Fen fought hard, but Dean, Levi, Niam and even Zeb surrounded him, and it quickly became apparent that Fen hadn't yet recovered fully from his near death, despite his posturing. Even with Baron fighting at his side, he was weak. And he was losing.
Asher stood to the side, and I could see in his eyes he wished to help. Yet he did nothing.
I nudged Yami, pleading him to do something. "Use your powers. I know you can!"
Yami recoiled, shaking with fear.
"Please," I cried.
And then he threw himself into the fight, spitting blue fire into the fray. His flames crackled with lightning, setting a wall tapestry ablaze. I felt myself fill with rage as Yami grew bigger in size. But Levi thrashed a sword through the air, slicing into my dragon’s shoulder before he could take his full form.
The blade cut deep. Yami screamed and dissolved into dust as I bent over in pain, feeling the blow in my own body as my dragon left. I fell to my knees, and Ace lost his grip on me. I groaned in pain, spit flying from my mouth.
Fen turned at the sound. His face filled with sorrow. Then rage. He ran to me, and that was the only mistake Levi needed.
He grabbed Fen from behind and swung his blade at his throat. "For our father—"
I jumped up, moving faster than I ever had, and blocked Levi’s blade with my own. "Leave him be!" I screamed.
Levi turned his ire against me, and we exchanged blows, our swords ringing in the stone halls. Baron growled and tried to leap to my side, but Dean and Niam kept him restrained, looking none too pleased at having to keep an angry wolf stilled against his will.
I struck at Levi.
He parried.
He lunged.
And a third blade entered the fray, knocking both of us back.
"Stop!" Dean yelled, standing between us. He was the last person I expected to intervene. Perhaps the others felt the same, because the hall fell silent, all eyes turned to the Prince of Lust. "I love fighting and killing as much as the next demon, but this is not our way. Not against our own. We are more civilized than this. Fenris deserves a trial."
Levi scowled. "You heard him. He admitted his crimes."
Dean shook his head. "Be that as it may, we do not know the whole of it yet. A trial is the way. Our father's way. Our way."
The other brothers nodded in agreement. The anger was leaving them. They didn't want Fen dead. Not just yet. Not like this.
"And what of the princess?" Zeb asked, his voice laced with some compassion.
"She shall be tried as well," Dean said, looking over to me with an unreadable expression in his eyes.
Ace stayed quiet, his sword limp at his side, as if he didn't know what he felt anymore.
Levi didn't look happy, but everyone else agreed this was the way of it. Niam took my sword, while Dean and Zeb kept Fen under control. He struggled, but weakly, drained by the fighting. Together, we marched deeper into the castle. Levi fell to my side and squeezed my arm until it bruised, his face close to mine. "Enjoy your time in the dungeons, Princess. It's the last view of this world you'll get before you're hanged."
***
His words proved prophetic. For here I sit, awaiting a hanging at sunrise. Even as I think these thoughts, it feels surreal, like I am living someone else's life. This is just a movie, or book—a story made up to scare naughty children. 'Don't make deals with devils or you'll end up dead!' sounds like an excellent morality tale.
Too bad I didn't listen.
I made the deal with the devil. I thought I could outthink them. I thought I could come out of this unscathed, saving my mom and myself and all of the Fae and living a happily ever after with the man I love. I was such a fool. I still am a fool, if I'm being honest, because even now I don't entirely believe this is the end.
I can't allow myself to believe that, at sunrise, Fen and I will both be hanged. Not because of something we did. But because of what we are.
The trial, if it can even be called that, was such a farce. If I thought there was corruption in my world's justice system, it's downright perfection compared to what they do here. There was no 'jury of my peers', no evidence, no real testimony, just Levi expounding his own hateful rhetoric and convincing the princes they didn't have to worry about the contract, because with me dead, there was no contract. They'd be free to rule their own realms. As long as none of them made a claim for High Castle, no one would suffer.
No one but me and Fen, of course. We were kept separated the whole time, and Fen was given no voice as part of the council. They treated me more as animal than human. I cannot even imagine how they treated Fen.
Then they voted behind closed doors. I never found out who voted which way, but I can only assume Asher was on our side. I pray Ace was as well, but perhaps the lies he endured sealed our fate. In the end, both Fen and I were sentenced to death.
Asher brought me the news.
"I’m sorry," he said, standing outside my cell. "I brought this upon you."
I clasped the bars, still possessing some energy. "Asher, no. You fought for me in the trial—"