Dirt and straw crunched under my feet as I paced in the cell, trying not to disturb Kiri, who sat in the corner with her eyes closed. She was trying to communicate with Haro, to plan our escape. But judging by her grunts of frustration, it wasn’t going well.

  I had expected Yori to visit us or at least send someone to speak for her. She was a vital part of our original escape from Palla Cahua, and I figured she wouldn’t want us to mention her involvement during the trial.

  Kiri huffed. “This isn’t working.” She crossed her arms. “How long do you think we have before the trial?”

  I thought for a moment. “In Palla Cahua, trials take place once every thirty nights.”

  The guard sitting outside our cell scoffed. “This isn’t Palla Cahua. We don’t like to waste food on prisoners. The watch captain will hear your case this night.”

  Kiri’s eyes widened. She had good reason to be concerned. The sentence for practicing the dark arts was death, a punishment the military tended to carry out without delay. Their willingness to rush the trial suggested that it wasn’t truth they sought, but a swift execution of those they already judged as guilty.

  “I’d like to talk to Yori,” I said.

  “And I’d like to take a warm bath with your lovely lady.” He smiled at Kiri. “But we don’t always get what we want.”

  “I’d rather take a bath with the horses,” Kiri said.

  The guard sneered at her. “You would do well to watch that tongue, less I harvest it from your head after it’s removed from your shoulders.”

  My hands clenched as I considered his implications. Losing one’s tongue after death wouldn’t cause physical pain, nor was his threat meant to suggest it would. Instead, he hoped to convey a mental anguish. Not just by the idea of a body part being removed, but from knowing how it would be used. If given to a Void Wigon, it would become part of a potion. Both True Blood and Nasar Wigons knew that including part of their deceased body in forbidden magic could damn even a pure yaksha to being reborn as a Jotun.

  Regardless, the threat of selling her organs to a Void Wigon seemed ironic, seeing that doing so would be punishable by the same death we were facing. I glared at the guard. “Tell Yori speaking with me would be in her best interest.”

  He stood and drew his sword. After stepping up to the iron bars, he banged the side of his blade off them. “I’ve heard all I care to from you.” His eyebrows raised. “If the rumors are true, Yori will be speaking at your trial. Perhaps you can talk to her then.” He grinned. “But you might not like what she has to say.”

  “Can I talk to the watch captain?”

  The guard stared ahead at the wall instead of answering.

  “How about Bandri?”

  Another guard entered the room, first whispering to the first guard, then strolling up to the bars. “You’re in luck.” He grinned. “Bandri is ready to talk now, and Captain Mamak is ready to listen to everything he has to say.”

  I tried to swallow the hard lump that formed in my throat. His words, in luck, really meant what little we possessed had already run its course. The watch captain was ready for the trial to begin, and Bandri would be the first to speak. I glanced at Kiri, seeing the worry I felt also expressed on her face.

  We stood in the hall, directly in front of Captain Mamak’s table. Five guards stood behind us, each pointing their pikes at our backs. Two additional guards were posted at the hall door, barring any escape attempt.

  Kiri closed her eyes, likely trying to get a message to Haro. She finally opened them. “He keeps sending me an image of someone leading us out of the dungeon.”

  “Who is sending you what?” Bandri said as he strolled from behind us. He didn’t stop walking to hear an answer. Instead, he continued onto the platform and sat beside the watch captain.

  Kiri watched Yori as she marched to the raised table, sitting on the other side of the watch captain.

  Mamak glared at us. “Do you have any witnesses to call?”

  I shook my head. “We have come alone. Any witnesses we have are back in Palla Cahua.”

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  He nodded. “Then we will hear the case against Tye, the Void Wigon of Palla Cahua and his bandit accomplice, Kiri.”

  The sudden urge to throw up overcame me. Luckily, I had no food in my stomach to expel. Instead, I heaved air a few times.

  “I’d be sick too.” Mamak shifted his focus to Bendri. “Repeat what you told me.”

  He cleared his throat. “I witnessed Tye using magic that only Void Wigons would use. He carries two pouches, one with a powder to blind, and another that slows his enemy.”

  “The powders are not mine. I took-”

  “You will speak when I tell you to!” the captain barked. He nodded to Barry. “Present the pouches.”

  Barry walked in front of us, holding a pouch in each hand. “These were confiscated from Tye when he was arrested.”

  I felt a smile work its way onto my face. I had left the pouches containing the illegal magic with Avian. I wasn’t sure where they got these, but they wouldn’t have the same effect Bandri claimed they had. If I requested a demonstration, we might be cleared.

  “Have they been tested?” Mamak asked.

  Barry nodded. “We have a blind guard that moves like molasses.” He chuckled. “He’s on his way in here, but at the pace he moves, he won’t arrive this night.”

  “Can we test-”

  Barry barked at me, “If you interrupt one more time, we will take your head on the spot.” Spittle shot from his mouth as he spoke.

  The captain asked Bendri, “Have you seen Tye use these potions?”

  “He used both against a man in the forest between Palla Cahua and Casi. Then he robbed the man and escaped.”

  I shook my head and opened my mouth to talk.

  Barry punched me in the stomach, making me drop to my knees. Then he drew his sword.

  Mamak stood and cleared his throat. “Stand down, Barry. We shall finish this trial before we take his head.” He scratched his beard. “But gag the loudmouth, as we don’t want to be here all night.”

  The words Mamak had spoken ran through my mind. He all but admitted the trial was doomed to produce a guilty verdict. But nobody seemed to mind. Quite the opposite, many watching smiled when he mentioned taking my head, including Lori.

  After pulling a dirty rag from his back pocket, Barry grabbed my arm and twisted it.

  “Can you find something a little cleaner?” I asked.

  Barry grinned, then blew his nose with the rag before wrapping it around my face.

  Never before did I want so badly to murder a yaksha. If given the opportunity, I’d make him choke to death on the dirty rag. I gagged a few more times, followed by several additional dry heaves.

  The captain glanced at Lori. “Were you working with the Void Wigon?”

  She nodded. “But he claimed to be a True Blood Wigon.” She clenched her jaw. “I didn’t realize he was dangerous until I witnessed him giving unauthorized potions to his horses.”

  My face warmed up. She spoke of the potions she had given me. First, Lar framed me for spellcrafting items he carried, then Lori did the same. Could I trust anyone?

  “And his accomplice?” The watch captain asked.

  Bendri said, “She used a potion that gave her increased strength and speed. As she isn’t a knight or a royal, they are spells she was not authorized to use.”

  “Any proof she is a Void Wigon?” the captain asked.

  “No,” Bendri said. “But she has violated the True Blood Wigon ways.”

  The captain stood. “As neither of you have any witnesses, I shall proceed with the judgement.”

  Trying to shout out, I mumbled through the gag while taking a step toward the captain.

  The captain pointed at me. “Remove his gag.”

  Barry untied it.

  As it dropped from my mouth, I blurted out, “You said we could speak!”

  Barry punched me in the stomach, knocking the wind out of me. “The captain doesn’t wish to listen to your lies.”

  As I caught my breath, I considered blurting out the truth about Lori. While they likely won’t believe me, casting doubt on her might cause her some discomfort. But when I locked eyes with her, I noticed something I didn’t expect. Her eyes plead with me. I realized that for reasons I didn’t know, she was forced to speak against us.

  Tears streamed down Kiri’s cheeks. But she did not speak. While I wanted to comfort her, to promise her all would be good, I couldn’t even convince myself of such. The game was rigged against us, and I could think of a way to change our fate.

  “For being a proven Void Wigon, Tye is sentenced to death by starvation. He will be displayed in the hall as he withers away, allowing all to add to his punishment.” Mamak shifted his focus to Kiri. “You, my dear, will be allowed a swift death.”

  Lori stood. “Captain, I must warn you, Tye is much more dangerous than he appears, and he likely has friends lurking by. While he deserves the worst punishment, I suggest a quick death to ensure he doesn’t escape again.”

  My gaze shot to Lori as I struggled to understand whose side she was really on. Perhaps her pleading face earlier wasn’t an indication of her actions being forced, but only fear that I’d say something that caused her to join our pending doom.

  The captain thought for a moment, then nodded. “Bring them both to their cells. They shall face execution this night.”

  I studied both Lori and the watch captain. In all my winters of serving the guard, I never saw a captain agree to lighten a sentence because of a civilian’s comment. Based on the way they avoided eye contact with each other, I wondered if this was agreed upon before the trial. If so, what game did they play?

  A door to my right opened, and a guard I hadn’t seen before walked in. “Captain, we have found the two accomplices of Tye in the brush near the structure, as Yori reported. They put up a fight but fell to our pikes.”

  “No!” Kiri blurted out.

  Like Kiri, my heart broke when I heard the words. The group trusted me to bring them to the portal, and two have fallen so quickly. I wanted to know what two they referred to, but if I asked they would realize there were more to find. My guess was that Avian and Haro escaped, leaving the apprentice and Sani behind. Sani was most likely to fight instead of running. Anger bubbled deep in my gut. First, they conducted a corrupt joke of a trial to justify executing us, then they murdered our friends.

  A wicket thought blinked into my mind. We had nothing to lose. If given the chance, I’d slay every one of these wicket men. Starting with Barry. Or maybe ending with Barry. Whatever way I could inflict the most pain on the man who stuck his dirty rag in my mouth.