The Power and the Glory

Book 3 Chapter XI: Pick Up The Pieces

Warning: contains references to rape and forced marriage.

You can't make things right by magic. You can only stop making them wrong. -- Terry Pratchett, Witches Abroad

Since Haliran was moved to her new prison she hadn't seen anyone but the guards. They were a very boring lot. None of them would say a word to her. In fact they wouldn't even talk to each other when they knew she could hear. She gritted her teeth and made a pretence of being a good prisoner while she waited for one of them to make a mistake. If she could learn where she was, if she could even find out how many guards there were, she would have some solid information to work with. As it was she knew only that she was still somewhere in Eldrin.

It was looking more and more likely they were trying to kill her with boredom.

All of the days blurred together. She had no idea if it had been one week or two since the trial. At long last someone came to visit her.

It wasn't any of her acquaintances. It was just the lawyer who had been assigned to her case. The woman obviously had no interest in Haliran or her crimes. Like all lawyers the only thing she wanted was a case she could win, and instead she'd been handed one where her client's guilt was obvious. She made a half-hearted attempt to inform Haliran of possible options to lessen her sentence.

"You could plead not guilty, but it would be a waste of time. The police have searched your house. Your ex-husband showed them where you hid incriminating evidence."

Haliran had only listened with half an ear until she heard the word 'ex-husband'. Then her head snapped up. "Ex-husband?"

The lawyer nodded, looking bored. "The empress personally declared your marriage was illegal and granted him a divorce."

Boiling rage filled Haliran's chest. How dare Siarvin cast her aside like that? How could he be so disloyal after everything she'd done for him? She'd given him a house, food, clothes, and asked so little in return! In her haste to make herself the victim she conveniently overlooked the little fact she had raped him, forced him into marriage, and kept him prisoner for centuries.

The lawyer continued talking in a very dull, uninterested tone. "The best thing for you to do would be to admit everything. The result will be the same and it will make everything go so much more smoothly."

Over the years Haliran had always known there was the chance she might be caught one day. She'd made plans for it. None of her plans had included Siarvin plotting against her and so all of them were useless. But lately she had made new ones. She'd had nothing better to do while sitting in her cell for days.

"I wasn't alone," she said. "I can name all my accomplices."

"The police have already found all that information."

Haliran grinned. "Not all of it. There are things I didn't keep in my house. Don't you think they'd want to know who assassinated the president of Eyphia?"

That got the lawyer's attention. For the first time she actually looked at Haliran instead of reading her notes and addressing them in Haliran's general direction. The president had been surrounded by his bodyguards when he was shot dead in the middle of a busy street without anyone seeing the assassin. Haliran didn't actually know who was responsible. But if she pretended she did, and if she gave the name of an assassin she knew was long dead and couldn't object, she would have a bargaining chip and a chance to get out of this mess.

"I'll have to ask," the lawyer said, picking up her briefcase with a distracted air. She left without another word.

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