Chapter 359
It was almost eleven when Katelina and Jorick headed to their appointment. Like much of the stronghold, the waiting room was paneled with wood. Wolfe checked the clock. His expression was smooth, but his eyes twitched impatiently.
"We must wait for the other." He motioned them to chairs, though neither she nor Jorick took a seat.
A moment later Verchiel breezed in. Like Jorick, he wore all black and a silver medallion around his neck, the symbol of his Executioner status.
"Hello, Kately! Nice to see you've been invited to this shindig!"
Jorick made a low, annoyed noise in his throat and Verchiel winked at him. "Don't worry, I'll let you have Kately all to yourself for the time being. There are far too many pretty bits to keep me occupied while we're here."
Jorick snarled and Wolfe quickly motioned them toward a door. "We should go."
Before anyone could object, he led them down a wide corridor to a set of huge polished doors. Inside was a foyer with a parquet floor. Two carved benches and a gilt framed painting decorated the room, while another carved door stood at the back, flanked by a set of guards.
The door opened and Sadihra stepped out. She was dressed in black and wore her Scharfrichter medallion. Wolfe looked to his charges and then asked Sadihra quietly, "How did it go?"
"I'm suspended for three months."
"Is that all?" Wolfe asked. She nodded and he looked relieved. For a moment Katelina thought he seemed almost human. "I'm sorry I wasn't present for the sentencing."
"You had your orders," Sadihra said. "However, I believe your earlier testimony helped."
Wolfe gave a crisp nod. "We'll speak of it later." He motioned to Jorick. "Come. You're next."
The guards hurriedly saluted and opened the door again. Katelina hung back as the full terror of the High Council crashed over her, and Jorick squeezed her hand. As he met her eyes, a soothing calm spread through her. Though it disappeared quickly, she knew it was his way of saying everything would be all right.
They walked inside. Like the foyer, the floor was polished parquet and the walls were half wood panel and half plaster. Flags of red, blue, green, and gold hung on the walls and complemented the high ceiling, which was done in a stained glass pattern of the same colors. Lights behind the glass gave the illusion of sunlight, even though they were deep underground.
What looked like six carved jury boxes lined the walls, two on the back wall and two on each side. The farthest set was filled with vampires wearing deep green robes and holding folders. Between the two boxes was a smaller one that held three vampires in royal blue robes and one in gold.
Directly in front of the robed vampires, in the center of the room, was yet another wooden structure, though this one reminded Katelina of an old fashioned courtroom dock. Behind it were several long, polished benches where a handful of onlookers were seated.
Katelina tried not to look at the green robed vampires. Despite their bizarre appearance, she could feel their years hanging in the air around them. They were old; not as old as Malick, perhaps, but older than the High Council members in America. And with age came power, and with power came terror.
Wolfe led them in front of the dock and bowed low. "Presenting Executioner Jorick, from the United Sates, Executioner Verchiel, from the United States and the human belonging to Jorick. As your excellencies have been made aware, Executioner Cyprus from the United States, formerly a guard of Munich, and guard Neil, from the United States, are unable or unwilling to attend these proceedings, Executioner Cyprus through traitorous rebellion and guard Neil through death in battle."
The vampire in the golden robe nodded. His face had the marble perfection of immortality, but signs of age still clung to it, as if he was already old when he'd been turned. He spoke, his voice deep and lyrically accented, "Danke, der Scharfrichter."
Wolfe stepped back and took a seat on a bench. One of the guards stepped forward and motioned to the dock style box. Verchiel and Jorick stepped inside it. When Katelina started to follow the guard caught her arm. Jorick shot him a dark look, and he quickly removed his hand.
"I'm sorry," he murmured. "The human is not needed."
She looked to Jorick and he gave a barely perceptible shrug.
The vampire in the gold robe cleared his throat noisily. "Human testimony is of no use. Their uncomprehending minds create false memories in an effort to cope with those things they don't understand and so their memories are too weak to offer truth of any accord."
Katelina's first impulse was to be insulted, but it was replaced by relief. She wouldn't have to face them or their questions.
She gave Jorick a cheerful nod, and let the guard direct her to the wooden bench where Wolfe was seated.
"Perhaps now we can proceed?" The vampire in gold asked. Both Verchiel and Jorick stared straight ahead, their faces emotionless and unwavering, and the vampire smacked a carved gavel onto the railing before him. "The inquiry has begun."
Katelina bit back a sudden gasp. This didn't seem like the nonchalant thing Jorick had talked about.
One of the vampires in the box on the left said, "You will tell us why you cut your previous visit short and did not return to your guild as expected."
Jorick drew himself up. "We had something that required our immediate attention."
The questioner slammed his hand on the railing and shouted, "You mean you had to hurry away to reclaim an object you stole!"
Before Jorick could answer, a vampire in the right box said, "There is no proof that he stole the item in question, and even if he did it has no bearing on these proceedings."
"But it does," said the other. "It establishes that they had false intentions from the beginning."
The vampire in gold held up his hand. "Enough. It is immaterial. We will move on."
The vampires on the left had a whispered conference, and then the speaker asked, "Is it not true that you left in order to obtain a powerful object and awaken one who is known by the name of Samael?"
The right box spoke again, "There is no proof that that was their intention only, that they wished to intercept the relic before Malick, the malcontent, who has openly declared war on the accepted rule of vampires. In this case, the accused could be said to have the interest of The Sodalitas at heart."
"Hardly!" cried the vampire on the left. "They wished to wake what was supposed to be an ancient master to use for their own gains!"
Katelina whip lashed back and forth as they argued, and sent a questioning look to Wolfe. He tried to ignore her, but finally relented and hissed from the corner of his mouth, "They're all mind readers, so it's unnecessary for the accused to say anything. The left argues against them and the right for, and whichever has the most compelling argument wins."
"If they're mind readers why are they talking out loud at all?"
"For the benefit of the accused who aren't," Wolfe said coldly. "Now be quiet."
She wanted to comment on the alarming word "accused", but couldn't find a way to do it.
