Chapter 78 The Champion's Blade II
That night I could not sleep. Too many ways this could go wrong.
I found Arianna in her workshop. Preparing for the time walk. Drawing symbols. Gathering materials.
"I want to come with you," I said.
"Absolutely not. You are pregnant. Forbidden from magic. And time walking while pregnant with a time-walker child is suicide."
"Then teach me what to look for. So if you get stuck. If you cannot return. I know what evidence exists. What we are looking for."
She studied me. Then nodded. "Very well. But just watching. Just learning. No attempting."
She showed me the ritual. The symbols. The way to touch yesterday without getting trapped there. It was elegant. Dangerous. Beautiful.
"When you walk," she said. "You are not really there. You are a ghost. An observer. You can see. Hear. But not touch. Not change anything." She looked at me. "That is the hardest part. Watching terrible things and knowing you cannot stop them."
"I have spent twelve years watching terrible things I could not stop. I am used to it."
"No one is used to it. We just pretend we are." She finished the preparations. "I go now. If I am not back by dawn. If I am stuck. The ritual is written there. You can try to pull me back. But do not walk after me. Promise me."
"I promise."
She lay down in the circle. Began chanting. Her body went still. Empty. Her consciousness walking backward through yesterday.
I watched. Waited. Minutes turned to hours. She did not move. Did not breathe. Just lay there like a corpse.
Dawn approached. Still nothing.
Then her eyes snapped open. She gasped. Sat up. "I found it. All of it. Everything we need."
"What did you see?"
"Daemon meeting with Mira. Threatening her son if she did not spy for him. Mira refusing. Him killing her. Slowly. Painfully." Arianna's hands shook. "Then him planning the palace attack. Specifically targeting pregnant women. Specifically trying to kill your unborn child before she could be born. He knows. He knows she is coming back. And he is terrified of her."
"He should be. When she returns. When she is grown. She will destroy him."
"That is why he is desperate. Why he is moving now. Why he is willing to risk everything." Arianna stood. "We have what we need. Testimony. Evidence. Magical proof. We can invoke Trial by Truth. Force him to face examination. He will have to answer for Mira. For the attack. For everything."
"Then we prepare. We have six hours until trial. Six hours to make this perfect."
We worked through the remaining night. Preparing documents. Preparing magical evidence. Preparing everything needed to force Trial by Truth.
Lord Blackwater appeared at dawn. "I am ready. I will fight well. I will—"
"You will not have to fight," I said. "We found another way. But we need you there. As backup. In case everything goes wrong."
Relief and disappointment warred on his face. He wanted to fight. Wanted to prove himself. But he also wanted to live.
"I will be ready. For whatever you need."
The trial assembled at midday. In the courtyard. Where everyone could see. Every house present. Hundreds of nobles. All waiting for blood.
Daemon stood on one side. Confident. Perfect. Ready.
I stood on the other. With Kael. With Arianna. With evidence that would destroy him.
"Before we begin," I said. Voice carrying. "I invoke ancient right. Trial by Truth instead of Trial by Combat. Let magic judge us both. Let our crimes and fitness be examined. Let truth decide who deserves the throne."
Murmurs. Shock. Daemon's face went blank.
"You cannot change the terms of combat after accepting."
"Ancient law says either party can invoke Trial by Truth up until combat begins. Combat has not begun. Therefore I invoke." I looked at the assembled nobles. "Unless you prefer blood over truth? Unless you want combat over justice?"
They could not say yes. Not publicly. Not when I framed it as justice versus violence.
"I accept Trial by Truth," Daemon said. Smoothly. Too smoothly. "But I request a condition. If I am found innocent of all charges. If truth shows I am fit and you are not. You abdicate immediately. Permanently. No appeals. No second chances."
"Agreed. If I am found innocent and you guilty, you face execution for treason. Do you accept those terms?"
Something flickered in his eyes. Calculation. Concern. He did not expect me to agree to execution terms.
"I accept."
Seers were brought forward. Three of them. Neutral parties. From houses allied with neither of us. They would perform the examination. Would see our truths. Our crimes. Our fitness.
"We begin with the accused," the head seer said. "King Daemon Morweth. Step forward."
"I am not king yet."
"You will be after we expose the half-blood's crimes." He stepped into the examination circle. "Do your worst."
The seers began chanting. Magic swirled. Silver light wrapped around Daemon. Digging. Searching. Finding.
I watched his face. Watched confidence turn to concern. Concern to fear. Fear to rage.
"Stop!" he shouted. "Stop this now!"
"We cannot stop mid-examination. That is law." The head seer looked troubled. "My lord. What we see. What you have done. It is—"
"Lies! They planted false evidence! They corrupted the examination!"
"The examination cannot be corrupted. It reads truth directly from consciousness." The seer looked at the assembled nobles. "Lord Daemon Morweth has committed the following crimes: Conspiracy to commit murder. Assassination of Lady Mira Morweth. Planning and executing the palace attack that killed thirty-seven innocents. Attempting to murder an unborn royal heir. Treason. Multiple counts."
Gasps. Shouts. Horror spreading through the crowd.
Daemon's face twisted. "You think this changes anything? You think exposing me stops what is coming?" He pulled a blade. Moved faster than possible.
Straight at me. At my stomach. At the baby.
Kael intercepted. His blade met Daemon's. "Not. Today."
They fought. Brutal. Vicious. Centuries of skill unleashed. Kael was slower than usual. Aged. Weakened. But rage made him faster. Love made him stronger.
Daemon got through his guard. Blade aimed at Kael's heart.
Lord Blackwater appeared. Threw himself between them. Took the blade in his chest.
"No!" I screamed.
Blackwater fell. But his sacrifice gave Kael the opening. His blade found Daemon's throat. Took his head clean off.
Daemon's body hit the ground. Dead. Finally. Permanently.
The courtyard erupted. Some nobles cheering. Some horrified. All of them shocked.
I ran to Blackwater. Dropped beside him. He was dying. The wound too deep. Too much damage.
"I got to fight after all," he gasped. "Got to matter."
"You mattered before this. You always mattered." I grabbed his hand. "Thank you. For everything. For believing in us. For—"
"Win. Build something good. Make my son proud to say his father died for the right queen." His eyes closed. "Tell him I loved him."
He died in the courtyard. Surrounded by nobles. But not alone. Never alone.
"We honor him," Kael said. Voice carrying. "Lord Blackwater. Hero. Champion. Loyal friend. We will build a memorial. We will remember. We will make his sacrifice mean something."
The nobles were silent. Respectful. Even Daemon's former allies did not dare speak against a man who just died defending his queen.
"The trial is over," the head seer declared. "Lord Daemon is found guilty on all counts. Would have faced execution but death has already claimed him. Queen Sera is found innocent. Fit to rule. The throne remains with House Draeven."
Cheers. Real ones this time. Not political. Just relief that the threat was over. That stability returned.
But I knew better. This was not over. This was one battle. One enemy. Daemon's allies were still out there. Still plotting. Still dangerous.
"We have won today," Kael announced. "But the fight continues. Anyone who supported Daemon. Anyone who plotted with him. You have one chance. One opportunity to swear loyalty. To renounce treason. To join us in building something better." His eyes swept the crowd. "Or you can leave. Exile. Permanent. No persecution. No execution. Just gone. Choose now."
Nobles looked between themselves. Calculating. Deciding.
Seventeen of them left. Walked away. Chose exile over loyalty.
The rest knelt. Swore oaths. Became ours.
Maybe they meant it. Maybe they did not. But at least they were choosing us publicly.
That was something.
That night I stood in our chambers. Hand on my stomach. Feeling the baby. Feeling Nyx holding on. Fighting to stay.
"We survived another day," I said.
Kael appeared behind me. Wrapped his arms around me. "We did. At great cost. But we survived."
"Blackwater's son. We need to provide for him. Make sure he is cared for. Educated. Protected."
"Already done. Lyra arranged everything. He will be raised as ward of the crown. Given every advantage. Told stories of his father's heroism." Kael's chin rested on my head. "We take care of our own. Always."
"How are you feeling? The aging. The life force you gave."
"Old. Tired. But alive. And that is enough." He turned me to face him. "We have sixteen months until she is born. Sixteen months to stabilize the realm. To prepare. To build something worth her returning to."
"Think we can do it?"
"We have done impossible things before. This is just one more." He kissed me. Soft. Gentle. "Rest. Tomorrow we start rebuilding. Tonight we just exist."
We went to bed. Two people who kept surviving. Who kept fighting. Who refused to quit.
And somewhere in the space between timelines. In the moments not yet born. Nyx was fighting too. Fighting to return. To be born. To finish what she started.
We just had to survive long enough to meet her.
Sixteen months. Just sixteen more months.
We could do that. We had survived worse.
Or so I thought.
Because the next morning brought news that changed everything.
"Your Majesty," Lyra burst in. "We have a problem. A major one."
"What now?"
"The timeline. It is collapsing faster than predicted. Arianna's calculations were wrong." She threw down papers. "She says we have six months. Maybe eight. Before reality completely falls apart. Before Nyx cannot be born because there is no stable timeline to be born into."
My blood froze. "That is before she is due. Before she can be born naturally."
"I know. Which means we need to find a way to accelerate her birth. Or find a way to stabilize the timeline. Or—"
"Or we lose everything." I looked at Kael. "We need Arianna. Now. We need to figure this out. Because I did not fight this hard to lose her again."
"Then we fight harder," he said. "We do whatever it takes. Whatever it costs. We make sure she gets born. We make sure our daughter comes back."
"Whatever it costs," I agreed.
But as I said it. As I promised. I felt the weight of those words.
Because nothing came free in our world. Everything had a price. Every win required sacrifice.
And I was terrified of what saving Nyx would cost us this time.