Refragmentz: Souls of Memory

Chapter 9- Trial of Ardent

Solhaven was bigger than I had imagined. The white walls of the capital stood against the sky like mountains, and the golden sun banners flew on every tower. When our group entered the city, thousands of people came out to the streets, but they were not cheering. They were shouting.

"Demon!"

"Kill her!"

"Why is a knight protecting that monster?"

Someone threw a rotten tomato, and it hit Vexa on the shoulder. She did not flinch. She only kept her chin up and walked beside me with a blank face. I put a hand on her back and glared at the crowd, and Commander Hale ordered the knights to push them back.

"Do not mind them," I said quietly to Vexa.

"I do not," she said. But I could hear her voice shaking a little.

Before the trial, we were taken to a small waiting room beside the Great Hall. Vexa sat on a stone bench and kept straightening her cloak again and again, even though it was already straight.

"You are nervous," I said.

"I am not," she said immediately. Then she sighed. "Maybe a little. If they decide to kill me, will you fight them?"

"No," I said. "If they decide to kill you, I will talk to them until they change their minds."

"That is a terrible plan."

"It is the only one I have." I sat down beside her. "But I do not think it will come to that."

She was quiet for a moment, and then she said in a small voice, "Chase, if this goes badly... thank you. For the soup, and for the graves, and for everything."

I did not know what to say, so I only nodded. I think we both knew that something between us had changed since the ridge.

The trial took place in the Great Hall of the Radiant Order, a huge room with tall pillars and long banners. Hundreds of nobles and knights sat on both sides, and at the far end, on a high seat of white stone, sat the Grand Master, Aldric Valen, a tall old man with silver hair and eyes like cold steel.

"Chase Ardent," he said, and his voice echoed through the hall. "You are accused of protecting the Crimson Executioner, an enemy of humankind. How do you plead?"

"I plead for her, Grand Master," I said, bowing my head. "I do not deny that I protected her. But I ask you to hear the reason first."

I told them everything I could. About the ridge, the invisible rope, the night attack, and how Vexa had taken a spear for me. Commander Hale stood up and spoke for me as well, which surprised me. The nobles whispered loudly, and some of them shouted that I was under a spell.

A noble in a purple robe stood up from the front row. He was Duke Marren, a heavy man with rings on every finger. "Grand Master, this is nonsense!" he shouted. "The boy is clearly under the demon's charm. She has used dark magic on him, as she has done to our soldiers before!"

"She has not used any magic on me, Your Grace," I said.

"Then how do you explain that you cannot be apart from her? Is that not a curse?"

I did not have a good answer, and the whole hall knew it. "I do not know what it is," I admitted. "But I know that she took a spear for me, and that she helped to protect your knights at the lower camp. A curse does not do that."

"Pretty words," the Duke said with a sneer. "But words do not save a kingdom. That monster killed two hundred of our knights! Do you wish to forgive her?"

"I do not ask you to forgive her," I said. "I ask you to judge her by what she does now, and not by what she was ordered to do before."

Vexa lowered her eyes, and her hands tightened on her knees.

"Silence," the Grand Master said. He looked at me for a long time. "Your story is hard to believe. But I am told that you broke a suppression seal, defeated twelve of my knights without killing one, and fought the Violet Siren to a standstill. Is that true?"

"Yes, Grand Master."

"Then there is only one way to know if you speak the truth." He raised his hand. "Bring the Saint."

The great doors at the end of the hall opened slowly. A young woman in a white robe walked in, with a staff in her hand and a golden circlet on her silver-blue hair. Her eyes were closed, as if she did not need them to see. The whole hall became quiet as she walked, and I think even the nobles held their breath.

"This is Saint Elara," the Grand Master said. "She can hear the truth in a person's soul. Saint, please sing."

The Saint began to sing.

It was a soft and gentle song, without words, and it filled the whole hall like warm light. People began to close their eyes. And then, in front of my eyes, the window flickered once more.

[Heartbound Resonance detected.]

[Effect: All stats increased by 100%. (Total: 300%)]

My knees almost gave way. The warmth in my chest flared up for the third time, and I knew that voice. I knew it as well as I knew my own name. It was the voice that used to sing me to sleep when I was tired from work, the voice that sang lullabies on rainy nights.

Selene.

Vexa grabbed my arm. "Chase? What is wrong with you?"

The Saint stopped singing. She opened her eyes slowly, and they were bright blue, and she turned her face directly toward me. A tear ran down her cheek.

"You," she whispered, and her voice shook through the whole silent hall. "I have been waiting for you..."