P R E V I O U S L Y
It was Celestina.
CALCHESTER CITADEL, STEFFITH.
EDWINA
TRISTAN HAD BEEN POSITIVELY INCENSED when I suggested attending the Trial.
But he had grimly nodded, his face a silent promise of death. The furious gleam had been still shining in his eyes as he had escorted me to the Citadel, carefully holding me close to him so that I didn't trip. I left the walking stick in our chambers, for it would not do us any good to show weakness. Hesitation had still gleamed in his eyes before he entered the Hall, for I was to wait outside the doors till it was filled. Tristan would have no power as a monarch of Endollon today, and neither would Eric nor I.
Today the three of us stood before the Council of twelve - today the three of us had effectively no voice in the dispute. This was what the council had been effectively made for - to settle cases when a ruler himself was one of the accused. The other two rulers were bound by law to stand down and recluse themselves from the proceedings.
It was the highest, supreme circle of justice that Endollon had to offer.
And Thanatos was known for being a brutally harsh lord, one with a taste for vengeance.
He was a god of death and blood, and he considered it his birthright to preside over the council. Centuries had passed by without Cosmo replacing him. And that was how he left us when he died.
I could hear the hubbub and talk on the other side of the doors, where the gods would be settling down on the benches as the jury took their places. Tristan's voice rippled through my thoughts.
'Eric might withdraw the charges. He seems hesitant, but I'm not sure if he still believes Celestina did it.'
'You know Thanatos will kill me even if Eric does not press charges,' I breathed back to him through our mental bond. Thanatos was one of those who loathed my rise to power, and with people like Emerick and Deimos beside him, they would no doubt find one excuse or the other to kill me off.
'He's not going to touch you,' his voice was gritted with something sharper than glass. Then it softened a bit, like molten honey that made me feel warm. 'I love you.'
'I love you too.'
It still seemed so surreal, so new... saying those words out loud to him, not having to hold them back and restrict them to my thoughts alone. It felt like a huge weight lifted off my chest, and an orchestra of happiness fluttered in me for a moment. I was cut short as a page boy came bearing a message for the guards, who read it and nodded to me.
"Open the doors," I ordered, bracing myself.
The heavy, gilded doors swung inwards, opening to reveal the completely filled room, all eyes expectedly on me. Watching my every move, every step.
Right at the front of the circle of benches sat Eric, Amphitrite at his side. Both of them were dressed in light grey, their faces even paler. His face was emotionless, wiped clean of any expression. My sister, on the other hand, looked at me with bloodshot eyes, eyes that silently begged me for forgiveness.
I kept my head high and walked right past her.
On and on I walked, the crowd full of familiar faces. Each and every immortal had taken the pains to attend my Trial. Llewellyn, Vanessa, Verona, Miriel... behind them more faces - Celinette, Erida, Irina. Sarette, Leander, Therese, Rayden, Olinda, Elias. Vincent and Halette. Lunette and Edmund, with a panther growling near their seat. Fayette, hidden among the crowd. Vivian gave me a silent glare as he noticed the absence of my walking stick and the slight limp with which I still walked.
So many of the commoners had squeezed in too, both rich and poor, high and low. My court and officials from Dracnesse. All the remaining nobles from Stormholt, Ellesmere, Normount, Vertgate and Allington. And surely a few spies from the foreign islands of the three rebel states, who no doubt would be gleaning every bit of information they could gather from this about our politics. There was no sign of the three blasted Everly children, or my damned brother who Tristan still hadn't taken in for questioning.
Tristan was standing near the high table, his hand casually resting on his blade. One eye rested on me, warm with love and affection, and the other on Thanatos, silent with the promise of danger. The waves in his hair caught the sunlight as he gave me a knowing look. We had both agreed to keep public displays of affection to a minimum at the Trial - it was important for Thanatos to think that I was helpless and without allies at first.
The council was dressed in deep black.
Emerick did not so much as turn his head when I entered, but Deimos did - his lips curling as a flash of hatred sparked in his deep purple eyes. Justaline flicked a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear, anger gleaming in her envy laced gaze as well. Helios was bloodless, cold light flickering out from between his fingers. Beside him, Nyx and Atherton were deep in a discussion, voices tuned so low that even I could not hear. Cymbeline tapped her fingers impatiently on the desk. Eros's gaze was hard, his eyes suspiciously flicking between Tristan and I. My father's face had drained of colour, lined with concern and exhaustion.
Finally, I locked my eyes with Thanatos himself, his eyes boring into mine with an unflinching, steely glare. This man and his sister had placed a death curse on Tristan - on an innocent only doing his best to honour his sister.
If it came to war, I would tear out his heart first.
One seat remained empty.
For Apollo, the head of House Valmont.
My blood ran cold as I drank in the unnerving silence of the Hall. What if he walked in - right here in front of all these people?
If that happened, I knew that protocol or no - Tristan would slaughter him in cold blood.
"Would you mind walking a bit faster, Lady Tremayne?" Thanatos's voice echoed in the now silent hall, dull like grating iron. "We do not have time to waste. And your heels click too loudly on the floor."
Wisps of steam escaped my fingers. I slowed my pace even more, and clicked my heels louder on the floor, my face blank. Now this was a man worth kicking in the nuts with my walking stick.
"Perhaps you'd like telling me how to braid my hair, Lord Thanatos?" I asked coldly. His frown deepened, the dull black eyes piercing mine. "Or advise me on what to have for supper tonight?"
"You will not be alive to have supper tonight," he said curtly.
"Ah," I said softly, my words hidden with meaning. "After tonight, who remains alive and who is not, we shall see."
"What do you mean?" he asked briskly, his face deepening in a frown. I stopped with a click of my heels at the stand erected for me at the center of the hall and gave him a sweet smile, curling back my lips.
"Ah, nothing of importance. You said you do not have time to waste, Lord Thanatos."
A few sniggers sounded across the hall this time, silenced at once by his deadly glare.
"Ambrosine, the chains," Thanatos nodded to her.
His wife, the deity of immortal life and rebirth, stepped down from her seat - a vision in pure white, a stark contrast to her brother of death. Her features were devastatingly cruel and callous as a wicked set of manacles dangled from her hands.
Of course. They'd chain me to the stand for the duration of the Trial so that neither I nor my powers could escape.
"Hands," Ambrosine snapped briskly.
She roughly grabbed my hand, and a tongue of fire curled around my wrist, snaking up in defiance.
It was worth seeing her flinch, even just for a second.
The next minute, she slid my hands into the chains with detached impatience as I bored my eyes right into hers, daring her to speak.
"Such a waste of Ekrite," I tsked quietly, my annoyance heavy in the silence.
"Given your particular... proclivity for burning down the castles of Endollon, it is better to be safe," Deimos lashed out like a venomous snake.
"Careful there, Everly," I let out a low hiss. "Your castle will be the next unless you watch that tongue of yours."
A few more chuckles rang around the hall as Thanatos slammed his hard fist on the table.
"If you both are quite done bickering like children, we have a Trial to start."
"Then by all means, do go ahead," I shot out, drawing myself up and standing straight.
Everyone stopped talking and the last of the whispers died out.
The tension in the hall was palpable, stifling like a heavy blanket that had been drawn too tight.
"Do you swear that all you speak here be true and uncorrupt?" he asked, voice heavy with authority.
"I swear it."
"You are Edwina Valmont, previously Edwina Tremayne?"
"Yes."
"Residing at Stormholt, previously at Dracnesse?"
"Yes."
"You are were present in your sister's room the day her children were murdered?"
"Yes, but-"
"You were aware that she took Avlebore at midday?"
"Ye-"
"-you knew the bottle she kept it in?"
"-but-"
"Yes or no?"
I sighed forcefully, clenching my fists.
"It was a red bottle."
"You are aware that the bottle belonged in your room?"
"-yes, but-"
"-you-"
"For fuck's sake!" I shouted, my voice bristling with impatient annoyance. If he kept on cross questioning me over and over like this - he'd break me open. Helios opened his lips to speak for the first time, grave and serious.
"What do you have to say?"
"What I have to say, is that I was in the courtyard that day! Celestina, Vanessa and Verona called me up! I was getting late for a meeting and they insisted on making me come up!"
"Was there anyone in the courtyard with you?"
"My husband. And... him," I nodded to Eric. "They were talking to me. Then we finished talking and I was called up."
"What were you talking about?" Emerick interrupted harshly.
"We were discussing the strength of our armada and our armies," I sucked in a breath, keeping my voice even.
"What happened when you went up?" my father asked. "Did you see anyone else?"
"I was speaking to my cousins. Irina was there with Dustin. My sister was there too, with Vanessa and Verona. And Celestina."
"What did you talk about?"
"It's none of your business," I snapped. They'd teased me about my relationship. And I wasn't going to declare that to an open court.
"Quiet," Thanatos ordered. "When did you murder those children?"
"Did you not listen to me? I. Did. Not. Do. It."
"When did you pour the poison into her drink?" he continued, unflinched.
"Gods," I snapped. "Are you fucking dumb? Instead of actually asking me what happened, why the fuck are you jumping to conclusions before finding out what happened?"
"There is no need to waste time. Three of the people clearly saw you give her the poison."
"They did not see me give her the poison. They only saw me give her the cup. Celestina slipped something into it when I wasn't looking!"
"She offered to go and get it, broke her foot on purpose, and played on Edwina's sympathies. Then she slipped the poison in," Tristan added.
"Celestina had no motive," Therese cried out, her voice ragged with sorrow. "My poor, darling daughter came to you all as a bride - and you accuse her!"
"You," I pointed my finger to her, a silent death curse, "you wait till you find out."
"Celestina had no motive," Emerick said smoothly. "You did. You wanted Eric LeVane for yourself, so you bewitched and seduced him. And to get your sister out of the way, you tried to poison her. You stabbed Halette so that Tristan would drive you out of the Castle."
"I've been a busy woman," I growled, voice dripping with sarcasm. "I wonder where I found the time to do all this seducing."
"And that's not all," he continued, greedy. "Do you remember the last words you said to your sister before giving her the poison? Drink this and go to sleep."
"Excuse me?" I let out a laugh. "If I wanted to murder someone, I'd not do it in broad daylight in front of everyone!"
"So you do agree you'd like to murder someone, huh?" Deimos shouted at me.
"You will shut your mouth and let me continue with my interrogation, Lord Everly," Thanatos said coolly, then turned his dreadful eyes to me. "Now. You have not yet confessed why you did it. Confess, and I will let you die peacefully."
"I. Did. Not. Do. It. And the sooner you realise that, the better."
"Ah," Thanatos said delicately. "It seems you do not want to explain. Then perhaps, would you like to explain why you were late to your Trial? It was supposed to be held days ago. You never showed up."
"I was injured."
"Almost killed," Tristan's voice was barely more than a snarl.
"Excuses," Thanatos scowled. "You appear to be fine to me. More than fine," he grunted. "Prove that you were injured."
"Prove that I really did it."
"Prove that you didn't do it."
I loosened a string of curses under my breath.
"Ask the man who treated me. Ask him," I spat, tilting my to Vivian, who sat not ten feet away from me.
He nodded his head quietly, taking in a deep breath.
"Her cousins stabbed her with Bloodstone and then took turns breaking her legs, her sword hand and her fingers. They finally plunged a knife into her eye after flaying her."
The hall fell silent, completely, absolutely silent.
I could feel my father's gaze still lingering on me, on my wrists in the chains, now chafed a deep red before they would turn black. Helios silently made a discreet nod to me, his eyes reassuring. I saw it, he seemed to say, and I will vouch for you.
"More than half the gods present here saw it," Tristan added quietly, an eyebrow raised at Thanatos.
"I find it hard to believe that a person with such severe injuries is alive," Emerick said. "If you had truly lost so much blood, you wouldn't be standing here one week later."
"Excuse me?" Tristan's voice was so soft and deadly quiet that I went stiller than death. "You will keep your tongue in check before I cut it out for you. And you," he tossed the word at Thanatos. "Why have you not asked for a witness of defence, may I enquire?"
"A witness is not required!" he argued. "This case is clearly closed!"
And it was Halette - Halette - of all people, who stood up from her seat and raised a vehement finger at him. "I hope you burn in hell, Thanatos," she rasped, her voice harder than I had ever heard.
He only looked at her with a cool like, quietly tsking as a smile tugged up his dry lips.
"It looks like you have forgotten that this woman," he motioned to me, "stabbed you at night."
It had been Celestina - Celestina all along. Her hair bore a reddish tint, similar to mine. And when Vincent had seen that red, he had at once assumed it could be me.
"This woman," Sarette Rotavelle simpered angrily, her tone like poison, "abducted my son and daughter from Allington." Beside her, Leander nodded, and she gave me a wicked smile as she sat perched there in her glittering green silks.
"Excuse me?" I questioned, my voice a raw demand. "Do you mind telling the council how you intended to execute them both that night?"
"They are members of my House!" Emerick bellowed, slamming a fist on the table. "And you took them away."
"Yes, really, grandfather!" Vincent spoke up, his eyes dark, "we are members of your House when it serves you, and fodder for your knife when it serves you. How long are you going to do this now? Give it up," he gritted his teeth.
"This is not related to what serves who," Thanatos said frigidly, eyes shining with the light of death.
"You, bastard," Tristan cursed out, his hand now gripping his knives. "You are a fucking hypocrite. Not related to what serves who? I'd say that's precisely what you are doing right now!"
"See?" Emerick tutted disapprovingly. "See? What did I tell you at the coronation? A woman could never hold this post."
"Excuse me?" my father shot him a death glare. "My daughter has upheld her post to the very diligence. You say one more word against her and I'll-"
"Your daughter is a clever woman, I'll give you that, cousin," Deimos sneered disdainfully at him, "but she is a murderer. Murderers cannot be allowed to rule. Now, Drusilla-"
"Drusilla is a dreadful witch who can't see anyone beyond herself," I hissed. "The moment you put the country in her hands, she will doom it to death!"
"Spare us your excuses," Thanatos said with a scowl.
I spat on the floor, bitter and harsh. I was losing my temper, and more than that - I was losing my patience.
"Let us get on with the Trial and execution. Unlike you, we do have better things to do than waste our time arguing with sycophants. Those in favour of clearing the accused of all charges?"
The crowd began to shout now. Angry, agitated, losing their patience as they watched him brush me off.
My eyes fell on the eleven members of the council as they took a moment to contemplate the direction of events.
My father was the first to raise his hand.
"Aye," he said.
Then Helios.
"Aye."
Atherton.
"Aye."
"Aye." Nyx.
"Aye." Cymbeline.
I waited for another minute.
That was it.
Only five out of eleven.
"Five," Thanatos wryly laughed. "Those in favour of sentencing the accused to death?"
Deimos was the first.
Then Emerick.
"Aye," said Ambrosine.
"Aye," said Thanatos.
"Aye," said Justaline.
Eros kept his mouth shut, his brows furrowed, thinking, considering.
"Aye," he said finally.
The crowd lost it.
"Six against five," Ambrosine chuckled. Seven against five - if Apollo had been there.
"It looks like the council has now reached its verdict, Lady Tremayne," Thanatos got up, now walking down the stairs of the high table. His eyes danced in wicked mirth, soulless pits that burned brighter than the damned fires in hell. "I, Thanatos, Lord Paramount and Head of the Elder Council, hereby sentence you, Edwina Valmont Tremayne, to death."
The entire hall had fallen silent. Silent, bitter, angry. Even Eric had turned white, a silent wince on his lips. Amphitrite had begun to quietly sob again, praying. My father had gone stiller than death as his eyes lingered over Thanatos, who had now reached the foot of the table and begun his deadly walk to me. I saw the flicker of a shadow as Helios passed something to Nyx under the table, and the flash of a knife as my father stealthily pulled one out of his sleeve.
He wasn't going to watch - he was going to stop it.
Tristan looked at me over Thanatos's shoulder, his face a steady warning of danger. Wait, he seemed to say. We need to wait till the time is right.
"Very well, Lord Thanatos!" I curled my lips in a smile as bitter as poisoned water. "Go on. Kill me."
"I will," he drawled, giving me a lazy, deadly smile. Behind him, the council had begun to get up and walk down. The crowds were now standing up from their seats, and even the gods seemed hesitant as the eleven members gathered in a tight circle around me.
Ambrosine handed Thanatos his sword, and the Bloodstone it was carved of glimmered wickedly in the dim light as he brandished it, testing its tip. I saw my father pull out another dagger, and Helios nod to him.
"On your knees, Lady Tremayne. Kneel."
"Over my dead body," I spat.
"Stop," Eric breathed out, ragged and hoarse. "Stop - wait."
"There is no point in waiting, Eric LeVane. She is a murderer, and murderers must be dealt with."
I saw Tristan's jaw harden even tighter, his eyes burning like coals as Deimos swept my hair to one side of my neck, leaving my throat exposed.
"It will be better if you kneel, Edwina," he whispered in my ear. A wave of nausea threatened to rise in me for a second - another Everly touching my neck, another time, another knife as he slowly carved out bruises on my skin.
I only gave him a death glare.
It was when Thanatos lowered the sword and touched it to my neck when Tristan lost it.
His growl made the hair on my skin stand up, and it made every person in the room look at him, at the menacing white face, at the fury flickering in his eyes.
"Is there a problem, Lord Valmont?" Ambrosine asked, her voice sickly sweet.
"There is," he harshly snapped, and then raised a finger to the high table, to Thanatos's chair, to the wounded body he had dragged under it not a moment ago. A clever ruse conjured by the two of us, to plant her there and paint him with blame. "What is Celestina Rotavelle doing under your chair, Thanatos?"
The Lord whipped his head around to the body under his chair, and for the first time, his face lost its colour.
"Is that Celestina? Were you defending her all this time?" Nyx lashed out at him, her tongue sharper than knives.
"Give me back my daughter!" Therese shouted, held in line by the escort placed around her. "Give her back to me this instant."
"You planned this," Thanatos rounded on Tristan, who coolly looked at him with a deceiving gleam in his blue eyes. "You planned this. You put her there yourself."
The hall had fallen completely silent, heavy with shock.
"I haven't moved from this spot since the last one hour," my husband met his stubborn gaze with one of his own, defiant and hard and unyielding.
It was true.
While the eleven members of the council had been making their way to me, I'd held their attention - the entire room had been watching me. Not one had been watching Tristan. That was when he had discreetly nodded to his commander, Philip, who'd quietly carried Celestina and stuffed her under the chair, weakened as she was by the injuries she had suffered by the person who delivered her to us last night.
Tristan had summoned a single, silent healer who tended to her wounds to keep her alive till today. To keep her alive till she testified in front of Endollon, and after that - I'd kill her myself.
"You lie. She was not there when I sat on that chair," Thanatos let out a low hiss punctuated with venom. His eye lingered on Eric, then on Vivian, then on Llewellyn. The darkness on their faces was serious - they knew.
Neither of them broke the silence.
"You put her there!" he shouted at Tristan, who convincingly shrugged his shoulders, wary.
"I've been trying to hunt her down since a week. I wouldn't have waited this long to kill her."
Thanatos snarled, a low roar ripping from his throat. He turned on Eros.
"He put her there."
Eros only flicked an eyebrow, stoic.
The death lord stormed to his elder brother, Helios, his voice a rumble of suspicion and anger.
"He put her there. She wasn't there when I sat down. It was a trick."
My father only gave him a look of disdain, and Helios's face filled with an expression of pure loathing. An idle smile played on his lips as his eyes lingered on me, then on Tristan. Play along, I wanted to plead. Play along.
"I did feel something hit my foot when I was sitting there, brother," he purred. "And perhaps... you might have kept her there the entire time."
Thanatos clenched his fist, turning to Deimos.
"He plotted this," he shook a vehement finger at Tristan.
Deimos only glared at us both, then flicked a speak of imaginary dust off his violet shirt. He knew the truth, and it glinted right in his eyes. But he was not going to get himself involved in this - not when doing so would mean getting on the bad side of the angry crowd. Serving himself, as he always did.
"I saw nothing, father," he breathed out at last.
Thanatos let out a wild, primal snarl.
"You have done a great crime," Nyx raised her eyebrows so high I was afraid they might disappear under her raven black hair. "A great, grave crime."
Helios and Atherton hefted Celestina's body from where she was slumped on the floor, floating in a daze. She left out a feral, vicious yelp as she buckled and clawed at their arms, a steady string of curses pouring out of her lips. Together with Nyx, they lifted her upright as she shouted and swore.
"You hid solid evidence and defended the accused. Do you know what this means for you?" my father demanded, watching her being chained in a way similar to me.
"He played a trick on me," Thanatos intoned, his voice ringing in my ears.
"Trick or no trick, I do not care. We have her here now. Get your truth potions," Helios grimly nodded to Sarette, his face set in resolution. "It's time we heard the truth."
• • • • •
Now that Celestina is here, and Edwina is in one piece and literally EVERY immortal of Endollon is in one place - the next chapter is EXPLOSIVE.
And it's been something that's been coming up since a pretty long time - because things get accelerated as we begin to move to the end. We're gonna begin to get answers that we've been waiting since a very long time - so hang on!