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ALL EYES FOCUSED ON me as I entered the courtroom. Panic rose within my chest as I tried desperately to stop the flow of memories from the last time I had been in this room. Even though I wasn't the one on trial, it still certainly felt that way.
I saw Delphine’s face, pale and scared. A wary expression of hope slowly lit her face as she saw me. Uncle Baxley and Shelda were seated a few feet away from her, both of them giving me varying looks of encouragement.
I turned around just in time to see Chenne give me the smallest of nods as she pulled the grey wooden doors shut behind me. The sound of the closing doors echoed throughout the courtroom.
A deep, gravelly voice spoke from the front of the courtroom. “Lord Kaernan Asthore. Please approach.”
Even though it had been many months since I had been in this place, I still remembered that voice. How could I forget it? It was Pellham Ravenwood, head of the Council of Seekers.
The sound of my footsteps against the cool black-and-white marble sounded incredibly loud in my ears. Could one’s very stride sound nervous? If that was true, then I was sure the entire Council could sense my skittishness.
All too soon, my steps brought me to the stand in the front of the courtroom, where I stopped before the six seated members of the Council of Seekers. One seat was noticeably empty — the one formerly occupied by Lord Olivera.
Carefully, I bowed first to the council members on my left, then to those on my right, and lastly to the man in the center, reserving my deepest bow of respect for Pellham Ravenwood.
“The Council recognizes you, Kaernan Asthore,” Pellham said.
“Thank you,” I responded automatically.
“I’m sure you're wondering why you were summoned to appear before the Council in the matter regarding Lady Delphine Pahame and the death of Lord Olivera.”
I stayed silent, although part of me wondered how the Council would react if I actually responded to Pellham’s redundant statement.
Pellham continued on, unaware of my inner musings. “The Council has just a few questions for you, Kaenan Asthore. Other testimonies seem to suggest you play a part in this tale as well. The Council hopes that your testimony will perhaps provide further illumination in this hearing.”
“I hope that as well, Your Grace,” I said dutifully, still unsure how anything I could recall would aid the Council, or Delphine.
“Good. If you would, describe for the Council your exact commission for Lady Adallia Pahame, and what transpired after.”
I blinked. This was unexpected. Haltingly, I described my initial meeting with Adallia, and who she had hired me to seek.
“Were you aware that Lady Pahame’s daughter would be joining your team?” Pellham asked.
“No,” I replied honestly. “It caught me — and the rest of my team — by complete surprise.”
“And were you aware, at any time, of the bounty on Delphine, or the charges against her?”
“Not at first,” I said. “We were in the town of Meira when I first learned that Delphine was potentially in trouble with the law.”
“So you were not trying to deliver Delphine to the Hauster family, or to Lord Olivera?”
“No. I did not even know who the Hausters were until they, um, took Delphine to their stronghold.”
“And you were not aware of the bond between your family and the Hauster family?” Madame Kenestra’s white hair was piled high on her head in a perfectly arranged, severe bun. Her brown eyes regarded me just as severely.
“No, Your Grace,” I said, turning slightly to address the woman.
Madame Kenestra sniffed and sat back in her seat. “As it apparently led you to a reunion with your long-lost relative, as well as the discovery of a whole heretofore unknown side of your family, I find such a coincidence hard to believe.”
So Shelda and Baxley had told the Council of our familial connection. I fidgeted under the collective stares of the Council of Seekers and those in the courtroom.
“Coincidence or not,” I said, trying to keep my voice even, “that is what occurred.”
Sir Lantley waved a languid hand at Madame Kenestra, his salt-and-pepper hair falling into his eyes. “I do agree with Madame Kenestra that there are rarely coincidences in the life of a Seeker, especially when a Seeker is actively using their ability. A Seeker’s particular gifts do not lend themselves to ‘coincidences,’ as I’m sure you well know.”
I did, but I had no idea where Sir Lantley was headed with this reasoning.
And why did it feel like I was the one on trial, when I was only here to testify on Delphine’s behalf?
Pellham leaned forward, his eyes boring into mine. “Once you learned the, ah, nuances of Lady Delphine’s situation, did you feel compelled at any time to cancel your commission and return to Orchwell?”
Frowning, I thought back over recent events, from the time I first met Adallia to the showdown between Shelda and the obviously-not-deceased Lord Olivera in my father’s study. Even when Delphine’s innocence and character had been called into question, I had never, at any point, felt I should quit the commission.
Pellham nodded as if he could read my thoughts. “I thought so. But you have felt compelled before to cancel a commission, even if you did not act upon that compulsion. Is that not true?”
Suddenly, with illuminating clarity, I knew what Pellham was about. “Yes, Your Grace, that is correct.”
Being a Seeker meant that, along with one’s gift, a Seeker also carried a heavy burden of responsibility. Bringing two things together— whether it was a person with another person, a creature, or an object — meant that Seekers had to trust that person hiring them had altruistic motives. A Seeker’s first obligation was to do no harm to that which was being sought. We weren’t hunters, in the basest meaning of the word. To act as such would be a perversion of our abilities. It could destroy our minds and even end our lives.
Because of this, many Seekers learned to develop a strong instinct — about who was hiring them, about the task they were being hired to do. Some of it was innate, and some of it was learned from experience, but the best Seekers often could spot a bogus commission and turn it down before anything untoward happened.
Of course, from time to time there were cases where Seekers, against their better judgement, ignored that instinct, took a commission, and then found themselves in a bad situation. Such had been the case for me, when I had taken that foolhardy commission for the lady Rosemary all those months ago.
“Why is that?” Madame Kenestra asked me. “From what the Council has heard, the whole situation was ... unsettling at best. Certainly there were many moments during your travels that you might have felt it wiser to stop your search and return home. Or, once Lady Delphine was captured, you could have just left her to her fate. Why didn’t you?”
I studied the six faces seated before me. Their faces were carefully schooled to reveal no emotion, with no hint as to what any of them were thinking.
I knew that several of those on the Council — Madame Kenestra, for one — were sticklers for tradition. Instead of viewing the Council of Seekers as a compliment to the Crown, they instead felt the Council was there to protect the Crown’s interests, whether or not those interests were outdated.
But others, including Sir Lantley, tried to push the more progressive ideals of the Council. Change, they felt, was not only inevitable but necessary if Orchwell was going to remain one of the strongest and most respected kingdoms in the Gifted Lands.
And then, of course, there was Pellham Ravenwood, the most inscrutable of them all. Often the tiebreaker vote, he was extremely guarded as to his actual political views, unlike his peers on the Council.
Choosing my words carefully, I said, “Even after Delphine’s ... situation regarding Lord Olivera was brought to light, I never got the sense that I should end her mother’s commission. If anything, I felt more compelled to finish it, as if somehow completing the task would answer the question of Delphine’s innocence. I know that makes no sense, but ... it did to me.”
Sir Lantley nodded broadly, a slight smile playing on his lips, as if pleased by my answer. Madame Kenestra frowned, regarding me through narrowed eyes as she folded her arms across her chest and leaned back in her seat.
Pellham’s expression was, as always, unreadable.
The silence stretched out. I fought the urge to fidget, uncomfortable under the collective weight of the stares of the entire Council of Seekers.
Finally, Pellham spoke.
“The Council thanks you for your testimony today, Kaernan Asthore. Please be seated with the other witnesses.” He pointed to where Baxley and Shelda sat, with a few other faces I didn’t recognize.
In a daze, I walked over to where my friends were and sat.
“I believe the Council has now heard enough testimony that we will be able to come to a decision. We will now retire to our private chamber to deliberate. The Council appreciates your patience as we do so.”
As one, the six members of the Council of Seekers stood up and walked single file through a hidden door at the back of the courtroom. As soon as the door closed, Delphine stood and rushed over to us.
“Kaernan, I’m so glad you’re here,” she said, giving me a fierce hug.
“I only hope what I had to say was helpful,” I said. “It’s hard to know what anyone on the Council is thinking.”
“What do you think will happen?” Delphine asked, wringing her hands as she looked at the area where the Council had disappeared.
“I don’t know, Delphine. I really don’t know.”