“I don’t see how that’s relevant to the trial, Raghnall,” she said gently. “We’re here about the events which occurred outside of the House of Harlowe, not within it.”
Raghnall tensed but nodded for me to continue.
“I was walking toward the stairs to head back up to the First. It was late and I was exhausted and then Bade–” I broke off here, fighting to calm my racing heart, to avoid the tears threatening to fall. “I didn’t see him at first. It was dark and he was too far away. But then he came out of the shadows and I saw he had a knife. I was confused. I asked what he was doing there. He saidhe was there for me and then…then he attacked me. He lunged at me with the knife. I just barely managed to fight him off for a brief second before he was coming at me again. I raised my arms to defend myself and received this,” I held up my still healing arms, the red seams of the diagonal scar standing out starkly against my pale skin. “He said he was ordered to attack me.”
Gasps shot out around me and whispers that quickly grew to murmurs before Raghnall could speak.
“Did he saywhoordered him to attack you?” Raghnall asked carefully.
My gaze slipped to Cosmo and I nearly scoffed at the question. As if there were anyone else in the city who could order such a thing. As if there were anyone else in the city who Bade would obey if they had.
“He hinted that it was his grandfather,” I answered.
The murmurs rose to outright chatter and Cosmo, on the dais, shook his head and rolled his eyes as if he couldn’t stand the lies I was telling, as if this whole thing was a farce, despite the fact that he’d been the one to arrange it.
“How did you manage to overpower him?” Raghnall asked, practically shouting to be heard over the crowd.
“I didn’t,” I answered honestly. “He had me pinned to the ground, my own blade hovering over my throat in my hand which he held above us, but I dropped the blade. As quickly as I could, I caught it in my other hand and rammed it up into his stomach. I didn’t…”
I broke off again, fighting for composure as I took a deep breath.
“I didn’t want to kill him,” I said. My voice cracked and the whispers began again. Raghnall looked like he was going to interrupt me so I rushed on before he could. “Bade was my friend. I cared about him. But we are the creatures our Houses make us.”
At that, I turned my glare to Cosmo who was still shaking his head as if in disbelief. The crowd became deafening, some even shouting out angrily about what they thought of those ‘creatures’, but the Tribunal only had eyes for me. Nascha’s face was impassive. Her lips were a flat line and her eyes held no hint of her emotion. Whether she thought I’d done well or not was impossible to tell. Raghnall was furious with the crowd’s reaction, moments away from leaping back to his feet and shouting at them all to be quiet again. Cosmo was a study in simmering rage. Though he didn’t show it, affecting a casually dismissive demeanor, I knew him well enough to see the anger radiating off of him in waves.
“Where did you go after–” Raghnall began.
“Were there any witnesses?” Cosmo called over him.
I watched the Viper Patriarch carefully. He just stared right back, not a hint of his plans on his face.
“No,” I replied.
“So we’re to take your word for it that Bade attacked you first,” he said.
“I’d just left the House of Harlowe,” I reiterated. “I had no way of knowing Bade would even be on the Second. How would I–”
“How do we even know you’d been inside the House of Harlowe? Do you have someone who can vouch for you there?”
“I–”
“How do we know this wasn’t all an elaborate lie made up to continue the torment your House has been leveling on mine since your Heir stepped into his role? You could have gone down to the Second to follow Bade. You could have cornered him in the dark and stabbed him in the gut without him even knowing you were there. You could have left him bleeding on the street in front of the House you’d later conveniently claim to have left moments before. Your temper is a well known thing, Olympia.There isn’t anyone here who wouldn’t believe you capable of such violence.”
“I would never–”
“Did you or did you not attempt to kill the Champion Adrian at a party held in her honor at my home nearly two years ago?”
“I did, but–”
“Did you or did you not set fire to a home on the Second Ring you believed was a front for rebel activity?”
My jaw fell open in surprise as I looked helplessly to Milo who was no longer leaning against the wall. He stood straight up, eyes whipping from Cosmo to me and back.
“Did you set the fire, Olympia?” Cosmo barked, rising from his chair and leaning over to point at me.
“I–I don’t–” I stammered, lost.
“It’s a simple question. There are witnesses who place you at the scene that night, witnesses who said you walked away from the blaze with a bleeding fist, that you didn’t even look back as the neighbors ran with water and towels to smother the fire and put it out.”
