The trials continue despite Nimue's unconsciousness. She stands there like a statue, her eyes forced open but not seeing anything.
The judge orders silence and order. He gets neither. Finally, the guards move in to threaten. Only then do they stop. But the sobs from the children up on stage do not. Circe's shooting is embedded in their mind, and now their big sister Nimue is seemingly dead. None can take it, none can make sense of it. Freya is wailing the hardest. How can anyone hurt her very nice older sister, the one that always told her stories when everyone else wouldn't?
Arian's face is set in stone. It is unreadable. He refuses to give them any emotion. That is what they want, isn't it? But inside, a large crack runs down his heart, and tears pool in his eyes, barricaded by his eyelids.
Finally, Freya and the other little ones are jabbed into silence with bayonets. There is nothing the adults behind them can do to help. And then the judge's voice rings loud and clear across the overcrowded town square. "Let the trials begin."
YOU ARE READING
Water and Wind
FantasyEvery year, in the old log cabin in the heart of the woods, a face appears at the window. A haunted face, illuminated by the light of the moon with the backdrop of the dark forest. It is the same story each year, the same cabin, woman, circumstances...
