FVN Chapter 19 - Predicament
Chapter 19 - Predicament
The interrogation room was surprisingly spacious and well decorated. A copy of the letter sat on the table. A man wearing the pauldrons and striped tabard of a captain was reading a copy of another of the identical letters.
"Captain Mandez? Here she is," one of the guards escorting her said.
"Hm? Good. Have a seat, Mirian."
Mirian sat. Captain Mandez was silent as the other guard left and shut the door behind them. She heard it lock and expected Mandez to start interrogating her, but he was silent. She looked around the room. There was a nice vase in the style favored by Palendurio artisans, and the two glyph lights illuminating the room were of the latest design. The table was a nice polished oak, and the carpet an import from Akana Praediar. It had the sparse, simple designs they favored. Mirian thought it was ugly. She much preferred the complex geometric designs of the carpets out in east Baracuel.
Captain Mandez set the letter down and looked calmly at Mirian. Mirian's heart was beating out of control and her hands were trembling. Gods, how had she been so stupid? Of course there was a simpler explanation for 'predicted a murder' than prophesy, and that was 'did the murder.'
"So, did you ever figure out who was breaking into all the Academy buildings?" Mirian asked.
"I don't know," the man said casually. "Why don't you tell me?"
"Akana Praediar spies," she said.
"Ah. Of course." The captain smiled at the letter in his hand that mentioned the Akanan attack in five days. Then he was quiet again.
"Aren't you supposed to ask me questions?" she said.
"Sure. What would you like me to ask you?"
"How about 'did you do it?'"
"Did you kill Platus?"
"No."
Captain Mandez gave a sad smile again. "I find that quite hard to believe." He sat there, staring at her again.
"I don't actually have anything to hide. I've never been to the room. Didn't interact with Platus except in the dueling room. I knew he would die because it happened last time, just like the attack happened last time. Probably, it was one of the spies that killed him because he knew something. If you act now and start evacuating Torrviol, call in the Baracuel Army, you'll save thousands of lives. Maybe more, I don't know how it ends. But no witness or evidence will tie me to that room. The Gods gave me a prophecy. I don't know why, but I have to try to stop what's coming."
Captain Mandez lounged back in his chair. It was a nice, cushioned chair, dyed a rich blue. "I have two witnesses who will testify they saw you enter the building in the morning."
Mirian's heart raced. "That's a lie," she snapped.
Mandez leaned back farther and knocked on the door behind him. The guard entered. "Did you see Mirian enter the Alchemistry building this morning?"
"Yes, sir," the guard said.
"Very good." The guard closed the door. Mandez leaned forward. "That's the eye-witness testimony of a sworn officer of the king's justice. We both know you did it. Give me the details, sign a confession, and I'll tell the magistrate you're a sympathetic figure. Driven mad by... something, I suppose, and after a few years of hard labor and treatment by the clerics for whatever ails that mind of yours, you'll be able to live out the rest of your life. Not in peace, mind you, that guilty conscious will follow you wherever you go. But the alternative is execution."
It was supposed to scare Mirian. And it did. But it also made her angry. "Officers of the law aren't supposed to lie before a magistrate! When my letters went out, there was a reason I didn't give the guards one. Are you corrupt, or just incompetent and lazy!?"
Mandez was unfazed by this outburst. "How many of these letters did you write?"
Mirian narrowed her eyes. "And why would you care? That doesn't affect the case at all!"
He gave a dramatic sigh and stood up. "Oh, just idle curiosity. Well, when you're ready to tell the truth, let me know. I'm going to... go have lunch." He knocked on the door again. "Throw her in the cell. Not gently."
"I am telling the truth. You just can't handle it! Fucking incompetent bastards, if you were doing your job you would have caught the Akanan spies and prevented this disaster!" As the guard dragged her down the corridor, Mirian shouted, "The blood of the innocent is on your hands!"
The guard didn't say anything, he just closed the door and left.
Mirian went back to screaming at passersby, only she added in that the guards were corrupt and violating the king's justice decrees. After a few hours, she'd screamed herself hoarse and sat back on her cot, thinking.
It was dark by the time the guard she'd talked to entered her cell again. "Will you shut up," he snapped.
"Is the magistrate ready for me?"
"I haven't talked to the magistrate," he said.
"It's been four and a half days, and I haven't even been properly interviewed. Produce any evidence that I—"
"Shut up," the guard said again, and raised his hand threateningly.
Mirian recoiled, but then said, "Where's Captain Mandez?"
The guard didn't say anything. Something was bothering him.
There was exactly one piece of evidence even tying her to Platus. "Where's the letters I wrote?"
The guard still didn't say anything, but by the muscles twitching in his face and the way he glared at her, she knew that had something to do with it.
A realization struck her. "He ran, didn't he?" Mirian suddenly wondered if Nicolus knew. That was twice now he vanished without a trace. Nicolus was well connected. Had other well-connected people started fleeing? She said, "I recognize you. You patrol between the station and the market. You watch the train depart. How many other people have run?"
There was a silence as the man ground his teeth. Then he said, "Word is the Baracuel Army is on its way. The train has been commandeered for that purpose. No one is leaving town anymore."
Finally! After all this time, she was vindicated. "You have to order the evacuation of Torrviol. Get people moving south along the cart path. There's still time."
"I don't have that authority."
"No one with any authority has done shit," Mirian spat. "The governor, the commander of Fort Aegrimere, the Archmage, the professors, no one. You think they'll start now? Tell the magistrate what you know. Tell the mayor."
"The other guards... look, I trust the captain," the guard said. "They want to wait for his word."
"What's your name?" she asked. The conversation had turned weird. It was like the guard was looking for permission from her to act.
"Roland," he said. "Look, the captain's last order was that you stay locked up. I'll talk to the other guards. Give us... give me a few more hours."
"Baracuel needs you," she said. After he closed the door again she muttered, "I'll just wait here then, shall I? Prophets, I wish they'd change out the chamber pot."
Eventually, she slept. She woke with a start. There was some sort of commotion outside the jail. She raised herself up to see, but dawn had only just started to lighten the sky, and everyone was wearing cloaks to ward away the chill of the winter morning.
The door suddenly burst open. The guard—Roland, Mirian remembered—said, "You're free." He looked scared. He shoved a wrapped bundle at her that included her cloak and other things, then left the door open.
The jail and the adjoining guard headquarters were deserted. Everyone, it turned out, was outside.
"Mirian!" she heard someone say.
When she turned, it was Lily. Next to her were Selesia and Xipuatl.
"Gods it's good to see you all," she said.