Free Edge of Darkness ~ A Darkness & Light Novel Book Three by K. L. Schwengel

aside as they started after Pehl in the direction of the castle. The captain snapped his fingers, waving his men to surround the three of them, before trotting up to assume the lead. Ciara walked with her eyes straight ahead, and though she gave a good show of appearing outwardly composed, Berk could feel her trembling.
    He lowered his head, putting his mouth close to her ear. "I won't let anything happen to you. I swear it."
    "They've been looking for an excuse," she replied, still staring at Marshall's back, her voice a breathy, quivering whisper.
    Berk tightened his grip. "The charges are ridiculous."
    She rolled her lips closed and nodded. They walked in silence after that, but Berk kept his fingers lightly around Ciara's arm, more for his own peace of mind than hers. Though he could feel her fear, it seemed far less than his own for her, and that gave him the strength to keep walking. All he really wanted to do, was tell Ciara to run. That would pit him and Jorny against six Council Guards, and those odds were a bit long. Besides which, Berk knew Ciara would never abandon him. So he held onto the belief that a huge mistake had been made, and tried to keep his fears hidden.

CHAPTER TEN
     
    Muted sunlight streamed in through the high windows of the Council Chamber, spreading in rippled waves across the polished tile floor, and glittering off the inlaid Imperial crest at its center. Three men and two women in amber robes sat in high-backed chairs behind a narrow table. Outside of Thadeus and Lady Honval, Ciara knew none of them. She stood with her hands clasped in front of her to keep them still. A ward surrounded her, making the air shimmer in her vision. Berk stood to her right, just outside the shimmer's edge, in direct defiance of the captain of the Council Guard who ordered him to remain in the corridor.
    Ciara let her gaze pass across the mages. All of them, Thadeus included, were stern-faced. Some wore their disdain openly, others tried to mask it, but Ciara could feel it directed at her. They hadn't even met her before now, yet all had made up their minds to dislike her.
    "I am Lord Vaedryn," said the man to the left of an empty chair at the center of the table. Slender and bald-headed, his skin had a light, powdery sheen, which made his dark eyes look like deep pits in the composed mask of his face. "You have been brought before us to answer charges of treason against the --"
    "You know who I am, yes?" The loud rumble of Garek's voice rose from beyond the closed doors. "I'll give you one more chance to stand down, before I have you scraping horse dung out of the cracks in the yard until it's spotless."
    A moment of silence preceded a sound like a kettle being struck against stone, then an echoing clatter, followed by the doors opening. Garek stepped over the prone form of one of the door guards, and strode into the chamber. He flexed the fingers of his right hand as he stepped up beside Ciara.
    "What is the meaning of this, Commander?" Lord Vaedryn asked.
    "Strange, I was wondering the same thing myself," Garek said. He looked Ciara's way. "Are you all right, lass?"
    "This is a closed hearing, Commander. You and your man need to leave."
    Garek scratched his chin. "The thing about it, my lord, is that Lady Ciara is under the protection of the Imperial Guard by order of the Lord General. As such, she'll go nowhere but the privy without one of my men by her side. I'd like to see your warrant, if you'd be so kind."
    "Do you intend to stand as representation for the lady?" Vaedryn asked, his voice dripping scorn.
    "Oh, love of the Goddess, Vaedryn, let the man see the warrant." A woman seated beside Thadeus leaned forward and gestured, and a page hastened over to hand Garek the folded parchment.
    The commander took his time reading, chewing on his mustache, 'hmming' and 'huhing' over parts. Vaedryn shifted in his seat and started to say something but Garek held up a finger to silence him, muttering under his breath.