I walked behind Celosia Bathory as she led the way to the imperial auditorium. She walked with firm, brisk steps, her dress sweeping the marble floors of the passageways behind her. She walked quickly and I had to walk faster to catch up with her, not previously knowing she walked that fast. I hadn't been to the imperial auditorium before and I didn't want to lose my way. I kept up.
"What is your name?" She asked.
"Avril," I said.
"Avril," Celosia said. "I trust that you will take care of my little Zelda well and that is why I have given you the responsibility to be her governess. I believe you have a pure soul. Why I came to this conclusion, I don't know, but it is what I think. My hunches are usually right. There's always the fear that enemies of the empire might target my daughter, weak and small as she is- rebels, politically ambitious nobles. I want you to watch over her properly for me."
"Yes, your highness," I replied. "I'll try my best."
Celosia smiled. "I know you will."
When we reached one of the four entrances of the dome-shaped building that was the imperial auditorium, I first noticed the noise; people talking loudly over other people's voices. It was clear that they were excited. Entertainment was entertainment wasn't it, I thought, wondering whether that should be the attitude of people who were to witness an execution.
We passed the passage that led from the entrance we had taken and Celosia and I appeared in the only room in the structure; the large, round hall that had rows and rows of chairs in steps, one a step over the former in a semi circular fashion.
This semi-circle faced the center, a round block where there was a small podium for an accused to plead their innocence and then a large space where they stood to face judgment, whatever form that judgment took.
A special raised podium faced this too. It held the seat of the emperor. The emperor sat there now, a leg slightly crossed over the other, his longsword hanging across from his waist. Two fae guards stood behind him, armed with spears, and swords that hung at their waists.
The imperial family sat opposite the emperor, facing the trial block that he faced. They had reserved seats at the center of the steps, at the fourth or fifth level. I could see the Queen Mother and Celosia's husband seated already.
Celosia and I stood in a corner of the hall, close to the edge of the steps, with a handful of people who had just arrived, or couldn't be bothered with getting seated properly to continue watching the proceedings.
I wondered why Celosia did not go to sit at the designated seats for the Volkovs, but I didn't say anything. Something had just happened and so everyone in the hall was talking about it. It seemed that the trials were concluded and it was time for punishment. I observed the hall.
I could see Orla and the venomous man stand to a corner of the trial block, held by strong-looking fae soldiers with stocky builds. Two other guards held some fae men too, beside them.
As the noise rose in the hall and the Adjudicator tried to calm the spectators, I struggled to hear Celosia's words.
"Have you witnessed an execution before?" She asked.
"No," I said.
She gave a small smile. "You might get used to it yet." She smoothed her palms over the skirt of her dress. "I have seen more than my fair share and yet it all seems to shock me anew whenever I see a new one. I can never get used to it."
It was clear that Celosia was very pacifist. Knowing that those who were going to be executed today would kill me if they escaped, I didn't know how to feel. I wasn't sure I was pacifist then. I wasn't sure I was anything. I was still reeling from the events of this morning down to this point.
The bailiff waved to the crowd to be quiet, but the noise seemed to increase. How entertaining had the trial been, such that the crowd were so noisy afterwards? I wondered.
"Quiet," the emperor hissed. It was soft- and if not that I watched his lips move, I wouldn't have known he had spoken- and yet the hall quieted. In just a few seconds, the sounds of the wizened Adjudicator's footsteps moving to the side to allow the first accused to come up, echoed in the quiet.
"Proceed," Tieran Volkov said to the Adjudicator.
The Adjudicator- Vahorn von Freitag- cleared his throat and called on the first accuseds for the evening.
"Astor Lyle and Vesper Caster," Vahorn said and the guards led them to the trial block as Vahorn continued to speak. "You have been found guilty of deserting your duty as our Knights, which is a core violation of your vows as agents of the emperor; as protectors of our realm. Any words for our emperor before your punishment is decided?"
Astor and Vesper went on their knees, pleading for a light sentence for some reasons I couldn't properly hear. Their voices merged and sounded like blabbing from where I stood.
"Cut off their wings," Tieran Volkov said.
Going by the look on the faces of the men- one of relief- it seemed anything was more preferable to dying at the hands of the emperor, even something as ignominious as a fae losing their wings. That was almost tantamount to them being treated as outcasts by their fellow fae. A fae did not grow wings again if they lost it. They could only grow another if they were changelings at the time they lost it, similar to how babies who lose their milk teeth will grow it again unlike their older and more mature counterparts.
Fae wings repaired damages and broken tips and scratches, but if they were cut from the base- like they would be now- they never grew again.
The wings of the fae men were cut and it was a very excruciating process; it showed in the screams of the men. Blood spilled over their clothes and one of them passed out. Soon after, they were carried out of the trial block to be given medical attention by the Imperial physician. Their punishment was to be wingless and not lose their lives, so they were going to have their wounds dressed, forever changed.
The next group was Orla Spry and the venomous man. Vahorn called them up and said a similar thing to them as he had told the fae men, just that they had been found guilty of plotting to assassinate the emperor and his family; trying to and nearly succeeding.
As Vahorn listed the charges on their necks, noise rose in the hall but quieted soon after. "Do you have anything to tell our dear emperor before he considers your punishment?"
Orla went on her knees at once and began blabbering her apologies and state categorically that she had no primary intention to assassinate the emperor, but she had been lured by the promise of wealth and so she should be forgiven. The venomous man looked on dazedly, removed from what was going on in front of him.
Tieran Volkov raised his hand for Orla to pause in her pleading. "Who asked you to do it?"
Orla stopped then, catching her breath after her tears that refused to stop flowing as she spoke. "Your Imperial highness," she said. "I have not the slightest idea. Whoever wanted the death of the royal family sent someone else. His emissary was the one who contacted me. And I don't know even him! Your majesty, it was not my intention to do such to your eminence and the royal family. I-"
The emperor turned from her to the venomous man beside her. "Do you also not know who sent you to waste your life," he asked, "or are you being deliberately tight-lipped about it?"
The venomous man did not speak. He only continued to stare with the dazed expression on his face. Beyond doing normal human actions, like walking and working and eating, he seemed like his mind had descended into a state of damage that did not allow much social interaction, I noticed. I wasn't even sure he knew where he was as he stared, and hissed when the noise got too much or unbearable- the noise from the crowd- I wasn't sure he knew he was standing trial.
The emperor turned to the guards. "Sever their heads from their necks...brutally," he said.
"Your majesty!" Orla cried.
The venomous man looked on. With the ear deafening noise that followed, Tieran Volkov's dogs, who lay at his feet, licked their lips as they watched the blood on the floor from the fae earlier; as they sensed that more was to come. He stroked their fur and they became calm again, the sizzle of magic dissipating slowly.
He continued to stroke their fur as he watched the guards produce their swords and strike viciously at the venomous man. His head rolled to the floor just before Vahorn von Freitag and the wizened old man stepped back slightly in startlement.
Orla Spry tried to run towards the emperor, and his dogs barked at her as they bared their fangs. She jumped. In her daze, she misstepped on the short flight of steps leading down the trial block. When she got up and raised her head, the guards were above her. One of them moved his sword and her head rolled to the ground.
Bright red blood stained the floors and I felt my heart lurch in startlement at the amount; at the realization of what I had just watched.
I would never come to the Imperial auditorium again.
Tieran Volkov's eyes had been on the accuseds throughout, as their blood spilled. I know, I had been watching him. He watched the proceedings with negligent detachment. Now, as some attendants carried the bodies and the noise in the auditorium rose again, he watched the trial block.
His eyes suddenly cut to mine and he met my gaze. I swallowed slightly as his gaze rested on me, a small head viewing the proceedings from a small crowd by the end of the auditorium step seats. With such a deep stare, it seemed as if he could see through me.
His gaze turned and I could finally breathe again.