Chương 164: 78. I Was There

The arbiter turns the coin-like token over in her hand, an ugly grimace on her face.

"This does seem legitimate," she admits.

"Lady Lori, can you confirm that this was given to Resident Maev by Matriarch Gaa?" Lori hits me with a glare as if she's trying to channel her inner flaregaze basilisk. Unfortunately for her, I do not spontaneously combust before her, and she has to answer the question.

"I can, yes," she hisses. Interestingly, she doesn't try to revoke the token or clarify further. I was ready to argue about it, but I'll take the wins where I can get them.

"And why should we trust your statements?" Lady Shaa interjects.

"What makes your word worth more than anybody else's?"

"Oh, that's easy," I answer.

"I was there. I saw it happen." As expected, the crowd stirs at my claim, and I catch the briefest smile from the High Inquisitor. I know I'm walking on thin ice here, but I need them to listen to me. Lori looks like she wants to come down and strangle me herself—and I haven't even gotten to the part that's really going to upset her.

"And you never thought to bring this up sooner?" Lady Shaa asks.

"One might think you were trying to hide something." Yeah, I can see the trap here, but I predicted this one.

"Of course I was," I reply.

"I only witnessed it because I came from the convergence point. I'm dungeon-borne, and I didn't know whether I'd be treated like any other anomaly or monster."

"Tell us, then," she says.

"What did you witness?" And here is where it gets difficult. I know I don't have much influence here. I've forced my foot in the door and gotten their attention, but the moment I either implicate the inquisition or admit my own role in the event, I'm done here. Nobody is actually on my side, here—I have to choose my words carefully.

"First, I need to explain something," I say, deflecting away from the actual incident.

"I didn't know what I was even seeing at first—and you won't either until I tell you part of my story." The High Inquisitor scoffs.

"Lady Arbiter, this is a waste of time." I'm worried for a moment that Lady Ima is just going to take her side, being an inquisitor herself, but she shakes her head.

"I see no harm in hearing her out," she says.

"You may not think her testimony matters for your case, but it's invaluable to mine." Good. They care about impartiality, or at least the appearance of it. I don't miss the subtle hint that nothing I say is going to sway the High Inquisitor, but if she's half as bad as I think, there was never any chance of that in the first place.

"Thank you, Lady Ima," I say with a bow.

"I've had nothing but pleasant experiences with the Dou family, which is better than I can say for some."

"Spare me the flattery, Miss Maev," she replies, not quite managing to hide her smile.

"Your testimony?" Right. Okay, here we go.

"When I first arrived here, I didn't know Fa'aun—not the language, nor the people, nor the species, and I know that there is a distinction between each," I begin, drawing on everything I've learned to put together a speech that I pray is as eloquent in practice as it sounds in my head.

"I was wary, starving, and injured. I feared, when the rangers found me, that I'd be a prisoner, a slave, or perhaps just killed as a monster." I spread my hands out and smile.

"Instead, they took me in and sheltered me. It wasn't perfect—they still had their duties, and those took priority—but they did their best. Still, I was afraid. I didn't know anything about your people, which even now are unfamiliar and strange to me in so many ways. And yet—do you know what the first thing I learned about Fa'aun culture was?" I pause for effect after the rhetorical question.

Technically, the first things I learned were little tidbits about their language, their matriarchal social structures, the influence of the World Engine on their religion, and boring but fascinating stuff like that. So I fudge the answer a bit, even if it feels like a small betrayal to my inner academic.

"You are a welcoming people," I answer.

"I'm different, and those differences have not gone unnoticed or unremarked upon, but never—well, rarely —have those remarks been made in malice. The first village I saw, the Headwoman invited me to dine with her in her home, despite having little to share. Then, when we made it to a larger town, led by a noblewoman— she did exactly the same thing! Your own daughter, if I'm not mistaken, Lady Shaa. Allow me to thank you, belatedly, for the hospitality.

I suspect your other daughter may not have passed on my regards." I cast a sidelong glance at Mira and make a point of rubbing idly at my cheek. Not an accusation, per se, but she knows what she did and anybody who's heard the rumor will know what I'm implying. For her part, Lady Shaa seems unmoved by the behavior of either daughter.

"I accept your thanks," she replies impassively.

"But that's little more than basic etiquette."

"Yes, exactly!" I exclaim, nodding enthusiastically.

"I'm different—strange—but that's secondary to the fact that I am a person. I'm not one of you, but you still treat me with dignity, even kindness." This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Of course," Lady Tamara says, interrupting me for the first time since I stepped forward.

"The Goddess loves all of her creations—and so must we." That receives murmurs of agreement and nods of acknowledgement from the gallery, as if she's simply stating the obvious. I incline my head, playing along with the direction she's leading me.

"Yes, and I've seen it time and again. Not just for me! I've seen a lady of House Goa give up her own supplies to help a village make it through the difficult summer. I've seen the Matriarch of House Gaa take action to prevent a plague from decimating the Serpentfolk living in this city. And I've seen a clanless man risk his reputation, career, and even his very life to protect a scared, weird little stranger from the consequences of her own mistakes."

"Maev..." Draga warns from behind me. Faarah winces, and Lady Shaa narrows her eyes.

"What do you mean by that?" she demands.

"What I mean, my lady, is that Sir Draga is a paragon of the ideals your church and nation hold dear," I answer, lifting my chin defiantly.

"Despite the fact those same ideals seem to exclude him." I step aside and gesture to the man chained up behind me. I've stoked their pride enough. Time to lay on the shame.

"This man is a hero!" I declare with passion and sincerity.

"But the circumstances of his birth somehow matter more than his actions? He has fought wars for you, risked his life to keep you all safe from the horrors of convergence points—which I have seen first hand—and even worked to uncover the crimes you, Lady Shaa, now accuse him of. All of this knowing that nobody would care—that the ideals he fights to protect do not protect him in turn. Because even so—even if the rest of you forget—he is one of you. And he believes in the ideals of this empire."

The High Inquisitor crosses her arms, unimpressed.

"I believe you were going to tell us how Lady Kiera died? All I've heard from you so far is proselytizing." Why thank you for that perfect setup, my lady. Time to deliver the finishing blow. Blood and acid, I hope this doesn't backfire as bad as I think it might.

"I'm almost there, actually, Lady Shaa," I assure her.

"Because there's one group in particular that doesn't seem to share the ideals I've come to appreciate in Fa'aun society. One that keeps appearing each time I'm given cause to doubt how welcoming your people really are. Even going all the way back to the very beginning." She sighs and shakes her head.

"Lady Ima, it's clear that she has no intention of actually—""When I was held at gunpoint, skirts around my ankles, by a strange man with a glint of madness in his eyes, they were there," I interrupt. That gets everybody's attention, as I knew it would.

"They shot him, thank the Goddess, but they were no saviors. They called me a demon and tried to imprison me. Those were the people Draga fought during the attack of Maari's estate—you said he killed inquisitors during the attack, but seem to have forgotten to mention that they were the ones perpetrating it."

"How dare you accuse—?!"

"And when a passing stranger was handing out guns to starving children," I shout over Lady Shaa, ignoring the fervor that's starting to rise in the gallery.

"The inquisition was spoken of in furtive whispers, even after Lady Talla forgave the boys for their ill-advised attempt at banditry with a scolding." The High Inquisitor actually draws her sword, and I step back in genuine fear.

"Baseless accusations spoken without a shred of proof!" she shouts, pointing the sword towards me.

"Legal resident or not, if you slander our church like that again I will hold you to account." Holy frick she is scary when she's mad. I knew I was going to be making enemies with this, but I can't let the threats get to me. Still, I'm out of time. Hopefully I can get this last bit out before she tries to cut me down.

"And when I was lost, scared, and naked, it was an inquisitor who tried to murder me despite his lady, his priestess, his fricking wife telling him to stop." The forum goes so quiet I feel as if the silence is a physical weight trying to crush me.

"That was my real first encounter with Fa'aun," I add quietly.

"And that's how Lady Kiera died." Lady Shaa lowers her sword and scoffs incredulously.

"Are you now trying to accuse Inquisitor Captain Reyna of murdering his own wife? What madness is this?" I blink, then shake my head and chuckle mirthlessly, hugging myself for comfort. It doesn't help.

"No, no, of course not. He didn't kill her," I tell them, squeezing my eyes shut and ignoring my pounding heart as I force the next words kicking and screaming past my lips.

"I did." The silence is even worse this time. The roar of blood rushing through my ears and the heavy thumping of my heartbeat offer no defense from the unbearable pressure of the judgmental glare of every Fa'aun present.

"Impossible," the High Inquisitor states, all the venom drained from her voice.

"Just unlikely," I whisper.

"Good luck—or bad. My core class lets me control fire, and the dungeon is littered with anomalous candles. The combination was effective enough to surprise all of us—except Reyna. He, um, didn't survive long enough to be shocked."

"Resident Maev, do you understand what you're confessing to?" Lady Ima asks.

"Obviously, yes," I answer lifelessly.

"Why do you think I spent so long building up to it?"

"I see," she says, adopting an air of careful professionalism.

"Could I ask you to describe the incident, for the record?" I clench my teeth and shudder.

"[I don't know if I can do this]," I admit all but silently, in my own language.

"[I thought I was ready.]""[I'll handle it from here]," I sigh miserably. This is already a disaster, but I can't really blame Allison for tapping out here. It was brave of her to even make it this far. Stupid, but brave.

"Thanks Vi," Allie mutters.

"Sorry. I'll stay here, at least. I owe you that much." She doesn't owe me anything. At least, not for this.

"Miss Maev?" the arbiter prompts carefully. I'm not great with names, but I've heard Allie repeating them, and I've done my best to commit them to memory. These ones, we really shouldn't forget.

"Reyna attacked first," I say, speaking in a clipped monotone. I don't really have the language skills to be more descriptive even if I wanted to.

"We dodged, then exploded him."

"You—" the arbiter stammers.

"Exploded?"

"Others were provoked," I continue.

"Kellah fired his gun. It wasn't loaded. Immolated." Nobody interrupts this time, allowing me to finish the grim summary of the worst moment of my life.

"Goro engaged. He was distracted by our pet, Nipper, and we cut open vital points. Bled to death. Kiera tried to shoot. We extinguished her firearm, then stabbed her in the chest." I pause to look up at Kiera's younger sister, staring down at us from the gallery with an expression that I can't read.

"I'm sorry."