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A small ripple of applause, led by Shiver himself, had run around the hall at Ross’s affirmation of Eden’s lineage. Sevenspells was proud of its history, and still claimed to raise the fiercest sons, chasten wives, and the ambitious children.

Lost in her reverie, she snapped back to the courtroom. Even with Eden taking the chair, she was becoming bored with what was an evident formality. Some people had even started yawning. Quinn thought that they had perhaps been expecting some spectacular affair; what was emerging was nothing short of sleep-inducing.

“The excuse of being in a courtyard going through sword drills in the middle of the night would probably only be accepted from a man of Sevenspells. So, Eden, in your own words, tell us what you saw next.”

“I heard two people arguing.”

Quinn tensed. Had Eden heard of her intentions to leave? Was he going to tell the entire court? How would that make Sammah look, then? Would that put Eden in danger, as well as Quinn and Maertn?

“Who were these two people? What was their quarrel?”

“They were both servants of the king’s retinue. I did not know their names at that point. Their argument was of no consequence to the room. I did not hear it all.”

“A lover’s quarrel?”

Eden shrugged off-handedly. “No doubt.”

“Go on.”

“I stopped training and watched them. I was curious. One of them was a woman, clearly in distress. I wanted to make sure the lady wasn’t in any trouble.”

“A noble thought,” Ross nodded agreeably. “What happened next?”

“I saw someone sneaking up on the pair. There was no mistaking it. He exited the main castle building and was making his way around the shadows so that he was neither seen nor heard.”

“He didn’t manage to escape your apparently careful eye though, Eden. Can you be sure he was trying to hide?”

“He wasn’t expecting anyone else to be out there. Why would he? Yes, I have peculiar training habits, but it seems that this time they have held me in good stead. He was sneaking up on them, and when he got close enough, he charged the pair. He had a dagger in hand.”

“Just a dagger? No sword?”

“No sword. I’m positive of that.”

“What did you do then?”

“I was already moving by that point. I’d decided before he made his move that he was up to no good. The attacker barged the man of the pair to the ground and turned his knife on the lady. I tackled him at that point, before any blood could be drawn.”

“Except the lad's?”

Eden nodded regrettably. “Except the lad’s. I had perhaps underestimated how quickly the man could move. With the size of him, that’s not something I’d considered.”

“Understandable under the circumstances. I’ve known plenty of men with no prior knowledge of Elias underestimate his speed and lose in a bar brawl. It’s never pretty. Can you identify the two he tried to attack?”

Eden pointed out Maertn. He looked around the witness box for Quinn, and was briefly confused. Ross picked up on this. “You cannot find the second victim?”

“She’s not with the other witnesses, chamberlain.”

“Ah no. She is not standing witness with the others. To alleviate the stress she will suffer, you see.”

There was a snigger from more than one of the court hands present. Quinn coloured, but did not move from her seat. That would bring her more attention than she wished for at that point.

“Can you name her for us, with the knowledge you have now?”

“I can. Her name is Quinn, and I understand she is in the household of the Baron Sammah.”

Ross nodded. “She is. Thank you captain, that will be all.”

Eden left the chair, to be replaced with Sammah himself.

“Baron Sammah, I don’t believe you need any particular introduction to the court. There are few formalities to go through now, and I think this little fool’s show can be dismissed so we can discuss in private how best to go about capturing this killer. You understand what we are going through here. When reviewing the evidence from that night, every single potential killer was in your household, and your servant Elias was the first name mentioned by every person questioned. We know that in the past Sha’sek has held very little love for Everfell and its people. If you or any of your retinue are found guilty of this crime, it will be considered an act of war, and the king and his lords will have no choice but to regard it as such. Do you understand the gravity of these accusations?”

“I do, Chamberlain.”

“And what is your response to them?”

“As earlier. I do not have to be flowery in my language to get across to you just how stupid it would be for me to do such a thing. Not only would I plough my people in to a war they have not asked for, I would also put in jeopardy the lives of a people that I have grown to love. I have lived in Everfell for the majority of my adult life, since the end of the Empath War. I do not want to see her razed in fire and smoke. Nor, should the war go the other way, would I want to see the seas around Sha’sek bleed red. How would I win, by acting in such a foolhardy manner?”

Ross turned to the king, looking for his ruling on the matter. Quinn felt sick. This was all for show. Sammah wasn’t even vaguely suspected for arranging Broc’s killing, but the king and the court had to display some outward effort of tracking this person down. Sammah didn’t stop talking though, and as he continued, Quinn went steadily numb.

“I have heard the talk in the halls though, chamberlain, and I think it behoves me to be honest. A lot of people here have gossiped about the Satori. I think it would benefit the king and his commanders to have a serious look at this source of gossip, and ask themselves whether or not it is a real man.”

Most of the crowd erupted with laughter, much to Quinn’s relief. There were some calls, however, amongst the masses, which rose in volume to eventually beat every other noise down. Their words carried through to the front of the hall, to a frowning Ross, a concerned king, and a stone-faced Baron Sammah. What was he doing? Quinn had heard the tale of hiding in plain sight, but this was insane!

“It’s true! I was taken and questioned! The Satori was answering my questions before I could answer them myself!”

“It’s true! He wanted to know about the king and the meet! He is planning something I’m sure!”

“Listen to the baron! The Satori needs to be stopped!”

Quinn didn’t recognise any of the voices. She didn’t talk to many people. She knew that these men had to be under the employ of Sammah, or one of his under-the-thumb nobles. Shiver again, maybe?

“Calm down everyone! I will have silence, or by the spirits themselves I’ll have you all escorted down to the cells!”

Ross could bellow in a way that Vance couldn’t manage, and it hadn’t been a hollow threat. The room huddled once more in to quiet. Ross turned to Sammah, his chest now heaving with the ire that shone through his eyes.

“Here now Sammah, what are you about, bringing a child’s tale in to the king’s own courtroom?”

“It’s not a tale, Ross, it’s true. I’m convinced of it. I only heard the rumours myself recently. Stories like that are usually kept to the town taverns. But the more I have heard of this
Satori
the more it makes sense. Can you all remember the reasons behind the war with Sha’sek?”

There was a bristling amongst the lords. Shiver shouted the answer to this. “You wanted power. More than you needed. More than you could handle.”

“Yes, that in part is true. But can you remember why the barons thought they deserved that power?”

“Because they…because they could do things that we could not.”

Sammah nodded. “They can. They still can. What these men are saying that this Satori can do, that power does exist. It is rare. Very few people in the history of Sha’sek have been born with this ability. There are documents of it, and I will ask for them to be sent here from our libraries, for you all to read if you like. Perhaps it is someone from Sha’sek behind this. But they are not under my employ. People born with that power,
they
are called empaths. They are wildly unpredictable, and notoriously uncontrollable. The empath that started the last war. His name was Nerren. He thought, because he knew the intentions of everyone around him, he had the best intentions of all of Sha’sek at heart when he went to war. He knew that everyone desired power. What he didn’t stop to consider, was what everyone thought of the consequences. Before anyone knew what had happened—what he was—it was far too late. We tried to stop the war as soon as we could, but Nerren had enough men loyal to him—in awe of his power—that we lost a lot of our own people trying to stop him.

It is said in these documents, that empaths are only born from a line where empaths have previously been blooded. If that is true, then this Satori may be the descendant of Nerren, and may be bent on bringing the war back to both our lands in vengeance for his ancestor’s death.

I will do everything within my power to stop this man from killing anyone from Everfell again. I promise you, my liege, everyone. This murder is not my will. It is not the will of Sha’sek. The Satori must be stopped.”

Sammah had held everyone entranced, even Quinn. She had thought her questions about her heritage had been answered, in the main. Now she had more questions for Sammah than she had ever had in her life. And he had felt confident enough to tell this room of strangers who her father might be, when he hadn’t even confided this to Quinn directly? Was he even telling the truth? She couldn’t tell any more, and she despaired that even trying to read Sammah’s intentions, since that would give her nothing but pain.

King Vance jumped from his seat, striding off the dais where the high table sat to confront Sammah in his low witness's chair. Sammah straightened his back, not glowering under the steel gaze of the king.

“Is this true? You think this
myth
is real?”

“I do your highness. With everything that has happened, I have little doubt. It would take someone of exceptional capabilities to be able to murder one such as Broc without being detected. It makes complete sense.”

Vance chewed on his lower lip, his eyes distant as he mulled over the words. The hollering and the catcalls of the watching crowd were now a distant memory. They were engrossed, waiting with baited breath to see how the king would react to the advice of his trusted ambassador.

“I believe you. Every man I have will begin the hunt for this criminal. This Satori must be stopped.”

A great cheer went up from the crowd; Quinn groaned inwardly. Sirah grinned like a triumphant snake, its body wrapping around a terrified mouse and its jaws opening for the final kill. Shiver rose to his feet and pumped his fist in the air, crowing like a boy in his first war. Sammah didn’t change his expression. He was, after all, a natural master at hiding his true feelings. Quinn couldn’t believe that her king could accept a story so readily that he would be willing to put the time and effort of all of his men in to catching this person. They would be chasing smoke. Sammah had already laid the groundwork in their minds; the Satori was constantly being referred to as a man, and she was anything but. What happened next, however, no one had been predicting. Eden leapt up from his seat with the other witnesses. Quinn was so surprised, that she immediately reached out to him to find out what he was feeling. He was excited, and angered. Sammah’s speech had utterly riled him.

“I will lead the search! I will lead the search for the Satori! Sevenspells will not see this kingdom under threat from anyone—or anything!”

Shiver leapt to his feet roaring with delight, as Rowan clapped slowly, clearly irate that his youngest brother was stealing the plaudits and attentions of the crowd. Quinn was crestfallen. All other sounds became muffled crashes in her ears as she stopped listening to the furore that ascended around her. The crowd was alive with bloodlust, and she was the object of their desire. What had Sammah done?

Quinn knew that her adoptive father was not going to protect her if she did not follow his words to the stroke of each careful letter. She felt exposed, threatened, and for the first time in her life, truly alone. Not even Maertn was going to be able to help her, when he found out that she could be descended from the man that had torn apart the Nine Kingdoms. No one would let her live, when they found out what she was. Sammah literally held her life in his hands. She was his. Quinn had no choice.

29

Quinn walked through the halls in a depressed haze. She had been excused from the courtroom, along with the rest of the commoners, whilst the nobles and their aides hashed out the formalities of the manhunt. They would need to know what resources were required, and what the young Eden, whom everyone seemed keen to thrust to the fore, needed to make sure the Satori was captured fast. A torrent was carrying them all away, and Quinn felt washed out in their wake. Was it just a matter of time before they found her? Was Sammah going to allow her to suffer the mental torture of waiting for the wrong man to be found, before handing her over to the king anyway? She had sensed something different in Eden, something that she had been desperate to get to know. Now, she didn’t see any way she could get close to him to find out. She was his enemy and, whether Eden knew it or not, he hated Quinn. She had felt that much. Amidst the angry reactions to the potential existence of the Satori, the feeling that had hurt the most was the hatred directed to something that was, to everyone there, completely unknown. Was it hatred, because the Satori was the perceived killer of one of their own? Or was the malice because the Satori was something different; someone with unfathomable ability, and therefore someone to be derided or feared, as events decided?