WINDOWS: A BROKEN FAIRY TALE (32 page)

Soldiers came
rushing into the sanctum before she could say anything.
 
Daniel ordered them to take Mandy to the
hospital room and for two guards to remain stationed at the door at all times.

           
In
Elspeth’s bedroom, Raven and Bekah laid bare the events of the year,
judiciously leaving a few parts out.

           
“What
I don’t understand is why you two didn’t come to us in the first place.”
 
Stephen paced the bedroom like a caged predator.
 
“You put this entire country, not to mention
all of our lives, in jeopardy.”

           
Elspeth
reached over and patted his arm.
 
“As
much as it pains me to say this, they were right.
 
Thanks to their actions we discovered the
traitors before they could do any real harm.”
 
Stephen started to say something else but the Countess cut him off.
 
“Branwyen, did they tell you anything while
you were fighting.”

           
Though
Daniel’s arm was wrapped protectively around her waist, Sarah watched her
business partner with mounting worry.
 
Raven swayed slowly back and forth and was blinking every few
seconds.
 
She didn’t have time to clean
up before being summoned to this meeting and dried blood the color of rust
flaked on her clothes and milky skin.
 
Sarah knew she was in desperate need of rest and wanted to say something
but didn’t feel comfortable speaking out.

           
“Yeah,”
Raven’s voice was thick with weariness and it took all of Sarah’s self control
not to rush to her side. “They’re working with the Protectorate.
 
Then Amanda said something about a back-up
plan but I didn’t hear what it was.”
 
That was a lie but Raven couldn’t explain where she learned the
details.
 
Besides, she reasoned, news
like this was going to be known everywhere very soon.

           
Elspeth
sighed heavily.
 
It would take a little
time for reality to hit her; that her youngest daughter had tried to kill her
and take over the duchy.
 
Still, she was
the Duchess and had to lead.
 
She ordered
everyone out except Raven.

           
“Yes
ma’am?”
 
The girl sat gingerly on the bed
without being invited.
 
The soft cushion
felt like heaven after all she had endured and she was tempted to lay down and
go to sleep right there but something in her adopted mother’s eyes forced her
to pay attention.

           
“Branwyen,
I want to thank you.
 
Despite how you
were treated you always defended us; you and Sarah both.”

           
Raven
smiled, “You’re welcome but no thanks are necessary.
 
Y’all are the only family we have.”
 
The girl paused as if making a difficult
decision, her fingers playing absent mindedly with the covers before finishing,
“Mom.”

           
Elspeth
and Raven hugged as tightly as their injuries allowed.

           
“You
know,” Raven said, with a sleepy grin and heavily lidded eyes, “that was
incredibly uncomfortable to say.”

           
Elspeth
smirked, “You should’ve been the one hearing it.”
 
Raven snorted and stood up.

           
“Love
you, Els.”

           
“Love
you to, Raven.
 
Now go get some
rest.”
 

CHAPTER
30:
 
JUST THE BEGINNING

           
The girl stood looking around the
chamber.
 
Things seemed to have changed
in here, and for the better.
 
Eight
windows, no longer covered with stained glass, allowed brilliantly clear light
to stream in.
 
No shadows could be seen,
nor could have survived, in this richly illuminated sanctuary.

           
Except one.
 
In the back of the room, behind a chest long
forgotten, a small shadow pulsed and writhed, too terrified to expose itself to
the harsh light.
 

           
Sarah
was surprised to find out that the soldiers who attacked Valentria weren’t
Protectorate, but were from Savannah.
 
Still, she wasn’t sure exactly why she needed
to be at this meeting, seated beside Daniel who held her hand
comfortingly.
 
They, everyone who bore
the mark of the White Rose, sat in the throne room to decide the best way to
deal with Amanda’s betrayal.
 
The trial
was over quickly since the evidence overwhelmingly showed her guilt but city
wide clean up and rare indecisiveness by the Duchess Chandlish meant holding
off on the moment everyone was dreading.
 
They were here to sentence the youngest Chandlish daughter.

           
Civilian
casualties has been minor, thanks to the efforts of Bekah and Liz and the
platoon of soldiers they led into the city but nearly a thousand members of the
Valentria guard had been killed in the attack.
 
The public was going to demand justice soon.

Captain Roberts
made the first comment.
 
“We hang
them.
 
The laws are very clear on this
matter.”

Elspeth sat a bit
more upright in her throne and shook her head.
 
“I will not sentence my daughter to death.
 
I cannot.”

“Gee, thanks.”

           
Raven’s
words sounded harsh but the playful tone let everyone know she was joking.
 
The role she and Sarah played in the rescue
was well known even though the attack was less than two days old.
 
Sarah smiled across the room at Raven who
was, of course, perched on the arm of the chair Bekah was sitting in.
 
The fact that Raven bore no grudges, despite
being accused of treason she hadn’t committed, just made Sarah all the more
sure of how she felt.

           
Elspeth
rolled her eyes as Bekah elbowed Raven in the ribs.
 
“Next time tell me your plans before things
get to that point.
 
Anyway, Liz, have you
found anything we can do legally?”

           
Liz
perched her glasses a little further up her nose and read her notes.
 
“Nothing more than we’ve already
established.
 
In cases where a member of
the nobility is found guilty of treachery, only by a majority vote of the
people bearing the family crest can a sentence of death by hanging be over
ruled.”

           
There
was tenseness in the air, palpable and heavy.
 
Slowly the Duchess nodded and Sarah saw sadness in the beautiful woman’s
eyes.
 
“Very well,” her voice cracked as
she spoke, “we must put this to a vote as quickly as possible.
 
Since there are nine of us here, there cannot
be a split decision.”

           
The
silence was deafening.
 
Elspeth cleared
her throat and asked if anybody had any more evidence they wished to
present.
 
When nobody moved, she
addressed them again.
 
“Very well, those
of you who wish to grant Amanda Chandlish leniency, please raise your
hand.”
 
Four hands shot in the air;
Elspeth’s, Bekah’s, Liz’s and Raven’s.
 

           
Elspeth
counted and then instructed those who wished to see the execution carried out
as ordered by law to raise their hands.
 
Four hands were raised solemnly; the four highest ranking members of
Valentria’s armed forces, including Stephen’s.

           
Sarah
wished she could turn invisible like Raven as the eyes of everyone in the room
turned to her.

           
“You
have the deciding vote, Lil’bit.”
 
Raven said
gently.
 
“What’s it gonna be?”

           
Sarah
didn’t want to vote.
 
She couldn’t be the
one to sentence someone to die even if Amanda had nearly killed Raven and
Elspeth.
 
Still, many others had lost their
lives due to Amanda and Brian’s scheme to take over Valentria.
 
Sarah’s hand rose mechanically, hovering just
over her lap.
 
She looked at Raven who
gave no sign of what she wanted.
 
Steeling herself, Sarah…

           
The
door burst open and everyone turned at one to see who had dared intrude.
 
A maid came rushing in.

           
“Your
Grace,” The girl bowed and nearly fell over, wheezing heavily.

           
Stephen’s
sword was half drawn but he let it slide back into its scabbard.
 
“What is it?
 
Don’t you know we’re not to be disturbed?”

           
Taking
deep gasp, the girl stammered, “Yes but Richard DeGuire at the door demanding
entrance.”

           
Without
waiting for orders Bekah and Raven rushed out of the room, followed closely by
the rest.

           
Standing
in front of the large doors that led outside the castle, Elspeth ordered
everyone to calm down.
 
Bekah and Raven
were nearly bouncing up and down, ready for something to entertain them.
 
Stephen moved closer to the Duchess while the
other Captains moved to stand in front of Liz, who shooed them away.
 
Sarah and Daniel stood behind everyone,
waiting to see what would happen.

           
With
a final whispered prayer nobody would do anything stupid, Elspeth flung open
the doors and marched down the stone steps to meet the Protectorate.

           
Sarah
was nearly blinded by the glint of sunlight on metal.
 
There had to be two dozen guards standing
behind Richard but it was the man standing beside him that caught her
attention.
 
His face was wrapped in the
same dark leather that completely covered his body except for a few wisp of
stringy gray hair that fell to his shoulders.
 
The material seemed to swallow the sunlight rather than reflect it,
making the man appear cloaked in shadows.
 

In the space of a
heart beat Raven had the point of her sword inches from the shadowed man’s neck.
 
Twenty-four Protectorate guards drew their
weapons, but Raven ignored them, her entire being focused on the dark figure.
 
Sarah had never seen rage like that reflected
in the tautness of Raven’s shoulders.
 
She was going to kill this person as sure as the sun would rise tomorrow.

           
Bekah’s
voice pierced the standoff.
 
“Sis?”

Raven shook her
head without taking her eyes or sword off the figure and growled.
 
“Can’t you feel it?
 
You know what he is.”
 
Sarah saw a moment’s confusion in the way
Bekah turned her head but quicker than thought another sword pressed itself
against the man, resting over his heart.

           
The
hair on the back of Sarah’s neck and arms stood up straight.
 
Risking a glance she turned and saw Liz in a
way she never had before.
 
Yellow
electricity was arcing from her finger tips as she moved to stand behind Bekah
and Raven.
 
Her eyes were full of power
and fury.

           
“If
any of your men interfere, Richard, I will kill them where they stand.”
 
Liz’s voice held none of its customary
warmth.

           
Elspeth
looked as shocked as Sarah felt and asked what her daughters were doing.
 
Stephen was now with the three sisters, his
sword drawn and ready.

           
“He’s
a shadow walker!”
 
Raven snarled the name
as if it tasted disgusting in her mouth.
 
At the mention of the word Daniel tried to pull Sarah backwards but she
brushed him off.
 
Raven was in a killing
mood and she wasn’t about to let what happened a few days ago happen again.

           
“She’s
right.”
 
Stephen confirmed to Elspeth as
the Duchess looked to him.
 
He, like the
three sisters, never took his eyes off the man.

           
Elspeth’s
usual detached coolness shattered.
 
“HOW
DARE YOU!”
 
She shouted at Richard, who
looked calmly amused by this turn of events.
 
“You bring a thing like this into my country, onto my family’s estate.”

           
“That
is incredibly insensitive, Your Grace.
 
Horatio suffered terrible burns at the hands of Lady Branwyen.
 
He is not a shadow walker.”
 
Richard smiled and bowed his head slightly.

           
“Bullshit,
we can feel him.”
 
Bekah trembled now,
though if it was from anger or fear Sarah couldn’t tell.

           
“You
must be mistaken Lady Rebekah.
 
The
excitement of the past couple of days may have left you slightly addled.
 
Please withdraw your weapons from my man
unless you have proof.”
 

           
“Weapons
down, we can’t fight them all.”
 
Elspeth’s command went unheeded.
 
“I said, ‘weapons down’.”
 
This
time Stephen and Bekah lowered their swords and Liz allowed her magic to
fade.
 
Only one person still had her
weapon drawn.
 
Elspeth spoke once more
but Raven continued ignoring her.
 
Sarah
saw the slender muscles tense; knew that Raven was nearly beyond words
now.
 

Reaching up Sarah
grasped the pale shoulder.
 
Once, back
when they first moved in together, Sarah helped Raven attach a cable to the
battery in the shop.
 
Raven’s muscles
reminded her of that, the low thrum of power vibrating through a tense coil.
 
Knowing she was the only person who could
stop Raven at this moment, Sarah whispered, “She’s right.
 
Let it go for now, please.”
 
Slowly, and without moving her head, Raven
slid the sword into the scabbard on her back.

Richard laughed,
“Now that’s settled, Your Grace, I must ask you to hand over Amanda Tully into
my custody.”

This time Sarah
thought it might be the Duchess who tried to kill someone.
 
Elspeth was absolutely livid and demanded to
know whose authority Richard was acting on.

Reaching into his
pocket, Richard produced a piece of paper.
 
Elspeth snatched it out of his hand and read it, becoming angrier by the
second.
 
She shoved it to Liz.
 
“Is it legal?”

Liz perused the
document twice, her lips moving as she studied each line carefully.
 
Finally she handed it back to Richard, not
even bothering to hide the disgust in her voice.
 
“Yes ma’am, it seems that it was passed
rather recently.
 
It’s surprising that we
weren’t informed of the vote; probably an oversight on the court’s part.”

“What’s it say,
Liz?”
 
Bekah’s hand still gripped the
hilt of her sword.

Before Liz could
utter a word, Richard explained.
 
“It
says a member of the nobility accused of any crime will stand trial in the
courts of Vestavia.”

“That’s
bullshit!”
 
Raven and Bekah moved
together in front of Richard, forming a very dangerous wall of pissed of magic
users.

Richard only
smiled at the two girls, which Sarah considered quite dumb despite the fact he
had a small platoon of soldiers behind him.
 
“After the sham trial provided to Lady Branwyen, The Prime Minister decided
that in order to prevent allowing nepotism to decide in courts of law, all
trials of nobility will be held in Protectorate courts.”

“So your courts
can let Amanda off the hook?
 
How stupid
do you think we are?”
 
Sarah was
surprised by her own sudden out burst.
 
She thought she saw Raven bite her lip but couldn’t be sure.
 

“Ah, yes, Ms.
Petty.”
 
Richard bowed slightly, “I have
been meaning to visit your shop.
 
The
tales of your excellent craftsmanship have reached even Vestavia and I do need
a new sword.”