WINDOWS: A BROKEN FAIRY TALE (20 page)

She remembered
Jeff from finishing school.
 
He’d always
been a bit goofy, the kind of guy who made everybody laugh.
 
Somebody would have to tell his mother that
she would never see him again.
 
William
had kids, two little boys, and somebody would have to tell them that daddy
wasn’t coming home.

So why were they
dead?
 
What was so important that two men
lost their lives?
 
More importantly, why
didn’t she care?
 
Fallen tears bloomed on
white sheets as Raven balled her fist.

She knew the
answer to that last question.
 
Those men
tortured Sarah simply because she was friends with the Chandlish family.
 
They would have killed her, Sarah and
Felicity if she hadn’t stopped them.
 
Everything that happened today was a result of the Protectorate’s
planned war against her family.
 
The
price of war was paid in death, Raven understood that.

Another trembling
tear fell from her nose, and Raven wiped her eyes.
 
She wasn’t crying because William and Jeff
were dead.
 
They died by her hands, yes,
but it was the Protectorate that forced that situation.
 
The Protectorate had twisted the minds of
good men to the point where the suffering of an innocent person was acceptable.

At that moment,
watching her friend sleep peacefully, something changed irrevocably in Raven.
 
Gently she leaned over and kissed Sarah on
the cheek.
 
“Don’t worry Lil’bit,” she
said as her eyes hardened, “nobody will ever hurt you again.”

The door handle
turned and Raven folded the shadows around her once again.
 
While the nurse checked Sarah’s vital signs,
the eyes of a killer watched.

CHAPTER
17: A TRIAL

Sarah healed
quickly under Daniel’s unwavering care.
 
Two days after being rescued, he had pronounced her fit and able to get
out of bed.
 
The first thing she had done
was eat; she couldn’t ever remember being that hungry in her life.
 
Then a bath so long the maids needed to add
hot water twice.
 
Duchess Chandlish
insisted on Raven being taken outside the castle to be told of Sarah’s release
from her sick bed.
 
By Sarah’s reckoning
that was a good decision since the explosion of happiness rattled the windows
in her fifth floor room.

A week after her
return, Sarah was stunned to find that there was going to be a trial.
 
Not so much that Raven was on trial, since
the sheer volume of collateral damage caused by Raven had to violate numerous
laws, but because she was to face the court too.
 
She’d never been on trial before, but didn’t
expect them to be like this.

Sitting in the
palace throne room, servants bringing food and drink to everyone, she silently
contemplated a life of crime, particularly if she were allowed to sit on this
chair some more, which felt just worn enough to be really comfortable.
 

The Honorable Emma
Alexander, Stephen’s sister, was the presiding judge.
 
Daniel, and five members of the service staff
that Raven bribed quite handsomely for a non-guilty verdict, comprised the
jury.
 
Playing the role of defense
attorney was Mandy.
 
Rebekah, rather too
eagerly in Sarah’s opinion, took the job of prosecutor.
 
Brian stood in the back, chatting with a
couple of guards, acting as bailiff.

Judge Alexander, sitting
on the throne Duchess Chandlish insisted be used as the bench, rapped her gavel
sharply, bringing the room to attention.
 
“The accused, Lady Felicity Chandlish of Valentria, Lady Branwyen
Chandlish of Valentria and Ms. Sarah Petty of Valentria stand accused of
attempting to escape from a Protectorate prison.”
 
Staring at them over her glasses, she asked,
“How do you plead.”

Amanda stood and
addressed the court, not even trying to sound serious.
 
“Your Honor, not guilty.”

“On what grounds?”

“Because they
didn’t attempt, they succeeded.”

Judge Alexander
rubbed her chin thoughtfully before asking Rebekah to present her case.

Bekah didn’t
bother standing and just asked where the proof was.
 
Mandy pointed to the three women sitting
beside her.
 

The Prosecutor
threw her arms up in the air.
 
“Hell,
there went my case.”
 
She grouched in
frustration.

After the judge
found them not guilty, the three defendants and Amanda hugged ecstatically and
stuck their tongues out at the prosecutor, who responded with an obscene
gesture featuring both hands.

Again Judge
Alexander banged her gavel, ending the celebration.
 
“There is one other case to try this
afternoon.”
 

Sarah didn’t know
what this trial was, so she followed Felicity away from the defendants table taking
a seat farther back in the room.
 

“Lady Branwyen
Chandlish of Valentria, you stand accused of two counts of murder plus five
separate counts of assaulting members of the Protectorate.
 
How do you plead?”

Before Raven could
answer, Bekah walked to the center of the room to address the Judge.
 
“Your Honor, surely a lengthy trial would
only be a burden on the court as the accused has already admitted her
guilt.
 
I suggest we dispense with the
theatrics and sentence this heinous criminal to the extent allowed by
law.”
 
Bekah stood facing the judge with
folded arms, her back to everyone else.

The accused meekly
sought permission to approach the bench and the judge allowed it.
 
Raven slowly left her chair but nobody, aside
from Sarah, caught the smirk on her face.
 

“Your honor,”
Raven spoke contritely, her head bowed.
 
“I’m afraid you missed one of the charges.”

Judge Lockwood
read the docket in her hand, “Which one?”

“Assaulting a
member of the Valentria Royal family.”
 
Raven quipped and smacked Bekah on the back of her head.
 
While Raven taunted them all by making silly
faces, Mandy comforted Bekah who was crying about how mean Sis was.

Removing her
glasses and pressing the tip of her thumb and forefinger against the bridge of
her nose, clearly wanting to put an end to these shenanigans, the judge handed
down her verdict.
 
“In accordance with
the law of Valentria and Florence,
I sentence you to three life terms, to be served consecutively in the castle
dungeon.
 
Bailiff, take the prisoner into
custody.”
 

The court erupted
into bedlam, everyone shouting at once.
 
Judge Alexander tried to explain something else but Sarah only heard a
heavy drumming in her ears.
 
As Raven was
led away swearing vengeance, Sarah stood and wandered, alone, up the stairs to
the family room.

Settling down in
her favorite green couch, Sarah felt a numbness creeping into her limbs.
 
They had been joking and laughing during the
trials.
 
There wasn’t even a hint that a
sentence like this could be handed down.
 
And to see Raven in shackles, in this castle was almost more than she
could bear.
 
Feeling completely alone,
Sarah felt the warm tears wash down her cheeks as emotions overwhelmed
her.
 
Running the shop without Raven
wasn’t an option because the taxes were just too high for a single blacksmith.
 
Going back to Vestavia was out of the
question as well, considering she recently broke out of a prison there.
 
Then an idea hit her.
 

With a final
sniffle, Sarah dried her eyes and forced herself to calm down.
 
She would ask for a job here in the castle,
where she already felt at home, and she would be able to visit Raven.
 
It was the least she could do considering all
Raven had sacrificed in saving her.

Her mind made up,
Sarah strode purposefully to Felicity’s room to discuss the plan.
 
An unexpectedly good-humored greeting met
her.

“Oh good, Sarah,
we were just coming to find you.”
 
Felicity threw down the handful of cards she’d been holding and raked in
what looked to be a sizeable pot.

“Yeah, where did
you go?”
 
Bekah asked over Mandy’s loud
complaints about not winning anything.

“I- I wanted to be
alone after the….”
 
Sarah took a deep
breath, realizing that she needed something from these people, who were acting
so cavalier after their sister had been sentenced to life in prison, and
shouting at them would not help her chances.
 
She asked Felicity if they could speak in private.

“Sure, but can it
wait?
 
We need a third for Raven’s parole
hearing.
 
It starts in five
minutes.”
 
The three sisters giggled at
the look of shock on Sarah’s face.

“What?
 
Emma set the parole date for one hour.
 
Any longer than that and we’d be lucky if the
whole castle didn’t go up in flames.”
 
Mandy explained while she led Sarah down to the dungeons with Liz and
Bekah following.

A guard, whose
clothes were steaming for some reason, hailed them at the heavily barred
door.
 
“Be careful,” The man warned,
sliding a bolt from its resting place, “she’s feeling frisky.”

Felicity, Bekah
and Mandy rushed to stand behind Sarah, who got the unpleasant feeling of a
lamb being shoved to slaughter.
 
She felt
better about her friend not being imprisoned forever but decidedly less so with
the prospects of a bored Raven waiting to be unleashed.
 

Gingerly she stuck
her head inside.
 
A long row of
barricaded doors lined one side.
 
On the
other, a row of normal looking jail cells sat.
 
The sounds of old prison songs came from halfway up the isle, each
chorus ending with a heavy thump as a fire ball blasted out of the cell,
exploding against the opposite wall.
 
Sarah cleared her throat and asked if it were alright if she came in.

“You coming for a
conjugal visit?” asked a disquietingly chipper voice.

“What’s a
‘conjugal visit’?”
 
Sarah inquired, still
afraid to walk into the hallway with fireballs intermittently flashing through
the air.

“I don’t know but
Sis says they’re great fun.”
 
The echo
responded.

Bekah shoved Sarah
aside, stomping down the hall, a stream of expletives marking her
progress.
 
The other three girls hurried
after her, each trying to hide their laughter.
 
When they reached Raven’s cell, Felicity announced, in her most official
sounding voice, that it was time for the parole hearing.

“First, we see
that you have been well behaved.”
 
Mandy
started the impromptu conference.
 

Sarah almost
mentioned the uneven, smoky letters on the wall behind them that read, “RAVEN
WUZ HERE!” but remembered simple destruction usually did constitute good
behavior on Raven’s part so didn’t say anything.

“Second, do you
feel your debt to society has been paid?”
 
Felicity asked.
 
Her tone was still
curt though laughter bubbled behind the pretense.
 
Raven nodded, doing her best to look meek but
failing miserably.

Felicity and Mandy
turned to look at Sarah, who was astonished to discover she was meant to ask a
question as well.
 
After clearing her
throat in an attempt to buy more time and think of something say, Sarah blurted
out, “Do you feel remorse for your actions?”
 

Raven snorted a
yes.

After pretending
to discuss the case, when in fact they were playing rock-paper-scissors to see
which one would be allowed to escape the victory party first, Felicity
announced that Raven had been reformed and was free to rejoin society.
 
Sliding a key into the cell lock, Mandy swung
the door open, just barely managing to dodge Raven who leapt into Bekah’s arms,
crying uncontrollably.
 
Bekah clutched
her sister tightly, wailing just as loud.

Stepping back,
Raven choked, “Being in the big house has changed me Sis.
 
I’m harder on the inside than I was
before.
 
I… I don’t know if I’ll be able
to acclimate back into the real world.”
 

Sarah, who had won
the game and was slowly edging her way towards the dungeon door away from the
impending catastrophe, wondered when Raven ever spent enough time in the real
world to get acclimated to it the first time around.

Bekah bawled louder,
saying how much she missed her favorite sis ever.
 
The two broke into fresh tears and hugged
some more, which the three trying their best to remain inconspicuous were quite
pleased to see since it meant more time to escape.
 
They were within ten feet of the door when
Sarah heard Bekah say something she really didn’t want to hear.

“You’re free now,
Sis.”

Someone shouted,
“RUN,” and Sarah sprinted through the door, followed by Mandy and
Felicity.
 

The three of them
jumped over a table the guard who greeted them had turned over on its
side.
 
The clicking lock reverberated
like a bell in the stillness, which lasted about a second.
 
With a tremendous bang, the door blasted off
its hinges to land heavily against the far wall.
 
Raven was a purple and red blur as she raced
through the smoldering wreckage, yelling “FREEDOM!” at the top of her
lungs.
 
Sarah suggested the guard try
stopping the crazy woman.

“Why don’t
you?”
 
The man cringed as a random
fireball shot overhead, narrowly missing him.

“You’re a coward,
aren’t you?”
 
Sarah grumbled.

“Devoutly so
madam.”

The foursome
huddling behind the flimsy protection afforded by the table heard shouting,
along with the occasional BOOM, going up the stairs and risked a peek at the
destruction.
 
They saw Bekah, grinning
from ear to ear, standing in the middle of the rubble.
 

“We might want to
go get her now.”
 
Bekah clucked, holding
Raven’s boots.
 
“She’s started
stripping.”