“Three have passed the trial, and we have three more yet to face it.” Bahmet withdrew his hand from Hector’s shoulder, easing some of the tension that pressed down on my chest. “Shall we move on swiftly?”
No one replied.
“Surely I am not the only one enjoying this trial?” Bahmet joked, to himself considering the room couldn’t bear to utter a word to him. “Tough crowd.”
Hector hung his head, gasping for breath as he fixated on an unimportant point on the floor. Every few seconds he would mumble an apology. “I’m sorry. I’msosorry.”
More pain jolted through my heart at his broken demeanour. And yet, I was still helpless to do anything but await my turn.
Verena hadn’t turned away from Romy’s direction, not once since she had spoken. Kai too. I felt the force of love, so brilliant and oppressive, from that side of the room.
Romy had gone dead still. Her fight had left her as soon as Hector stopped speaking.
“Arwyn Hopkin.” Bahmet came to stop in front of me, the thumbscrew steady in his hands. “I wonder what you have got to share to the group.”
“Me,” Romy hissed, cutting the demon off. She lifted red-rimmed eyes, and faced the monster near her. A woman scorned, without a fear in the world. “I want to go next.”
Bahmet chuckled. “Goodness, what a turn of events. Are you sure about that, dear?”
Romy’s jaw clicked, teeth grinding together. Apparently, the determination in her stare was enough of an answer. I wanted to plead with Romy to let me have my turn, but I knew it would be wasted. That determination in her eyes… I recognised it. It was the same look I saw on my face when I looked in the mirror.
Family.
The room held a collective breath as Bahmet began threading Romy’s fingers into the device. Before he finished, she shouted out her answer. “I confess.”
“You do?” Bahmet tilted his head to the side. “And what do you confess to, Romy Bailey?”
“To being a witch. I confess to dancing with the devil, lying with the darkness. I confess to being exactly what you accuse me of being.”
I pinched my eyes closed, not brave enough to watch Bahmet turn the screw and shatter Romy’s fingers. Counting my breaths, I anticipated a noise that just never came.
“Very good,” Bahmet announced, disappointment evident in the dip of his enthusiasm. “You pass.”
What?
“That is not fair,” Tomin screeched. I could’ve laughed if I had the energy.
“Care to explain how that is not fair?” Bahmet questioned my father with as little focus as one could muster. My father, as I figured out, was nothing but shit beneath Bahmet’s hoof.
“That was not a secret. That was not a confession.”
“Are you not the same man who once stood in this very position, facing down women who were left powerless in chairs, as you demanded them to confess for their sins?” Bahmet’s sudden fury shocked me as equally as it pleased me. He snapped to my father, danger lurking in his demonic eyes. “Are you not, Father Tomin, the leading Witch Hunter for hundreds of years… whose blind faith drove him to punish innocent souls for not conforming to the standards of your own belief?”
My father leaned forwards. Of course he did. He was not frightened of a demon when his life was equally as immortal. “They wereyourrules, demon. Not mine. Give a secret, and pass.”
“Loophole.” Hector’s voice rose up and over the room, a tidal wave that warmed my spirit. He grinned weakly through his tears, despite everything that had happened. “Kai said he would find a loophole, and Bahmet never told him that was impossible. This trial… like the others… are all made for witches. Based on your disgusting pursuits, Tomin. I’m surprised it took so long for you to figure it out.”
Of course. The Confessing. This placement, the way it was set up, even down to the tool of torture that Bahmet used on us. It was all to make the accused person admit they were a witch. Whether it was true or not.
“Well then I confess,” Tomin shouted. “I confess to being a witch.”
“Ah, ah, ah.” Bahmet clicked his tongue. “Unfortunately, that will not work for you. You,human, do not get the easy way out.There is something I wish for you to say to our devoted crowd. A secret we both know you are keeping. Something, I dare say, that is far more… delectable than anything shared thus far.”
I hated him. I hated the lack of fear on my father’s face. The lack of care that he had played a part in hurting every single person he sat beside. And, deep down, I felt responsible. I could only protect the people I loved, the family I never knew I had, or the coven I had been accepted into, without dealing with the root cause of our poison.
Him.
“Bahmet,” I said, voice clear as the intention within me. “I would like to go before myfather.”
