THE LAST WITNESS

Elaris’s POV

Elaris is escorted by four warriors, two in front, two in back. One of them, Averic, takes a few long paces up ahead, so that she has to quicken her own steps just to keep near him.

The guards will not allow any servant to interrupt and no one is stationed at the doorways along the route.

That is enough for her to know that something else is happening tonight.

The palace feels different. Doors are closed. Discussion ceases when they pass.

Beyond these stone walls, the council prepares to tear apart the next servant to come before them, piece by piece.

The double doors of the secured room open at the sound of two warriors checking the corridor.

A woman sits at a narrow table, her shoulders drawn back, her fingers twisted together so tightly that the knuckles have turned white.

She is visibly weakened, but her posture is better than it was a few hours ago, when she hid behind the screen.

Her gaze is fixed on the door.

As if she has been expecting footsteps and counting the seconds since she last heard any.

She relaxes visibly when she sees Elaris, then stiffens again as Averic enters the room behind her and shuts the door.

Two warriors remain in the corridor.

Averic motions for Elaris to take the place at the table normally reserved for the accused, but instead of standing in back of the woman, as he did during the first hearing, he arranges the chair so that Elaris can see the woman’s face.

“You brought her here,” Averic said.

The woman nodded.

Averic seated himself at the table but did not rest his arms on the surface. He pulled out a small tablet and placed it on the far side of the table.

“You have one chance to tell us everything before the council healers arrive,” Averic said

The attendant swallowed.

“I understand.”

“No half-truths,” Averic said. “No convenient omissions. If someone threatened you or ordered you to do this, say so.”

The woman’s fingers twitched.

“And if I name her?”

Averic’s reply was swift.

“Then her name will be added to the record.”

The attendant looked at Elaris.

Understanding dawned slowly. The woman was not afraid of the truth, only its consequences.

The attendant began the tale that would confirm everything they already suspected.

“It was Virelle Drazyn.”

The name sent a jolt through Elaris, though it should not have.

She had suspected the woman, grown weary of the poisoned cups and the half-burnt messages. But hearing the name expressed aloud, with no inference or implication, was something else entirely.

The woman spoke of Virelle approaching her at the private wing after she had already been assigned there, of the first broken chain clasp Virelle had given her, and the instructions to keep it hidden and wait for further orders.

She spoke of the medicine.

“She told me which nights to alter the dosage,” the attendant said.

Not enough to kill Luna immediately, not enough to make her weaker each time.

Just enough to leave the woman fragile and vulnerable when the council came calling.

Averic wrote the name down, his hand moving quickly.

The woman spoke of making the medicine appear to be a natural illness and how she wanted everyone to believe the injury had been caused by that same illness.

Elaris’s stomach twisted.

The woman spoke of the wolfsbane poultice, of the service passage, of the night she had lifted the inner bar of the east gate and of the words Virelle had whispered in her ear before she left.

“She told me no one would suspect me because I served inside the private wing.”

Elaris knew how many times she had trusted servants simply because they served inside the palace walls.

Averic’s hand hovered over the tablet.

The woman’s voice shook as she spoke of the false fall.

“She told me where to stand so that the hall would be crowded enough for everyone to see the blood,” she said. “But not crowded enough that they would see what happened.”

She told them what Virelle had asked her to do afterward, to stage the bodies and the scene so that it would appear servants had seen enough to testify that Virelle was responsible for the death.

Averic paused in his writing to collect his thoughts.

“And the cup,” he said.

“I was told how to prepare the tray.”

“And the hair?”

The woman’s head lowered.

“She took it from a brush in the inner chamber.”

Elaris’s fingers tightened instinctively around her abdomen. The woman saw the movement and went on.

“She said the second mate’s blood was the price.”

The woman paused, then she added the detail that she hadn’t had the courage to include before.

“She said the child must not live through the blood moon.”

Averic’s hand froze over the tablet.

The woman forced herself to continue.

“She said an Alpha’s true heir cannot share the house with a second woman’s blood.”

There was no uncertainty in her voice, no hesitation, as if she were afraid to say the words aloud.

Virelle wanted Elaris’s child dead.

Averic recorded every word.

Elaris remained silent because she knew the moment was fragile and anything she said could provide an opening for the next accusation.

The woman related every detail about the instructions Virelle had given her, the evidence Virelle had placed against her and the promises she had made to protect herself after Elaris was gone.

“She said I would have a place when the second mate was no longer here,” the woman said. “I believed her.”

Elaris met the woman’s eyes. The woman was expecting her to recoil in horror or righteous anger, but instead, Elaris gave her a single short nod.

Not nearly enough to express what she was feeling, but enough to reassure the woman that she had done the right thing.

Tears streaked down the woman’s cheeks.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“I should have said something sooner.”

“You were afraid,” Elaris said

The woman covered her mouth with both hands.

Averic did not interrupt them.

For the first time, the woman seemed to realize that telling the truth did not require her to defend herself against Elaris.

The council healers arrived a few minutes later.

One of the guards knocked on the door.

The council healer said they were waiting.

Averic tucked the tablet into a protective sleeve and placed the third broken chain clasp beside it.

He sealed both in an evidence case.

The woman looked toward the door.

“They arrived too soon.”

Averic noted the fear returning to her expression.

“They won’t question you alone,” he said.

When the council healer entered the room, he informed Averic that the witness would have to undergo examination before they could accept her testimony as reliable evidence.

Averic refused to surrender her.

“She is under my protection.”

The healer reminded him that the council had authority over any testimony related to a formal hearing.

Averic looked the man in the eyes.

“And I have authority over the safety of the people under my protection,” he said.

The woman was taken to a different chamber secured by Averic’s own men.

The council healer left, his expression sour.

Averic waited until the door was closed before turning to the woman.

“No one speaks to you without me being present.”

Elaris was returned to the chamber, this time under heavier guard.

Averic followed her inside.

They sat in silence for several seconds.

Then he told her the confession was complete.

“Her statement names Virelle directly,”

he said.

“She described the medicine, the gate, the wolfsbane, the false fall and the instructions given concerning your child.”

Elaris lowered herself onto the nearest chair.

The relief was surprisingly close to grief.

All this time, she had been justifying the patterns to herself.

The bottles.

The chain clasps.

The threats.

And now someone else knew the names behind them.

Averic continued.

“At the hearing, the council will have to address the written confession, as well as the evidence we already have.”

Elaris looked up.

“And Virelle’s pregnancy?”

Averic’s expression hardened.

“That will be examined in light of everything else.”

He did not say the child was his.

He did not say it was Elaris’s.

But he did say one thing with certainty.

“No accusation against you can be considered in isolation anymore.”

Averic left to prepare his presentation for the council.

Elaris remained seated, staring at the spot where he had been standing.

For the first time since the poisoning began, the threat had a name.

Virelle.

Not a suspicion.

Not an idea.

A living, breathing woman with a name.

Her fingers curled protectively over her abdomen.

The baby responded, shifting deep inside her.

“You're still here,” Elaris whispered.

That should have been enough to reassure her, but she thought of the words the attendant had spoken just before she fainted, of the prophecy concerning the blood moon.

The pattern was not meant to protect Elaris.

It was meant to ensure her death before anyone could accuse Virelle of the murder.

The relief that had nearly overwhelmed her was suddenly soured by a new understanding.

If Virelle knew the woman had confessed, then she was in greater danger than she realized.

Neryss arrived with the permission of the guards.

She scarcely waited for the door to be closed before she spoke.

“She knows.”

Elaris’s stomach turned.

“Who?”

“Virelle.”

Neryss told her what had happened in the main hall before the sealed statement had been delivered to Averic’s study.

Virelle had fainted in front of servants and council representatives, sobbing loudly enough that everyone in the room could hear her.

She had accused the attendant of being bribed or threatened by agents of the second mate.

“She said you have been trying to destroy her since she arrived,” Neryss said.

Of course she did.

Elaris asked what else Virelle said.

Neryss hesitated.

“She said the confession was not proof. She said it was revenge.”

Elaris laughed, though there was no humor in it.

Virelle had anticipated the outcome with such confidence that she didn’t even need to hear the statement to decide on her defense.

Neryss lowered her voice.

“She also said she will prove the witness was coerced.”

The performance had already begun.

Averic arrived near evening.

He closed the door behind him and paused for a moment.

Something had changed.

Not in his thoughts about Elaris, but in the forces arrayed against them.

“Sennik sent formal notice,”

he said.

Elaris rose to her feet.

“What does it say?”

"Any confession not given in the presence of council healers may be declared coerced."

Elaris stared at him.

"They arrived after she was finished."

"I know."

"And she asked for protection before they came."

"I know."

Averic’s frustration was no longer masked.

"Sennik says the council will decide if the witness was frightened into giving the statement."

"They'll frighten her until she's too frightened to remember what happened."

His gaze met hers.

"That's what I'm trying to prevent."

Elaris understood the problem.

The witness was safe, but the statement itself would be challenged.

Virelle only had one real defense.

Neryss said it was a good thing Elaris was not going to be questioned by the council.

Elaris looked out the window, but she did not open it.

The grounds of the palace were quiet, which made them seem more dangerous.

The evidence was greater than it had ever been, but the danger was not reduced.

Only changed.

Elaris had needed to prove that someone wanted her dead, but now she needed to prove that it had been Virelle who had ordered the killing and that Virelle could be made to suffer for it.

And Virelle knew how much time she had.

"She'll attempt to destroy the witness," Elaris said.

Averic did not disagree.

"She may,"

Elaris turned to face him.

"You think she has someone inside?"

"I think we have not found everyone who aided her."

The words sent a chill down Elaris’s spine.

They had ransacked the palace, changing every guard, sealing every passage, but Virelle had people who knew enough to act before they could be caught.

Averic took a step closer to the door.

"I am doubling the guard around the woman."

Elaris wished the idea was enough, but it wasn't.

"What if the enemy is inside the guard?"

Night had fallen when the runner arrived at the chamber.

He was out of breath when Averic opened the door.

"What happened?"

The runner's face was pale.

"The witness."

Averic's posture changed.

"She was found unconscious in the secured room."

For one heartbeat, no one moved.

"The guards?"

"Still outside the door."

"Did anyone enter?"

"They swear no one did."

Averic ordered the corridor secured.

Elaris followed him, despite the protests of the guard.

When they entered the secured room, the attendant lay on the floor near the table where she had given her testimony.

There was no sign of a struggle, no blood on the floor, no overturned furniture.

But then Elaris noticed the fourth broken chain clasp lying near the woman's hand.

It rested on a strip of parchment, on which someone had written a single line in unfamiliar script.

"Witnesses who speak too clearly do not wake."

Averic did not pick up either the note or the clasp.

His face had gone the color of the stone in the walls.

Elaris looked from the unconscious woman to the message on the floor.

The statement still existed, the name still remained, but the only person who had spoken it was no longer capable of defending it.

Averic turned to the guards.

"Seal every entrance."

The guards moved at once.

Elaris remained near the doorway, her gaze fixed on the fourth broken clasp.

The hearing had not yet begun, but someone had already decided on the next move.