Damnationem
The chambers were quiet as the king, prince and commanders and lords listened to the contents of the letter. Earlier that morning, a letter had arrived from the court of the Hadid of Salminia. A truce was basically all it was asking for.
"Why can't that black fool ever say something in as few words as possible?" King Finnigan bemoaned. He drew his hand across his face as the Court Herald concluded the letter. The Herald placed the letter on the small table beside the throne and bowed. He made his exit as the king cleared his throat. The hall was filled with murmurs as the commanders and lords considered the contents of the letter.
"My king," a man spoke up, approaching the throne. His hair was sandy blonde and his eyes were emerald green. His voice was as commanding as his stature. His armor was golden and his cape was blood red with the mark of Jaru on it. He was Gatus Kolden. Lord Commander of the Royal Guard, The Radix Corps.
"Gatus," Finnigan acknowledged him. "What do you have to say?" Gatus' eyes were cold as he looked up into the eyes of his Sovereign. He was a man of war and had no compunctions whatsoever in showing his thirst for it.
"I believe this is nonsense," Gatus spoke. "The Salminians have never been our friends and are know for their sly ways. Besides, we have always been the ones to propose an amicable settlement in the past, which, may I remind this court, has put us into unfavorable positions." He paused before continuing. "My king, I have always, and will always say, a man who is colored, can never truly show honesty." The hall erupted with shouts of fury.
"Mind your tongue Lord Commander!" Dale spat venomously, hand already at the hilt if his blade. "Would become hard to give orders without it I'm sure," he threatened.
Gatus threw a look at the young man, completely unperturbed by the threat. He chuckled at the display of bravado from the prince. "That's if you could take it from me," he countered. Excited murmurs permeated the atmosphere in the large room at the not-so-subtly thrown challenge. Dale drew his blade.
"Enough!" Finnigan roared and at once, the hall quieted. Dale withdrew his blade and placed it back in its sheath, still locking eyes on Gatus. The Lord Commander chuckled again, further infuriating the Prince. King Finnigan turned his gaze from his son's back to his Lord Commander. He had never really liked the man, but he had to admit that he was an excellent Commander. He considered the man, decision already made. He was one of his best strategists.
Too bad the war ahead would not see his expertise.
"You dare slight the Crown Gatus?" Finnigan asked calmly. Gatus' eyes met the kings fearlessly.
"No," he replied. Truthfully, Gatus meant no slight to the Crown. Just the previous wearers of the Crown.
"Then what was your statement meant to tell us?" Finnigan asked.
"I—," Gatus began to explain himself.
"Because," Finnigan cut him off. "From where I sit, it sounds like you were casting stones on the memory of our late queen." Gatus glared at the king, knowing that there was no way he could get out of this. Looking at the King, he knew that Lord Finnigan had been waiting for this. Neither of them had ever liked each other. From their days at the Magus Academy to their time together in the Radix Corps. It had been the one thing they had ever agreed on. Their intense hatred for each other.
Despite the fact that they were twins, they were as different from each other as their physical characteristics were different. After their height, the similarities between the brothers ended.
"You may twist my words," Gatus sneered, "but you can't deny the truth of my words."
Dale's lips curled in a snarl. "I will kill you uncle."
"Seize him," Finnigan commanded and the guards around, immediately surrounded Gatus. Gatus glared at his assailants, then at his brother and nephew. The smirk on Finnigan's face could only bode ill for him. His heart thumped mercilessly in his chest, while his face showed stony resolve.
"What is the meaning of this, brother?" Gatus spat. Dale snarled. Finnigan stood up and outstretched his hands. The hall silenced.
"Lord Gatus Caderius Kolden. First son of Anderes Livetus Romerus Kolden, and Lord Commander of the Radix Corps, Knight of the First Order, High Magus Of The Seventh Realm. You have been charged with treason before the Crown. What is your plea?"
Gatus looked hard into his brother's eyes. Those grey orbs looked back into his. Cold and blank. No warmth or sympathy whatsoever. Those eyes bore no love for him. No sympathy. Just loathing. Hatred.
And death.
He exhaled slowly.
"Guilty." There. There was no escaping his end. His racism had been his biggest flaw and his mouth had been his biggest problem. His inability to keep snide remarks out of his words had always made him the butt of cruel jokes and curses all his life. Impulsiveness had driven him all his life. It had won him fame on the battlefield and in the war-room. But, like his mother had always feared, it had brought about his doom.
"From this moment, you are stripped of all titles and land as held within the power of the Crown and are henceforth banished into exile. If you so much as think of returning, you will be hunted down like a dog, and killed."
Gatus' eyes widened in shock. The penalty for treason was death by beheading. This small kindness from Finnigan was, unexpected to say the least.
"Now, get out of my sight. Brother."
Gatus turned without preamble, and the guards around him parted to make way as did the crowd who were silently observing the whole ordeal, and walked away. Out of the chambers, out of the castle, and saddled his horse and rode off.
Away from his home.
******
Taria scanned the area around her as her team settled down to make camp. The sun was already making its descent down in the sky. The winds blew the sands around her as she looked about, her keen eyes taking in everything.
"Come sit with us Niña," someone called behind her. She turned to face Rojo Galivas, one of the members of her team. She wasn't surprised to see that they had already finished setting up camp and had settled down. She made her way to the fire that was burning low and sat down. Her eyes discreetly observed her teammates. They were a total of four people. Two girls and two guys.
One Level One Heavenly King, who was captain. That was Rojo.
Caesar, the other male, was a Level One Heavenly Lord while Ana was a Level Three Mortal King.
And lastly, there was her, Taria, the Level Two Mortal Lord. None of them were even remotely at her level.
Going through the scroll her Commander had given her, she knew that apart from being the least in age, she had the least experience amongst them and the lowest cultivation. Her being on this mission was already a gift in itself. Plus, the rank of her teammates showed how high-class this mission was.
She couldn't afford to screw it up.
Inside her heart, Taria knew that tye on my reason she'd been able to get this mission was because she was a noble and had a bloodline ability. Even though said ability was not very prominent in her.
She also knew she was being hard on herself. To have entered the rank of Level Two Mortal Lord at her age was a great feat. Many were stuck on Beginning Stage of Mortal Lord for life.
Cultivation was a very hard process afterall.
"Is the little princess scared?" Ana mocked. Caesar laughed, slightly. Taria sighed. Here we go, she thought.
"Don't start Ana," Rojo warned with a stern look towards the brunette. Ana raised her hands in mock surrender.
"What did I do?" Ana asked in a mocking hurt tone. Taria rolled her eyes and Rojo sighed. She ignored the older woman and focused on the fire. Now that she thought about it, it was stupid of her to want to keep watch. They had a Level Three Heavenly Duke amongst them. He could cast a sensory net so wide, that even asleep, not even ants could catch him unawares from two miles away.
"Here," Rojo said passing her a bowl of avinda, a watery soup made from white scorpion flesh and chili peppers and tomato paste.
She had never had it before and she wasn't keen on change when it came to her diet.
But she was hungry and he was being nice, so she would be stupid to spit on his charity now. Plus, she had a feeling this was a test of some sort. If the way Ana and Caesar were watching her "discreetly" was any clue.
"Thanks captain." She took the bowl from him and peered at its contents. She wasn't one for cooking, but even she could see that this, wasn't going to taste pleasant in the slightest.
Tentatively, she put the first spoonful in her mouth. The scorpion flesh was rubbery and had a nasty taste. It didn't help that there was no salt in the meal. Calling upon her years of training in schooling her expression and her innate talent for control, she held herself from regurgitating everything as she swallowed. It was in no way pleasant. She wouldn't even offer this to prisoners of war. She quickly contemplated making an excuse or finishing the bowl, and decided on the latter.
The food was not poisonous to her system. Just... distasteful—to put it mildly. But she decided chewing was going to be more than even her self-disciple could handle. And so, she tipped her head back and poured the content of the bowl into her mouth and swallowed it once. Her throat burned from the pepper and her eyes watered. But she didn't so much as flinch. At the end of the day, all that mattered was, she had eaten.
"Excuse me, I must find some water to drink." She got up without getting any response from her teammates and walked towards their water supply.
She had eaten. Now she would drink. And tomorrow, she'd have lived another day. She sighed as she stopped by the river and scooped water to her mouth.
"All in a days work."
******
"Fiend!"
"Demon!"
"Whore!"
Sa'na had heard it all before. The people had no mercy for her as she was dragged before the Kaavi. She also knew that her case had already been judged and she was not going to leave this court with her head on her shoulders.
Not if the gathered crowd and half-burned down city had anything to say about it.
Funny thing was, she could not remember anything. Her last memory was of Ejiro raping her and then her flashbacks to her time with old Habiba. Beyond that...
Nothing.
She hung her head in confusion and shame as the crowd booed and jeered while the guards tried halfheartedly to stop them. Suddenly, the crowd went silent and she looked up noticing that the Kaavi had stood up.
'This is it.'
Emem Demola Ala looked at the girl at the centre of the large courtroom. He had gotten her background story from one of his many informants and based on what he'd been told, the girl was many things.
A bastard, a riffraff, a ruffian and at one time, a pretty decent thief.
But a violent person she was not.
Her capture had even been because she had stopped in her bid to escape from guards, to help a child who had fallen on the way. Of course, this never made it into the reports, but he had been on hand to witness that act of kindness.
But there was no denying that she had maimed and nearly killed Ejiro Kwame and burned down half the city. Something must have triggered it and that was what he wanted to find out.
"Sa'na Mai-i'din! Child of no one," Emem's voice rang out over the crowd. "You stand here today accused of attacking your benefactor, attempted murder and destruction of public property. How do you plead?"
"She's guilty!"
"Kill the demon!"
"Burn the witch!"
"She dey use magic! Kill am!"
Emem held his hands up again for the crowd to quiet. "I asked you a question child. I expect answers!" His voice held command and Sa'na flinched.
"I-I...," she sallowed then looked up again. "I don't know." There was an immediate uproar at her words and the crowds resorted to throwing things at her. The guards did not really care much for the prisoner so they kept shut and did the barest minimum to maintain order. So long as no one entered the arena, they could say or do what ever they wanted to their victim.
Unless their Lord said otherwise—which he promptly did. With a raised arm, the Kaavi brought order back. He kept his gaze on the girl as he asked, "What do you mean, "you don't know."?"
Sa'na shrugged. "I have no idea what happened," she explained. "One minute, Master Ejiro was raping me as usual, and the next, I'm being dragged around town accused of burning it and assalting my master." The whole arena silenced at her words. Some women shuddered.
How often did a person need to be sexually abused for it to become a "usual" thing?
Emem nodded once. "Tomorrow I will pass judgement. For now, take her away."