Tolomon’s eyes widened. Martin gave a fast intake of breath before he had to speak. “We are High Elders of God’s Holy Church. We would never do something like that.”

There was silence as Indenuel stared at Navir, waiting. Dalius quickly wrote the notes. Fadrique frowned, glancing at Navir who picked up his glass of wine, looking at no one. “Come now, Indenuel. That is ridiculous.”

“How else am I supposed to take on five hundred Kiamese soldiers and live?” Indenuel asked.

“You may survive using the devil’s powers, but you won’t live,” Martin said.

“We are not even going to open this up for a discussion,” Navir said.

“The corruptive powers are far too dangerous,” Martin added.

“For a normal individual.” His voice was so casual, he seemed to forget his arms were chained and Tolomon was behind him with his mask.

“For any individual. Every time you use the devil’s powers, it leads your soul that much closer to Hell. I would rather lose Santollia than lose your soul.”

“No, instead you’d just lose your own,” Indenuel shot back. “With all your lies and deceits. With pages upon pages of women you’ve slept with and some of them had killed, do you honestly believe any of you will end up in Heaven?”

Martin felt it again. The pull at his soul that Indenuel was right. They were all going to hell for this. Martin covered his face with his hands before lowering them, a deep sadness in his soul. “We did what we had to. And I regret it,” he said, the women’s faces flickering through his mind. Navir frowned, watching Martin curiously. “But I’ve lived long enough to understand what regret has done to me, and I do not want to put you down that same path, my boy.” Martin tried to smile but found he couldn’t. Indenuel simply watched him. “Do not look at our weaknesses to excuse your own sins. Look at our weakness to realize where you can do better. Because we need you to do better. You can never use these dark powers again.”

Indenuel was trying hard not to react to Martin’s words.

“We have a final witness, do we not?” Navir asked.

“Yes. Tolomon, knock on the door. That should alert the guards to bring her in,” Martin said. If he knew Indenuel at all, he could guess that Inessa’s recounting of what he did would have to fill Indenuel with enough remorse to get the mark lighter. Tolomon knocked quietly on the door.

“Make sure the mask is back on Indenuel before Inessa comes in,” Navir said.

Indenuel glanced up, alarmed. “Inessa?” It was all he said before Tolomon eased the metal plate back in his mouth and locked the mask in place. Tolomon headed back to his post as the door opened and Inessa’s quiet footsteps were heard. Her head was bowed, her hands placed in front of her. Indenuel ventured a glance at her before looking away. Inessa approached the seats, staying a good distance away from Indenuel before she dropped into a curtsey.

“High Elders,” she said, her voice as quiet as her footsteps.

“Inessa, is it true you were present while Indenuel used his corruptive powers on the Kiamese soldiers?” Navir asked.

The only sound was the scratching of Dalius’ quill as he wrote down the question. Inessa kept her gaze on Dalius, waiting for him to finish. Once he was done, he gave her a nod.

“As present as I could be, sirs,” she said.

“Meaning?” Navir asked.

She waited again for Dalius’ nod. “I was drugged, sirs.”

“Martin? Were you familiar with the drug you took out of her body?” Navir asked.

“One made through corruption. Heightens the senses, mimics corruptive pain. The Kiamese soldiers did not have to torture her, simply existing with that drug in her body was torture enough,” Martin said.

Inessa made no reaction to this. Navir narrowed his eyes, looking at Indenuel before his gaze fell back on Inessa.

“Indenuel said you were beaten. Is that right?” Navir asked. Inessa nodded. “And they threatened to take advantage of you?” Inessa glanced at the floor before nodding again. “Speak for the record.”

“Yes,” Inessa said. “Yes, to both questions.”

Indenuel stayed kneeling on the floor, trying not to bring attention to himself.

“Describe in your own words what happened while Indenuel was using corruptive powers.”

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Inessa swallowed, her eyes fixed to the floor. “The fog was very thick, sirs. It was difficult to see much. But I heard the screaming. And… and also heard when the screams were stopped. Suddenly. And…” she swallowed again, keeping her voice steady. “And the sound of tree branches… being forced into… into the soldiers. One was choaking me, threating out loud to kill me unless Indenuel stopped and… and he dropped to the ground, bleeding from… from his face. I…” Inessa held perfectly still. “I felt a dread. The kind of dread people describe when demons are close, even when you do not yourself have the gift. And when the fog finally did clear, Indenuel was the only one standing among… among the carnage.”

“We all saw the aftermath of the slaughter,” Navir said.

Martin didn’t. He couldn’t. The smell was bad enough, but he didn’t dare correct Navir. Indenuel glanced up at Navir before turning away again. Dalius was going as fast as he could. Inessa, as always, kept her hands clasped in front of her, her eyes cast downward. Tolomon kept his face unreadable, though he watched Inessa carefully.

“We are of course grateful you have survived this horrible ordeal,” Navir said once the quill scratching wasn’t so hasty. “Did any of the Kiamese soldiers introduce themselves to you?”

“The leader called himself Drenai.”

Navir raised an eyebrow. “Drenai? As in General Drenai?”

“I… I do not know. He never mentioned a title.”

Navir’s eyes widened, glancing at Fadrique before staring back at Inessa. Martin covered his mouth, surprised. If it was General Drenai, then his death must have been a blow to the Kiamese army. He was one of the most tactically brilliant individuals Martin had ever come across. Even though the man fought for the other side, Martin admired his skills.

“It’s, um…” Navir was clearly trying to recover from this. “I think I understand now why I didn’t sense him until he allowed himself to be sensed.”

“I don’t understand,” Inessa said.

“It is nothing you need to be concerned about,” Navir said, placing his hands on the table. “Even if he is who we think he is, it is far more concerning to me that he managed to sneak over the wall to kidnap you. Even I underestimated him in that.”

For the first time since she came in here, Inessa’s perfect act broke. She looked at Navir in alarm before looking away again. She touched her forehead, trying to find a stray hair in her perfect hair before clasping her hands together again, looking at the floor. Martin’s heart quickened, and he looked at Navir, hoping he missed it. Hoping he wouldn’t ask more questions. Unfortunately, Navir had a frown on his face. “Do you have something to add?”

Inessa finally looked at Martin, and he could see the panic in her eyes. “I…”

Dalius stopped writing. With no noise of the scratching quill, the silence pressed in on them, Inessa’s erratic breathing becoming the only noise. Martin stared at Inessa, then glanced at Navir, who was looking between the two of them. Even Indenuel was watching, curious.

“What is going on?” Fadrique asked.

Tears filled Inessa’s eyes as she stared at Martin, almost pleading him to say something, but what could he say? Inessa was a concubine, and therefore she had no privacy. She had no secrets. Martin leaned back in his chair, doing nothing.

“Inessa, I order you to tell me what’s going on,” Navir said, the anger entering his voice again.

“Martin… please, this… I wasn’t supposed to…”

Martin looked back, almost glaring. “It is imperative the High Elders know where you were when you were kidnapped.”

Inessa gave a sharp intake of breath before meeting the other High Elders gazes. Navir was now glowering at her. “Answer the question, concubine, or I will find it out through the trees.”

Inessa’s chest was heaving, she let go of her hands taking a few steps back. She finally met Indenuel’s gaze for the first time before she averted them. “Outside. They kidnapped me outside the wall, good sirs.”

Navir stood and Inessa backed away from him quickly, true horror flickering across her face. Fadrique moved around the table, headed straight for her, making sure she didn’t escape. Inessa began to whimper. “And why exactly were outside the city walls?” Navir asked.

The first of the tears fell as she again looked at Martin. Fadrique grabbed her elbow, and Inessa winced. Indenuel got to his feet, glaring at Fadrique. Tolomon was already there with a hand on his shoulder to keep him back.

The girl was clearly too terrified to tell the truth. Martin sighed, rubbing his forehead. “I did not know she would travel over the wall. I did not realize that’s how far her obedience would go. But I ordered her to destroy the garden of poppies she used to make a powder. The kind that kept her from getting pregnant.”

Inessa started to tremble and put a hand to her mouth, the color draining from her face.

Navir’s eyes blazed in anger. “Poppy root?” he spat out like the word itself was covered in mud. “You aren’t barren?”

Inessa would have sunk to her knees if Fadrique wasn’t there to keep her standing. “Please… please…”

“You ungrateful little bitch!” Fadrique threw her against the wall. Martin gasped, then watched in horror as Fadrique slapped her hard with the back of his hand, the rings cutting deeply into her. Indenuel broke from Tolomon’s hold and headed straight for Fadrique. What he was planning to do, chained as he was, Martin didn’t know, but he was going to try. Tolomon grabbed Indenuel around the waist, holding him back. Navir was heading for Fadrique when he stopped, eyes widening as he threw his hands in front of him, aiming toward Indenuel, slight terror in his eyes. Dalius too dropped the quill to hold both hands in front of him as the door threw open and Theo was there, blocking Indenuel.

Martin ignored them all as he ran around the table. Fadrique slapped Inessa again and again. Martin grabbed Fadrique’s wrist and forcibly moved him away.

“Enough!” Martin shouted as Inessa sank to the ground, terror-stricken. “This is unfitting of a High Elder.”

“She abused the privileges. She is no better than a slut and deserves to be treated like one.”

“Get back to your seat!” Martin said, leaving no room for argument.

Fadrique glared, then seemed to just notice Indenuel, struggling in Tolomon’s arms, his eyes blazing in darkness. Fadrique glared at Martin again before stomping back to his seat.

“Tolomon, return Indenuel to the dungeons. Dalius will return when he has calmed down enough to see if he can get any more of the corruption out of him,” Navir said.

Tolomon nodded. Indenuel was trying to say something, but the mask kept him from anyone understanding it. He was still trying to get to Fadrique. Tolomon grabbed Indenuel, hoisting him over his shoulder again as he left the room. The second the door opened, thunder rumbled overhead, and a downpour began. Martin glared at Fadrique. Theo, Navir, and Dalius both followed him with their arms.

Martin hated the reminder of how he never felt any of the corruption. Not even a little.