Vulpine Summer

Esme stared blankly at the tightly shut door in front of her. Iron bit down around her wrists, keeping them bound, and she wasn’t crying anymore, simply because she was too tired. Despite Lithgow trying to tell her over and over, the memories of her actions remained at the forefront of her head. She kept recalling how she killed her aunt and, no matter what spells he cast or what he said, it didn’t change. She knew the Council didn’t believe him either. Esme wasn’t surprised. She was guilty after all.

Lithgow was beside her, talking to her rapidly but she wasn’t really listening, not until he shook her lightly.

‘I know this isn’t going to plan, lass. Denver go to the Council first, told them about you, and is pressing things to move quickly. She got them wrapped around her finger somehow but I will protect you, Esme.’ He said firmly, not for the first time. ‘I can’t break whatever spell is on you but I’m going to get you checked over by a Spirit after this, including Denver. I can prove your truth is fake, or at least through enough doubt around that the Council actually listens to me and looks into the inconsistencies. Just keep a level head.’

Esme stared at him with exhaustion and pain in her eyes. ‘I killed her though, Lithgow. Death is what I deserve.’

Lithgow’s brow snapped down. ‘You did not, I know you didn’t. I saw it before and it’s still in there.’ He pulled her into a tight hug, petting her thick black hair softly. ‘I won’t let you die too.’

Esme’s nose wrinkled from a desire to cry again but she held it back. As much as Lithgow said she didn’t deserve death, Esme felt otherwise.

Esme was pulled away from Lithgow and urged to go ahead, leaving her in the hands a couple of burly security personnel. She didn’t look at them. She just stared at the door until they swung open eerily. Her handlers pushed her in.

At first she was dazzled by the bright lights, causing her to flinch away until she could finally see. Instantly her stomach twisted in terror. She stood in a large dome made mostly of glasses windows with what walls it had painted pale white. Before her was a set of steps leading up to a small stand where a chair was awaiting her. She was guided up the steps and pushed into it. She stared out at the sea of faces before her, glancing about her surroundings vaguely.

The courtoom was full. The jury box was filled with faces she didn’t know, the Council seats filled with wizen old men and the members of the Ivory Council, the judge’s bench was home to an severe looking woman and the benches of the gallery where filled with wizards from far and wide.

Esme swallowed painfully and tears threatened to creep up. This was it. It was here she would announce her truth. That she killed her aunt.

She glanced at her Uncle, who sat grimly at a small table before the gallery. Denver was on the other table, looking beautifully sad. Esme felt something stir in her head at the sight of Denver, like something didn’t feel quite right, but that was quickly silenced when she recalled how she killed her aunt.

The moment the judge spoke, proceedings began. Esme just say numbly as people spoke around her in tones of various distress and aggression. She didn’t pay attention. It didn’t matter. She was going to be shot or hung either way.

It wasn’t until Denver rose that she began to listen.

‘Grand Adjutant Denver of the Ivory Tower will recount the events of Cassandra Bloxham, Grand Wizard of the Ivory Tower.’ Someone called out to the room.

‘I recalled it, all though it still doesn’t seem real.’ Denver spoke out. ‘I was turning up to an evening meeting with the Grand Wizard and discovered Ms Dupont above the Grand Wizards body. Her Grimoire was out and she had summoned a plague spell, causing the Grand Wizard to die slowly from poisons.’ Ms Denver dabbed her eye sadly. ‘I tried to apprehend Ms Dupont but she had flung herself out from the window. I regret to say I couldn’t capture Ms Dupont or heal the Grand Wizard. She died shortly afterwards.’

There was an intense murmuring about the room, shocked and anger whispers fluttered about.

‘Did you hear anything about why Ms Dupont would’ve done this?’ A lawyer asked.

‘Yes. I had been close to the family and Ms Dupont had confided in me she was frustrated with her magic. She wanted to follow her aunt and step out of her shadow but couldn’t. I believe she was also growing jealous of her aunt’s beauty and money.’

For a moment, Esme froze. She didn’t understand but outrage popped for a single second. That wasn’t right. But why wasn’t it right? Then she recalled how she felt when she murdered her aunt, how jealous she was, and suddenly it felt right again and shame hit her. The fog returned and she fell into a stupor again.

‘Ms Dupont!’

Esme came to quickly, shaking away the fog and stared at lawyer staring at her expectantly.

‘I asked you a question. Were you or were you not jealous of your aunt?’

‘Yes.’ Esme stammered.

‘Why?’

Memories bubbled. ‘I wanted to be like her but couldn’t. I wanted to have her strength and status.’ Esme said robotically. Whispers grew in the hall.

‘Did you or did you not plot to kill her?’

‘Yes.’

‘Did you or did you not kill Cassandra Bloxham with a plague spell?’

She glanced at Lithgow, who was fuming, and she bobbed her head slowly. He closed his eyes.

‘I did.’

Lithgow stood sharply. ‘That is absolute stupidity!’ Lithgow roared, jabbing his finger on her tatty old Grimoire. ‘Look in her bloody Grimoire and see if there is even that spell in here! She’s not a Wizard!’

‘Grand Wizard Lithgow, please settle down.’ The Judge ordered tightly. ‘You’ll have your turn soon.’

The lawyer continued. ‘So, you confirm that not only were you have the motive of jealousy but the means of a plague spell?’

‘Yes.’

The lawyer turned to the judge and bowed lightly. ‘That is all.’

Esme watched numbly as Lithgow stood and began to real off questions at Denver. Esme didn’t listen again. The fog in her head had grown, making it difficult to pay attention and force the memories of her aunt to the foreground. But that was disturbed by Lithgow’s bellow.

‘Her Grimoire has no plague spell in it!’ He lifted it up for the judge to see clearly. ‘None!’

The judge eyes Denver. ‘Why doesn’t she have one?’

‘Because that is a fake one. It’s not real.’ Denver said plainly. ‘Ms Dupont’s reputation of being bad at magic wasn’t literal. She just couldn’t live up to the standards of her aunt, that’s all. She was mediocre.’

Lithgow fumed. ‘She is terrible. Absolutely awful. I’ve known her since Cassandra took her in and that girl is not a Wizard and this is her true Grimoire.’ He shoved a finger at Denver’s direction. ‘And you, you addled Dupont’s head. Filled it with false truths.’ He gazed up heatedly at the judge. ‘I want truth testing done. No account spoken in this room has a lick of truth in it. I want a truth test by Wizards and then one done by Spirits.’

The judge looked undecided while Denver’s expression twitched.

‘Spirits? Isn’t that a bit much?’

‘That is what I am demanding as Grand Wizard of the Granite Tower.’ Lithgow bellowed. ‘Separate truth testing by Wizards and Spirits will be done!’

Denver smiled oily. ‘But what does your Council and the Ivory Council say?’

Esme watched as her uncle stared at his Council members murmur amongst themselves. Then, one stood. ‘A Wizard test should be sufficient enough. Getting a Spirit involved is pointless.’ An elderly man wheezed.

‘The Spirit testing is vital to proving Esme Dupont’s truth has been magically altered.’ Lithgow pressed.

But neither Council wanted to. They all shook their head, a unanimous no.

The Judge sighed. ‘Then I will personally will test Ms Dupont’s and Ms Denver’s truths. Spirit testing will not be done, as overruled by the Ivory and Granite Council’s.’

Lithgow stared, agape, his face turning red from outrage while Denver sat smugly in the corner.

‘This is a farce.’ Lithgow snarled as he sat down heavily. ‘An absolute sham of a hearing.’

Esme sat quietly in the corner, her eyes glazed over again, she remained fixated on her Uncle. Even as the judge strode over to Denver and began to test her truth, Esme stared at him. He still was adamant she hadn’t killed anyone. That she was a soulless murderer. He held such conviction that it made her wonder if he was right. Maybe she hadn’t.

But, as the judge pulled her attention to the declaration Denver had spoken the truth, Esme couldn’t stop thinking about what she had done. Why she had done it. As the judge summoned the truth spell from her grimoire and applied it to Dupont, Esme couldn’t stop replaying the memories. They flashed before her eyes, burning her chest with shame, despair and self-hate.

The moment the judge finished, she quietly pulled away and came to stand at her dais, she slammed the hammer.

‘I have tested both truths. Denver and Dupont are both honest. Let the jury make their decision.’

*

Fox lay on the sofa, devouring the apple Badger had provided.

He was bored. He’d been sitting in the now refurnished basement of Badger’s smithy, sitting around and not doing an awful lot. Badger had put up with it, only because Fox would work the odd delivery job for free, but mostly left him alone, leaving Fox to wallow in boredom.

Not that Fox couldn’t go home right now. He thought about it a lot. Now Dupont was out of his hair, he was free to do whatever he wanted. It didn’t feel right though. Dupont was going to be under trial and it made his chest tighten at the thought of just abandoning her in the middle of it. So he decided he’d see it all the way through and then return home once it was over.

Fox sat up when Bull came downstairs, her face scowling. Ever since she turned up, that scowl had been fixed into place. She either chewed him out for just running off and causing chaos in her town or silently glaring at him. But, just like Fox, Bull was sticking until Dupont was declared innocent.

‘Nervous, lad?’ Bull asked as she collapsed into the sofa opposite him.

Fox shrugged, not wanting to give away the butterflies churning in his stomach. ‘No.’

‘Well, I am. She’s under trial right now and I’m not planning for Denver to play fair.’ Bull sighed sharply. ‘We’ll get moving if something goes wrong.’

Fox didn’t voice that his gut screamed something would go wrong. It had to. Denver was powerful with an unknown agender propelling her, she wasn’t going to go down without a fight.

‘Have you heard anything from the Doe?’

As if on cue, the messaging machine whirled into life in the corner. Fox leapt to his feet, glad something was happening, and hurried over to it. He snatched up the paper being printed out, a Morse coded message, and he instantly began to try reading it, hopeful it had something useful in there.

‘C’mon Doe. Give me somethin’.’ He hissed as he read through as quickly as possible.

But Badger interrupted him. He came stomping down the stairs, his face grim.

‘Bull, Fox with me. You need to hear this.’ He growled.

Fox glanced at Bull and the pair of them followed as Fox stuffed the codded message into his shirt pocket.

They entered into the office of Badger’s smithy; a messy place filled with files, piles of paper, tools and stank of smoke.

Badger sat heavily in his chair and leaned over to the radio on his desk. ‘Listen.’ He said and turned up the volume.

‘Yes, we can confirm the reports now. The trial has ended. Esme Dupont has been declared guilty of the murder of Grand Wizard Cassandra of the Ivory Tower. The death penalty has been placed. She will transported back to Lakeside City where her punishment will be carried out.’

Fox stared at the radio. He couldn’t hear it anymore. His head was pounding and heart roaring as something tightened around his throat. Death penalty. Esme Dupont was going to die. His jaw tightened and his fist clenched so hard thehis knuckles turned white.nnnnnHis jaw tightened and he clenched his fists so tightly that they turned white. Rage swallowed him and a burning desire to punch Lithgow in the face grew. He knew Lithgow was bad news! Fox just knew it! And now Dupont was going to die for trusting the wrong man! She should’ve trust him! Just why didn’t she trust him! Fox would’ve kept her safe and got her far, far away from this mess until the Fingers dragged Denver into the light.

‘We have work to do.’ Bull hissed. ‘The Doe won’t be happy to hear this.’

Badger grunted and glanced at Fox, opening his mouth to say something, but Fox didn’t stick around to find out what. He fled from the smithy and barrelled down the street, determined to get to the Granite Tower and drag Dupont to safety.

He had to protect her. He didn’t know why, he just knew that he had to.