Stillborn 2 - The Fire Within: Chapter 13

 

13.

They were utterly shocked when they returned to the temple and found Angwar lying on the floor. The tenacious Darfin had been clearly recovering from his illness, and even Aniceth had held an incipient hope that he could finally reap the rewards of their concerted efforts. But it all seemed to be in vain now - pointless fray of a desperate man.

There was an expression of anger and disbelief frozen on Angwar's dead, pale face, as if he could not accept his own end like that, sneaking up on him without a warning as his heart had been weakened in the battle against the bluedust fungus. Daarli cried quietly while helping the Arathan in his dreadful task to lift his fallen friend back to the bed. Aniceth was not able to speak. The shock of the sudden loss was too intense to be fully comprehended as of yet. The future was suddenly unclear, veiled by uncertainties. The protective mainstay of his existence in Othrond was gone. He was in the middle of enemy land, surrounded by people that had been fighting against his kind since the beginning of time. It was very unlikely to receive understanding or sympathy, not to mention support.

The uncomfortable feeling was only amplified when the door opened and Angwar's upset mother rushed in. Apparently the temple servant had ran off to inform her as soon as the body was discovered.

 

* * *

 

”Throw that cursed Arathan back to jail,” Aladra demanded with a high-pitched voice.

Galdri Broadshield was called urgently to the temple as soon as Aladra had found out that her son was dead.

”He murdered my son!” she screamed, pointing at Aniceth, who was quietly standing by the corpse of his passed friend.

Daarli tried to explain that Aniceth had not even been in the room when Angwar died, and that it was probably a heart failure, which unfortunately occurred quite often during this treatment, but she was too upset to make a clear statement that could overcome Aladra's fierce accusation.

Galdri was left with no other options than to order his soldiers to arrest Aniceth and take him back to jail, where he would have to wait until the king himself decided on his fate. Now that Aniceth had no one to speak for him anymore, the judgement would be either instant banishment back to the Everdeep, or death.

Daarli knew that Aniceth would not be getting proper justice in either case, and she was going to do everything she could to change that. Once Galdri had left the temple to follow his soldiers back to the gate, and Aladra had finally returned to her manor after making sure that everyone in the room were aware of the evil that Arathans carried in their souls, Daarli sat down by her desk and began to write a letter. She needed to write two of them, and they both had to be delivered before the trial. She felt no sympathy for the Arathans, but there was something different about Aniceth that made her feel that she needed to be honest to herself, and to the king, in order to stay at peace with her heart. She had watched the Arathan's behaviour throughout the entire time he had spent in the temple, and she believed, like Angwar had believed, that Aniceth was no threat to Othrond.

The first letter was pointed to Commander Galdri Broadshield, explaining what had truly happened in the temple that day, and the other one directly to the King Barin Ironbeard. Aladra would be there to portray Aniceth as a murderer, but Daarli was hoping that a truthful description of the events that took place would make the king to reconsider before passing his judgement based solely on Aladra's false testimony.

 

* * *

 

A murder in a Darfin society was something that occurred extremely rarely, and thus the king decided to postpone many of his other duties to handle this case as soon as possible. An incident like this caused great turmoil among his subjects, driving them restless and uneasy. The king did not tolerate such disorder in his city, which led to rather hasty actions from his part. Aniceth was escorted to the royal keep only two days after his imprisonment. The king's keep was built to the northern side of the main hall, into a huge cave supported by massive granite pillars. The road, paved with smooth stone tiles, led straight through the pillars to a heavy iron gate. The high walls and tall towers together formed a truly formidable sight as Aniceth was dragged through the courtyard. The same pattern was repeated inside, where the sturdy walls lined the long corridors and hallways. The splendour of the rooms and halls was nothing compared to the stunning beauty of the royal palace of Arakhnest, but still, everything was grand and majestic. The carpets and tapestries along with the other furniture exuded luxury.

The soldiers escorted Aniceth straight into the throne room and stopped at the door to wait for permission to enter. The throne itself was lifted on a stone pedestal with three steps leading up to it. The hallway to the throne was lined with five pillars on both sides with silvery decorations embedded on each one. Three large drapes descended from the ceiling with the symbol of the city sewn on them, a large golden hammer upon a black shield.

King Barin Ironbeard was looking grimly at Aniceth with his moody eyes, but showed no other interest toward him yet. He was still busy with other matters as a person, who looked like an ambassador from some distant land according to his outfit, was talking to him quietly. Aladra was there together with Daarli, and as a small surprise, Commander Galdri was also standing by the king. The situation seemed rather baleful, but there was nothing Aniceth could do other than wishing that the king would allow him to speak for himself. However, since he was considered an Arathan, the sworn enemy of the Darfins, Aniceth did not think of his chances being too great for such a concession.

Aladra was discussing quietly with some of the other clerics that had arrived to the keep with her, but Daarli chose to keep a small distance, staying slightly in the background. The Darfins did not really have a noble class at all because their social structure was so different compared to many other nations, but they did have differently ranked merchants based on their achievements and wealth, and also some members from the former royal bloodlines, the remnants of the past kings. These together formed the royal court, and in their guile and treacherousness, they were no better or worse than the other courts around the world. They were the royal bloodsuckers, feeding on the crumbs of attention thrown out by the king, competing for his favor with any trickery they could imagine. There was a lot of buzz about the upcoming trial among them. Some wondered the mere existence of an Arathan inside the city walls, while others did not seem to pay much attention to the day's events, but concentrated on running their own errands while waiting for the trial to begin, taking an advantage of the unusual situation.

Finally, the king said a few words to the guard standing next to him, who stepped forward and spoke with a strong voice.

”Silence in the throne room, a trial is about to begin! Bring forth the prisoner!” All the noise was cut off and a depressing silence took over the hall.

The soldiers who had escorted Aniceth to the throne room grabbed him again and took him in front of the king, who was now openly glaring at him with his cold eyes.

”Aniceth Annarath has been brought before His Majesty to answer the charges of murder and betrayal of a Citizen of Othrond,” one of the escorting guards announced, and then stepped back.

Aniceth laid his eyes down and stared quietly into the distance. He was not expecting very much from this trial, and he only wished for it to be over soon.

”Aladra Frostfire, you may speak,” the king said. He was very differently dressed compared to the rulers of the Dark Kingdom. Barin Ironbeard was wearing a ceremonial armor with golden inlays decorated with the finest gemstones. He had no crown at all, and looked about as much of a warrior as the actual guards in the hallway. Barin was no weak king. He was the ultimate authority without a question.

Aladra stepped forward in her plain, white gown, which showed her position as a cleric of the city.

”I say that this man before us today has plotted against my family and the city of Othrond in order to infiltrate into our community, and work for his dark lords to gather information and find out about our weaknesses, so that he could report them upon returning to Arakhnest. I have a reason to believe that he used a slave of theirs, my son, Angwar Frostfire, to gain access to our glorious city. I believe that he murdered my son while he was fighting against the foul bluedust fungus, for I doubt he could have matched the strength of Angwar Frostfire in a fair fight. Perhaps in fear of being caught, this filthy Arathan killed my helpless son to proceed with his treachery. I have not been able to reveal all motives, but I think there is plenty of evidence to assure Your Highness that death is all this filthy worm deserves.”

Aladra finished her statement with tears in her eyes. The entire throne room listened in complete silence, some nodding approvingly as they listened what she had to say. The expression on the king's face remained the same as he turned his head to the other side.

”Commander Galdri Broadshield, you may speak,” he declared with colorless voice.

Aladra and Daarli looked both surprised as the king told Galdri to speak. Aladra seemed shocked and disappointed, but Daarli's surprise was more of a pleasant one. She knew that at least one of her letters had made a difference. Now it all depended on how the other letter had affected its receiver.

Galdri stepped forward and cleared his throat. ”Your Highness, the honorable court of Othrond, I am Galdri Broadshield, a garrison commander of the east gate. I was leading a squad of soldiers through a routine patrol in the tunnels right outside of Othrond, when we heard unusual noise coming from the Crypt of the Kings, so we proceeded to investigate what was going on in there.”

Galdri paused for a moment and wrinkled his eyebrows in deep thought before he continued.

”This Arathan, who is being charged for murder, seemed to be fighting furiously against the Draugar of the tomb, and to me it looked a lot like he was doing everything he could to protect Angwar Frostfire from being slain by the undead. The Arathans do not protect even their own kin with such courage what I witnessed in the crypt that day. This leads me to believe that the friendship between Angwar Frostfire and Aniceth Annarath was true, and Angwar's behaviour after that incident gave me no reason to think otherwise, but in fact, quite the opposite. Angwar's concern over his friend, while he was lying in the jail, was something I have never seen between a Darfin and an Arathan before. I honestly do not think this Arathan presents a threat to the security of Othrond, and I do believe that the death of Angwar Frostfire was caused by the severe symptoms of bluedust fungus. Yes, he is, unlike Aladra Frostfire describes him, very powerful without a doubt. Defeating a Draugar is something most men cannot do, but the way I saw it makes me believe that this Arathan actually saved Angwar Frostfire's life in that crypt.”

Aniceth listened to Galdri's words and his hope was suddenly revived. Aladra's face was like stone, but her eyes were sparkling with pure hatred. She looked like her deepest wish was to jump out and strangle Galdri right where he was standing, but struggling hard, she managed to control herself. She was clearly upset by the loss of her son and sought a target for her frustration. Fifty long years of fading hope, then a sudden burst of joy when Angwar unforeseeingly returned, and then he was gone before really even having the chance to reconnect with his family. All that had been too much for the high cleric to bear. She wanted a scapegoat to target all her anger at, and Aniceth, a mere Arathan, was perfect for that. Now, however, things were sliding out of her hands again.

Even the faint background whispers had ceased in the throne room. The king glanced at Aladra and then at Galdri, and finally at Aniceth. There would not be more speeches. The king had heard the enraged mother and the defense speech of Galdri, which nobody believed would ever occur, and now the king would make his decision. Whatever his decision was going to be, the sentence would be carried out immediately, and there would be no appeals.

”First of all, I must admit that I do not believe there was a murder at all within these walls. I have no reason to doubt the statements of Commander Galdri or Daarli Skyforge. I believe that Aladra Frostfire has acted based upon her immense loss, and our ancient enemy has been a target for all that frustration and sorrow, but in a time like this we have to rise above such feelings and see the truth behind such impulses.”

Aniceth, alongside with Daarli, was breathing easier already, but the final sentence was not revealed yet, even though it did seem like he would surely avoid death.

”However,” the king continued after a brief pause, ”I cannot ignore Aladra's feelings when deciding on this matter, and therefore the sentence is as follows.”

It seemed as if the entire crowd was holding their breath as the king cleared his throat for a second.

”Let it be known that Aniceth Annarath is thereby free from the charges against murder. He is to be given back all of his former possessions and escorted past the outer towers until he is far enough to be released into the tunnels. He may never return to Othrond, and if he is ever found anywhere near the outskirts of our realm, he is treated like any other Arathan intruder.

Aniceth couged nervously, gaining the attention of the entire court. It was most daring to interrupt king's speech, and he was glared by many, but the king raised his hand, silencing the angry uproar.

”Speak if you have something to say,” he ordered.

Aniceth bowed down before the king as a sign of respect, then he spoke with a thin voice.

”Your Highness, you have been most gracious toward me, an Arathan, which is more than I could ever desire, but I do have one request.”

The crowd began to yell insults at him for daring to present requests to the king, but Barin Ironbeard silenced his court once again with an raised hand and an irritated glare that promised nothing good for the next person who dared to interrupt.

”I am listening, Aniceth Annarath, but for your own sake, I do hope your request does not cross the borders of humility.”

”My only wish, Your Royal Highness, is that instead of sending me back to Everdeep, please, let me pass through the western gate. I am nothing but a renegade among my people, Your Majesty. There is nothing left for me in Everdeep - nothing but death.”

The king seemed thoughtful. ”I do not hear arrogance in your request, Arathan, though I find it hard to imagine that you could find a place out in the open that would accept your kind,” he muttered and scratched his beard. ”But who am I to make such decisions for you. You are free to go wherever your heart desires, but you may never return to Othrond again. Do you understand this?”

Aniceth closed his eyes and took a deep breath. ”I understand, Your Highness.”