AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Priestess Charlotte?” I gasped.
She dropped her hood and wore a sad expression on her face. “Yes, it is me. It’s nice to see you all again.”
The woman behind the pulpit lowered her hood as well, and I saw her dark curls. It was Priestess Stella. I hadn’t expected to see her here. The last time we’d seen her had been in the courtroom the day of our trial. She’d appeared as a ghost and spoken out against Lilian and Margaret, but Professor Leto had cast some sort of spell on her that made her disappear. We’d never known what happened to her after that. I didn’t realize she’d moved on from Earth.
“Priestesses, what are you doing here?” I asked. “You already acknowledged your mistakes and apologized for them. You helped protect the coven. You should both be in Alora.”
“They’re not the ones on trial!” someone in the crowd shouted. “Get on with it!”
The crowd cheered in agreement.
“Priestesses, please let us go,” Lucas begged. “You were on our side in Octavia Falls. We are only here to find the Oaken Wands. You must find it in yourself to show us mercy.”
“We are truly sorry you have to go through this, but this is the way things work here,” Charlotte said regrettably. “It’s something everyone must do, though we will be as fair as we can be. To avoid the torture the others will put you through, you must prove your innocence.”
I didn’t want to go through with this, but I trusted Priestess Charlotte. When Professor Leto was in town, Charlotte realized the mistake she’d made in striking a deal with a demon. She came to us to seek a solution. She helped us fight Professor Leto, and she gave herself up so we could defeat him. She had fallen into the demon’s pit and died. If she believed this was the way to walk out of here unharmed, then we had to go through with it.
“This court is now in session,” Stella said, smacking a gavel on the pulpit.
Charlotte began reading off the papers in front of her. “Lucas Taylor, Nadine Taylor, Grant Bryant, Talia Murphy, and Chloe Olson, you are hereby called upon by Mother Miriam to state your sins and be judged by a jury of your peers.”
It was disgusting by how they used Mother Miriam’s name as if she approved of this torture. I didn’t think Priestess Charlotte liked it either, because she shifted uncomfortably.
“There’s nothing you can say to hurt us,” Grant insisted. “We’re innocent.”
“You cannot deny your feelings in front of us,” Charlotte said. “There are Seers among us. We know all of your deepest regrets.”
Lucas spoke calmly. “We’ve already been through this on Earth. We aren’t afraid. What are our charges?”
The crowd appeared puzzled, and a man in the front row spoke up. “Why aren’t you angry? If you’re innocent as you say, don’t you wish to put us on trial for false imprisonment?”
“Why should we be the ones to determine your fate?” I asked rhetorically.
“Because somebody has to,” the man sneered. Others spoke up in agreement.
Stella pounded the gavel, and the crowd quieted. “Order in the court! We will be the ones leading this trial. You will all remain quiet until a verdict has been reached.”
Charlotte turned on her heel and walked to the end of the podium, where Grant sat. “Grant Bryant, you are hereby accused of breaking the Bro Code.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Grant demanded.
She looked down at her papers. “The Bro Code—it is a series of unspoken rules for male friendship?—”
“I know what the Bro Code is,” Grant started, but Charlotte continued like she hadn’t heard him.
“—Including but not limited to sleeping with your best friend’s ex.”
“I never slept with Nadine!” Grant cried. “We only went out on one date!”
“And yet you are guilty of breaking the Bro Code, are you not?” She cocked an eyebrow.
“I… may have some regrets,” Grant admitted.
Grant and I had been out on one date my sophomore year, while Lucas and I were broken up. Grant and I were both single at the time, and we figured there was no harm in hanging out for the evening. It’d been a complete disaster, though. We’d gone to a restaurant on the lake, and Grant’s enchanted crab pinched his ear and then ran off into the trees. Then we’d gone to a lake party, where Grant and I shared a kiss, and he and Lucas had gotten into a fist fight. We all had regrets over that night, but I thought we’d moved on from it. Apparently, we hadn’t.
Charlotte strolled up to Lucas. “Isn’t it true, Lucas, that you want to get back at Grant for what he did to you?”
Lucas hesitated. “Nadine and I were broken up. That’s in the past.”
