Page 54 of Witchcraft and Fury (Chronicles of the Divided Isle #1)

The king glowered down at her. ‘Were it not my cousin that you accuse of treason, perhaps I would admire your audacity, Carpenter,’ he growled. ‘You may have your say. Lord Heolstor’s priests will happily indulge you and your … notions in private.’

From the smile that Heolstor gave at this, Solar was very certain that she did not want to end up in a room alone with any of his subordinates.

‘Your Majesty,’ Cal said, stepping in front of Solar protectively, ‘what Solar says is true. Loveday has treason in his heart, and we heard it from his own mouth!’

The king ignored him and, at a gesture from Heolstor, the two swordsmen made to take them by the arm. Solar braced herself.

‘Your Majesty, if I may?’ The old wizard standing behind the throne had addressed King Algar, though he spoke so that the whole hall could hear, and the swordsmen paused in their actions.

‘Might it be wise to first ask if these two youths have any evidence to offer, before we hand them over to the priests? By the time they’re done with her, there’ll be little left of the girl for anyone else to interrogate.

And then we may never get to the bottom of this most peculiar mystery with which she has presented us all. ’

Lord Heolstor tutted, but the wizard was clearly a respected figure, for the king considered the suggestion thoughtfully. ‘Very well,’ he eventually said. ‘Have it your way, Storrbury. Roundtower, Carpenter – what evidence do you have to back up your claim?’

‘We … we don’t have any evidence, Your Majesty,’ Solar said. ‘But your cousin does. He has the poison stowed within his cloak right now. And if one of your wizards were to raid his mind, they would soon discover his intentions.’

Some of the onlookers actually laughed at her words, as if they thought she were joking, and Solar heard barbed whispered comments flit around the room.

But Storrbury held up a hand for silence. ‘Would you be so kind as to remove your cloak and pass it to one of the guards?’ he said, addressing Loveday .

‘I think not,’ said Loveday icily. ‘I am Lord Gaderian Loveday, and a lord does not permit mere foot soldiers to rifle through his clothing.’

‘Are you refusing to comply with investigations into treason?’ asked Storrbury, his voice hardening, and Solar saw his hands tighten round his staff. In front of him, the king’s eyes narrowed.

‘I am refusing to comply with a request insulting to my rank.’

Storrbury looked as if he was about to snap, but the king made a calming gesture.

‘Peace, Kenric. Gaderian is right. In normal times, it would indeed be a grave insult to ask a man such as he to hand his clothing over to a guard, much less take the word of a peasant witch over his own. But these are uncommon circumstances.’

‘Uncommon circumstances,’ Loveday repeated stiffly. ‘The only uncommon circumstance here is the audacity of my students!’

‘Be that as it may, cousin, it would put my own mind at rest if you did me the service of obeying. When the claims of your students are undoubtably found to be false, we can skip the priests and send them directly to a cell to contemplate the consequences of their unfounded accusations.’

‘I appreciate the desire to remove all doubt around the girl’s claims. But I must assure you, cousin, that you need not fear my loyalty,’ Loveday countered.

‘However, searching me here, now, in front of my peers and commoners alike, would wound me grievously. It will be the talk of every room within the kingdom, from alley taprooms to castle halls. I know that it is beyond me to bear such an indignity lightly. And I would hate for that to strain future ties between our houses.’

The king’s face darkened as the threat behind Loveday’s words sank in. He caught the eyes of the swordsmen and made a sharp gesture.

They advanced on Loveday.

Solar reached for Fury’s hilt, certain that, words having failed, Loveday would resort to force in order to resist. But, to her utmost shock, he laid his staff down on the flagstones, removed his cloak and tossed it to one of the swordsmen.

Then he held up his arms, allowing the other soldier to conduct a full search.

‘If we have to go through with this then,’ Loveday said.

He turned slowly as he was searched, ostensibly to allow the soldier to carry out his task more easily.

But the result was that every eye in the room caught a prolonged, unhindered view of a most startling sight: stripped of his cloak, Loveday wore a surcoat of cream brocade, its rich fabric emblazoned with the Loveday sigil – two sapphire-blue dragons combatant – prominently displayed on both the chest and back.

He made sure to meet the eyes of as many notables in the room as he could whilst he turned, before finally resting his gaze on Solar.

She saw in his eyes a look of carefully crafted wounded pride.

The soldier with the cloak shook it out and searched each pocket of its lining but found nothing.

‘The cloak is empty, my king,’ the soldier said.

He made a half-step towards Loveday, cloak outstretched, but then realised he was still being searched by his comrade.

‘My apologies, Lord Gaderian,’ he mumbled, withdrawing his arm.

Solar felt the ground beneath her feet shifting as the mood of the room turned farther from her favour.

A discontented murmur began to swell in the ranks of the nobles at the diligence of the second soldier’s search, who was checking every inch of Loveday’s clothing.

As his search took him to pat down his surcoat, a few cries of protest broke out from the onlookers, the sight of a common man laying his hands on the emblem of such a great and ancient house clearly too much for their patrician stomachs to bear.

Finally, the soldier stood back. The first returned the cloak to Loveday, unable to meet his eye.

Loveday took the cloak and picked up his staff. Then he held out the cloak at arm’s length and dropped it dramatically to the ground.

‘This court may keep the cloak. It will serve as permanent evidence of my innocence, and a reminder of such shame needlessly inflicted.’

Torchlight flickered across his embroidered surcoat. The room now was silent, but the sympathy Loveday had won from the crowd was palpable.

The king let the silence stretch, all eyes moving between him and Loveday.

Slowly, he lifted his wine cup and raised it in Loveday’s direction.

‘I drink to your innocence, cousin. You have a king’s apologies.

My judgement has, on this occasion, been clouded, no doubt by the witch you have brought to my palace. Guards, secure the students.’

Solar looked on helplessly as strong hands gripped her arms and forced them behind her back. The game is up. We bet all we had on one throw of the dice, and Loveday didn’t even have the potion on him!

She watched the king slowly raise his cup as the soldier pinned her arms painfully. She saw Loveday hold the king’s gaze unwaveringly.

And she noticed a twitch in his jaw.

Never, not in all their months on the road, had she seen Loveday show the slightest hint of nerves – not even when standing in this hall, accused of treason. But watching the king drink a toast to his innocence ?

The king’s cup met his lips.

‘My king!’ she shouted. ‘Do not drink the wine! He has poisoned it!’

‘Solar, we don’t know if—!’ Cal began.

The king lowered his cup. ‘I think I have slighted my cousin enough for one day, girl. Your lunacy has already been responsible for much disruption. Be silent and await your judgement.’

‘At least make him drink it first!’ Solar persisted, gasping as the soldier pinned her arms with even greater force.

‘There would be no harm in that, my king,’ said Storrbury quickly. ‘One final precaution. Given Gaderian’s innocence, I’m sure he will not object?’

‘You overestimate how many blows to my honour I can take, Storrbury,’ said Loveday stiffly.

‘Perhaps,’ said Lord Sceotend, breaking his silence, ‘there is another way to look at this. Not as a demonstration of the wine’s safety.

I think none of us here now truly believe the girl’s accusations.

’ He gave Solar a significant look. ‘But the king and Gaderian drinking from the same cup would be a fitting symbol of the healing of any strain in relations caused by this unfortunate episode. An episode that, I might emphasise, neither party brought about.’

‘Your words are as carefully chosen as ever, Sceotend. But I am no fool. I know the true reason you wish for me to drink: despite my suffering the indignity of a bodily search at the hands of common soldiers, you do not trust me!’

The king brought his wine cup down upon his table with such force that wine sloshed over the brim and onto the table and platter of grapes. ‘Enough of this, Gaderian! Drink with me! Put an end to this episode once and for all! Show that any rift bet— ’

The king stopped short as his words were interrupted by a loud, fizzing sound.

He looked down in confusion at the source of the noise: the golden platter before him, placed next to his wine cup, was spitting globs of liquid.

Faint wisps of smoke were beginning to rise.

The king’s eyes moved from his wine cup to the spilled contents on the oak table, and then to the platter, where the wine was quite obviously reacting with the gold.

‘This is no wine,’ he murmured in disbelief.

Storrbury hurried over and examined the smoking, spitting platter cautiously. ‘The king’s drink has been poisoned!’ he declared.

The king stood, a picture of rage. ‘Guards, take my cousin away for a full interrogation! Storrbury, you will oversee it yourself!’

The two swordsmen released Solar and Cal. Cal took Solar by the arm, drawing her away from the space around Loveday.