Fire (57 page)

And still not the slightest sign of life from the judges.

Minoo stops in front of the fireplace and drums with her fingertips on the mantelpiece.

She is thinking about the amulet that Diana had worn on the chain. Adriana also had an amulet. She had bought hers from Mona Moonbeam. Could Mona also have been the one who sold the metal sign amulet to Helena and Krister?

Minoo looks at Vanessa, who sits next to Linnéa on a windowsill. They must confront Mona, all of them together. Try to persuade her to tell them all she knows. According to
Vanessa, Mona always refuses to reveal anything about her customers. But maybe she hasn’t realised that she has been trading with the demons’ Blessed One?

If the worst comes to the worst, Anna-Karin must force her to tell, Minoo thinks.

She doesn’t like the idea, but people’s lives are at stake.

She needs a smoke.

‘Is it all right if I go outside, just for a short while?’ she asks Adriana. ‘I really want … a little fresh air.’

Adriana looks troubled.

‘The judges might rise any minute now.’

‘I’ll be quick,’ Minoo says.

‘I’ll come with you,’ Linnéa says and gets up at once.

As soon as they are in the driveway, Minoo pulls the packet of cigarettes from the top of Linnéa’s boot and lights up.

‘I’ve been thinking about something,’ Linnéa says in a low voice. ‘To do with what we were talking about yesterday.’

‘Not here,’ Minoo says and glances over her shoulder while she sucks on the cigarette.

She inhales the smoke so eagerly she feels nauseous.

‘I know,’ Linnéa says. ‘But there’s just one thing that’s important. I’ve thought of two people we must warn.’

Minoo only has time to nod before the front door opens. When she turns to face it, Adriana stands in the doorway and waves impatiently at them to come back in.

‘They’re about to announce the verdict now,’ she says.

Everyone stands when the five judges enter the courtroom and process to their seats. Today, the senior judge is wearing a black suit and a black blouse. This outfit makes Anna-Karin think of death.

‘We have just had an appeal from the prosecution. They are asking to conduct one last witness hearing,’ the judge
says, having indicated that the audience may sit. ‘And we have decided to allow it.’

Anna-Karin checks the prosecutor’s table. Alexander is alone. Viktor is nowhere to be seen. Adriana stands.

‘Your Honour,’ she says. ‘The defence has not been informed …’

But the old woman silences her with one glance.

‘The case before us is of such a serious nature that we are unwilling to convict and sentence before every item of evidence has been thoroughly investigated,’ she says and then addresses Alexander. ‘Chief Prosecutor, you may begin.’

Alexander rises.

‘Thank you, Your Honour,’ he says. ‘We call Adriana Lopez to the witness chair.’

The Chosen Ones exchange glances. But Adriana shows no sign of unease when she gets up and walks to the witness chair.

‘Adriana Lopez,’ Alexander says, but he isn’t looking at her.

He turns towards the audience instead. And now Anna-Karin begins to feel fearful. Alexander’s self-confidence has returned.

‘You stated yesterday that you are loyal to the Council. Do you stand by that statement?’

‘Of course I do,’ Adriana says.

‘You also swore that you would tell the truth. But did you keep to that commitment?’

‘Yes.’

Alexander nods to the guards at the entrance. They open both doors.

Viktor enters the courtroom. He is carrying a birdcage. Black wings beat against the bars of the cage which is far too small and Anna-Karin feels every blow. She too wants to escape.

As if hypnotised, Adriana stares fixedly at Viktor and the bird.

‘You have stored any compromising memories in your familiar,’ Alexander says. ‘This enabled you to lie to the court yesterday, is that not so?’

‘I have no intention of replying to that question.’

‘There is no need,’ Alexander says.

He now nods to Viktor, who places the birdcage on the table and opens its door.

The raven crows furiously at Viktor, who fumbles inside the cage until he manages to grab hold of the bird’s body. Using his other hand to hold its beak firmly closed, he hauls the bird out. He has to bend his neck to protect his face when the raven spreads its wings and flaps wildly in the air.

Alexander takes the raven from Viktor’s hands and grips its head hard.

‘Please, don’t …’ Adriana says in a strangled voice.

Anna-Karin looks down at the tabletop. She knows that Alexander will do it.

And then he does.

A hard, crunching sound. A moist thing ripping. For a short time afterwards, the wings keep beating. Then the room falls completely silent. Anna-Karin’s gorge is rising; she holds it back, swallows several times.

She looks up again just in time to see Alexander hand the dead bird to Viktor. Stony-faced, he places the body in the birdcage.

‘Let us begin again,’ Alexander says. ‘Adriana Lopez. Have you been loyal to the Council in everything you have done since you arrived in Engelsfors?’

Anna-Karin watches Adriana’s face. Observes one eyelid trembling, almost unnoticeably.

‘Yes,’ she replies.

Her head is thrown back. A faint moan, starting far down in her throat, finally reaches her mouth. Her jaws clench. She begins to hyperventilate.

It is all unbearable and yet Anna-Karin cannot take her eyes off Adriana. It feels as if it is her duty to watch. It is Anna-Karin’s fault that Adriana is being tortured.

‘No!’ Adriana finally screams. ‘No!’

And her body sags in the chair.

‘Can you clarify that answer?’ Alexander asks.

Adriana looks at him. A drop of blood from one of her nostrils trickles slowly down to her upper lip.

‘No, I have not been loyal to the Council.’

The judges sit up on their chairs.

‘Have you permitted the Chosen Ones to practise magic on their own?’ Alexander asks.

‘No.’

Adriana’s head is thrown backwards again. Her back twists spasmodically and the pain makes her scream loudly. Fire, her own element, is being used against her. It must feel like being set alight.

Anna-Karin cannot stand this any more. She must take responsibility. She must confess.

She tries to stand, but Linnéa immediately pulls her down.

‘We need you,’ Linnéa whispers. She seems to have understood exactly what Anna-Karin has in mind. ‘
The world
needs you. Adriana knows it, too. Do you think she would have run this risk if she hadn’t realised that?’

Anna-Karin starts to cry, then tries not to sob, afraid that she might irritate the judges and ruin things even more for Adriana.

Alexander gestures and Adriana’s body relaxes.

‘We can carry on like this for any length of time. Speak the truth now. For your own sake.’

He sounds almost saddened and this frightens Anna-Karin even more. How can he do this, if he has feelings at all?

‘I will never say anything that might harm the girls,’ Adriana says. Her breathing is heavy and laboured. ‘
Never
.’

‘In fact, you chose to take their side rather than the Council’s?’ Alexander says.

‘I was not aware that I had to take one side or the other. I believed that the Council should support the Chosen Ones. Apparently, I was wrong.’

The courtroom fills with excited whispers.

‘I will not answer any more questions,’ Adriana says.

The old woman in the middle of the row of judges looks unmoved.

‘No further questions are required. We are ready now to pass judgement on the defendant,’ the judge says. ‘Anna-Karin Nieminen. Please stand.’

Vanessa stands. Anna-Karin forces herself to look at her. Tears are running down her face, but she must be strong. Brave. Like Adriana.

The judge clasps her hands on the tabletop and leans forward.

‘The world is facing a new magic epoch,’ she says. ‘But with magic comes power and power can always be misused. Therefore, the ideals of the Council are more important than ever. Control. Honesty. Humility. Selflessness. The defendant has proved herself lacking in all these virtues. Indeed, she has acted in opposition to them. She has spat at everything the Council holds in high regard or believes to be sacred.’

Now Anna-Karin realises it is all over.

‘Anna-Karin Nieminen,’ the judge says. ‘This court has decided to ignore all the accusations against you and to free you.’

Anna-Karin can hardly grasp what is being said. She has
to test the words repeatedly inside her head to make sure that they actually mean what they seem to.

‘It is true that Anna-Karin Nieminen has shown poor judgement,’ the judge continues. ‘However, we do not hold her responsible for her rebelliousness and law-breaking activities, since she at no time received appropriate guidance. In this most distressing case, only one person is guilty. That person is Adriana Lopez.’

The judge points her bony finger at Adriana.

‘Your treachery and acts of conspiracy have finally come to light. You have systematically falsified evidence in order to deceive your superiors. Your aim has been to induce them to believe in your ludicrous notions about exceptional, chosen witches, demons and apocalyptic events.’

If Anna-Karin had been empowered just then, if she had been able to use her power in this courtroom, she would have made them stop the entire trial and save Adriana. And to hell with the consequences. Now, all she can do is sit and watch. Helpless, worthless, passive while everything is collapsing around them.

‘The proposition that there are “Chosen Ones” in Engelsfors is a deceit from beginning to end. What we are dealing with here is a group of powerful natural witches, who have been duped by a ruthless swindler. She has persuaded them that they are being hunted by an enemy who has been “blessed by the demons”. Tragic cases of suicide have been presented as murders in attempts to corroborate her absurd tales. We even suspect that her fire magic is the cause of the blaze that burned down Anna-Karin Nieminen’s family barn.’

Anna-Karin glances at the other Chosen Ones. Like her, they are all silent. Like her, they are powerless.

‘Adriana Lopez showed her true self already as a young
woman, when she broke her oath of allegiance to the Council. She succeeded in manipulating her judges into showing mercy. Since then, she has coolly bided her time and planned her next act of sabotage.’

‘This is untrue!’ Linnéa says. She stands up. ‘Adriana is right. We are the Chosen Ones. And, whatever you’d prefer to believe, the apocalypse will come.’

Looking terrified, Viktor stares at her. But the judge only smiles haughtily.

‘This young lady, Vanessa Dahl, has just provided another proof of the corrupting effect that Adriana Lopez has exerted on young minds. Although we do not need any further evidence to reassure us that our decision is right.’

She fixes her gaze on Adriana and gestures for her to stand.

Adriana tries to get up, but staggers. Alexander goes to her and offers her his arm to lean on, but she waves it away. Leaning on the chair, she stands.

‘Adriana Lopez,’ the judge says. ‘It is time for you to atone for your crime. You are sentenced to the most severe punishment laid down by the Council.’

Adriana’s face is still. But Alexander’s goes pale.

‘The execution will take place one week from today.’

A wind is blowing straight into Ida’s face, roaring in her ears. She screws her eyes up even tighter. This, she supposes, is what it must be like to be thrown out of a plane 10,000 metres up in the air.

Suddenly, the wind dies down. The world seems unnaturally silent until someone clears her throat.

Ida cautiously opens her eyes. Now she is standing at the opposite position in the circle. She looks at Minoo. Time was, she was inside that body.

Ida lets go of the hand that holds hers. She looks down on her own body. Now that she has lived for three days inside someone else’s body, she realises how familiar her own is. It’s so much …
hers
. There is no good way of describing what she feels, but why should there be? It’s only in her creepy life that it’s needed.

‘It worked,’ Minoo says and sounds just as relieved as Ida feels. ‘Is everybody herself again?’

The others nod. Ida watches them in the faint light of the torch they have placed on the stage. Linnéa pulls a packet of cigarettes from the top of her boot and lights up. Vanessa teases out her hair. Anna-Karin buttons her duffel coat over the black suit, presumably longing for her tracksuit.

No question about it, they are all back where they belong.

Can you hear me now? It’s working again, right?

Linnéa looks hopefully at them.

Vanessa responds by becoming invisible and then reappearing.

‘Our powers are back, too,’ she says. ‘If anything, it feels easier to use them now.’

‘We’ll need them,’ Minoo says. ‘We’ve got to help Adriana.’

Ida remembers the scene when the guards led Adriana out of the courtroom, how she was shaking so hard she could hardly walk.

Before, Ida has far from
liked
the Council, but now she
hates
the whole crew. Repulsive Alexander, who sold his own sister out and killed that poor raven. Repulsive Viktor. Repulsive old bag of a judge.

No fucking way is it up to the Council to decide whether Ida is Chosen or not.

‘But how?’ she says. ‘I can’t work out anything we can do. Besides, they’re likely to expect us to try something and be prepared.’

‘That doesn’t matter. We’ve just got to think of something,’ Anna-Karin says. ‘She’s sacrificed herself for us.’

‘I agree,’ Linnéa says. ‘We have to do something. But we have a week to work it out. There’s something more urgent on just now. I think I know which two names are next in line on the Malmgren killing list.’ She turns to Vanessa. ‘Wille and Jonte.’

Vanessa looks as if someone has slapped her face.

‘Why should they want them dead?’ Anna-Karin asks.

Vanessa’s voice sounds frail.

‘They sold junk to Elias.’