The Head's office was as intricately decorated and lavishly pristine as the rest of the Citadel. There was a row of large, towering bookshelves along the wall to Asiah's right. She would have so loved to go over to the bookshelves and read the spines of each book, all the while wondering what era they were from. Perhaps, if it had been a more social visit, the Head might have even told her where each book had come from.
Asiah hid behind Kavaris's large body as much as she could without seeming obvious. Luckily, such a feat was easily pulled off as he was so tall and muscular, it was easy to disappear behind him. Everything inside of her was screaming and her to turn tail and run, but she knew that was impossible. There were seven Mages at her rear, an Arch-Mage guiding her, and the Head herself.
Asiah glanced at the Head through her eyelashes. Her eyes widened a touch. The stories had been untrue. She should have guessed as much. The woman in front of her was neither old nor brittle, nor did she have the witch's affliction that ruined the skin and rendered the target too horrid to gaze upon.
She was a beautiful woman with skin like milk and hair like a flame. She was dressed in white and golden robes and she was writing something on parchment. She didn't look up at them right away. There was a man standing at her side—large and built like a bear with dark skin and white hair—and Asiah knew who he was at once. He, who never left the Head's side and protected her from danger, her Teeth, Alaric. He and his sister—who acted as the Head's Eyes—were both Arch-Mages.
The desk she sat behind was the largest thing in the room. It took up most of the space on the Head's side of the room. Behind her was a quarter moon-shaped window that ran from one side of the wall to the other. It exposed the view of a gorgeous garden filled with eliacras that shone under the moonlight as if they were alive and a rushing waterfall. Both moons were high in the sky now, beaming down on the pretty lake that caught the water's fall.
So caught up in staring at the garden, Asiah forgot where she was until the head placed her quill back in its holder and looked straight at her. She remembered herself then. She was not here to gawk and marvel at the loveliness of the Citadel. She was not here as a guest or even as a tourist. She was here to be sentenced.
The Head stared at Asiah for so long, she was uncomfortable before she spoke. "Here, I wondered what the woman who had been brave and clever enough to sneak past the Mages guarding the Goddess's Garden to steal Kasari's sacred treasure would look like, only to find that she's just a child."
Asiah bristled at that, but she held her tongue. The Head was not someone she could afford to disrespect, especially now, when her life was in this woman's hands.
"I'm not a child, your Excellence. I'm twenty."
The Head leaned back and gazed at her. "I know. I know everything about you, Lady Asiah Blondell." Upon seeing the surprise on her face, the Head gave a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "As the ruler of Eldyngrove, it's my job to keep up with all the noble families and their children. Not only that, but you look like your mother, and you're lucky for it. Lady Isobella Flaxern was the belle of high society in her day. I imagine she would be quite astonished to find you in such a situation, Lady Asiah."
Asiah had no words. What could she do? Push back? Argue? Nothing that the Head had said was a lie. If her mother could see her now—defiling the sacred space of the Great Goddess whom she was so fond of to steal from Her grandson—she would have given Asiah the biggest punishment she could think of. Even if she had done it for the sake of her sisters, for the sake of their happiness. Her mother would never let her off.
"You speak too harshly, your Excellence. I harbor no ill will toward Lady Asiah."
The Head turned her attention to Kavaris. "So you do not," she murmured, eyeing him. "Forgive me, but seeing you here before me is quite the shock."
"Forgive me, your Excellency, but haven't you had ample time to prepare for my arrival? I sensed the Elf send word of us on our way."
Asiah looked at him wide-eyed. He spoke so recklessly to someone in such a high position of power. Then again, he was the son of a goddess and had been in the presence of the Great Goddess Herself. What was there to fear from men when you have walked with gods?
The Head smiled a little. "No matter what is done, one cannot be prepared to meet a man of legend. Your story, Ser Kavaris, is one many of us have heard growing up. Myself included. My father told me of you and your Ariadne in great detail. She aided him once."
"I recall that. I recall her nearly giving her life to help your father keep Eldyngrove out of the hands of greedy nobles looking to stab him in the back."
She placed her hands primly on the desk; her hair shone vibrantly in the light from the sunstones placed in their sconces around the room. "I'm aware of what she has done for my father and my people, Ser Kavaris. I'm also aware of what you seek to ask me, and I will tell you that such a thing is not possible. That you have forgiven her and vouch for her is a lovely thing, but she has broken sacred law. She entered the first garden Magdellana ever created, a garden my father let you use to bury Ariadne, for it did not belong to you. It was gifted to Father by the Goddess. Her stealing your ring, I could forgive since she broke your curse and returned the child of Kasari to us. But defiling the Goddess's gift is not something I can overlook."
Her heart sank. This was, of course, what she had expected. She had hoped that Kavaris had been right and that he would be able to protect her from punishment, but she also was a realist. Of course, the Head couldn't let this go. If she let Asiah off, she would have to let off every criminal who might decide to steal into the gardens and defile Ariadne's tomb next or pick a couple of eliacras to sell.
Kavaris crossed his arms over his chest, narrowing his tawny eyes. "Do you truly not plan to let this go?"
"I cannot."
"Even though she's the reincarnation of Ariadne."
"Even then I cannot—wait, what did you say?"
"You heard me. Lady Asiah is Ariadne reincarnated."