Chapter 5
The grand courtroom of Velora was a cathedral of silence and marble, under other circumstances, Ethan would appreciate its beauty, but alas. It is what it is. Pillars of white stone rose high above the assembly, their edges carved with runes that shimmered faintly in the morning light. Rows of noblewomen filled the balconies, they leaned forward to watch. The scent of rosewater heavy in the air.
At the center of it all, under the crest of the Imperial Serpent, stood Liora Valen… her wrists bound in glowing chains, her gown torn and stained from the night before.
Ethan felt every gaze against his skin. The sound of his heartbeat thundered in his ears, but his expression remained cold. Calm was his armor now. Panic would feed them.
Guards flanked him on either side, spears angled toward his chest. Their faces betrayed nothing. Women, all of them, disciplined, rigid, trained to obey the Empress's will.
And upon the throne at the far end of the hall, draped in scarlet and gold, sat Aveline, the Iron Widow. The Empress of Velora.
She was beautiful in the way storms are beautiful, terrifying, deliberate, impossible to ignore. Her silver hair coiled like a crown, her gaze sharp enough to cut through steel. When she spoke, everyone in the hall obeyed.
"Bring her forward." Her voice carried so much authority that made even Ethan's stone cold defiance tremble.
The guards pulled at Ethan's chains, forcing him to his knees on the polished marble floor. The sound of metal scraping stone echoed across the chamber.
Aveline tilted her head slightly, studying the fallen noblewoman before her. "Liora Valen," she said, her voice smooth as silk and twice as deadly. "Daughter of House Valen. Once the jewel of my court. Now accused of treason against the Empire you swore to serve."
Whispers fluttered through the crowd.
Ethan lifted his head. His body felt weak, but his stare did not waver. "Your Majesty," he said carefully, his voice carrying through the hall. "There must be some mistake."
Aveline's lips curved faintly. "A mistake." She repeated.
"Yes," he said. "I've been accused of something I did not do. If you would allow me to speak, I can explain…"
"Explain what?" Aveline interrupted, her tone sharp enough to silence the room. "The documents we found hidden in your chambers? The coded messages sent to our enemies beyond the western border?"
"That was not me," Ethan replied, forcing calm into his voice. "Someone else must have…"
"Someone else," the Empress repeated. Her voice was quiet, but the hall seemed to shrink around it. "Tell me, Lady Valen, how did these traitorous letters sign themselves with your seal?"
Ethan hesitated. His pulse raced. He didn't have Liora's memories beyond fragments… pain, humiliation, betrayal… but he could read the game unfolding before him. This wasn't a trial. It was a performance, and he was meant to play the fool.
He straightened his spine. "If I am guilty, then prove it," he said. "Bring forward the witnesses who saw me send these letters. Or are there none?"
Gasps echoed through the crowd. Defiance was not tolerated in Velora's throne room. Everyone knew that, well, everyone except for Ethan, whose memories of Liora is yet to be updated to that extent.
Aveline's smile was cold. "You speak of proof, yet the Empire bleeds because of your actions. Our outposts in the west were ambushed precisely three days after your messages were sent. Hundreds of women are dead. Their blood stains your family's name."
"I did not send them," he insisted. "You are being deceived."
The Empress leaned forward slightly, her eyes narrowing. "Deceived? And who, pray tell, is deceiving me?"
Ethan's throat tightened. Every instinct screamed at him to tread carefully, but logic had kept him alive before, it would again. "Someone with access to your court. Someone who benefits from chaos."
The hall erupted in scandalized whispers.
One of the nobles stood. "You dare accuse the Empress's court of treachery?"
"I dare speak the truth," Ethan shot back. "If the Empire is ruled by fear, then you silence the wrong person."
The noblewoman paled. The guards stepped forward.
Aveline raised a hand, and the room fell silent once more. Her voice dropped to a whisper that carried like thunder. "Watch your tongue, Liora. Once, I trained you to be wise. Now you sound like a fool who mistakes pride for strength."
Ethan met her gaze. "Once, you taught me that strength was the only thing that mattered."
A flicker of emotion passed over the Empress's face… something that might have been regret, or perhaps amusement… but it was gone as quickly as it came.
"You speak boldly," she said. "Do you hope your words will save you?"
"I hope truth will," he replied.
A low laugh escaped her. "Truth is a luxury of the powerful. You forfeited that right when you betrayed me."
Ethan's jaw tightened. "I never betrayed you."
"Then who did?" she asked softly.
For a moment, the courtroom was so still he could hear his own heartbeat. He searched for an answer, any name that might buy him time, but the fragments of Liora's memories blurred together… faces, whispers, pain. Nothing concrete.
"I do not know," he said finally. "But I will find out if you let me."
Aveline's eyes darkened. "You presume to bargain with me?"
"I presume to ask for reason," he said. "If the Empire's justice is so perfect, then prove it. Let me live long enough to uncover the truth."
The Empress rose from her throne. The red fabric part of her gown spilled across the floor like blood.
"Reason?" she said. "You speak as though you are not standing in chains before your sovereign. You speak as though mercy is a debt I owe you."
Ethan's chains rattled as he shifted slightly, pain shooting through his wrists. "Mercy is not what I ask for," he said. "Only a chance to make this right."
The nobles murmured again. Some whispered pity, others disgust. To them, this was a show… a fallen noblewoman trying to crawl back into grace.
Aveline stopped in front of him, close enough that he could see the faint scar beneath her left eye, the mark of her own battles long past. "Tell me something, Liora," she said softly. "Do you remember what I told you when I made you my apprentice?"
Ethan forced himself to nod. "That loyalty was survival."
"Correct," the Empress said. "And yet you forgot it."
"I didn't forget," he said through clenched teeth. "I was loyal. To the Empire, to you. Someone framed me. If you kill me now, you will never find the real traitor."
Her expression did not change, but her eyes lingered on him, searching for something beneath the fear and defiance. Perhaps she saw only arrogance. Perhaps she saw the ghost of the woman she once trusted.
"You were always too clever for your own good," she said quietly. "Even now, facing death, you argue as if the world must yield to you."
"I'm not arguing," Ethan said, his voice low. "I'm surviving."
The corner of her mouth twitched, almost like a smile, though it held no warmth. "Then survive your sentence."
The chains around his wrists pulsed, glowing brighter. Pain shot through his arms, sharp and sudden. He gasped, struggling against the pull.
"Your Majesty, please…"
Aveline raised her hand again. The pain ceased instantly, leaving him shaking.
"Your words are poison, Liora Valen," she said. "You twist truth until it sounds like defiance."
Ethan's breath came in shallow bursts. "If defiance is what it takes to be heard, then yes."
Gasps erupted across the hall again.
The Empress's eyes glimmered, not with rage, but with something colder. "You have not learned a thing."
She turned to the assembly. "Court will recess until the final verdict. Take her back to the Tower."
As the guards dragged him to his feet, Ethan met her gaze one last time. Her expression was unreadable.
***
"Bring her forward," the Empress said.
Her voice was not loud, but it carried through the courtroom like a cold wind that made everyone straighten in their seats. Two guards stepped closer, gripping Liora's arms. Ethan could feel the faint tremor of their strength through Liora's slender body.
He was forced to his knees at the foot of the dais. The marble beneath him was so polished he could see his reflection staring back, a woman's face, proud yet fragile, eyes filled with a fire he did not entirely recognize. Liora.
Empress Aveline descended the steps. Each step echoed, deliberate and slow. Her gaze held no hatred, only the weight of something far worse… disappointment.
"You disappoint me, Liora," she said quietly. "I raised you to be a weapon of the crown. A mind sharper than any blade. And yet here you kneel, accused of treason."
"I did not betray Velora," Ethan said, forcing calm into Liora's voice. "There must be a misunderstanding. The information you speak of, I…"
"Enough," Aveline interrupted. Her tone was still soft, but it silenced the hall completely. "Every word you speak makes the wound deeper. The evidence is clear. Your letters to the Northern Tribes were found in your own quarters."
"I never wrote those letters," he said quickly. "Someone forged them. You taught me to think strategically, to defend the empire, not to destroy it. I would never…"
"You would never what?" Aveline asked. "Defy me? Question my decrees? Or perhaps you would never admit that your ambition has always outgrown your loyalty?"
Gasps rippled through the audience. A few noblewomen exchanged whispers behind gloved hands. Ethan's pulse thundered in his ears. The System's faint hum pulsed in the back of his skull, silent but watchful.
"I served you faithfully," he said, his voice rough with restrained anger. "If you would only let me explain…"
"Explain?" The Empress's eyes glinted, a dangerous mix of pity and wrath. "You have forgotten where you stand. Logic cannot shield you from truth. You speak as though you know better than your sovereign."
"I am only trying to save myself from an unjust punishment," he said through clenched teeth.
"Unjust?" she repeated, tilting her head. Her golden earrings caught the light, flashing like tiny suns. "Tell me, when did Velora's law become unjust to you, child?"
The word child struck harder than any accusation. The Empress had once used it in affection. Now it sounded like a curse.
Ethan felt the room tighten around him. The councilors watched like hawks. The guards' grips grew firmer. Somewhere above, the crystal chandelier trembled from the tension in the air.
He wanted to reason with her, to speak with the clarity he once used in boardrooms and war rooms, but Liora's throat betrayed him. The more he spoke, the more it sounded like defiance. "If the Empire truly seeks justice," he said, "then allow me to face my accuser. Let me prove my innocence."
Aveline's smile was faint and sorrowful. "Still clinging to reason. Still believing truth alone can save you." She turned to the council. "You hear her words, my lords and ladies. Does she sound repentant to you?"
Whispers erupted, soft, venomous, unanimous. "Defiant." "Unyielding." "Dangerous."
The Empress looked down at him once more. "You still think weakly," she said, almost tenderly. "That is your greatest sin."
The words sank deep. Before Ethan could respond, she lifted her hand. "The Council of Velora has deliberated. Lady Liora of House Valen, you are hereby sentenced to execution at dawn. Seven days remain for the Empire to prepare its justice."
The courtroom erupted in a low murmur of approval and fear. Ethan's mind reeled. He wanted to shout, to curse, to beg, but Liora's lips trembled, her voice caught somewhere between his logic and her despair.
Aveline turned, but her expression betrayed something flickering beneath the mask of authority. Regret, perhaps. Or curiosity. She sat upon her throne again, eyes distant as though she saw something beyond this hall.
"Take her," she commanded.
Two guards seized him by the arms. The chain between his wrists rattled as he stumbled to his feet. The noblewomen drew back as he passed, their silks brushing away from him. His vision blurred. Every step echoed with a single truth: Five days now.
At the door, the Empress's voice stopped him cold.
"Liora," she said.
He turned, half-blinded by the torchlight. Her gaze pinned him from across the hall.
"Perhaps the System will break you first."
The guards pushed him down a narrow stairway leading to the dungeons below. Liora's memories flickered at the edges of his mind: the last time she had walked this path, she had been an interrogator, not a prisoner.
Now, the chains were her own.
When the cell door closed behind him, the world dimmed to nothing but stone and breath. His thoughts spun until the System's voice returned at last, cold and precise.
[System Alert: Countdown to Execution - 5 Days Remaining.]
[Mission Objective Updated: Survive the Empress's Judgment.]
Ethan exhaled slowly, his hands trembling. "You won't break me," he whispered. But even as he said it, he could feel the walls closing in. The Empress's words still echoed in his head.
Perhaps she was right.
Perhaps the System would break him first.