A Tale of Magic... (12 page)

At dawn, the ear-piercing cathedral bells didn’t even make Brystal flinch. It was now the morning after the worst night of her life, but she had no concept of time. Her mind was completely blank, her body was completely still, and as far as she was concerned, the world had stopped spinning.

Her cell door swung open and a prison guard stepped inside, but his arrival didn’t break her petrified trance.

“Your Defense Deputy Justice has arrived,” the guard said.

After hearing this, Brystal was finally able to make sense of where she was and what had happened. She,
Brystal Evergreen
, had been imprisoned for a crime. She was sitting in the prison deep below the Chariot Hills Courthouse, and the Deputy Justice assigned to defend her had come to speak with her about the pending trial.

The guard stepped aside and a tall young man in a black hat and a gray-and-black-checkered robe entered the cell. When Brystal gazed up at the Deputy Justice, she thought her mind was playing tricks on her.

“Brooks?” she said.

Her eldest brother froze after taking his first step into the prison cell. His eyes went wide and his face grew pale at the sight of his sister in chains.

“Brystal?” he gasped.

The Evergreen siblings stared at each other for a full minute without saying a single word. It was the only time in Brystal’s life that she had been genuinely pleased to see her brother, but the pleasure quickly faded as she realized why he was there:
Brooks was going to defend her in court!

“Brooks, I—I—” Brystal tried to break the silence, but she was at a loss for words.

“Do you two
know
each other?” the guard asked suspiciously.

As Brooks stared at his sister, the disbelief in his eyes changed into a very serious and urgent expression. He raised his index finger to his mouth, imploring her to be quiet. Brystal didn’t understand why the silence was necessary, but she obliged.

“We’re acquainted,” Brooks told the guard behind him. “She’s just one of the many schoolgirls who admire me. But who can blame her?”

Her brother’s charade was confusing—she knew it was perfectly legal for Deputy Justices to defend family members on trial—so why was he pretending they weren’t related? Brooks opened his briefcase and retrieved a quill and a piece of parchment. He scribbled a quick note on the paper, folded it, and handed it to the guard.

“I need you to deliver this message to Justice Evergreen’s office on the fourth floor,” Brooks instructed. “I was just reminded of something involving another case that needs to be addressed immediately.”

“Sir, I can’t leave you alone with the prisoner,” the guard replied.

“Don’t insult me—this
girl
is hardly a physical threat. The note, however, regards a very serious and timely matter. Justice Evergreen will want this message right away, and if your reluctance jeopardizes his case, I’ll make sure he knows
you
caused the delay.”

Obviously, the guard didn’t appreciate being ordered around. He glared at Brooks and then begrudgingly headed to the fourth floor with the note in hand, slamming the cell door behind him. Brooks turned to Brystal and the disbelief returned to his face.

“My God, Brystal! What the hell have you gotten yourself into?” he exclaimed. “One count of trespassing! One count of female literacy! And one count of
committing magic
! Do you have any idea how serious this is?”

Brystal looked to the floor and shook her head. “I don’t know what to say,” she said softly. “It all feels like a bad dream.”

“When you weren’t at breakfast this morning, Mother assumed you had gone to the Home for the Hopeless to volunteer before school!” Brooks said. “When I got to the courthouse, all the Deputy Justices were talking about the witch they caught in the library last night—but I didn’t put the two together! I never imagined in a million years the witch would be
my own sister
!”

“But I’m not a witch!” Brystal exclaimed. “The banned book I was reading explains everything! Please, you have to find it and show it to—”

“Are you mad?” Brooks asked. “I can’t use a
banned book
as evidence!”

“Then what are we going to use for my defense?” Brystal asked.

“Defense?”
Brooks said, as if he was appalled by her choice of words. “Brystal, you were caught by three witnesses—
there’s no defense
! You’re facing life imprisonment with hard labor for
committing magic
alone, but with
trespassing
and
female literacy
on top of it, you’ll be lucky to make it out of here alive!”

“You mean… they might
execute
me?”

Brystal felt like a cold hand had suddenly reached into her body and ripped out her stomach. She had willingly gone down a long path of mistakes, but she had never thought it would lead to this. She started hyperventilating.

“No, this can’t be happening!” she cried. “You can’t let them execute me! Please, Brooks, you have to help me!
I’m your sister!
”

Brooks rolled his eyes at the remark. “Oh yes, and what a
joy
you are!” he said spitefully. “I’m afraid even with my superb defense skills, my hands are tied.”

“There has to be
something
we can do!”

Her brother went quiet and he bit his nails as he thought about it.

“There’s only one thing I can think of that could possibly help you now.”

“What?”

“Father.”

Brooks said it like it was good news, but it only made Brystal feel more hopeless than before. Her father was the last person on the planet she expected to save her.

“Father isn’t going to help me,” she said. “When he finds out what I’ve done, he’ll want to kill me himself!”

“Well, you’re right about that,” Brooks scoffed. “Father may not value your life, but he thinks very highly of his own. He would do anything to preserve his reputation. And nothing is going to tarnish his name more than one of his children getting arrested and sentenced to death. Luckily for him, I’m the only one who knows you’re in here.”

“How?”

“As far as anyone knows, this is the case of
Bailey vs. the Southern Kingdom—
the charges have been filed under the alias you gave the library! When Father gets my note and realizes
you’re
the one on trial, he’s going to do whatever he can to sweep this case under the rug before his colleagues find out!”

“But what if he doesn’t?” Brystal asked. “Father can’t be my
only
chance of survival.”

“Then it all depends on your trial,” Brooks explained. “First, the Prosecution Deputy will present your charges to the sitting Justice and recommend a penalty. If they recommend the
minimum penalty
, the Justice will most likely sentence you to life imprisonment with hard labor, but if the Deputy recommends the
maximum penalty
, I guarantee the Justice will sentence you to capital punishment.”

“But the sitting Justice doesn’t have to take the recommendation, it’s just a suggestion,” Brystal recalled from what she had read. “Even if the Prosecution Deputy recommends the maximum penalty, the Justice could still be merciful.”

Brooks’s face fell flat and Brystal knew there was something he wasn’t telling her.

“There won’t be any mercy this time,” he said. “Your trial is being overseen by Justice Oldragaid.”

“Who?”

“Justice Oldragaid is the most despised Justice in the court system. He has a God complex and is notorious for condemning people to death whenever possible. Even when Prosecution Deputies recommend the minimum penalty, Oldragaid likes to bully them into recommending the maximum penalty just so he can enforce it.”

“Oh my gosh!” Brystal gasped.

“It gets worse,” Brooks went on. “Oldragaid has hated Father since their days at the University of Law. During their time as Deputy Justices, Father never lost a case against Oldragaid and would humiliate him during the trials. That’s the reason he assigned me to your defense—it’s impossible for a Defense Deputy to win a case like this and he wanted to watch an Evergreen lose! And Oldragaid would be thrilled to sentence you to death if he had the chance.”

Brystal couldn’t believe her misfortune. She was getting punished not only by the laws of the Southern Kingdom, but also, apparently, by the universe itself.

“Then I’m doomed,” she said quietly. “There’s no way around it.”

“There’s still one thing in our favor that you’re forgetting,” Brooks reminded her. “Like I said, as far as anyone knows, this is the case of
Bailey vs. the Southern Kingdom
. Justice Oldragaid doesn’t know who you are. Trials usually don’t begin until a day or two after incarceration, so hopefully that’ll give Father enough time to help you before Oldragaid finds out.”

“So
that’s
why you pretended we weren’t related in front of the guard. You didn’t want anyone to realize who I am.”

“Exactly.”

Brystal never thought a day would come when she was thankful for having a brother like Brooks, but here it was. All the calculating and mischievous qualities she resented about him were now the tools he was using to save her life.

“I’m so scared, Brooks,” she said.

“Well, you should be,” he said. “Even if Father finds a way to help you, you aren’t going to walk out of here freely. Best-case scenario, you’ll probably spend the rest of your life in a prison far away from Chariot Hills.”

“I suppose you think I deserve it for being so stupid…,” she said through tears. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.… I just wanted life to be
different
.…”

“Then I guess you got what you asked for.”

The door swung open as the guard returned to the cell. He was wheezing and sweating profusely from his journey to and from the fourth floor.

“I delivered your message to the Justice, sir,” the guard grumbled.

“Just in time, too. I’m all finished here.”

Brooks picked up his briefcase and headed for the door, but Brystal stopped him as he stepped into the hall.

“Deputy Justice Evergreen?” she asked. “If you happen to see them, will you please give my love to my mother and my brother? And tell them I am so, so sorry for all this?”

Her brother gave the slightest nod possible without attracting the guard’s attention. “I am not your messenger,
criminal
,” he said dramatically. “See you in court.”

Brooks continued down the hall and the guard followed, locking the cell door behind him. As the sound of their footsteps faded, Brystal was consumed by the most extreme sorrow she had ever experienced. She lay on the stone bench and wept until there wasn’t a teardrop left inside her.

As far as she knew, her brother was the last piece of home she’d ever see again.