Suma and I were placed under arrest and restrained with magic, well she was… I was collared and led by a chain attached to one of the guard’s Borogs. Suma was taken to be interrogated in a separate room than I was. Actually, first I think they planned to take me to a kennel, but once they realized I could talk they took me to a holding room of sorts. It was made of thick and tightly woven vines, and they used magic to separate them so we could enter and leave. After about an hour of waiting, several nymphs came in and one introduced himself as investigator Dehal, while another began quietly casting a spell in the corner of the room. A magic circle formed around me, and I asked, “Um… what’s going on?”

“We are going to search through your memories and watch the events from your prospective, we are doing the same to Lady Suma as well. Don’t be alarmed, it will not hurt.” Dehal explained. “We start by asking questions, and she will watch and experience your memories as you recall them.”

“Okay, but what about her?” I asked pointing at the other nymph to my left who was looking over a wooden tablet that she had brought with her. “What is she doing?”

“She will be monitoring your psyche while we ask the question, to monitor your mental state for your safety and mental wellbeing.” Dehal said.

“I thought you said it wouldn’t hurt?” I asked cautiously.

“Normally that’s true, but I am just a safety measure I guess you could say; we have never performed this procedure on your species before, so we want to be careful.” The nymph with the tablet interjected.

“Exactly,” Dehal confirmed. “So, Sir Sentinel, are you ready to begin?”

Him calling me Sentinel caught me a bit off guard, but I answered him nonetheless, “Um… yes.” The nymph laid down the tablet and a second larger magic circle formed around the first one.

“What is the first thing you remember before being summoned?” Dehal asked.

“I was at home, then Suma… she communicated with me, she said to prepare to be summoned and to look scary. It was very loud, and she sounded scared.” Dehal looked between the two nymphs, both nodded their heads, and he continued the questions.

“What was the first thing you saw after being summoned?”

“Three nym- uh... Neame with their beast familiars, and Suma. She was hurt, badly.” I said.

“Could you describe this Neame?”

“They were decorated, with gold, and one, the one who attacked me, had jewels too. They were dark colored, and arrogant.” I told him.

“And what about their familiars?”

“One looked like a lizard, one like a cat, and another like a hyena or a dog.” With that, Dehal looked over to the two other nymphs and they exchanged looks. They were probably not familiar with the animals I likened the familiars too, but he didn’t press the issue further.

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“So, after you arrived, what happened?”

“I checked on Suma, she was hurt, one of the Neame started screaming and then attacked me.” I remembered the pain I felt after that magic attack hit me in the back, I remembered the nausea and fevered feeling. For a moment, it was like it was happening all over again. As I thought about that, the nymph who was monitoring my mental state looked pained and cried out before falling to the floor. The larger magic circle vanished.

Dehal fluttered over to her and checked on her, “Are you okay?” He asked urgently.

“I’m fine, it just felt like I could feel his pain, like it was happening to me.” She said.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for that to happen,” I said to the nymph.

“We didn’t realize you were still in any pain Sir Sentinel, we can have a healer brought in at once.” Dehal offered.

“No, I’m fine. I’m not in any pain, I was just remembering how bad the attack from that noble hurt.” I explained. Dehal seemed worried but took me at my word and we resumed as soon as the nymph was ready to recast the spell.

“After you were attacked, you struck the noble?”

“Yes, I hit him, but I didn’t think it was as hard as it turned out to be. I mean, he went flying, but I didn’t think it would be hard enough to kill him.” I said.

“And what happened after you hit him?”

“Suma rushed over and tried to heal him, also, his familiar tried to attack me as well. I summoned Destiny, that’s my weapon, and it impaled itself.” I said. Once again, Dehal looked over to the two nymphs for their reaction. The one monitoring my mental state stayed quiet, but the one monitoring my memories looked disturbed.

“Are you okay Memory Seeker?” Dehal asked.

“I’m fine,” she responded, “It’s just... gruesome.”

Turning back to me, Dehal asked, “When Suma tried to heal the noble, what happened?”

“She went over to him, and glowing golden light started emitting from her. She kept it up for a while, but she said she was running out of magic because she had used a lot that day.” I told him.

“You said that Lady Sumas magic was golden, but our guards’ reports say it was blue and black, why the disparity?” Dehal question more intensely.

“When she said she was running out of magic, she started to draw on mine. She started glowing purplish, and her spell did change color as well.” I remembered. The other two nymphs confirmed that I was telling the truth.

“One final question, do you believe Suma was actually healing the noble who attacked her? She had every reason to want him dead, is there any doubt in your mind that maybe it wasn’t a healing spell?” Dehal asked. I admit, the question had crossed my mind, but I had already settled those thought by the time I got to this interrogation room.

“No, Suma tried her best to save him.” I declared. The three exchanged looks and released the spells.

“Thank you for your cooperation, Sir Sentinel, if everything checks out you should be released by the end of the day. If you need anything, knock on the door and a guard will try and help you, but please do not attempt to leave before you are dismissed.” Dehal stated before leaving with the other two.

I sat in that room for a while, at one point I tried to contact Suma, but she was in the middle of an interrogation of her own so we couldn’t talk. Two hours passed before Dehal came into the room again.

“Okay Sir Sentinel, your memories have been evaluated and verified. You had no intention to kill the Noble, who has been identified as the youngest of Magistrate Gokhale, and the killing has been ruled an accidental death from self-defense. For now, lead investigator Monken has elected not to press charges, but you should expect further questions in the future. When nobles get involved, things like to get dragged out. But for now, you are free to go.”

“Thank you,” I said and Dehal led me outside where I saw Suma. I walked over to her, and she immediately flew over to my shoulder and rested her head against mine. Here is something you should know, Neame can’t cry, not like humans… they sing when they are sad. It sounds like morning bird songs, a tweeting whistle noise, and as soon as she landed, she began to sing.