The twenty-year old caregiver had been dispatched from the orphanage to accompany him to the capital, and was the only person in the Kargath that he trusted or liked right now. He hopped out of bed and went to answer the knock, plodding across the dark wooden floor in his socks and exhaling in relief at the sight of Anna on the other side of the door. I haven’t even gotten a present since Mom died.Ī knock on the door ended that depressing thought, and Hayden’s heart began to race in fear of what was to come. His twelfth birthday had come and gone just yesterday, completely unremarked upon by any of the indifferent workers in this building, though it was hardly the first birthday to pass without celebration. It was the first time he had ever visited the capital city of his homeland, and he hated that the occasion was marred by his upcoming trial. Hayden had been brought to Kargath two days ago, and the ten members of the Council of Mages were summoned from all over the Nine Lands for the hearing that would take place this morning.
In a few hours he would know for certain. He withdrew his hand and pressed the thick, cold metal bracelet against his body instead, where it could draw heat.Įven if they don’t kill me, I might have to wear these for the rest of my life. He made the mistake of resting his wrist on the stone windowsill, which immediately chilled the lead bracelet circling it and made him shiver. The largest city in Junir, Kargath was also the capital, and even squinting, Hayden couldn’t see an end to the shops and houses and trade markets that surrounded the capitol building from his vantage on the hill. Morning sunlight illuminated the first snow of the new year, and from his room on the fourth level he had a clear view of the white blanket that covered the sleeping city of Kargath. He slept poorly the night before, too nervous about the outcome of the trial to get more than an hour or two of rest, and unable to decide whether he could actually be put to death for someone else’s crimes. Hayden was sitting upright in bed, fidgeting with his lead bracelets on the morning of his hearing. In a few hours I’ll either be free, exiled, or dead.
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