I WATCHED two more hearings before the speaker crackled and I heard the announcement I’d been dreading: “Miss Calidora Winston. Miss Winston, please step forward.”
I felt nowhere near as brave as Ivory had looked. I was sure that wouldn’t work in my favor. To make things worse, the blond with the red earring caught my eye as I stumbled over Mom and walked up to the podium. I drew in a shaky breath and looked up at Commissioner Reese.
“Hi, I’m Calla Winston. Traveling is pretty new to me, so I’m afraid I don’t know all the rules. I mean, I’m still learning, and I don’t feel that I’m responsible for two infractions.” I couldn’t believe how stupid the words sounded coming out of my mouth.
The Commissioner raised his eyebrows. “Did you bring your evidence with you?”
“Yes.” I pulled out the letter I’d written to Edgar and set it on the podium.
“Did you write on that piece of paper and leave it in the past?”
“Yes, sir, I did.”
“Why did you do it?”
My lips trembled, but not because I was frightened by the Commissioner or distracted by my own guilt. It was because of Edgar. “I was afraid that my friend would die. He was sick, dying, and it was the only way I could think of to make him give me the ingredients for his medicine—to save him.”
The Commissioner frowned. “Miss Winston, do you believe that you are in charge of preventing death?”
“No, sir, I don’t. I hadn’t thought of it that way. I just wanted to help.”
A glint of compassion and understanding passed over Commissioner Reese’s face. “Did you know that you would be creating a daily reminder and leaving it in the past?”
“Yes, sir.”
Commissioner Reese sighed. “Is this all of the evidence that you brought with you today?”
“I—well, I have the travel glasses and a second daily reminder, but I didn’t take the picture. A silhouette took it, actually—”
“So then you know about silhouettes too?” Commissioner Reese frowned. “I am having trouble believing that you are ‘pretty new’ to traveling, Miss Winston.”
“I had to learn a lot in a short period of time, sir.”
My cheeks flushed as I pulled the photograph out of my pocket—the one Shirlyn took, and the past version of Valcas had written on after I’d left the White Tower. This was the photograph that led to fake engagement number two.
I placed the photograph on the podium next to the letter to Edgar. “Do you want the glasses too?”
“Thank you, but not yet. In fact, it may not be necessary at all.” Commissioner Reese stood up from behind his desk and walked toward me, cracking his knuckles along the way.
I stood as stiff as a board while he lifted the photograph off the podium with thick fingers puffed with swollen knuckles. I winced. He must have cracked them a lot.
“Where was this photograph taken?” he asked, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand.
“Outside the White Tower—the one that belongs to Sable and Jim Hall. But I didn’t write on it—”
“That’s enough.” He squinted as he looked at the writing on the back of the photo. Then, to my horror, he read out loud what the past version of Valcas had written there:
Flying with Calla Winston, the woman I will marry,
she who dims the brightness of the four moons
and the glow of the tower.
Commissioner Reese met my eyes for a faction of a second and then looked up over my head. With my cheeks burning, I turned to follow his gaze—all the way up to the mezzanine level where concerned faces looked back at me, their eyes shifting between me and the Commissioner.
The flash of a familiar grin caught my attention. I thought my cheeks would burn right off my face.
“Valcas Hall,” said Commissioner Reese. His lips and eyebrows curved into deep frowns. “Welcome back to my hearing chamber. Did you appear here today as a witness to the charges against Miss Winston?”
Valcas’ grin grew wider. “I brought her here for you, Commissioner, so that she could attend her hearing. This is the first time I’ve heard the specific charges. I have not prepared anything on behalf of myself, or on behalf of my past self with whom Calla has become so... deeply familiar.”
I placed a hand over my mouth and turned around to stare at the top of the podium. I could feel Commissioner Reese’s eyes boring into my head, but I couldn’t look up. I couldn’t meet his eyes.
“Valcas,” he said, placing the photograph back on the podium. “Get down here before the podium. Now.”
YOU ARE READING
Insight Kindling (The Call to Search Everywhen, #2)
Science FictionI'd always heard knowledge was power. But the more I learned, the more powerless I felt. Calla faces charges against her for changing the past. Her use of the Travel Glasses resulted in the creation of two writings that affected the lives of Edgar...
