Masahide kept watch through the night, protecting those in Hisa’s apartment, and he sat on an outcropping until dawn when a sun rose as a ruddy ball shrouded in ash. He’d never been more exhausted, not just from the previous night but also from the long, contentious days at this castle.
He must have fallen asleep briefly, for he caught himself blinking awake under dark clouds and hot snow. Mount Templar has reached this far already? It was his home turned to dust and raining on Dunaguard.
Those who stormed the castle ceased their frenzy, and a strange quiet settled in the absence of their din. They didn’t leave but milled about the arena complex in a daze until they seemed to snap to attention and gather at one end.
Duke Akitomo vanished sometime earlier, and the knights manning the doors and windows thinned until only soldiers eyed the throngs for the threat of continued violence. Surprisingly, the order reached the gates to let in the spectators. The crowds poured against the lower gate, and soldiers formed a dam and let in a trickle to allow a search for weapons.
With things calmed down, Masahide stood from his perch and climbed higher. Poor Gon had endured so much that he wanted to get him a treat: flavored snow. This meant a small hike and a visit to the kitchen. He dug into a snow drift so that no ash got into the sack and brought it to the servants bustling in the kitchen.
When he returned with a bowl of snow and fruit and handed it to the wide-eyed boy, Kichi grabbed him by the arm and pulled him to the window as Gon squeaked with delight.
She pointed to the arena square. “I think the Duke is getting ready to speak. Something big is happening.”
“How’s Hisa and Yoshiie?”
“Hisa’s doing well, just sleeping. Yoshiie is… hanging in there. The loss of his sword hand may not be something he can accept.”
“At least they’re alive for now.” Masahide scooped up the bowl Gon lay aside and took a bite. “It was delicious. “Why didn’t you finish it?”
“My stomach still hurts.”
Kichi shot back from the balcony and pulled Masahide back again, and Gon followed. All three bent over the balustrade to squint four hundred feet down to where a stone cube moved onto the square. A score of soldiers lowered it near the thirteen seats, which generally sat empty but now held grandmasters and archknights of their respective orders. The air snake made figure eights above the seats. Mount Templar was empty, and the Duke sat where the Dragon Order once did, but now he represented the Black. “Let’s go down there,” she said.
They ran through halls and flew downstairs until they pushed through the throngs and stood with the knights. It seemed the arena couldn’t hold another person. A whole section held stone-faced peasants with war scythes. The uprising should have been stamped out during the night, but here they were all in one place, and at their center stood Akisane and his henchmen.
In the front row of the Duke’s family, William twitched and rocked, obviously disturbed in his mind. A smile stretched strangely on one side of his mouth. The rest of the family scooted from him, afraid or appalled, save for his original mother, who pawed at him and appeared just as manic.
At the center of all the attention, Whitebeard emerged from the throngs walking with weighted chains that rasped when the cheers died out. Bearing the weight and walking himself meant to show a willingness to prove one’s innocence. One should struggle before the judges and ask for forgiveness for everything save the thing one did not do. However, he didn’t sweat, and when he reached the judges, he remained silent and upright. He hadn’t confessed, yet he also refused to defend himself.
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“What’s happening?” Kichi asked. A few tall men partially blocked her view despite her step above them.
“I don’t know if he plans to prove himself innocent.”
“That seems backward. Shouldn’t someone have to prove you did something?”
“How would they do that? If you’re accused, you should have witnesses to the contrary.”
Kichi’s head wandered until she found a gap to view through. “What if you’re alone? It sounds stupid. So what’s the box for?”
The box stood two fathoms with a port at the top and dolphins carved in the stone sides. “With a crime this bad, they will probably leave it to the spirits to decide.”
“What does that mean?”
How did Kichi know so little of the customs of the realm? It was as if she hadn’t been born here at all, though her accent indicated the contrary. “They might do the three trails: water, earth, and fire. In each case, air is the only way to survive.”
Kichi’s eyes widened, and her hand went to her sword to rest on the pommel. “He might die?”
“I don’t think anyone has ever lived through it. The judges don’t have a witness so the spirits will act as the realm's eyes and ears. If he is innocent, the water will have a single air bubble to breathe, earth a gap not to be crushed, and fire… the air doesn’t protect and makes it burn hotter, and the spirits will protect his flesh by cooling it.”
“So basically, this is a death sentence.”
“Yes.”
“He doesn’t want us to intervene. I trust him, but I don’t know how far. Would I let him die if all it did was prove my trust?”
Masahide assumed she asked a rhetorical question. “I don’t know myself either.”
Out of nowhere, the Duke leaped from the Dragon Order seat and landed like a cat. For the first time Masahide had seen, he wore black overlapping armor, and though he still carried the cross-polearm, a yellow gauntlet grasped it. The Duke expected a fight, there was no doubt. He raised a hand, and everyone quieted down to hear what he had to say. “I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that the tournament will be cut short, but the good news is that there will be a war reenactment after this trial, and all the knights will fight at once. This will represent the fall of the Empire at Gojuk, and the scramble for the throne. The last knight standing will be the winner. I’ve descended to enter the fray myself since the grandmaster of the Black Order was killed in a duel with my son.” He said the last word with disdain and held up a box with blood seeping from the bottom corner. “Does anyone know whose gift this is? I found it by my high seat this morning.”
After a moment of quiet, Akisane stood among the armed peasants. Were they the rebels? “It’s from me, father.”
The Duke reached in and pulled a head out, and a look passed over the Duke’s face. One of shock that he quickly replaced with control. “I will see you in the square, Akisane. It’s your right to take your inheritance now. But you’ll have to destroy me first. Many have tried, and all are dominated or dead.”
“Your biggest mistake,” Akisane said, “Was sending me after power you didn’t understand. We are both doomed men.”
The Duke sneered and turned his attention away, barking an order to those around the box. They took Whitebeard by each arm and hoisted him up the side of the box, where two reached down and pulled him up. They lowered him into it, and a knight with a water focus filled the container and dropped the hatch. The first trial had begun.
Masahide
Level: 35
Focus: Conjuring (conduit) +3
Secondary focus: Quake, Firequake tandem attack, spirit punch
Weapons: pure sword - 35% pure
Items: Heart of the Earth