“They weren’t here,” he repeated a little louder. “When it happened, they weren’t here. Only me.”
“Fynn,” Aloisia hissed.
“If you’re going to arrest anyone, let it be me.”
Jarkko glanced between them all. “Is this true? Were you not present?”
Tristan’s grip tightened around Aloisia’s wrist. “Yes, we were not here when it happened. We arrived after.”
“So, neither of you actually witnessed anything?” Kari asked.
“Yes!” Aloisia interjected before Tristan could answer. “The shadows, the blue light—”
“Blue light? The report did mention a blue light, and screams, from this area.”
Jarkko pointed his blade to Aloisia again. “Did you witness what happened to her?”
She gritted her teeth. “No.”
“All the same, they were over the body, Kari. And the body was glowing – clear signs of witchcraft. We have to arrest all of them.”
Fynn met Aloisia’s gaze, his jaw set. She couldn’t read the look in his eyes. It was a far cry from the distance which had lived there moments ago.
Kari rose, striding to Jarkko. “It’s a difficult situation,” he said, his voice lowered. “We have to be careful how we proceed. If they weren’t here when the crime was committed… We cannot arrest a priest and a huntress without due cause—”
“Due cause?” Jarkko ground out. “Isn’t witchcraft reason enough?”
“The council will have our heads. We saw no spell being cast. What solid proof do we have against them? Of course, we can question them, but we cannot just arrest them.” He pulled out a set of manacles and advanced on Fynn. “You are under arrest—”
“No!” Aloisia burst forwards, placing herself between Kari and Fynn with her arms outstretched, shielding him with her body. “I won’t let you do this. He did not kill her. And he certainly doesn’t practice witchcraft. Those markings only appeared after we arrived, and he wasn’t ‘casting a spell’. As if he’d know how!”
“Lis, please,” Fynn said.
She turned, lowering her arms.
“One way or another, they are going to arrest me. I would rather go willingly.”
“What are you saying?”
“I need you to do something for me.”
Aloisia approached him, wary of Jarkko’s blade. Again, Kari stayed his hand. “What do you need?”
He looked down at Brighde. “Can you take her from me? I don’t think I can let go. But, maybe, I could give her to you.” He swallowed hard, his throat bobbing. His charcoal eyes flickered up, a mirror of her own, and they held such determination and desperation.
She touched his arm. “I can’t let them take you.”
“You have to. Better me than all of us. If there is any justice, they will find the truth.”
“They will execute you if they do not.”
“Please, Lis.”
“Consider Ma, at least, if not me.”
He flinched yet kept his resolve. “Please take her from me. And watch over Ma.”
“Fynn…”
