The Witch of Storn

Chapter 7

At last the trial was at its end. The accused and the accuser had given their statements; the witnesses had spoken and the judges had consulted among themselves. It was time for the judgment to be passed. Would Rhaenar be found guilty or innocent of the charges against her?

Sitting on the floor in the corridor she had waited in at the start of the trial, Rey hugged herself tightly, trying (and failing) to repress the shivers that rattled her lithe frame. Even though there was no one there she still wanted to look collected. Like almost everything else that day, it was in vain. She hated waiting. It wasn't as if she didn't know what the verdict would be—it was clear as crystal to anyone who had been paying attention during the whole thing.

Guilty, she had heard some whisper before their neighbors quickly hushed them with urgent hisses. Even the Prince was smug, but why wouldn't it be? He had given incredibly damning evidence, providing a motive for Rhaenar — her supposed jealousy. Though she doubted Rhaenar would actually try to kill anyone for that i***t she didn't know if Rhaenar had done all that other stuff.

Hence, her defense was very shaky. Rey had wanted to bluff her way out of it, but she couldn't think of anything to say to account for the 'accident' that had created the deadly cake. She also had no way to provide an alibi or anything that would prove her innocent. She was unable to answer the questions Lord Stallis asked, instead avoiding them like an eel in oil.

So she knew that it was surely a verdict of guilty. Especially since the Prince had a concise account of all that happened during the party. He had admitted that he wasn't allowed into the girls' dorms, but the amulet he had gifted Sylphia flashed red, which meant she was in mortal danger, so he had come looking for her. Only to find her slumped on the floor clutching her neck in distress and her lips turning blue.

I'm doomed. Rey pulled at her hair. The whole thing was fishy—why would Rhaenar try to kill Sylphia in the presence of every other person there? But she had no memories before the present day, so she couldn't say anything at all.

She tried to console herself with the thought that it was just attempted murder, not actual murder.

Rhaenar's father is on the panel of judges, isn't he? He wouldn't let anything happen to his daughter...would he?

She suddenly realized that she knew next to nothing about Rhaenar's father. What if he was actually the type to throw away his children to save himself?

She was still pondering over the matter when she heard the loud call of Sylphia's name from the hall.

I'm next. She got to her feet reluctantly, dusting off the back of her dress. Then she looked over herself, checking that she still looked neat and gorgeous.

If you're going to die, might as well die in style. She thought with a grin that was the furthest thing from happy.

"LADY RHAENAR AERA, IL TSAEN!"

It was time.

******

"...finding Lady Rhaenar guilty..."

"...negligence...unintentional manslaughter..."

"...sentenced to a year of exile, during which she must not set foot on the soil of New Revonen..."

"...disobeying will be an affront to the State and will be treated as treason..."

The gavel pounded harder than it had since the start of the trial, and the crowd rose to their feet. The trial was over, and Rey had been given a verdict of guilty, but still she stood there. Behind her the doors opened and a guard, dressed similarly to the guard from earlier, stepped onto the balcony with her.

"Lady Rhaenar.'

He got no answer and cleared his throat, trying again. From somewhere in her mind his voice registered and Rey turned to look at him, face devoid of any expression.

'Yes? What is it?"

Her voice was expressionless too, betraying no emotion. The guard gave up trying to see if she felt saddened by the judgment and simply carried out his given duty.

"Your father waits in the carriage outside."

He stepped back as she nodded, allowing her to move past him back into the dim hallway that by now was as familiar as the back of her hand. They walked down the hallway, taking turns and retracing their steps. As they walked past the groups of students staring at her and whispering Rey took no notice, ignoring them and walking calmly on, like it was just another day.

Someone mumbled something about a mere slap on the wrist, immediately being shushed by their friends and the guard who stopped to glare at them until they left the area. It didn't seem to affect Rey, who continued on her way without the guard. The corridors that had been so confusing earlier were now imprinted in her mind, and she finally reached the entrance of the school.

As she pushed the door open before her a loud shout made her stop. She looked over her shoulder. A group of students hurried her way, with the Prince at the forefront. Rey turned all the way to face them fully, narrowing her eyes at Sylphia walking close behind the Prince. She sneered when the Prince, noticing her eyes, grabbed onto Sylphia’s hand and pulled the girl closer to him.

Does this fool seriously think I care about whoever he's in love with? She didn't bother hiding the disdain on her face — there was no need to, not now when things had already gotten to this point. He looked surprised seeing the disdain on her face and she rolled her eyes.

You can do it to me, but I can't reciprocate? What a hypocrite.

He quickly recovered from his shock and stopped a few meters in front of Rey, dragging a shy Sylphia to stand next to him. Behind him the others stopped too. They were all glaring at Rey, who glared back. Hadn't she gone through enough without having to re-enact a stereotypical Mean Girls scene?

"Rhaenar! You—"

Rey interrupted sharply. "That’s Lady Rhaenar to you, Your Highness."

There was a collective gasp from the onlookers and even the group behind the Prince was taken aback. Sylphia and the Prince were no exception.

A sneer made its way onto Rey's lips. Why wouldn't they be surprised? Rhaenar had never contradicted the Prince before. She was too in love with him to think of correcting him. Maybe the dropping of her title made her feel special to him. The sneer deepened. Rhaenar had been even more of a fool than the Prince ever was.

The Prince coughed, sending her a dirty look.

"Lady Rhaenar, you cannot mean to leave just like that?"

Sylphia glanced at the Prince, a question in her eyes. He squeezed her hand softly and smiled gently at her, missing the confusion on Rey's face. She quickly wiped it off when he turned back to her. There was a brief silence as Rey waited for him to speak. When she still hadn’t said anything he huffed.

"Stop playing innocent, we all know you've never been that!"

Still she said nothing, just staring with a cold face. The staring contest between Rey and the Prince went on until Sylphia spoke up in a soft voice.

"Um, Lady Rhaenar?"

Rey raised an eyebrow, refusing to break eye contact with the Prince. She hated to lose, especially to that i***t, and she also didn't like the sight of Sylphia. Something about the girl just clawed at her, eating her up with resentment and immense dislike. She almost labeled it hate, but hate was too strong a word.

It was the Prince who broke first, turning to Sylphia and squeezing her hand again.

"What is it, Syl?"

The girl blushed slightly at the nickname, staring with a determined look on her face at Rey.

"I-I want an apology." When Rey only raised an indifferent eyebrow again, she hastily explained. "For the- for the distress you caused me."

Rey finally looked properly at Sylphia. The girl held her gaze boldly for a few moments before she dropped her eyes to the floor. The Prince grasped her hand even tighter. Maybe that was what granted her the courage to raise her eyes to Rey's again.

"I almost died, Lady Rhaenar. Doesn't that deserve an apology from you, who tried to ki—"

A disdainful voice cut in sharply.

"Rey doesn't need to apologize to anybody."

Rey? Rey turned sharply to her left, where the crowd was parting for three girls. The one in the middle holding a fan up to her lips was the one who had spoken. She wasn't wearing the uniform — none of the three were. The chubby one on the left wore a frilly baby pink dress that made her look like a cherub, the one in the middle wore a light green dress that matched her fan, and the tallest on the right was in a darker pink dress. Their shoes clacked on the tiled floor, all the way to where Rey faced off with the Prince and his group.

When they reached Rey they turned to the Prince, who now had an annoyed frown. The baby-faced girl wound her arm through Rey's elbow, smiling at Rey. The taller girl smiled at Rey and placed her palm on Rey's hand, ruffling her hair gently. The girl in green snapped her fan shut and Sylphia flinched.

The Prince seemed to have found his voice at last.

"What is the meaning of this, Viviene?"

She smiled at him. It was the kind of smile a cat would give to the mouse that had somehow gotten away.

"Lady Viviene, Your Highness. And to answer your question, what does it look like I'm doing?' She raised a slender hand as the Prince opened his mouth to fire back a reply.

"Obviously, I'm here to support Rey. I mean, this doesn't look very fair, does it?"

The taller girl on her left chimed in.

"Of course not. Seven people cornering just one person? I didn’t know that was a part of your lessons in chivalry, Your Highness."

Rey watched with a smile as the Prince struggled to contain what was certainly anger, his face contorting in a weird manner. Viviene waited for a while, and then when no one said anything she kept on talking.

"Miss Sylphia? You were saying something?"

With so many eyes on her the mentioned girl took a step back, seemingly shrinking. The Prince stopped her though, glaring at all of them opposite him.

"What are you playing at? Weren't you the one who just said Rh—Lady Rhaenar doesn't need to apologize?"

She flipped her fan open again with a fwip, smiling complacently at him.

"I did. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't hearing wrong."

The Prince furrowed his eyebrows. "And? What's wrong with what Syl said?" He took no notice of the collective eye roll the girls shared at the nickname. "She deserves an apology for almost dying, doesn't she? Even if it was a prank, didn't you take it too far?" He addressed the question to Rey,

Before she could reply the girl on her elbow giggled. "A prank? Please." Her smile turned upside down."Rey didn't make her eat the cake, did she? Wasn't she the i***t who put the cake she's allergic to into her own mouth?"

The Prince wouldn't be deterred so easily. "Even though, she didn't know it was that bad. Wouldn't you have taunted her still for not eating like every other person there?"

This time the taller girl stepped in.

"So? Isn't she the one who's always talking about 'being true to yourself' and all that? Why didn't she take her own advice?"

"And you got Rey exiled, but still have the guts to ask for an apology?" Viviene scoffed, watching Sylphia refuse to meet her eyes.

"How bold. Is this because of the Prince who's supposedly in love with you?"

"Viviene, you say that like you weren't at the trial."The baby face responded. "Didn't you hear him practically declare his love for Miss Sylphia?"

Viviene scrunched her face up, as if it was too disgusting to contemplate.

"Isn't the Prince engaged to Rey? Why are you attaching yourself to someone who already is engaged, Miss Sylphia? Aren't you supposed to be the one apologizing to Rey for practically being a home wrecker?"

Sylphia frantically tried to remove her hand from this Prince's grasp, eyes still on the ground. Her shoulders were trembling and the crowd around them was erupting with whispers and side talk. The Prince refused to let her go though. He just stood there until he gave up and left their hands alone.

When she stopped struggling he turned to Rey and her friends.

"What do you mean by that? I can attach myself to whoever I want, can’t I? If all this is just because I'm engaged to Lady Rhaenar then I can confidently tell you that our engagement is over as from today."

The girls drew back as if they had been slapped. The crowd buzzed, people turning to each other and whispering frantically. Even Sylphia was shocked.

The Prince looked triumphant, but when he looked at Rey his triumph fizzled into nothing. Her expression hadn't even changed!

All eyes flew to Rey instantly, looking for a reaction to add to the ongoing drama. They ended up disappointed because there was none. Rey had been expecting ever since the cheesy declaration of love during the prince's testimony, so she just looked like she felt: unimpressed. Was he hoping Rhaenar would have a mental breakdown and do something stupid because he was denouncing her in front of all those people? Wasn't that the way it usually went in those novels? Then he and Sylphia would walk off hand in hand into the sunset and live happily ever after.

Viviene recovered from her stunned state quickly.

"Well, duh. Of course your engagement would be called off. The future Queen can't have any crimes to her name. Isn't that so?"

Rey hummed in assent. Another detail that had come back to her. The Queen had to be near flawless — a good pedigree, a master of magic or fighting, and no scandals attached to her name. All had been true for Rhaenar until this day.

Viviene glanced at the still indifferent subject of discussion and carried on. "You knew that, didn't you, Syl?" She spat out the name like it was poison on her tongue.

Sylphia nodded while the Prince frowned. Viviene nodded as if confirming something she had already suspected.

"I thought so. Isn't that why you ate the cake? So that all this—"she waved her free hand at the surroundings, "—would happen. So you would be Queen. Am I wrong?"

Rey didn't hear the sharp words that came from the Prince or the simultaneous denial that Sylphia gave earnestly, because from behind her she heard her name.

She turned to look and saw her father standing just outside the door. When she turned the girls looked too, and immediately after the argument was over. The Prince went quiet as soon as he caught sight of the Duke of Storn, and Sylphia paled. The Duke only ran his eyes across the room, lingering a little on the Prince, and then looked at Rey.

"Let's go home," he said. Rey nodded and smiled at her friends. She dislodged the chubby girl's arm from hers and wrapped her arms around the elbow her father offered. They left the school without a look backwards.