Chapter Twenty One
Nothing but the Truth
Richard, Aura, Daiya, Master Rio and Master Regina stood silently in a long hallway on the third floor of the castle, the stiff wind at the higher altitude rattling the window noisily. Less than an hour had passed since May had been taken from the council chamber and they were now ready to force her to prove her identity. Richard really didn't need this to be done, as he had seen for himself that she was who she claimed to be; but no one else besides him were privy to his visions.
To get the proof the others required they had apparently come up with a task that only the real Monica Rysto could do; but to be honest, Richard really didn't know what that task was. He had barely paid attention to what had been said and suggested downstairs because his mind was so clouded and heavy that he mostly just stared off into space and tried to wrap his mind around it all. So he really had no idea why they were standing in a hall with doors that led off to the Master's private rooms, or even how he had gotten there. One minute he had been staring out to shattered windows of the council room, and then in the next he was standing with everyone else in this long hallway.
"Are you sure you want to be here for this?" Daiya whispered close to his ear, breaking the uncomfortable silence that was surrounding them. "I can't imagine what it must have been like for you with everything she put you through, and I doubt anyone would blame you if you didn't want to be here right now."
"What she did to me is exactly why I have to be here," he answered back softly, grabbing onto his wife's hand with his own. "I need to know. I need to learn everything."
Daiya nodded but didn't say anything further. The two of them hadn't had a chance to speak in private since their first interrogation of May and there was a lot floating around between them that needed to be discussed, but they would get to it. Daiya had quickly become the one person he truly relied on constantly and trusted with everything and anything. He had really lucked out with his forced marriage, and he couldn't imagine having it be anyone other than her.
A few moments later Lillin appeared around a corner with May following just behind her. She looked the same as she had only a little while ago, with the yellowing bruises on her pale skin and her blonde hair sticking out at odd angles with large bags under her normally bright eyes; but now those eyes were hollow and cold. She was a shell of her former self, and for the first time since her declaration to Daiya he honestly got the feeling that May was resigning herself to the fate she had chosen to take. She could have gotten away earlier when everyone was bound by her magic, yet she instead chose to stay and pay for the many crimes she had committed during her long life.
"Is it time?" May asked when she and Lillin neared, her voice almost as hollow as her eyes were. "I will admit that this is an odd place to hold an execution..."
"I haven't passed judgement on you yet. Before we get to that we need to verify your claim, and that's why we've brought you down here," Daiya responded to the nodding approval of everyone present.
