The Dragon Hunter and the Mage (10 page)

Tarsus had never called her to watch a trial. In fact, it was extremely rare for
him
to waste his time with trials. It was uncommon for a judge to pass a sentence that did not please the Emperor, and when it did happen, Vigild usually fixed the problem discretely. However, it was quite obvious why he had chosen to do it this time.

In front of her, on their knees, were five men and women. Her cousin Hagon, her friends Lerica, Eirin, and Tarnig, and finall
y‒
the real motive for the show – Doric, her former husband.

A Herald struck his baton twice against the marble floor and proclaimed, “His Imperial Majesty, Tarsus V. King of Augusta and Samehria, Ultrarch of Akham, and Emperor of Arrel.”

Tarsus sauntered magnanimously to his throne and sat. Cassia did not move and remained standing in front of her throne.

“What is the meaning of this, Tarsus?”

“Commander, you heard the Empress. Please, tell us,” Tarsus said calmly.

The Legionary Captain smashed a closed fist against his heart, took a step forward, and began his report.

“After several months of investigations, the Information Scriptorium handed us the details that allowed us to effect the arrest of a group of conspirators. Our intelligence indicates that the suspects belong to an organized group of nobles whose goal is to topple the Emperor and seize the throne.”

“Rebels, you mean,” Tarsus concluded. “Traitors.”

The Captain agreed with a nod and proceeded.

“At the location where the arrest took place, we found several documents, from maps of Augusta’s underground, to ship cargo manifestos, to the Emperor’s own schedule. We also found several letters filled with incriminatory messages, signed or addressed to the suspects. All prisoners are members of one of the Great Houses, and some have connections to the Imperial House itself, as is the case of…” he trailed as he took a look at the document in his hand. “Hagon Sefra, cousin of the Empress, and Doric Auron, former husband of the Empress. It is the opinion of the agents of the Information Scriptorium that the role of these two suspects was to provide sensitive information about the Emperor.”

When he had finished the Captain once again hit his heart with a closed fist, then took a step back. 

“I think you forgot the part where one of your agents gave m
e‒
” Doric was interrupted by a punch from one of the Legionaries.

“The prisoners will only speak when authorized,” the Captain informed him.

“The law is clear,” the Emperor proclaimed, rising.

“Tarsus…” Cassia said.

“The penalty for treason is death.”

“You made a promise!” Cassia’s voice was shaking.

“He conspired to have me killed,” Tarsus roared. “What am I to do? Make an exception because he used to be your husband?”

Cassia fell to her knees. “Please!” she begged, tears rolling down her face. “He’s the father of my son.”

The Emperor ignored her.

“For treason against the Empire and conspiring to assassinate the Emperor,” Tarsus’s voice echoed through the hall, “I sentence you to death by hanging.”

“No!” Cassia shrieked.

“The sentence will be carried out tomorrow.” Tarsus spun around and left.

The Empress was left sobbing on the floor in front of her throne. She saw the five prisoners being dragged away by the Legionaries. Before he disappeared, Doric smiled at her.

“I’m sorry,” Fadan said.

Aric kept his eyes on the floor. “I didn’t even remember his face….” he mumbled.

Fadan didn’t know what else to say. “Maybe mum can do something about it….” He said.

Aric shook his head. “He’s been safe all these years, and now that he came to see me they’ll kill him.”

Fadan sat down beside his brother and put an arm around his shoulder as Aric cried and cried. He choked on his own sobs, blew his nose a dozen times, and wiped countless tears off his face. Fadan just stayed there, quietly, as his brother wept it all out; the father he had never seen and was about to lose, the mother who could rarely treat him like a son, the stepfather who acted like he wanted him dead.

Fadan’s stomach turned. He had always known his mother had not come to the Citadel out of her own free will. He had always known that the Emperor, his own father, had forced her by threatening to kill Doric if Cassia did not submit. It wasn’t fair for her. It wasn’t fair for Doric. It wasn’t fair for Aric. It wasn’t fair.

“We’ll save him!”

“What?” Aric sniffled.

“We’ll get him out of the dungeons. You know a way in. You showed it to me.”

Aric laughed. “That’s insane,” he said. “Even I can see that’s suicide.”

It was, but they had to try something.

“We managed to break into the Paladin’s headquarters and steal two flasks of Runium, right under their noses,” Fadan said. “The dungeon can’t be that different.”

Aric thought about it for a moment.

“I don’t know,” he said. “If we’re caught… think about what your father would do to you.”

“You didn’t worry about that when you wanted to be a Mage,” Fadan said, standing up.

“That was different. If we had been caught doing that the Emperor would have locked you in your room a few months, maybe give you a beating. But if he catches you trying to break my dad out of prison….”

“Listen to me. Your father is going to be hanged tomorrow. If you want to do this, we have to do it
now
.”

If only Fadan had had time to learn a spell or two… a way to become invisible for instance.

“Aric!” Fadan called. “We’re going to save your father. I promise you.”

One thing was certain. They had to at least try.

Cassia stormed through the hallways towards Intila’s office. She found him at the door, handing documents to some officer. Seeing her, Intila sent the officer away.

“Why did you do it?” Cassia demanded.

“I did nothing.” Intila turned his back to her and walked into his office. Cassia followed him.

“How could you?” Cassia asked. “The son of your beloved Faric. He’s practically your brother.”

“He is no such thing,” Intila said.

“Why, Intila?”

“Listen to me, Cassia.” The High Marshal pierced her with his eyes. “I’m not a coward like your former husband. If I say I didn’t do it, then I didn’t.”

There was a moment of silence as Cassia dealt with that. As if trying to defuse the tension, Intila sat at his desk. She sat across from him.

“Then who?” she asked.

“My guess is Vigild.”

“Vigild?” she echoed.

“Who else?”

“But… the investigation came from the Scriptorium. Your own Legionary said so.”

“Yes, my spies have been tracking the rebels for months, but I had no intention to act now. It’s too soon. Besides,” Intila opened a drawer and removed a piece of parchment, “this is a list of all those who have somehow interacted with the Rebels in the past months.”

Cassia studied the list. There were dozens of names.

“As you would expect,” Intila said. “Your former husband never even tried to get near them.”

Cassia sunk in her chair. That made no sense. “So why Vigild? And how?”

Intila frowned and his jaw twitched.

“That’s what I need to find out.”

The dungeon was like a cave that had been dug beneath Mount Capitol. There was some light coming from torches hanging on the cell corridor, enough for Doric to see the contours of Hagon’s face. There was a leak in the ceiling that caused a ceaseless trickle right beside the haystack he would use as his bed, not that he was going to stay there for long. He was also sure they were sharing their cell with a rat.

“I don’t understand…. Why did they make you go there? They obviously knew about our meetings,” said Hagon, sitting by the cell door.

“Because you weren’t the target,” Doric replied. “Tarsus finally found a way to get rid of me.”

“So, we’re just an excuse?”

“Which says a lot about your rebellion’s chances of success,” Doric said.

He got up and leaned against the cell railing as Hagon stared at the floor, contemplating his own failure.

“What about the others?” Hagon asked. “If they knew about us, they probably know a lot more.”

“Don’t worry. After the spectacle Tarsus is planning for tomorrow, I’m sure many of them will be smart enough to go into hiding. In the end, I might have saved your friends.”

Hagon jumped up.

“At least,
we
tried to do something! What about you, what did you do? Got drunk every day?”

“Shush!”

That made Hagon so furious he was about to punch him. “Don’t you…”

“Be quiet!” Doric whispered. “I heard something.”

Hagon was confused, but he tried to listen. “What?” he whispered back. “It’s probably a guard.”

Doric shook his head. Then a shape appeared outside the bars and grabbed the lock.

“Aric?!” Doric wasn’t sure if he should be ecstatic or furious. “What are you doing here?”

Aric simply told him to be quiet with a gesture and continued fiddling with the lock. At that moment, a second shape arrived with his back to the bars, not taking his eyes from the other end of the cell block. Doric kneeled in front of Aric.

“What are you doing? This is a cell door. You can’t open it.”

“Not every door in the Citadel is always unlocked,” said Aric. “I can do it.”

“Son!” Doric grabbed Aric’s arms, forcing him to stop. “The guards can show up at any moment. You have to leave!”

“Shush!” the second shape said.

“Who’s this?” Doric asked.

“My name is Fadan,” he whispered. “We can be introduced later.”

“The Prince!” Hagon almost screamed.

This time, it was Doric who asked for silence. That’s when they heard a metallic crackle and the cell door snapped open. By the look on Aric’s face, no one was more surprised than himself.

The two prisoners left the cell. Doric wasn’t sure if he wanted to kiss Aric as much as he wanted to slap him.

“We have to go. Quick,” Fadan said.