She was trembling now, darting quick, fearful glances at Fletcher. He had to admit, she was a good actress.
‘I don’t know how, but he did it. There was so much noise and light, it was like the world was about to end! That was when it happened.’
A single tear trickled down her cheek. The judge handed her a handkerchief from the high table and murmured, ‘Go on. Tell us what he did.’
Calista gulped and set her jaw, wiping the tear from her face. She pointed at Fletcher, her finger quivering with emotion.
‘He turned on us, tried to kill us!’ she cried, leaping to her feet. ‘He hated us, blamed us for every misfortune he had ever suffered. It was as if he had gone mad! I remember how he laughed as he herded us into the chapel, our swords useless against his demon’s flames. And when I started crying, he focused on me, telling me I would be the first to die.’
She stepped down from the podium and stalked towards Fletcher, keeping her finger pointed like a pistol.
‘Ladies first, isn’t that what you said?’ she hissed. ‘You monster!’
Calista turned and buried her face in Didric’s chest. He patted her shoulder while she heaved with fitful sobs, each one more dramatic than the last. Fletcher rolled his eyes in disgust, earning himself a glare from the judge. Calista let Didric go and made a final, impassioned speech.
‘It was only when Didric – brave Didric – stepped in front of me, that Fletcher left me alone. Didric tried to reason with him, but it was useless. All of a sudden the demon attacked Didric’s face with fire. Even as his hair was ablaze, Didric managed to fight it off, scaring Fletcher down the passageway beneath the chapel. It was then that Didric fell unconscious and cracked his skull. We carried him back to his father’s house. The rest you know.’
The judge steepled his fingers, giving Calista a contemplative look. Despite her sobbing, her face was dry as a bone and her cheeks were puffed with excitement, flushing red. For a moment, Fletcher thought the judge sensed her deception, but then the old man smiled at her kindly and thanked her for her testimony. She gave Didric a deep curtsy, before departing the room without a backwards glance.
‘Bring out the next witness!’ the judge ordered.
4
Jakov had grown in the two years that Fletcher had been away, the last vestiges of puberty gone, to leave a Herculean giant. His arms were made up of thick slabs of muscle that shifted like the haunches of a horse, and he walked with the top-heavy shamble of a jungle gorilla. The guard now wore Didric’s black and yellow uniform, and the horizontal stripes accentuated his broad and powerful chest.
‘Please be seated, Sergeant Jakov,’ Didric said, pulling his chair out for him. ‘My first question is, can you confirm that Calista’s story is entirely truthful and accurate?’
‘I can, milord. Hearing her was like reliving that night all over again.’
‘Good. I know you are a busy man, so we don’t need you to tell it again in your own words. Please explain what happened after Fletcher’s murder attempt.’
‘Right you are, sir,’ Jakov said, tugging his forelock. He took a deep breath and began to speak.
‘After we delivered Didric to his father, I went to wake the rest of the guards. We found the door to Fletcher’s home barred. Once we had broken it down, we encountered resistance from Fletcher’s adoptive father, Berdon. He damn near killed us – he’s almost as big as me you know – but I managed to disarm him. Some of the boys got a little … overexcited at that point. Let’s just say Berdon didn’t do much blacksmithing for a while after that night. Bones take a while to heal.’
‘You animal!’ Fletcher growled, hatred bubbling inside him, caustic and hot. He knew they wanted to make him angry, so he would act out in front of the judge. But the words were out before he could bite them back.
‘One more word out of you, Master Fletcher!’ the judge said, knocking his gavel against the desk for emphasis. ‘One word, and it’s back to the cells, where you can wait to hear the verdict.’
Fletcher bit his lip until he tasted hot blood, trying to stop himself from crying out at the unfairness of it all. Images of them beating Berdon’s unconscious body flooded his mind, and he could not shake them from his thoughts.
‘After that, we confiscated all the possessions in the property as evidence. In the fighting, the fire from Berdon’s forge somehow spread. His hut burned to the ground that night.’
Fletcher felt hot tears running down his cheeks. He sank to his knees. In one night, the man he loved most in the world lost everything. All because of him.
‘Your honour, I don’t understand what this has to do with the charge against the defendant. Can we get to the point, please?’ Arcturus’s voice was tight and angry.