Ember of Hope
Chapter 61

The councilmen were busy talking among themselves… some sitting around in the rows of chairs, some standing with a fellow or two. But as soon as their king came into view they quieted and assembled… the very picture of decorum and respect. Alex took his seat and everyone around the table followed suit. Then Katherine was summoned and a light murmur broke out. The heavy doors of the court room closed with a resounding thud and the two sentries who’d pulled them closed; stood watch outside.

The court room was circular with spectator seating. And in the center was an empty stand in front of the judge’s bench. An old looking man with a long white beard sat in the middle seat and he was flanked by two men on each side. Alex sat on the far left of the judge; his eyes downcast and pinched and nostrils flared. The other members of jury had cold eyes set upon her. Katherine was asked forward to stand and she entered the circle of light cast upon the center of the court room. Standing in the spotlight with so many eyes glaring daggers at her; she could feel her death approaching. Each man in this room probably wanted to have a piece of her flesh or to incinerate her where she stood. And they would be just to do it. She almost wanted them to, so that the humiliation would end.

Then the charges against her were read aloud and she saw Alex’s head bowing. So instead of letting him hear all of it aloud she interrupted, “I plead guilty. I know what I did and I did all of that without cause. So I accept whatever judgment you deem appropriate for me”.

“What about the counter curse?” someone from the stands shouted.

She kept her eyes on her husband, “I casted my curse on a blood moon. The moon strengthened it. I can undo it, but I’ll need the power of three moons”. And everyone just looked at her. Their eyes cold and calculating… gauging her for deceit. After a long minute the judge leaned forward and the jury followed. Their heads almost touching while they whispered to decide her fate. She stood; twiddling her fingers… weary of every second she had to wait to hear the verdict.

“Very well. You have until three moons to undo the curse and then you’ll be sentenced to spend as many years in the prison as the people of Evreux spent under the curse. After fifty years; the jury will sit once again to decide further”. And the court was dismissed. A murmuring and hissing hoard stood from their seats and started exiting the room. And she was taken back to her room by two guards who then remained outside her room as a new routine for the next three months.

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The dinner with Adriel and his mate – Seraphina, went very pleasantly. She was a beautiful woman with similar tattoos to Adriel and long ash colored hair flowing freely down her back. She sort of looked like a younger and tattooed version of Lady Galadriel from The Lord of the Rings. Seraphina Ayres was a descendant of the Roma from the human world and the tattoos were her tribe’s tradition to keep the soul from evil. Adriel had to get the tattoos in order to marry Seraphina.

He’d found his mate while visiting their allies in the human world. The dragons still had many allies there. Maybe in the future there’d be a way of both races to once again co inhabit the earth and the barriers between their worlds to fall. Their story was beautiful and it made Raegan’s believe firmer that love would replace a way to push soul mates together.

While listening to how Raegan and Valiance met and fell in love; Seraphina oohed and aahed at all the right places. She looked so truly happy for them all. And then she got angry at their behalf when Raegan told the story of her kidnapping and the time spent in Velar. She took Raegan’s hands in hers and patted affectionately. “You’ll replace us behind you whenever you need us. When you plan to against that vile creature, even if the council of Videen doesn’t want anything to do with it; we’ll be there; Adriel and I”.

After a pleasant and long dinner, they decided to take a walk along the Astor. Even though the next day they’d be journeying back home; nobody wanted to go to bed just yet; prolonging the moments together with friends. And before calling it a night, Seraphina presented all four of them with traditional robes of her tribe as a parting gift.

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Goodbyes were; as always; a sad affair. Parting with people whom you’ve come to care about is never easy. Who knew what future would be like? If meeting your friends again was in cards or not… every goodbye; at a point deep in your heart; seems permanent and forever. At times of farewell it seems almost impossible a notion that you’d ever be able to get past the sadness of missing your friends and loved ones. Would they miss you as much? Would they remember you as fondly or would you just, with time, fade away from their memory?

Adriel and Seraphina came to see them off to the border between Evreux and Videen. The boys had come from that way but Raegan and Sarah hadn’t seen the woods of Anador yet. When the first line of trees came in sight Raegan felt spell bound as she always did whenever she traveled to the forested regions. Only a few rows of trees were visible from their position and the rest lay hidden in thick dense fog. It looked like a shroud of mystery and it intrigued her.

Raegan wanted to go deep in those trees, get lost in the mist and replace a magical new world. She smiled to herself when she realized that she already had found a magical place and now called it home. Sometimes it was so easy to forget that she’d come from a different and entirely non-magical place and wasn’t born here.

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