Revenance

Chapter 22

Mira was sitting in the courtroom.

They'd taken her clothes and she was wearing a loose black dress that felt like an incomplete tailor's project. Her hands were bound with tight rope and her mouth had been tied with a gag. The person who'd been assigned to keep an eye on her refused to stand close to her, and anyone walking around the courtroom went out of their way to avoid being near her.

Mira couldn't stand it. Her hands were starting to feel numb and she couldn't swallow without nearly choking on the cloth in her mouth. She was on the verge of crying any time she tried to adjust her sitting position and the ropes grazed her skin, but she didn't let herself cry while being surrounded by all of these judgemental people.

She'd been kept overnight in a cell alone, and no one came to see her until the morning. She hadn't even seen her family until that afternoon when she was taken to the town's courthouse. As people began to file into the room, she spotted her brothers and her mother being taken up front where they were talking with the priest. After he left, her mother turned to talk to her brothers. Mira couldn't make out what she was saying, but with the way she didn't even spare a glance at her gave Mira another sick feeling of dread on top of everything else.

The court was finally quieted when the judge called for everyone's attention. The judge, being Priest Marquett. He stood behind a podium in the front of the hall, speaking loudly over everyone.

"Good afternoon, everyone," he said. "I'm sure you all know why we're gathered in this hall today." He lifted up his hand and pointed at Mira. "We've got a witch on trial." All of the eyes in the room were now focused on Mira. She felt herself flinch, but she was more focused on her family, who wouldn't look at her. "Mira Beckett. A problem child, anyone could have guessed where she was headed. I saw this coming from the start."

Mira couldn't stop the tear rolling down the side of her face. She blinked rapidly, trying to clear the tears from her eyes, but that only seemed to make them run faster.

"It's been a while since we've had a witch on trial," he continued, "But as always, we will give the witch a chance to defend herself." He gestured to Mira's family. "Mrs. Beckett, do you have anything to say in defence of your daughter?"

Mira's mother stood up, and she looked up at the priest with a hard expression on her face. And for a moment, Mira felt some strings of hope forming inside of her. Her mother knew what to say. Her mother would know what to do, right?

"No." The strings were immediately snapped. "There's nothing more I can do to defend her. My daughter is no longer my daughter. That woman is a witch."

Mira couldn't stop herself from choking and coughing as she cried, watching her mother sit back down without looking at her. Some of the other people in the hall watched her cry, murmuring amongst themselves. She just wanted to disappear completely.

Priest Marquett gestured to her brothers next. "And you two, the victims of witchcraft, you should know better than anyone how right your mother is?"

Oskar stood and spoke without hesitating. "Yes, of course. The witch which I once called my sister, associating herself with a demon of the woods for so many years. I knew she hadn't changed after all of this time. I could see it in her eyes when she arrived. She no longer cares for us, her family. She only wanted to see that thing again."

The priest nodded, and Mira could tell that he was trying to hide a smirk. She wanted to scream and yell and shout at him, to slap that stupid grin off of his face, but she could hardly keep herself from choking on the gag.

"And," Priest Marquett had said, "Hayden Beckett, is it true that Mira's activities with the dark arts have cost you your ability to speak?"

Everyone looked at Hayden as he stood up. He was the first one in their family to glance at Mira before giving his answer, which was just a simple and short nod. Another glance at Mira, he discreetly mouthed, "I'm sorry".

"Do you agree with the rest of your family, in the regard that Mira is in fact a witch?"

Another moment of hesitation before he delivered another nod.

"Well there we have it," he said with a half-hearted smile. "Is there anyone in this hall who wishes to defend the witch?"

Then the hall went completely silent. Everyone looked away, trying to make themselves seem unobvious. It was clear that no one was there to help Mira out of there, or even just to hope that she would be declared innocent. They all wanted to watch the downfall of a witch. Mira knew this as she looked around. She'd come to this realisation when the hall started to overflow with people. There hadn't been a witch trial in this village for so long, so when there was another one, of course they'd be eager to see it. Of course they wanted to watch Mira be sentenced to death.

Priest Marquett nodded. "Very well then. The witch shall be subjected to one final test to determine for sure if she is innocent or guilty. If she is guilty, I think we will all take pleasure in knowing that she will burn in hell for her crimes. If she is innocent, well then, God help her soul." He stepped down from the podium and people were starting to be ushered out of the courtroom.

Before Mira could react, someone grabbed her by the back of her dress and hoisted her to her feet, before dragging her outside, where a caravan was waiting. She was lifted up and tossed into the back of it, the door slamming shut behind her. With nothing else to do, She curled up on her side and stared at the wall.

After a few minutes which felt like an eternity in the dark, the caravan started moving and Mira could hear the sound of the horses clomping along the road. The sound of the people outside started to fade and she knew where she was being taken. There was a lake a little ways out of town where people had been drowned in past trials. She knew about it very well, with the way it had all been stapled into her mind. Never did she ever think this was where she was going to end up.

And through all of this, she could hardly think about Tajo. There was nothing he could do. Her mind was on her family. Her brothers, and most importantly, her mother. If anyone would have come to her defence, she would have expected that it would be her mother. It should have been her mother. Why didn't she do anything?

Mira had no tears left inside of her. She just closed her eyes and awaited her fate.