Wetness suddenly assaulted his face and he was nudged heavily from behind. He fell to one knee, his back pressing against a mountain of fur while the battering continued. He opened his eyes to see Lilah’s giant tongue lash out, slapping him across the cheek, slathering his face with spittle.
“Whoa, girl,” he said, almost laughing at the absurdity of it.
He leaned to the side to avoid another attack of Lilah’s persistent tongue, which smacked against his chest instead, and he ended up face to face with Kayne. He was reclined against the male lion’s side, and Kayne gazed deep into his eyes, as if studying him. Kayne then lolled his neck, his cheek sweeping against Vulfram’s. Both lions began purring-throaty, shuddering hums that sounded almost sexual in nature.
Vulfram placed a hand atop each creature’s head, pulling them in closer, these beasts he had known all his life, and began to laugh. That laughter soon turned to sadness and then finally evolved into a righteous conviction that flowed from his pores like steam from a hot mountain spring.
Kayne and Lilah swiftly backed away from him, and he stood, casting a quick glance toward the gate, where Karak’s eyes still glowed, before whirling around to confront those on the platform. Each of them looked down at him with their own unique expression-his mother’s joyful, Clovis’s deeply irritated, Gregorian’s wide-eyed and disbelieving, and Thessaly’s almost sad. The Sisters, of course, showed no emotion at all, as their faces were covered.
“I…have…been…JUDGED!” Vulfram shouted at them. This was it, he knew-the moment Karak had been waiting for, the reason the deity had lingered in the darkness instead of exposing himself to the rest. Because what Vulfram did now, he had to do on his own.
“You have, Lord Commander,” said his mother, her smile all teeth. “Under law, this court grants you a full pardon. Your station shall be restored, and you will be released immediately.”
Clovis mumbled something under his breath, and the Captain shot him a quick look.
“That is right,” Vulfram said, making sure to pronounce every word clearly. “I have been found faithful, and I will be released with a full pardon.” He gestured behind him. “The Final Judges have decreed my faith to be true, and in so doing, they have validated every thought that led me to standing right here, right now.”
“What are you talking about?” asked Thessaly.
“My daughter!” he screamed. “My daughter was manipulated by devious forces that wished to wrong my family through her innocence. My entire purpose for returning to Veldaren was to clear her name, to free her from a fate worse than death, and now that I have been found worthy of life, I decree that she has been, as well!”
“Well, I.…” Soleh began.
She was cut off when Clovis began to laugh, a deeply resounding, almost maniacal cackle that echoed throughout the cavernous chamber.
“Her innocence is not yours to decree,” he said, venom seeping out with every word he spoke. “Karak’s law is true, his law is final, and you yourself carried out the verdict against her. Your god is infallible, Lord Commander. Are you claiming otherwise?”
“No!” shouted Vulfram defiantly. “I am saying that men interpret the laws of our divine deity, and men are fallible! My daughter is but a child.” The words were like knives as they left his mouth. He wished he could scale the smooth stone and strangle Clovis where he stood.
Clovis shook his head. “So foolish, Vulfram. So vain and foolish.” He then stepped around Thessaly and approached the two Sisters. The one closest bowed and backed away, and he placed his hands on the second one, moving her to an open area of the platform not blocked by the sandstone balustrade. His fingers laced around a piece of wrapping that dangled from the side of the Sister’s face, and slowly Clovis began to unwind it. The wrappings peeled off like petals from a rose, gradually revealing the face hidden beneath.
Vulfram gasped. His heart leapt into his throat.
It was Lyana up there, her eyes wide and glassy, the hair shaved from her head. Her face was expressionless, her jaw rigid, even as Clovis removed the cloak from her shoulders, even as he unwound the coverings from her chest, her midsection, her hips. It all fell to the ground like the molting skin of a snake, until his daughter stood naked before him, her youthful body firm but scarred at the sides-the marks of the whipping Vulfram had given her on that fateful day. She did not move. She did not speak. For all he could tell, she did not breathe. She simply stood there as if in a trance, staring out into space, gazing over and beyond him.
“No,” Vulfram moaned. “Oh, Lyana, no.”
Somewhere in the back of his mind, he heard his mother shriek.
“This is the child you so seek to reclaim,” Clovis said, taunting him by peeking over her shoulder and leering downward at her supple breasts. “This child who sinned knowingly against her god, who broke the most sacred of laws, all to keep her name from being sullied.”
Vulfram shook his head in defiance.
“Oh, but it is true,” said Clovis. “The girl admits it herself.”
“She does not!”
Clovis waved a hand in front of Lyana’s face. Her eyes did not even blink.
“Go ahead, Sister,” he said to her, his voice just loud enough for Vulfram to hear. “Tell us why you have entered the order.”
“I have sinned against my god,” she said, and Vulfram’s whole body quaked. Her voice didn’t sound like her own any longer, as if some strange, emotionless being had crawled into her skin and taken over. “It is my life’s regret, one that I will spend the remainder of my days attempting to absolve. The child that was inside me deserved life, and I denied it that life. This is a fate I accept willingly, and as such I have given up my name forever. I am only Sister now, and Sister is all I will ever be.”
“NO!” wailed Vulfram, falling to his knees in the dirt.
“You see, it is done,” Clovis said as he removed his cloak and covered Lyana-or the impassive being Lyana had become. “There is no innocence for you to prove, for the Sister has freely admitted to her wrongdoing. Her life is what it is now, one that belongs to her god and whoever wishes to purchase her services.” Before he wrapped the cloak around her entirely, he reached over and pinched one of Lyana’s nipples between his thumb and forefinger. Lyana winced slightly, but remained otherwise motionless. “And to be honest, after seeing what she has to offer, I might be the first to do just that. Gold may not be able to buy happiness, but it can buy a few hours of contentment.”
“You bastard!” Vulfram heard his mother proclaim, but he didn’t look at her. His eyes were locked on the show that was playing out for him, to taunt him, to toy with him.
And in that moment, he knew it had been Clovis all along.
“Fuck you!” Vulfram screamed. His trance broke and he charged the wall of stone, beat his fists into it. He broke a bone in his right wrist as it slammed against the rock-hard surface, one to match the broken bone in his left hand, but his rage was so complete, pumping through his veins so strongly, that he hardly noticed.
Glancing up, his eyes met Captain Gregorian’s. The man’s expression was queerly conflicted but hard, which made Vulfram all the angrier. None of them would listen to him. Not that bastard Clovis, not Gregorian, not his mother, who was leaning against the balustrade weeping, while his supposed murder weapon dangled from her fingers, and certainly not his brainwashed daughter and her handler. Not even his god would hear him out, it seemed. His god. His god.…
He backed away from the wall, kicking it for good measure, and ran toward the gate.