“Well, you’re smarter than you seem.” He clapped his hands.
People poked out from behind the pillars, and Marren, hands bound behind his back, stepped out with the dwarf Ancient, Ildir. Marren had drilled me on all the Ancients, and this would be the only one that would dare to hold him against his will.
I took off toward him as Ildir released Marren. He wrapped his arms around me and planted a large kiss in the middle of my forehead. “I’m sorry. I didn’t warn you. I’m not sure he wouldn’t hear if I spoke to your mind.”
I nodded, understanding, then whispered, “He knows about our child.”
“It will be all right.”
“Now, Jiren, are you satisfied yet? Or are you still convinced this woman, who has already convinced the rest of the Ancients of her love for Marren, isn’t his heart song?” Ildir spoke with a booming voice that carried to the next mountain over. He clearly didn’t like the idea of having to detain his friend like this or play these games, always trying to catch me in something I’m not guilty of.
“She may have you all fooled, but I’m not yet convinced.” Jiren had shifted to his human form, the one from when I first encountered his disdain for my existence. I forced down a shudder, remembering when he tried to shove energy up my arm like sharp, thin knives.
“Need we remind you of the consequence of pursuing this and being proved wrong?”
“I need no reminder, because when you are proved wrong, you will be punished. This pup is no closer to Marren’s heart song than she was to leaving this realm!”
Loud gasps echoed. The hall had filled with people. I had a mind to say something snide, but Marren’s hands squeeze mine and I held back.
“You would do well to show her the respect of your equal rather than a piece of dirt at your feet,” Marren snapped.
Jiren let out a deep, throaty chuckle meant to raise the hairs on the back of my neck and send a thread of warning through me. Bile filled my mouth. Tingling in my hands started to move up my arm. I readied for battle.
“Why would I take the word of the one who is under this witch’s spell? Hmm?” Jiren asked.
A murmur of hushed voices moved through the crowd.
“What do you say about that child growing in her womb?” His voice echoed through the hall, returning the last word a few times just for emphasis.
“That’s enough!” Ildir interrupted. “Jiren, you expect this realm to punish this woman, who somehow managed to bewitch myself, Blyl, Joe’n and Marren into believing she is his heart song?”
“And most of the races…” Jiren added.
I rolled my eyes, finding it harder to resist ripping his throat to shreds.
“Marren, I’m sorry, my friend, but it seems he’ll stop at nothing. What will you say to support your side?” Ildir asked in a lower voice.
Marren released me and stepped into the center of the hall, a few feet from Jiren. “Relena was a human. She didn’t possess any powers or possess knowledge of our world before me. She wasn’t even aware of her own friend’s true identity until one of my own told her. Relena would need to be an extremely powerful sorceress to gather the energy necessary to successfully fulfill the magnitude of the spell it would take to fool everyone, but Jiren…” He let the last word hang in the air, and everyone turned their gazes to him.
Jiren’s jaw clenched tight, lips pressed together into a straight line. His hands clutched the cuffs of his robes. For a moment, I thought I caught a strange purple aura surrounding him, glowing faintly and pulsating.
“Relena, is my heart song. She has proved it. Yes, she did try to leave, but only because she believed she had no choice and thought it would save the races. She discovered the heart song we share wouldn’t let her leave and kept leading her back to me.”
The other Ancients, who seemed to have sided with us for now, stepped into the center of the hall and joined Marren, staying a few feet behind him. The rushed murmurs grew louder.
“The prophecy is here,” Marren continued.
“Yet…” Joe’n stepped forward, bringing the attention to her, “Jiren seems fit to find any way necessary to make it not come true.”
“Perhaps, the real question here is why Jiren is so convinced Relena is a threat and how a mere human could have pulled off such an elaborate hoax?” Blyl asked. Not of anyone in particular, other than to spark curiosity in the rest of the crowd.
“Relena?” Ildir drew my attention to him. “Do you have anything to say to your own defense?”
I kept my eyes locked on Marren’s. With a reluctant nod from him, I said, “What can I say that hasn’t already been said? I have nothing to hide and continue to be obedient to the Ancients and their requests. I’ve done nothing to be guilty of.”