumors of the village being unsafe were to spread, it would damage our already small commerce with the other towns and villages in the province. We need to make an example here, so that others will know to report suspected threats even if they aren’t sure the person or creature is really a threat.”

Master Rigure and Priest Dohan’s inability to sway even one of the other elders on the matter of endangerment left Ria worried about their chances to gain support for leniency. She exchanged a worried glance with Keira, who seemed to share her concern if her troubled expression was any gauge.

“…guilty of endangering Vorshan’s Hills. So it shall be recorded,” Keira’s grandfather was saying as he pronounced the judgement. “Before the council of elders is asked to decide Amilee Clearwell’s punishment. I will be allowing interested parties to present their arguments and concerns as promised. We will be starting with those who requested ahead of time to be allowed to speak.”

A discontent spilled out from the crowd grumbling about favoritism, a sentiment that wasn’t improved when he announced his granddaughter to be the first speaker.

Keira greeted each of the elders as she moved to stand in the middle and slowly turned to let her eyes meet the gathered villagers. Her dress wasn’t flashy, frilly, or ploofy but rather a conservative design in her house’s colors. Making deliberate movements, Keira took out her wand from a hidden pocket in her skirt and held it up to her upraised hand, weaving a spell that Ria couldn’t recognize from the distance but soon became apparent as her friend began to speak.

“I am Keira Vorshan. Greetings, residents of Vorshan’s Hills,” Keira began, her voice sounding out clearly even though she was speaking normally thanks to the spell she had cast. “As you can see, like most nobles, I am a mage. Or rather, like Amilee, an apprentice mage. You see, Amilee and I studied under the same master, Master Marlow, and we have been friends since we were both little girls, competing in everything—etiquette, music, painting, horse-riding, fencing, our studies of history, and yes, magic. Ria tells me that sounds to be an idyllic life, and maybe it is, but it’s an unending schedule of lessons and tutors expecting perfection so that we can properly and proudly represent the people of Vorshan’s Hills.”

“When I found out about Amilee’s crimes, I didn’t believe the accusations at first, couldn’t. But then I became sad. Because if the accusations were true, no matter what the result of the trial, I would be losing a dear friend.” Keira looked over, meeting the eyes of her manacled friend who had become exhausted from standing and was being supported by Zoe. “A friend who had thrown away all those years of striving for perfection. After feeling sad, I felt betrayed.”

“That friend was supposed to be by my side when I went to the Grand Academy in the capital. And now, I would be alone,” Keira continued. “Why didn’t she come to me for help? Come to me with her secret? But then I realized, it was my fault. I wasn’t a good enough friend. That’s why she wouldn’t. That was why she sought power on her own.”

Amilee had looked away not wanting to meet Keira’s judging eyes, but her head snapped back to Keira in surprise, dumbfounded by the turnabout.

“Admittedly, keeping a shapeshifter in the village is the kind of secret that risks being guilty of ‘endangering the village’ and raises questions of dark pacts,” Keira wryly noted, giving Amilee a brief and sardonic half-smile at the outcome. “But I did some research, and not only are shapeshifters considered useful and desirable familiars, but mage apprentices with an affinity for Spirit Magic are rare and highly sought after. Licensed Spirit Mages provide critical services for Crysellia, not the least of which being familiar contracts.

“Though your circumstances were different, I can only think that if I could have been trusted with your secret, Amilee, we could have convinced grandfather together, and he would have given you a pardon for forming a contract with your familiar and issued a temporary license so you could engage in proper studies toward your official license—just like he did for Ria.”

At the mention of the pardon, Amilee made a bitter expression and looked away with her jaw and fists clenched. The revelation about Ria’s license and pardon reignited the crowd that had been holding back in interest of the drama between the two noble girls. Ria sure hoped that wouldn’t cause trouble when her turn to speak came.

Keira turned her attention back to the elders. “The Amilee I know is not the terrible person that has been portrayed here. She has always dreamed of a bright future where she could make her village and her family proud just like her sister has done. I’m not excusing what she did, and I know that her dream is impossible now. But she is young and has a rare Spirit affinity. If allowed formal training, she could still be of great service to Crysellia. I ask that you please keep that in mind while deciding Amilee’s punishment.”

With Keira done, the next to speak was Master Marlow. He presented two stories highlighting Amilee’s curiosity and hard work then spoke about how the frustrations of learning magic often lead young people to seek short-cuts and make poor choices, insisting that those moments of weakness don’t have to define their lives but can be reminders to help them to make better choices in the future.

Ria’s turn followed, and after receiving words of encouragement from Jarrel’s parents, Keira, and Leon, she took in and released a deep breath to buttress her courage before forcing her feet to move and passing between the poles securing the rope perimeter. She smiled a bit at Leon’s words being more of a caution not to do or say anything crazy.

The crowd was already in an odd mood at the realization that she was the witch talked about throughout the morning’s events. Ria grimaced as a woman cried out that Ria should be on trial too!

The one calling out wasn’t the vaguely familiar woman standing in the crowd of farmers behind Elder Emmer, the one who had repeatedly drawn her attention during the trial. That woman was, instead, looking unnervingly pleased and wearing a cruel and triumphant smirk as her eyes met with Ria’s.