Garren rose from his bed and walked into the hall to meet Michael. He was still as the guard bound his hands behind his back. As many times as he'd done this to another, it was the first time he'd ever experienced the helplessness himself. He kept his head down as they made their way to where the elders were waiting.
Two armed soldiers opened the double doors and he was ushered in. He noted the elders were dressed in dark blue and white. He was guided to a chair beside Michael.
"Garren, we meet as a council to decide your fate. It has been brought to our attention that there has been wrought within you a change of sorts. Do you feel this matter carries enough weight to keep you from your rightful penance?" It was the same elder who'd spoken to Michael at the border to Adoria.
When Garren spoke, his voice was low, still tired from everything that had transpired. "What has been done at my hands cannot be undone by any change of heart, no matter how sincere."
"You have come into this realm then, knowing that your death awaits you. You chose to save one of our daughters, yet you demand no payment for her return?"
Garren was taken aback by the question. "She is worth more than any payment my life could bring. I will make no such request, no matter what is leveraged against me. I go to my end willingly."
The elder rose, and began to walk around the room. "The Laionai have begun to train an army of men. This is the army that you were commissioned to lead? What purpose did it serve, considering that none aside from our own blood can enter our realm unaccompanied?"
"I have been in the presence of the Laionai. I believe Ciara's intentions were to wield what powers I possessed to breach the divide. She must have known that I was part Adorian. I naively assumed I was chosen for the powers I had, but it was my lineage instead. I will be of no use to her dead."
The elder stopped, and turned toward him. "You speak in past tense. Are you no longer carrying powers of your own?"
Garren took a stifled breath. "I have bare abilities, no more than any average Ereubinian. What had been granted by the Laionai was taken from me without my knowledge. I cannot explain what has happened save to say that it directly relates to Ariana. If I were any use to you at all, I would gladly offer my life in servitude instead, but it is my death that will bring you the most benefit. There is no punishment that will justify or right the transgressions I have committed."
The elder remained quiet.
Garren flexed his hands at his sides and looked at the ground. It wasn't death that frightened him, but the judgment of the Adorian people that surrounded him. The disdain was so thick it was tangible.
"Michael, what say you?"
Michael rose, and placed his hand on Garren's shoulder. "I say it is to be left to a vote. The Adorian people are whom the crimes have been committed against. It will be you who decides. A show of hands. Who among you says he shall live?"
The silence was deafening. Garren didn't lift his head, but he heard not a single shred of fabric rub against another. It was unanimous.
"Then so be it," Michael whispered.
Ariana watched as Garren was led up a wooden stairwell to stand before the crowd that had gathered. Muffled voices and whispers filtered through the crowd, hushing as Ariana made her way toward the front. Her eyes met with Garren's briefly as she passed behind him to sit beside her brother and Jareth.
"You shouldn't be here," Michael whispered.
"Don't think me faint-hearted, Michael, I fully understand the death he could have met with for saving my life. I owe him this much." She looked up to the opening in the roof, unsettled by the bright blue of the sky.
What if it was merely a dream and you have said nothing in his defense?
She drowned out the sound of his grievances as they were listed, ignoring the thrumming of her heart as the moment neared.
A hooded figure whose face was concealed by a plain white mask walked to where Garren stood. She saw Garren's lips murmur something, followed by a slight nod by the executioner. Slowly, as if time had paused in mourning, the vial was brought to Garren's lips.
And then you must trust me…
"Stop!"
The voice startled the executioner and the vial slipped from his hands and fell to the ground in a violent crash, sending glass shards across the platform.
The voice had come from the back of the assembly. She watched in amazement as Roahn made his way to them. He leapt two steps at a time until he was standing breathless before Michael.
"You cannot execute him, not without knowing…" Roahn bent over, trying to catch his ragged breath.
Jenner had come forward and was behind Roahn. "Roahn, what – "
"He is of Adorian royal blood."
An audible gasp was drawn in at once from all who heard him. He paused for only a moment before continuing. "He is Indeara's child, my nephew. Regardless of the trespasses he has committed, as it has been written since the age of guardians, it's up to the sovereign alone to decide his fate. Forgive me, Michael, I heard of the council's decision and couldn't keep his lineage a secret any longer." He looked at Michael, a deeply worn grief in his eyes pleading for Michael to grant Garren his freedom.
Every being held their breath – every eye was trained on her brother. Ariana watched Roahn, understanding now how torn he must have felt when he found out that Garren had spared her life in Palingard.
Was he the only one who knew?
She could tell without asking that her brother was weighing the consequences of his words, each second that passed representing the thousands of lives that would be affected by his decision.
"He lives."
"Your debt has been forgiven," Michael whispered into Garren's ear. Garren was too overwhelmed to say anything.
Michael turned to Jenner, "I'll address the people of Cyphrus this evening. Please send messengers with the news and have a feast prepared."
Garren couldn't tell from the elder Adorian's face how he felt about it.
Michael turned back to Garren. "Turn around and I'll unfetter your hands." He could barely hear Michael over the scuffle of feet and the flurry of speech that erupted as the assembly was dismissed. No one left right away.
Garren, without lifting his eyes, turned to face the wall. He felt the binds loosen, and the cords fall. He rubbed his wrists were they'd been tied.
"I don't understand." He turned to see that it wasn't Michael who'd untied him, but Ariana. Michael, after making the offer, now stood off to the side of the platform with Jareth, whose anger was evident on his face, and Roahn, whose expression was indecipherable.
Ariana flashed Garren an insincere smile. "You should count yourself lucky." There was an unmistakable coolness in her voice.
"Ariana, I – "
"There's nothing to discuss. I wasn't the one who spoke for you. You have Roahn to thank for that."
He couldn't help the smile that tugged at one corner of his mouth. She was even more beautiful when she was flustered.
"I'm glad you find this amusing."
He grabbed her by the arms as she started to walk away. "Don't you understand the purpose behind what I said to you?"
"You believed me some frail creature, unable to wield her own emotions? Perhaps you were under the impression that I would wither into a deep despair over your loss, never regain the motivation to eat or drink or subsist again?"
"If your feelings were even half as strong as those I carry for you, then what your brother had to do as a sovereign of Adoria would have caused a rift between the two of you that I couldn't bear to leave you with. As your brother, you would've eventually accused him of knowing your heart more than any other, and ending my life despite its affect on you."
He could see the expression on her face change. This was something that she had obviously not considered. Still, she refused to answer him.
"If I didn't have affection for you, would I have stayed awake the night I released you in Palingard, worried for you? Or spared Michael his life after learning that he was within reach of our borders, simply because he is your brother? There hasn't been a single moment since my return from Palingard that I haven't thought of you. Even my wedding night, I couldn't…" He watched her expression change yet again as the words fell from his lips. He hadn't considered how they would sound to her.
"You are married."
He took a deep breath, trying to figure out how to respond to such a statement. "It's not what you…"
"It's exactly as I think." She pulled herself from his grasp and sat down on one of the chairs behind her. The color drained from her skin.
"How long – when?"
"I swear to you that I've never laid a hand on her, not in the way you're thinking. It was after Palingard's fall. My confession, though, is that I chose Sara for Aiden. The only consolation I can give you is that had I not, she would've been sent to the outer regions and would've been one of the humans left at your borders."
Tears had started to well in her eyes, though they remained unshed. He sat down in front of her and put his hands on her shoulders.
"I can't get the image out of my head – what she must be enduring. Garren, they are still aware of what's going on around them. They are still conscious. Every time he touches her… she can't even close her eyes to escape it. I can't…" She lowered her head again and he could no longer help himself.
He pulled her into his arms. "Micah, the boy who helped you in Eidolon – I swore that if I were allowed to keep my life I would go back for him. I fear for his life, just as you fear for Sara's. I don't know how, but we will find a way to bring Sara back here. As soon as I get a chance, I'll speak with your brother."
"But what of her soul? Will she re – "
Garren clenched his jaw. It wasn't a question he wanted to answer. "It's never been done, but because I was the one who took her soul, I may be able to restore it."
She surprised him by taking his hand in hers. "Then there's hope."
He placed his other hand over hers and rubbed her wrist where he'd grabbed her in the cell. "I didn't hurt you did I?"
She shook her head. "My pride maybe, but my wrist is fine. I knew you were being untruthful. I just didn't fully understand why."
"And how were you able to tell?"
She held her mouth in a tight line as he finished his question. "Wouldn't you like to know? You'll have to earn that next kiss, Garren. And considering that you had to save my life for the last one, I'd say you have your work cut out for you."
He smirked. "Indeed."
Roahn came to stand beside them and started to rest a hand on Garren's shoulder, but clutched it to his breast instead. His features turned in pain and he cleared his throat. "I adored Indeara and it's her life and love for you that's saved you. Please, don't ask anything else of me. I have nothing left to give."