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Kirwan rose up. “I will happily repeat my evidence at the behest of Meya. The facts are these—only months ago, Aya Olene and her children lived in poverty in the Galley. Her eldest daughter, Callidora, owed a significant debt to House Dawnbreaker that she agreed to repay by signing up for the noble service of becoming a war wife.
“I myself escorted her to Crystal Palace, so that she may begin her duties by servicing the faeriken in attendance of the royal wedding,” he said. “The coward immediately fled and abandoned her responsibilities and her family.
“Or did she?” Kirwan brushed his thumb over the crystal on his lapel. A familiar silver chalice appeared in his right hand. “This is one of the items confiscated from Aya Olene’s home. As you can see, the crest of Wind and Wild and its beast king is on the bottom.”
I hadn’t noticed that when I shoved all those treasures in a sack for my family. Alisdair was right. I was a terrible thief.
“What I now believe to be true is that Callidora bedded one of the faeriken and convinced him over pillow talk to whisk her away to Wind and Wild, where she’d be a go-between for her family and Shadowsoul. They spy on our kingdom in exchange for wealth and riches. That’s the only explanation for the millions’ worth of jewels, gold, and treasure discovered upon search of their home.”
Anger laced his tone, but it wasn’t for the loss of his war wife or child. I’d come to know this monster too well over the last sixteen years to mistake his true feelings. Kirwan was angry... at my mother.
I suspected the minute those jewels arrived, she quit working as a war wife, and dumped Kirwan in the trash where hebelonged. He could no longer delude himself into thinking they were in love, when the door kept slamming in his face.
Finding the crest on the treasures gave him his ultimate wish—ensuring that if my mother didn’t belong to him, she belonged to no one.
Meliora swung to me, face stricken.
I had no idea how Kirwan got her included in the charges. I assumed he did so just to cause my mother the ultimate amount of pain before the end. She would’ve known whatever trumped-up bullshit he spun to get a young woman executed, but I couldn’t ask her.
By law—Salman’s law—the accused weren’t allowed to speak in this room, and naturally, the entire trial from start to finish always took place in this very room. Meaning, she couldn’t speak one word in her defense while these uncaring monsters spouted lies and determined her fate.
Salman truly was a vile man.
“Thank you, Lord Dawnbreaker.” The priestess inclined her bare head. “Now, Queen Emiana, what have you to say for these women?”
“I have only the truth, O Holy One, for I dare not speak anything else into Meya’s ears,” I replied. “There is another explanation for this money, and I shall tell it to you. I sent these treasures to Aya Olene because Callidora wouldn’t accept it for herself. She wanted my thanks to go to her family, precisely because she cares only for them and her responsibilities.”
“Your thanks?” Salman questioned.
“Precisely so, Father. You see, the night before my wedding, I was targeted by an assassin who wanted nothing more than to stop the signing of the treaty, and keep Lyrica under the grip of war. It was Callidora who saved my life.”
Salman stiffened, eyes sharpening. “An assassin?” he barked. “How? Who!”
“The how was frightfully simple,” I replied. “Poison slipped into my evening meal. You can imagine my surprise when a peasant girl burst into my chambers, screaming at me not to eat a morsel. I almost sent for the guards to have her flogged, but then she told me of the awful plot she overheard... while in the home of House Dawnbreaker.”
Kirwan’s head snapped up. “Excuse me? What did you say!?”
I sniffed. “Again my would-be assassin addresses me. You truly have no shame.”
“Would-be assass— That’s preposterous!”
“Silence,” Salman ordered.
“But, my king—”
“Silence!” Salman shoved out in front of him, bearing down on me. “Explain this. Immediately.”
“It is what I’ve said,” I replied, lifting my nose in the air. “Callidora overheard a plot to kill me, and fulfilled her rightful duty—saving my life. It was me who asked her to come to Wind and Wild with me, not some love-addled faeriken. I did this to protect her in case Dawnbreaker figured out who foiled his plot, and attempted to kill her next.”
“These are lies!” Kirwan roared.
The advisor who spoke up before separated from the pack. “I beg King Salman, Meya, and the priestesses for pardon, but I must say, I find the accusations against Advisor Kirwan highly unlikely. He has served my king faithfully for hundreds of years.”
“Because we’ve been at war for hundreds of years,” I sliced in. “Callidora and I have had many discussions in the months I’ve been away. House Dawnbreaker has been the exclusive military miner and seller of coudarian crystals since the war began. He’s profited tens of millions, but with the treaty in place and the war over, that money goes away.
“Isn’t that correct, Father?”
Salman turned on his advisor. A million emotions warred on his face, but one was clear as day—suspicion. “Yes, my child. You are correct.”
