The Helford Trials (Helford #3)

Chapter Seven

                 

I had never seen Lys Asbury anything less than calm, cool, and composed. She had been a soldier for Helford-or maybe it was because of Helford-and she had old scars, faded with age, crisscrossed over her face to prove it. She was the kind of person that had stories, ones of shame and fear and loss, but she was tight-lipped and would never speak a word, because she had experienced those very things being used against her. She was a soldier, though, first things first. She believed in honor and the truth. Of all the people that could have been at the helm of a company of dangerous people trying to fight their way to freedom, she was the perfect leader.

Lys Asbury was the type of person who had a lot of secrets, and it was her decision whether she would spill them or not.

"Miss Asbury," the lead official began, and then paused, glancing up at her through his spectacles. "You were once a member of Helford, but have not been for a long time. It says here that you were recruited for your genius, as well as your knowledge for computer sciences."

"Yes," Lys spoke from the table, her hands folded on the top calmly and patiently. She was wearing a black dress, looking like she was coming from a funeral, with a red hairband that pushed her hair back, rippling in the brown like blood, emphasizing her scars. I wondered if she was using it as a weapon, and figured it was stupid of me to wonder, because Lys didn't do anything that wasn't on purpose.

Valerie and Meade sat on either side of me, both of them sitting and watching the events unfolding with indifferent expressions. My father was sitting behind Lys's table, his hand scratching notes on a legal pad. He and Lys had been working closely for the last several weeks, and both of them knew that the plea deal that she had won meant that this would be nothing short of a slide, but neither of them were looking a gift horse in the mouth. Really, I couldn't blame them.

The official's mouth was twisting into an unhappy expression as he continued to read from the page, clearly seeing things that he did not like. "You have plea bargained your way out of a guilty verdict by supplying us information. For that, this will not be a trail and a hearing and more of a pardoning ceremony. I don't know of the things you exchanged in order to fulfill this, Miss Asbury, but I am sure they are worth it."

"The things that I have lived and experienced are not meant for outside eyes," Lys began carefully, almost regally. "I have been deep inside of many operations, including those that went wrong. I have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly-of Helford, and of the Underground resistance, and of the leaders themselves. For who I am, I have been around a long time, sir. I have many things that I can say, but I will not say them, because it is not me that deserves to be on trial."

"You have still worked against the United States government, miss, and that does not leave you innocent," another judge said, and Lys looked over at them, smiling like they said something hilarious.

"I never said I was innocent," she replied, shrugging. "However, that's not necessarily your decision to make, sir."

The man bristled, annoyed that she would talk back, perhaps thinking that she was showing disrespect. Meade's mouth curled up into an amused smirk, his eyes lit up like it was Christmas morning.

But the major official was becoming more curious than insulted, leaning forward eagerly into the microphone and asking, "You have done many heroic things in your career in both the Army and the Helford forces, Miss Asbury, despite the crimes charged against you. I could go through them now, but like you pointed out, there would be no use, as it is not our decision to make. However, I cannot help but notice that you have used your testimony to stand against one person in particular. I know the name well, as would anyone following these trials, so I cannot help but to ask-is it worth it? To have lived and fought for all this time, only to come out in the end and realize what it meant to get there?"