No one who touched a Seer could lie. Seers themselves couldn’t turn off their gifts. This made it impossible for them to be bribed, so testimony while touching a Seer was sacrosanct.
However, this woman was no longer a Seer. Years ago, Kaine had found her drunk and crying at a tavern late at night because her natural ability to force all her lovers to tell the truth while touching her had ruined yet another romantic relationship. Kaine had offered to take her power. At the time, he hadn’t even asked for anything in return (to Ysabel’s despair). My sister had been the one to point out how handy it would be to have a fake Seer in their pocket. Since she’d be revealing herself as a fake with our blatant lies during this trial, Ysabel had offered a large enough amount of money to retire comfortably for the rest of her life. She’d accepted, and we’d obtained our fake Seer.
I took the offered hand. “I’m Duchess Hedri of Southern Sherda, the Lady Regent of Arahasnor.” I wanted to follow this up with some grand Blood Duchess-like declaration. Something about how I’d have everyone hung up by their heels for doubting me. Maybe throw some jewelry at the floor. But I couldn’t work up the will. I was too nervous.
The Seer inclined her head at me, then turned to the podium. “She speaks the truth. Do the ladies and gentlemen assembled have any other questions?”
Head Cardinal Augustin said, “We came here to determine if she’s a fake, and she’s not. The trial is over.” He sounded nervous. I didn’t think deception came naturally to him. He was probably only going along with it because the Blood Duchess had tried to kill him and nearly taken over the kingdom.
My eyes swept the pews. I was banking on these people hating the Blood Duchess more than me, even though I’d thrown most of them in jail lately.
Countess Lealonie immediately said, “She’s the real duchess. The trial is over.” She winked at me. Apparently, that time I’d thrown her in jail had been forgiven. I was very glad I’d already gotten Kaine’s permission to build her bridge before this happened.
An immediate chorus of agreement came from the surrounding nobles. Whoa, not the tiniest bit of hesitation? Not even one dissenter? The Blood Duchess was even more unpopular than I’d realized. Despite all my hard work terrorizing people, I clearly remained the lesser evil.
“We object to the Conclave of Kings interfering with our kingdom.”
“It’s not as if they showed up when certain parties attempted to steal our country out from under us.”
“Our lady regent is a real pigeon plucker!”
I winced at the street slang I’d once pretended to be a compliment. Had the nobleman believed me when I’d claimed that it meant a smart person? Or was he being deliberately ironic? It didn’t matter, as long as he supported my claim.
At this point, we all fully expected the real duchess to demand a second Seer. If the testimony ended up split, it would go back to the jury. This would lead to a longer trial, but after how quickly everyone had supported me, I had confidence in my victory. I didn’t quite feel safe yet. But I did let my grip on the podium loosen.
Ysabel sniffed loudly. “I hope that no one will doubt the Seer that I personally vouched for. To do so would offend the Sun God … and hurt my feelings.”
Kaine sat up where he’d been dozing in the pews. “Hmm? Did someone hurt your feelings, love?”
Alzira drew her sword. “Point my blade at who I must slaughter, Your Holiness.” The entire room flinched. Energy sparked through the air. Even I might have cowered under the podium, if not for Ari touching my arm reassuringly.
Ysabel placed a restraining hand on her bodyguard’s shoulder. “Please, sit down. The Sun God has not called upon your services … yet.” Her gaze swept the room, landing on the real Blood Duchess.
“I accept the Seer’s testimony,” Duchess Hedri said.
Wait, what? I didn’t like how she said it. She was a little too calm. My sister looked surprised, too—she couldn’t have expected one littlethreat would do the trick. This all felt too easy. The duchess continued, “I have one more charge to lay. I accuse Duchess Hedri of treason and the murder of the former duke and duchess of South Sherda, as well as their young son. Oh, and the family dog too.”
Ari’s hand slipped from my arm. He’d gone slack-jawed with shock.
Dark Lady. What could the duchess be playing at? I could follow the first half of her plan. She’d already realized that no one in Arahasnor would voluntarily vote for the destruction of their own country, so they’d pretend to believe my story even if she called in a second Seer. Although she might have dated Falael, she wouldn’t have lasted this long by being completely stupid. She must know that the Conclave of Kings wasn’t on her side. Then she’d decided to expose her own crimes so that she could force me to confess my real identity or be executed in her place.
But I didn’t understand what she planned after that. High treason was an executable offense. If I confessed to the body swap, I’d get in trouble, but then she’d become the traitor and murderer. If I didn’t confess, I might die if I was convicted, but the duchess would still be powerless and stuck in my body. I supposed a fresh start in a new body would be better for her than dying, but she didn’t seem like someone who enjoyed poverty. Plus, the Avengers knew the truth and would still come after her—to say nothing of my sister. Was it as simple as her being determined to drag me down with her out of spite? I had trouble believing she was suicidal. Looking at the smug twist in her lips, I felt convinced that she had another plan.
What should I do? I saw no benefit in confessing. The court was still biased in my favor. For now, I would deny everything. “I have no idea what this peasant is talking about.” I’d hoped my voice would sound confident, but it came out shrill. I snuck a glance at Ari. He’d turned white and was trembling. There was pain in his eyes, but also a growing rage.
Duchess Hedri continued, “Due to the destruction of all physical evidence, I’ve provided an artifact that can record memories.”She held up a small mirror. “This has captured direct images of the massacre.”
Like an idiot, I wondered where she’d gotten the memories. Then I realized that of course she’d cast her own memories into the mirror. Just how blatant could she be? Did she have no shame? Probably not. My own attempts to resemble her hadn’t even come close to this level of shamelessness.
The duchess displayed the mirror. The images were … very bad. The jury looked ill; several had to turn away. Ari started to silently choke at the sight of the duchess murdering his parents. I reached out to him, but he turned and fled the courtroom. I completely understood. If someone had shown my brother dying up there, then I would have run off to throw up. I wished I could chase after him, but as the defendant, I wasn’t allowed to leave while the trial was in progress. I had no choice but to watch. My fingers tightened on the podium.Someone, anyone, go after Ari!
As if in response to my silent prayer, Antonia leapt up and ran after Ari. I breathed a small sigh of relief.
With a smug smirk that I longed to rip off her face, the duchess turned to me. “Do you plead guilty or innocent?” I’d never known my own voice could sound so malicious and contemptible. It screeched against my ears.
Ysabel waggled her eyebrows frantically at me. I had no idea what she meant.
I cleared my throat. Remembering the lame excuse we’d joked about earlier, I said, “I have amnesia.”
