Page 45 of A Kiss of Flame

‘Stay close,’ she murmured. ‘Anything could tip the balance.’

Stay back, she meant. Wren stared at the flames in horror, but there was no sign of any other shadows. Nothing at all. She let herself breathe again, just for a moment.

‘Your question, Roland,’ said Ylena, as if eager to hurry things along. ‘Ask it.’

He stiffened, and Wren realised he was still staring at her, not at Elodie, his expression dark and unreadable. He cleared his throat, and slowly sheathed the sword once more.

‘I have no questions left to ask,’ he said in a low rumble of a voice. Elodie made a dismayed noise as if to interrupt him, or plead with him. ‘Except to know what you intend now, my queen?’

For a moment everyone seemed bewildered. Something hadn’t gone according to plan. Roland was meant to take part in this interrogation but he wasn’t playing along. Instead, Wren realised, he had asked an entirely different question, one not about the past but about the future.

Elodie drew in a shaking breath and stared at him as if he had somehow betrayed her more profoundly than anyone else.

‘He was meant to ask about what happened in the forest,’ Maryn whispered. ‘Not this. This isn’t… this isn’t fair.’

Not fair? None of this was fair as far as Wren was concerned. But as she watched, Elodie folded her arms across her chest, as if hugging herself. Or perhaps to stop herself reaching out to him.

‘I… I will serve the Aurum for as long as it wants me,’ she whispered, and it sounded like her greatest defeat. ‘And if my people will have me I will wear their crown. I will cleave to the light and be its Chosen once more. I made vows. We fight the Nox, with flame and sword.’

The Aurum burst forth, enveloping her and driving those close to her back, all but Roland who would not move. In that light Elodie blazed brightly, bent over slightly, as if she had flinched expecting pain. Slowly she straightened, and Wren knew that even in that blinding light, she was still staring at Roland.

He turned away. ‘The Aurum has spoken,’ he said, and his voice though low seemed to carry to every corner of the chamber, amplified by the Aurum itself. ‘The queen is innocent. All hail Aeryn of Asteroth, our queen that was, and is again.’

Somewhere people started cheering, and from outside they could hear people shouting in delight as his words were relayed through the city.

The light of the Aurum sank back, leaving Elodie a frail and thin woman, standing alone, silhouetted by its glow. Her arms were still clenched tightly around her own body and her head fell back in relief or despair.

‘Wait! We have a charge to lay at the feet of this traitor queen,’ said Leander of Ilanthus. He strode forward quickly, pushing his way through the gathering of his own people, with Hestia glaring at him, but it was too late now. Everyone had heard him.

The chamber fell silent, watching this new act, too stunned to react.

Where was Finn? Wren wondered desperately. He was meant to be keeping his half-brother under control along with Hestia. Where were they? What was Leander planning?

‘What charge is this, Crown Prince Leander?’ asked Sassone in that horribly formal tone. No shock. No surprise. Had he known this was coming? He smiled and spread his arms wide. ‘You are our honoured guests here. The Aurum will hear all charges and judge them fairly.’

Leander smiled. That horrible, arrogant smile. Wren knew it far too well.

‘We charge her with the murder of her consort, Prince Evander of Sidon.’

Of course they did. Wren finally saw Finn start forward, still deep in the middle of the Ilanthian party and far too late now to intercept his half-brother. But before he got to the open area, Hestia herself stepped forward.

‘Stand back, Prince Leander.’ Her voice was all warning. ‘This is not our place nor our agreement. We do not bow to the judgement of the Aurum and never will.’

Leander’s voice turned savage. He sounded like an animal in pain. ‘I will not be silenced. Not by you, not by anyone. She killed my uncle. We all know it. She murdered him right here in this chamber. She spilled his blood, the blood of Sidon, poured out his life and summoned the Nox here. She doesn’t fight the Nox. She protects her.’

Elodie looked taken aback but Roland was already at her side. She glanced at him and said something. Wren couldn’t make out what but it looked like denial. Roland nodded, still wearing that expression of granite, but at least he stood with her, ready to defend her.

The carefully choreographed ritual of judgement seemed to have slid sideways off its time-honoured tracks and no one seemed to know what to do about that. Confused looks passed between the spectators, murmurings and bewilderment.

‘Let him speak,’ said Ylena into the silence. Even more shocked mutterings followed this.

‘Lady Ylena,’ Hestia was close to begging. ‘Please, there is nothing to?—’

But the old woman held up her hand for silence.

‘I say again, let the boy speak. Let Aeryn answer this charge. You are guests here, Lady Hestia, as you so wisely said. This is our way and in this place all charges must be answered. You may not bow to the Aurum, but we do. And even Ilanthian lies may show us the truth.’

Light and shade, Wren hated her. How could she? How could she do this to Elodie?