There was a general murmur of agreement from the rest, save for Basselin, who was looking at Maurin Ortish as if he would welcome the chance to find out exactly what form the King’s wrath might take.
For another instant Arissen Belloruus looked as if he might try to break free. Then the tension fled his body and he stepped back. “We cannot trust anything they say, Minister Frae. You should know that as well as I do. What is the point in listening?”
“We can measure truth and falsehood, my King. Even in lies there are sometimes truths revealed. Let us listen to what the boy has to say and judge the matter when he is finished.” Ordanna Frae released his grip. “If our captain of the Home Guard was convinced that he should bring them before us—knowing full well your likely reaction—then I think we must accept that he saw something of importance in what they said to him. We need to hear what that was.”
“We need to hear nothing!” Basselin interjected, moving over to insert himself between the King and Frae. “The King is right. We are wasting our time. We already know the truth of things. The boy was seen bending over Erisha Belloruus with a knife. They fled the city afterward rather than stay to explain. They allied themselves with a human, a treacherous Knight of the Word who aided them in their efforts to undermine Elven authority. We know enough to make up our minds about them without hearing more.”
“But they returned voluntarily to speak to this Council,” Maurin Ortish declared. “They were safely away from us, and they came back. Why would they do that if they were guilty of the crimes with which they have been charged? If we want to be sure of what we think is true, we need to hear their explanation.”
“Lies, all of it!” shouted Basselin.
There was renewed arguing as the ministers took sides for and against the idea of listening to anything Kirisin and Simralin wanted to tell them. The boy shrank from the heat and fury of their words. He was the youngest person in the room, but he wasn’t so young that he didn’t realize what was happening. Somebody had to do something right away or this would get too far out of hand.
“Wait!” he shouted suddenly. “Wait! Listen to me!”
Surprisingly, they did. The arguing died away, and they all turned toward him, their faces mirroring their feelings about what they believed to be true. He did his best not to read what was there, but instead reached into his pocket and brought out the Loden. “This is what the Ellcrys sent me to find. This is what will save the Elves. The army that waits in the trees waits only for me to use it. Listen to me. Listen to the truth about what happened to us.”
Without waiting for them to grant him permission, he began to speak. He described the real traitor, the demon who had posed as Culph, watching and waiting for its chance. He explained the reason for Erisha’s and Ailie’s deaths. He told of their flight afterward, of racing to reach the Loden in time to save the Elves, of the battles with the demons on Syrring Rise, of how both Angel and Simralin had very nearly died—the former so badly injured that she could not return with them to the Cintra to support their cause. He skipped through the details of how he had nearly been subverted by the power of the silver cord and rings, moving quickly to an explanation of what the demons intended once Culph brought him back.
“They know everything of what the Ellcrys means to us. They know what it means if she is destroyed. But what they really seek is to encapsulate the Elves within the Loden, choose a place and time, and then release them to be destroyed. All of them. A massacre of our people—Culph revealed it all to me before Sim and I killed him.”
“This is the worst load of nonsense I have ever listened to!” Basselin interrupted, almost screaming the words he was so outraged. “Do you expect us to believe any of this? Your lies are transparent!”
“But what is the purpose of offering them up for your consideration if they are lies?” Simralin asked him. “What is the point in our coming back if all we intended to do is tell you lies? What do you think we hope to accomplish?”
“Culph has disappeared,” Ordanna Frae offered. “No one has seen him since Kirisin and Simralin disappeared from the city. Nor have we heard any better reason for why the demonkind do not attack us than the one offered by the boy.”
“You speak like an old fool!” Basselin snapped. “You seem intent on believing these two!”
“Maybe there is reason to do so,” another minister ventured guardedly.