Chapter 8
Lorcan The sound of the door opening was commanding everyone’s attention. I could feel their eyes on me as I walked as swiftly as possible and threw myself at the mercy of the king. On my knees, my head bowed, eyes downcast, I did whatever I could to spare the life of my mother.
“You are the son of the prisoner?” the king asked.
“I am the son of Cora Tarak, yes, your grace.”
“And what brings you to this trial?”
“Begging your forgiveness, my king, but there is no court to pass sentence, no witnesses to prove her guilt. How is this a trial?”
“The king’s ruling is absolute.” The guard who stood before me, sword drawn and ready to swing, looked like he would rather spit in my face than further explain what was transpiring.
“Forgive me, your grace, my world is beyond these walls. I can attest to the character of my mother. She is a good woman, loyal to the royal family, and would never cause harm, not even to her enemies of whom she has none.”
“Your Highness, this vile was found in the pocket of her cloak. It has been drained of its contents and is odorless, as are often the most lethal of poisons.” The guard produced a small bottle, holding it up as evidence. My mother’s face turned white. Her tears saturated her cheeks as she shook her head and said over and over that it was not hers.
“Her cloak remains on a hook all day while she works. It is unattended. Anyone could have slipped such a vile inside,” I counterargued. The King let out a disgruntled rumble from his throat and turned to his left where his nephew, the prince, stood in all his finery.
“Prince Raelan, one day this throne room shall be yours and the decisions yours as well. How would you deal with such a crime?”
Raelan locked his hands behind his back and stood up straight. He looked at me and then my mother before turning to the king and giving his answer. “The crime is one of the most heinous and therefore should be handled as such. The woman needs to be questioned properly by the experts to see if anyone else aided her in her attempt, however, your laws forbid such practices to be conducted on the weaker sex.” Once more, he turned his gaze to Cora. His eyes were cold with conviction. I prepared myself for the brutality of his next words. “It is my belief, however, that an example must be set, and a public execution should take place.”
“No!” The cry of my words caused the guard to drag me up from my knees and lock my hands behind my back, to protect the royal family should I choose to do something rash. “You have no proof that she did this.”
Raelan smiled at me cruelly. “We have less proof that she didn’t.”
The guard grabbed me by my hair and forced my head into a locked position so I was staring into the eyes of my king. “Your grace, my father was Barin Tarak, he fought by your side as you rid the world of the injustice of the reign of dragons. I beg you, in his name, don’t do this.”
Savio leaned back in his throne of dragon scales and stroked at his short, white beard that was splattered in gray. “I remember your father well. He found the central nesting grounds of Charon and his whore. So pleased was that I offered Barin a place among my guards.” He gestured to the guards who lined the room now. The guards were handpicked by the king. “He would have had a title, knighthood, and a place in this court. He chose to return to the village to wed some yellow-haired maiden he had promised himself to before he left for war. I can only assume that girl was you.” He looked at my mother with intense judgment. “He chose wrong.”
“Your Highness,” I pleaded. “If you could do but one memory in his name, I beg you to release my mother.”
“So my life is threatened, and you wish me to release a person who is the prime suspect? Do I understand you correctly, Lorcan Tarak?” He said my name as if the very words were a bad taste in his mouth. The guard twisted my hair just enough to make me feel like my skin was on fire.
“No…justice must be served,” I agreed and closed my eyes momentarily before giving him my ultimatum. “In her place…you can have me.” There was a gasp that came from the direction of Princess Isolde, but I did not take my eyes off the king. I needed his attention. “Beat me, stretch me on the rack, brand me with your mark, take my life if you must have it. But, I beg of you, have mercy on my mother.”
King Savio had a perverted need for torture, and the light that flickered behind his blue eyes showed me he would not be able to pass up this deal. “Fine. You have set your fate, Lorcan Tarak.
If you die tomorrow at the hands of the magistrate, the blood does not fall to me. You and your mother shall spend the night in the dungeon. Once your sentence is carried out at noon tomorrow, your mother is free to go. As is the custom, you must remain for one week in prison.”
The guard let go of my hair, and I bowed my head in acceptance. “Your grace is most kind.”
The guards bound my hands behind my back, in the same type of rusted shackles my mother wore. Cora sobbed as if I were already dead, but it was not her tears that gutted my core. Seated on the throne, Princess Isolde wiped at her eye and looked at me with such pity, as if everything good in this world had just been shattered.
****
The prison smelled of urine and death. The only light was the ghostly flicker from the hallway where the guards had lit torches. A sparse pile of hay was to be my bed; a bucket was to hold my waste. The accommodations did not concern me, but knowing my mother was in similar conditions was most unsettling. There was no way to tell time down here. Dawn could break and I would still be under the illusion that it was night. It was a place where a man could easily lose his mind before any sentence was to be carried out.
The hours passed, as did several rodents who shared the room with me, but my eyes refused to surrender to sleep. There was a small commotion outside my door. The wave of torches cast shadows of light through my small cell window.
“I wish to speak with the family who threatened the life of my father, I shall start with the son. It was the princess’s voice. And hearing it down in this putrid facility felt wrong. I was accustomed to her laughter being carried to me on the wind produced by the speed of her horse. She belonged outside, surrounded by beauty. All that existed here was shame and despair.
The door creaked open, and a torch was placed by the hook beside the door to flood some light into the cell. Isolde’s face was stoic, her blue eyes determined. “Leave us. He is bound in chains and cannot harm me. I shall keep my distance, and if I need you, I shall call.” The guard nodded and stepped outside, his back to the door.
Isolde stepped forward, her full skirts lifted so as not to drag on the ground and acquire their stench.
“Forgive me, my princess. If you have come to ask me to saddle your horse, I’m afraid I am busy tomorrow.”
Her expression was slack, her eyes wet with the threat of tears. “Sentenced to torture and still you try to make me laugh. What are you?”
I sighed and held up my hands so she might see my chains. “I am but your servant, my princess.”
“Servant. You should have joined the army; there you would have truly served. At least then you would have been sent across the Salted Sea and safe from the hells you shall experience tomorrow.”
“But then my mother would be dead, and I would have never had my moments with you.” It seemed honesty was the natural air here in this pit. I breathed it in and allowed the truth to fall from my tongue.
Isolde was taken aback by my confession. She took a step closer and looked into my eyes. There was an urgency there I had never seen before. “Moments with me are not worth the pain of the rack or the fires of the flesh.” She breathed.
“I beg to disagree. If I live, the pain will not last forever. But my memories of our time together shall remain intact.”
Trembling, she took a final step closer. “Then here, I give you one last memory of a life that could never be.” She took my face in her hands and placed her rose-petal lips against my own. They felt supple and cool. How I longed to savor that moment and pull her soft, snowflake skin against mine, but my hands were chained. Should the guard so much as turn around, we would both be sentenced to death. The bravery she showed in this cell was far more than I had expelled in the throne room above. She parted my lips with her tongue and surprised me with a kiss I never expected to be delivered by a princess. If I could freeze a moment of my life forever, it would be this one, for even in the bowels of hell, I was given a glimpse of heaven.