“Sit down, prisoner,” said Krone, “while charges against you are read.”
I sat, surreptitiously tugged down my shirtsleeves and tried to stop my heart from bursting out of my throat. From the corner of my eye I saw Ladon-Tosh seated to the side of the chamber. He was not looking at anyone or anything. I couldn’t understand why he was here, but then my gaze drifted down to his waist.
There was an ax held there in a special sheath fitted to his belt.
I turned back to look at Council while tendrils of cold dread formed around me.
Jurik Krone stood with a scroll of parchment in hand. He looked triumphantly at his fellow Council members. His victorious gaze, at least it seemed to me, lingered longest on Morrigone.
“This female, Vega Jane, has long been skirting the laws of Wormwood. I have statements from Cacus Loon and his son, Cletus, as well as from Non and Roman Picus, that shows she has broken laws without consequences for some time now.”
“We are here for other matters this light, Jurik,” said Thansius. “So let us focus on them.”
Krone nodded and glanced down at the parchment. “We found in the possession of Vega Jane a book.” He reached in front of him and lifted it up for all to see. “This book gives a detailed description of the creatures living in the Quag with, in certain circumstances, ways around said creatures. It also identifies species in the Quag that may be of help to those seeking to traverse the Quag. Like —” He paused and I knew exactly what he was going to say next. I mouthed the word before he spoke it.
“Outliers,” finished Krone.
On this, Council started murmuring among themselves. I noted that only Thansius and Morrigone held their own counsel and did not look at the others.
Thansius stared at a spot just over my head, although his gaze occasionally flicked to me.
Morrigone never once looked at me. I did not take that as a good sign.
Krone continued. “The only possible reason for this female to harbor a book like this is to aid the enemies of Wormwood. For such treasonous acts” — on this he gave a significant glance in the direction of Ladon-Tosh — “execution is the only appropriate punishment.”
Krone looked at each of the Council members in turn and then saved his most scathing look for me.
Thansius rose and said, “Thank you, Jurik, for your, uh, typically energetic parsing of the facts.” He then picked up the book and turned to me.
“How came you by this book, Vega?”
I looked around, unsure of what to do. Finally, I stood.
“I found it at Quentin Herms’s cottage.”
“You were never inside his cottage,” protested Krone.
“I was,” I said. “And I saw you there.”
“Rubbish. Lies and more lies.”
“ ‘The ring is the puzzlement for me. Why would the accursed Virgil not leave it to his son?’ That’s what you said in the cottage, Krone. I was hiding behind the cabinet in the front room. You weren’t there alone.” I hesitated, and then my instinct told me to go for it. “Would you like me to say who you were there with?” I didn’t know who that was, at least not for certain, but Krone couldn’t know that.
“Enough!” shouted Krone. “So you were at the cottage? That merely proves that you knew of the book and took it.”
“I did —”
“Did you help the traitor Herms create it?”
“I am trying to —”
“Do you expect us to believe your pathetic lies?”
“Jurik,” Thansius’s voice boomed.
The entire Council seemed to shudder collectively.
Thansius said, “She is trying to tell us her side of things. Your interrupting before she does so is not especially productive or a good use of Council’s time.”
There were murmurs of agreement on this point and Krone sat down and looked off as though he would not bother to even listen to what I had to say. I noted his crony, Duk Dodgson, sitting next to him and doing the very same thing.
Thansius looked at me and said, “Go on, Vega.”
“I didn’t know about the book. I went to the cottage because of the reward.” A lie plus a truth was far better than two lies, at least in my estimation. In fact, it was pretty close to the truth.
I looked around the room. “That many coins means a lot to a Wug like me. Domitar told us about the reward at Stacks. Every Stacker, I’m sure, did his best to collect his reward, so why not me? I went to the cottage to see if I could find any clues to where Herms had gone.”
“He had not gone anywhere,” countered Krone, who was now once more staring at me. “Outliers took him.”
“But I didn’t know that at the time, did I? It was only announced later and then explained at Steeples to all Wugs.”
“Then why did you keep the book?” asked Krone, a tone of triumph in his voice. “Why did you not turn it in to Council?”
“I was scared,” I replied.
“Of what?” snarled Krone.
“Of Wugs reacting just like you’re reacting now!” I shot back. “Even if I turned it in, I knew you, Krone, would find some way to twist it into a verdict of guilt. When you came for me last night, you said I would be executed. You’d obviously already made up your mind before the Council hearing. Where is the justice in that?”
My statement had the desired effect. Instantly, there were mutterings among the Council members. I saw two of the members give Krone harsh looks.
Morrigone stared at the wall across the room. Thansius kept his gaze on me.
Krone sputtered, “I did no such thing.”
My heart was still pounding and I was still terrified, but my anger was overriding my fear.
“Then why did you take me from my digs in shackles?”
“He did that?”
We all turned to look at Morrigone, who was now staring at Krone.
“He did,” I answered.
“You said you were taken last night, Vega,” said Thansius. “To where were you taken?”
I stared at Krone when I said, “Valhall. I was there until I was brought here. And no food or water has passed my lips.” Well, I had eaten some of what Delph brought me, but I was still starving.
“Then you must be very hungry and thirsty,” said Morrigone. She clapped her hands and an assistant instantly left the chamber. He came back a sliver later carrying a platter with bread and cheeses and a carafe of water. He set it down in front of me.
Morrigone said, “On behalf of Council, Vega, I apologize. No Wug goes to Valhall who has not first been convicted.” She added in a withering tone with a scathing look at Krone tacked on, “As my colleague Krone well knows.”
Krone had said nothing this whole time. As I attacked my meal and drank down the water, I shot glances here and there at Council. I saw Krone looking down at his hands and no doubt wondering where his advantage had gone. I was thinking that I might even be let go in a sliver or two when I noticed the carafe had a slight crack in it. Water had dribbled out of it and onto my sleeve. A puddle of dark liquid was pooling on the table.
I stared at it for a long moment, wondering what its source was. I wasn’t that dirty.
I didn’t even know he was beside me until I looked up.
Krone was staring at the dark pool of water. Then he looked at my arm and then he looked at me. Before I could stop him, he had ripped up my shirtsleeve, exposing the marks I had made from the map of the Quag that Quentin Herms had left me.
“And what in the name of Steeples is this, I ask you,” he roared. He twisted my arm and I cried out in pain.
Thansius stood. “Krone, stand down this instant.”
Morrigone was on her feet too and hurrying over to us. She stopped next to me and her gaze ran down my arm. I saw her attempt to say something but then it was like the words froze in her throat.