Chapter 970: Tests Within The Trial
Sybyll had started with Hauke and Heila deliberately to break the tension in the hall and to introduce the ’demons’ who the people of Hanrahan could accept most readily, even though Hauke was one of the most junior among the people who would join her on the dais. But propriety and etiquette came in far behind practicality, and Sybyll cared far more about the impact this moment could have on shaping people’s hearts and minds than she did about any ’rules’ a lord was supposed to follow.
"Presenting! Inquisitor Diarmuid of the Holy City, Bearer of the Flames of Justice and Seeker of Truth," the doorman shouted.
The title announced for the Inquisitor might have been simpler than the ones given to Heila and Hauke, but the impact of the announcement was even greater when the dark-haired man in crimson and gold robes entered the hall.
Diarmuid’s back was straight and his stride was strong and confident as he approached the dais, even though he felt neither strong nor confident as a participant in this process. As he walked, he could feel the weight of hundreds of eyes tracking every step he took and every flutter of his ceremonial robes. But the weight he felt from the common folk paled in comparison to the feeling of a mountain falling on his shoulders when he saw Loman Lothian for the first time since the battle began.
Dame Sybyll had stood to greet him, welcoming him onto the dais and gesturing to a seat next to the horned witch. She acted like she was receiving an old friend and even the witch herself stood to welcome him, smiling warmly as if he belonged with people like her and the frost horn demon already on the dais.
Meanwhile, Disciple Loman stood in chains, his head bowed as if in prayer while his black and silver robes hung in bloody tatters on his body. Hours ago, they had stood as close as brothers preparing for battle, but now, they stood so far apart.
Seeing Loman in chains, there was a part of Diarmuid that wanted to abandon his place on the dais and rush to his fellow clergyman’s side, if for no reason other than to stand in solidarity with the battered Disciple. But Dame Sybyll’s words before the procession began kept him firmly in his place.
"Yer a good man, Diarmuid," the crimson haired woman said when he reached the sitting room where Sybyll had gathered her ’close friends and allies’ before the start of the event. "Ye do what’s right an’ true, even when others wouldn’t, and ye’ protect the innocent from harm. I’d have ye’ do tha same t’night. Sit in judgment wit’ me. Hear me testimony an’ Ian’s too. Examine tha’ evidence. Be tha’ upright man ye’ are an’ speak out against me if I stray too far from justice ta’ vengeance."
"Why?" Diarmuid asked, struggling to comprehend how a creature of the night could put so much faith in his character, or why she would bother asking him to serve as a member of her court for what would clearly be little more than a show trial. "You keep saying I’m a good man, but you don’t know me. I’ve only come to Lothian March this year, so how is it you have any opinion of me?"
"I have a junior brother in arms," Sybyll said simply. "We were trained by tha’ same knight. He was caught up in trouble that was none o’ his makin’, an’ a lord wanted ta’ sweep up his parents in his guilt for tha’ ’crimes’ he were a part of. Ye were tha’ one to declare them innocent, an’ innocent they were. Ye stood against our enemies because it were tha’ right thing ta’ do. Ye helped me junior wit’ out even knowing him an saved his only kin."
"Yer a good man, Diarmuid," Sybyll repeated. "An’ it takes a good man ta’ stand up fer what’s right, even against tha’ strong. So do what’s right t’night. An don’t worry that I’ll knock ye down fer it," she added with a smile that was surprisingly charming. "If I tried ta’ hurt ye, Lady Heila would turn against me fer sure," she said with a light, musical laugh.
Now, that very same Lady Heila welcomed him onto the dais and smiled at him as he took his seat.
"You’re among friends here, Inquisitor," Heila said quietly as the doorman announced the next person to join them. "Even if you didn’t save Ollie’s parents from Owain, you saved your people instead of unleashing your flames. Some people might not agree with your decision," she said with a pointed look at Loman’s ragged figure. "But even if you can’t see it tonight, one day, you’ll know that you did the right thing."
"Is it the same for him?" Diarmuid asked, pointing to the dashing young lord walking down the aisle to the applause of the audience. "Did Lord Liam make the ’right decision’ to sit up here tonight?"
"He’s a prisoner," Heila admitted, unwilling to conceal the truth from a man she hoped would join Ignatious and relieve some of the loneliness and isolation that tormented her beloved. "My Lady has extended an offer to Liam Dunn, but he has yet to accept it. He was sent here to learn the truth of what his family faces if they stand against my Lady in this war in the hopes that it would prevent tragedies," she said, though she couldn’t keep a trace of bitterness from entering her voice.
"You don’t agree with this?" Diarmuid probed, surprised at the witch’s statement after she had spoken so eloquently about protecting the common people and keeping them safe from the clash of lords. "Is it because he’s a lord that you have a problem with him?"
"It’s because he burned villages to the ground and killed villagers and their children who weren’t even soldiers," Heila said, glaring at the young lord as he took his seat on the opposite side of the dais.
"My Lady is right," admitted reluctantly, letting out a deep sigh. "Making peace will save more lives but... he better work hard as a lord to make amends for what he did. If he doesn’t," she said as one hand caressed the whip at her hip. "I’ll have to go teach him another lesson."
"I... see," Diarmuid said awkwardly as he realized why Loman looked as if he’d been strapped to a pole and flogged. Glancing to his other side, he watched Dame Sybyll, smiling and putting on a show of welcoming a ’prisoner’ onto the dais as though he were just another friend, and he was struck by a sudden revelation.
The demons weren’t just coming to conquer. They really were coming to make peace. They might not all agree with the terms of that peace, and the Holy Lord of Light above knew just how much the demons had suffered at the hands of the people they were trying to make peace with... but the demons were trying.
But the part that shook the Inquisitor to the core wasn’t just the fact that the demons were trying to make peace... It was the realization that they didn’t have to, but they were trying anyway. The strength they had already displayed was enough to conquer virtually any barony in Lothian March, and the most powerful demons and witches hadn’t even appeared on the battlefield here.
This wasn’t a plea for peace and an offer of surrender because the demons faced extinction if they couldn’t offer up terms the Kingdom of Gaal could accept. It was exactly the opposite, an offer to humanity to save themselves from utter destruction.
"Lady Heila," Diarmuid asked hesitantly after swallowing the lump in his throat. "If I speak out against Dame Sybyll tonight, will she really heed my words? Am I here to be a convenient prop or is the position on this court that she’s given me genuine?"
"You have as much of a voice here as I do, Inquisitor," Heila said quietly as the next person entered the hall. "And she’s giving the same weight to Lord Liam and Lord Hugo. It’s a test for all of you," she whispered. "She’s watching to see if Liam will abandon his principles in order to curry favor, or if Hugo will hold back secrets to save his father."
"And me?" Diarmuid asked with a raised brow. "I suppose she’s testing to see if I’m willing to choose truth and justice over my faith in order to rule in her favor?"
"Almost," Heila said with a knowing look, though she refused to say more than that. Because in reality, it wasn’t Dame Sybyll who was testing Diarmuid, it was Heila. And the test wasn’t to see if he could abandon his faith to act as a simple magistrate... The test was to see if he could keep to his faith once he discovered the lies buried within it.