“Then you have decided your own fate.” Asmund turned to Oda.
The guards surged forth, reaching for Lusana. Oda pulled out a set of manacles as she approached the priestess.
“No, you can’t!” Lusana shrieked. “You have it wrong! It wasn’t me! It was him!” She pointed to Ezra.
A smirk danced on the scholar’s lips. “You are grasping at straws, Lusana.”
“Listen to me!” Lusana tugged her wrist out of Oda’s grip, flinging her arms wildly to keep the guards at bay.
“Don’t make this harder than it has to be,” Asmund said. “You know we cannot try you here. This will be taken to the Crown, and the Father’s Guild in Ephroditia will deal with you.”
“You can’t do this!” Lusana turned her palms downwards.
From one breath to the next, flames surged at her feet. The guards jumped backwards, out of reach of the fire. The flames rose, swirling about her. Inari swept an arm in front of Aloisia, moving to put himself between her and the magic Lusana wielded. Aloisia reached for her bow and stepped around him, nocking an arrow.
Amidst the flames, Lusana was barely visible. Aloisia took aim as the fire flickered, revealing the Modäiti. She loosed the arrow. As quickly as they had burst forth, the flames doused and Lusana was no longer there. Only the scream echoing through the square, long after she had vanished, indicated Aloisia had hit her mark.
Silence blanketed the square in the wake of Lusana’s disappearance. And, with the Modäiti gone, Aloisia regretted she had not taken a fatal shot.
FORTY THREE
AloisiastaredatthespacewhereLusanahadbeenstandingonlymomentsago.Thegrasswasnowcharred,afewbladesstillsmokingaswhatflamesremainedputteredout.Ahushenvelopedthem,shockplainonalltheirfaces.
Lowering her bow, Aloisia’s shoulders sagged. They had been so close. If she had not been certain of her guilt before, she was now. Why flee if she wasn’t guilty? Rage burned in her stomach as she thought of all the people who had died, starting with Brighde, because of one woman and her foolishness.
“What now?” Mavka asked, looking to Magistrate Vester.
Her voice seemed to shake everyone else from their stunned silence, murmurings rippling through the square.
Asmund ran a hand down his face. “Is there any way to trace her spell?” He glanced at Ezra and Inari. “To find where it has taken her?”
Ezra shook his head. “Not to my knowledge, no.”
“Likewise,” Inari answered. “I do not believe it possible to trace magic. Not in this way, at any rate.”
The magistrate turned to Aloisia. “That shot…”
“Was not fatal,” she said, not taking her eyes from the charred ground. “Provided she did not move further into the line of it, it should have hit her in the arm, perhaps the shoulder. I intended to wound, not kill. To halt her spell, so she may be arrested.”
“Then, wherever she has gone, she will be hurt.”
Aloisia raised her gaze to Ezra. “That magic… Was it your power she was using?”
Ezra gave a sigh. “You know I cannot directly answer. But when you broke the spell in the cave, you severed the connection with my captor. The magic she used now… Well, it seems to be her own.”
Asmund cleared his throat. “I suppose we had better bring this trial to a close. I hereby declare the verdict: Fynn Smith is not guilty. And I absolve the shaman, Inari, and the scholar, Ezra, of all accusations made towards them throughout this trial.” He nodded to Oda. “If you would please remove Mr Smith’s manacles.”
Oda bobbed her head and brandished the key. The shackles clanked free of his wrists, and Fynn rubbed the broken skin there.
“There is, of course, the matter of Mother Lusana,” Asmund continued. “I declare Lusana Harteryn the prime suspect in this trial. This matter will be taken to Queen Odalis Harteryn, to be dealt with by the Father’s Guild in Ephroditia. We shall also seek urgent assistance regarding the matter of the Forgotten Gods from the Crown and the Mage’s Guild.” He turned to Ezra. “I would hope you could aid in that regard, scholar?”
Ezra inclined his head. “I will, of course, take this matter to them.”
“The matter of most import, is securing Littlewatch and ensuring the safety of those within the town. Inari and Ezra, I would ask once more for your aid in this matter. Is it at all possible to set wards upon the town?”
Inari raised his brows. “It is one thing to secure a building, but an entire town?”
“It will be difficult,” Ezra agreed. “Not impossible, if there were more of us. The Mage’s Guild could help. However, with only two of us? It would not be viable.”
