Lauki's Arc

Chapter 10 of 18

The hearing began the next morning in Conrad's cold hall. Lauki stood before the heavy desk, but Torra was not there. He had not seen her since Conrad summoned the witnesses. Without her voice, the judgment would rest on strangers, and strangers rarely spoke for a demon. Conrad tapped his cane once. "I have called those who know your deeds," he said. "Their words will weigh on my choice." The doors opened. A moon elf entered first, ash-gray skin and glowing amber eyes, a green sword at his back. Lauki tensed. He had never met the man, but hunters like this tracked demons for sport. "Wolfaen De Amarillis," the elf said. He set no soft tone in it. "My blade pulls toward foul magic. It hunts spellcasters who burn villages." Lauki's stomach dropped. Behind Wolfaen came two more. A drow in engraved silver plate, purple eyes flat and cold. Then a pale elven woman in black armor, red eyes fixed on Lauki with clear hate. He knew her. Adellina, from the black castle, whose maze he had burned. "He set fire to my home," Adellina said. "Ask him what a demon does with flame." Conrad turned to the moon elf. "You hunt the wicked. Does your sword pull toward this one?" Wolfaen studied Lauki for a long moment. His hand rested on the hilt. The room waited. Lauki felt the fire stir under his skin and forced it down. If the blade named him corrupt, Conrad would end it here. "It does not pull," Wolfaen said. "I have stood beside true evil. This is not it." He looked at Adellina. "You keep company with vampires and a golem. Your grief is not proof." The drow spoke next, voice like stone. "Vhaeryn Despana. I have no quarrel with the fey'ri. I came to see if he is what she claims." He nodded at Adellina. "He is not." Adellina's face twisted. She stepped forward, and Conrad's cane struck the floor hard. "Enough. You came to poison, not to testify." His steel eyes cut to her. "Leave my house." Guards moved. Adellina held Lauki's gaze one heartbeat, then swept out. The hall fell quiet. Conrad sat back. He looked at Lauki a long time. "A hunter of evil will not name you evil," he said slowly. "That is worth more than any scroll." He set the cane across his knees. "I withhold my blessing still. But I will not forbid you either. Prove yourself in deed, and my door stays open." It was not the yes Lauki wanted. But it was not the end. Then the side door opened. Torra stood there, held back by two guards. Their eyes met across the hall. "Father," Torra said, voice shaking. "There is something you must know about our blood. Before you decide anything." Conrad's face went hard as stone. "What did you say?"