Chapter 6: The Vanishing Witness
The iron-grey sky of the North hung low over the carriage as we raced away from the capital. We weren't traveling in the flashy, gold-crested Astra carriage, nor the Duke's obsidian-black coach. We were in a plain, reinforced traveler's wagon, pulled by four of the fastest horses in Cassian's stables.
I sat across from Cassian, watching the way his hand rested naturally on the hilt of his sword. He had traded his silk shirt for leather armor and a heavy travel cloak. He looked like the predator the legends described.
"You're sure she's in Oakhaven?" I asked, looking over a map of the surrounding provinces.
"My scouts tracked a carriage with the Saintess's seal to a small cottage on the outskirts of the village two nights ago," Cassian replied. "Oakhaven is a 'Sanctuary Town.' Legally, the local magistrate answers to the Church of Light, not the Emperor. It's the perfect place to hide a witness because the Imperial Guard has no jurisdiction there."
"They're using Religious Immunity to block a subpoena," I whispered, rubbing my temples. "Clever. Isabella knows that even if I prove the timeline is wrong, I can't force Emily to testify if she's under 'Divine Protection.'"
"In this world, the Church's word is often higher than the law," Cassian warned. "If we set foot in Oakhaven to take her by force, it will be seen as an act of war against the Temple."
"Then we don't take her by force," I said, a sharp glint in my eyes. "We use a 'Writ of Habeas Corpus.' Or the closest thing this world has to it. If Emily is being 'protected' against her will, she isn't a ward she's a victim of kidnapping. And even the Church can't kidnap a citizen of the Empire."
The carriage suddenly lurched. A loud thwack echoed through the wood the sound of an arrow burying itself in the side of the wagon.
"Down!" Cassian roared.
He didn't wait. He lunged across the small space, grabbing me by the waist and pulling me onto the floor of the carriage just as a second arrow shattered the window where my head had been seconds before.
The carriage swerved violently. Outside, I could hear the shouting of men and the clashing of steel.
"Mercenaries," Cassian hissed, his body pinning me to the floor. He was heavy, smelling of cold iron and leather, and the proximity was startling. "Stay here. Do not move until I tell you."
"Cassian, wait!" I reached for his arm. "If they're here to kill me, they're also here to kill the evidence. This isn't just an ambush; it's a 'Motion to Dismiss' by assassination!"
Cassian gave me a look that was half-exasperated and half-admiring. "Only you would use legal terms during a hit."
He kicked the door open and vanished into the gray mist outside.
I stayed on the floor, my heart drumming against the floorboards. I could hear the sounds of a slaughter the wet thud of blades meeting flesh, the screams of men who had made the mistake of crossing the Grand Duke. But I couldn't just sit there. If these men were sent by the Saintess or the Prince, they might have a backup plan.
I crawled to the shattered window. Through the fog, I saw Cassian moving like a shadow. He was a blur of silver steel, taking down three men at once. But further down the road, I saw a figure dressed in a dark cowl aiming a crossbow not at Cassian, but at the horses.
"The horses!" I yelled. "They're trying to strand us!"
If the horses went down, we were sitting ducks.
I looked around the carriage for a weapon. I wasn't a fighter, but I was a woman who had once chased down a fleeing white-collar criminal in four-inch heels. My eyes landed on a heavy, decorative brass inkwell on the small travel desk.
I grabbed it, scrambled out of the carriage door, and felt the bite of the cold Northern wind. The world was a mess of mud and blood. The crossbowman was focused on the lead horse, his finger tightening on the trigger.
I didn't think. I threw the heavy brass inkwell with every ounce of frustration I had accumulated since waking up in a dungeon.
It didn't hit him in the head, but it struck his arm just as he fired. The bolt whistled through the air, missing the horse's neck by an inch and burying itself in a tree.
The assassin spun around, snarling, and drew a dagger. He charged toward me.
"Seraphina!" Cassian's voice boomed.
I backed up against the carriage, my mind racing. Self-defense laws. Article 5: Proportionate force is permitted when a life is in immediate danger. I didn't have a sword, but I had a "Flash Stone" a small magical device Cassian had given me for "emergency lighting." I pulled it from my pocket and slammed it against the side of the carriage.
A blinding, white-hot explosion of light filled the road.
The assassin screamed, clutching his eyes. The light was magically enhanced to stun the senses. In that second of blindness, Cassian appeared behind him. A single, swift movement of his blade, and the man collapsed into the mud.
Silence returned to the road, broken only by the heavy breathing of the horses and the dripping of rain.
Cassian stood over the fallen men, his sword dripping red. He turned to me, his chest heaving. For a moment, he looked truly like a "monster" splattered with blood, his eyes glowing with the high of battle.
He walked toward me, and I braced myself, expecting a lecture on staying in the carriage. Instead, he stopped inches away and reached out, his thumb brushing a stray streak of mud from my cheek.
"You threw an inkwell at a professional killer," he said, his voice low and vibrating.
"It was a very expensive inkwell," I rasped, my adrenaline finally beginning to fade. "And I believe it qualifies as 'Exigent Circumstances.'"
Cassian looked at the fallen crossbowman, then back at me. A slow, dangerous smile spread across his face. "You truly are a Northern woman at heart, Seraphina. Most ladies would have fainted. You attempted a long-range projectile attack with office supplies."
"I told you," I said, trying to stop my hands from shaking. "I'm not the woman they think I am."
"I'm starting to realize that," he murmured.
He looked at the corpses littering the road. "These aren't common bandits. Look at their wrists."
I knelt down ignoring the ruined hem of my dark blue dress and pulled back the sleeve of one of the mercenaries. There, branded into the skin, was a small, white sun.
"The Saintess's private guard," I whispered. "She didn't even try to hide it. She's getting desperate."
"Because she knows Oakhaven is only an hour away," Cassian said, helping me back into the carriage. "She tried to stop us here because once we enter the village, she can't use blades. She has to use the Church."
"Good," I said, settling back into the seat as the carriage began to move again. "I prefer the Church. You can't cross-examine a sword, but you can certainly cross-examine a Priest."
We reached Oakhaven as the sun was setting. The village was beautiful, built of white stone and draped in flowering vines that shouldn't have been able to grow in the cold. In the center stood a massive cathedral with a spire that reached toward the clouds.
We didn't go to an inn. We went straight to the cottage my scouts had identified.
It was a small, humble place, guarded by two men in white robes. As our carriage pulled up, the guards crossed their halberds.
"This is holy ground!" one shouted. "The Lady Emily is under the protection of the Great Temple. No man of war may enter."
I stepped out of the carriage before Cassian could say a word. I held a scroll in my hand one I had drafted while we were traveling.
"I am Lady Seraphina von Astra," I announced, my voice clear and carrying across the quiet street. "And I am not a man of war. I am a legal advocate. I am here to serve a 'Notice of Deposition' on Emily Thorne. If you block my path, you are not protecting her you are obstructing a Royal Inquiry. And unless the Pope himself wants to explain to the Emperor why the Church is harboring a fugitive, I suggest you move."
The guards looked at each other. They were used to knights trying to bully them, but they weren't used to a woman quoting the High Law.
"The girl... she doesn't want to see you," the guard stammered.
"Then she can tell me that herself," I said, walking past them. I didn't wait for permission. I pushed the door of the cottage open.
The room inside was warm and smelled of lavender. Sitting by the fire was a young girl with trembling hands. Emily. My former maid.
When she saw me, she let out a small sob and dropped her teacup. It shattered on the floor.
"My Lady!" she gasped, shrinking back into her chair. "I... I told them everything! I didn't want to! They said they'd kill my brother!"
I stopped in the middle of the room. I didn't yell. I didn't accuse her. I simply sat down in the chair across from her and looked at her with the same calm, steady gaze I used on nervous witnesses.
"Emily," I said softly. "I know they threatened you. I know you were scared. But look at me. I'm not dead. And the Grand Duke is standing right outside that door."
Emily looked toward the window, where Cassian's shadow was visible against the curtains. She swallowed hard.
"I'm going to ask you one question," I said. "And I want you to think very carefully before you answer. Because in thirty days, your answer will determine if I die, or if the people who threatened your brother go to prison."
I leaned forward.
"Where were you at 8:00 PM on the night of the Midsummer Banquet? Because I know you weren't in the Saintess's chambers."
Emily's eyes welled with tears. She looked at the door, then back at me.
"I... I was in the cellar," she whispered. "The Saintess's brother... he locked me there. He told me if I didn't sign the paper saying I saw you, I'd never come out."
Bingo. "The Saintess's brother," I repeated. The plot was thickening. It wasn't just Isabella; it was the entire Rose family.
"Emily, if you come with me, the Grand Duke will protect your brother. He will move your entire family to the North, where the Saintess can't touch them. But you have to tell the truth in court."
"I will," Emily sobbed. "I'll do anything! Just don't let them take me back!"
I stood up and looked at the shadows dancing on the wall. We had the witness. We had the motive. But I knew the Rose family wouldn't let her leave Oakhaven without a fight.
"Cassian!" I called out.
The Duke entered the room, his eyes scanning the scene.
"We have the confession," I told him. "But we have a problem. The guards outside will alert the Temple. We need to get her out of Oakhaven before the High Priest declares a lockdown."
"The horses are tired," Cassian said, his brow furrowed. "And the road back is likely crawling with more mercenaries."
"Then we don't go back by road," I said, looking at the map Emily had on her table. "We go through the 'Whispering Woods.' It's dangerous, and it's haunted, but it's the one place the Church won't follow us."
Cassian looked at me, a glimmer of respect and perhaps a little bit of worry in his eyes. "You want to take a star witness through a forest of ghosts?"
"I'd rather face a ghost than a corrupt priest," I replied. "At least ghosts don't have lawyers."