At the other end of the square, the gates to the prison opened once more. Two guards each flanked Inari and Ezra, with a further four surrounding them. Aloisia would have laughed if not for the grave situation. So many guards just for the two of them.
Fynn was pulled to one side, as if his trial were now over, and they brought the two prisoners to the platform. Ezra knelt of his own accord, his hazel eyes darting back and forth between the crowd and the judiciaries. Inari stood, staring at the Modäiti with a steely gaze, and was forced to his knees by the guards.
Lusana clapped her hands together. “Who shall we start with?”
THIRTY SIX
LusanagesturedtoEzra.“You,scholar.Comeforthandtestifybeforethepeople.”
The guards hauled him to his feet, pushing him towards the front of the platform. His throat bobbed, his jaw set as he looked out at the crowd.
“Your name?” Lusana prompted.
“Ezra Solis,” he said. “I am a scholar of the Mage’s Guild.”
“And do you swear by the Nine Divines to speak the truth?”
He gave a nod. “I swear to tell the truth insofar as I can.”
Lusana frowned.
In her silence, Ezra turned his attention to the Modäiti for the first time. “There is another spell which binds me and prevents me from speaking out against the one who bound me.”
“I see.” She folded her hands before her. “And the blood sacrifice did not break this spell?”
Ezra glanced to Aloisia, trying to piece together what she had said before they brought him out. “Just so. The blood sacrifice released my bonds, but not those which hold my tongue.”
“How inconvenient.” Lusana clicked her tongue. “Is there a way for it to be removed?”
“There is always a way. Though none I can speak of.” His jaw twitched.
“Unfortunate.” Lusana paced, the first sign of unrest Aloisia had seen in her. While her steps were graceful, it did not hide the tension in them. “We heard from Huntress Aloisia how they found you in a cave within the mountains. She spoke of how you were bound by blood magic, and how her sacrifice released those bonds. But how did you come to be there?”
Ezra shifted on his feet, his gaze darting across the crowd. “I was taken from my bed in Ephroditia. The next thing I knew, I was in chains surrounded by runic markings keeping me in place. At the centre of the cavern was a Bloodstone – the vessel for the spell. I must have been there for at least two weeks before the huntress and her companions arrived and broke the enchantment.”
Lusana tapped her chin. “Two weeks? Almost the same length of time since the first murder. And around the same time, the shaman appeared in the Dead Woods.”
Aloisia tensed. What was she implying?
“This spell,” Lusana continued, “what was its purpose?”
“It bound me to the cave so I could not leave. And it leeched upon my powers to be fed to a host – the one who bound me there.”
“This host intended to use your powers?”
“It would seem so.”
“What of the Forgotten Gods?”
Ezra paused, clearly not wanting to implicate himself in the crimes.
“We are waiting, Mr Solis.”
“My powers were used to summon them.”
A gasp rippled through the crowd. Their expressions of shock quickly shifted to distrust.
“And, whilst bound, you could not use your own powers?” Lusana asked.
