Chapter 36 Surrender

Chapter 36 Surrender
Sienna's POV

The ancient moon witch stared down at me from her throne.

I wanted to spit at her feet, wanted to tell her exactly what I thought of traitors who sold out their own kind.

But the chains around my wrists burned and my daughter was somewhere in this building, scared and alone.

So I kept my mouth shut.

"You're wondering why I'm still alive," the judge said. Her voice carried across the courtroom without effort. "Why the Assembly didn't kill me with the rest."

I didn't answer.

"I made a choice," she continued. "When they came for us, when they hunted down every moon witch they could find, I chose survival over pride."

"You chose betrayal."

"I chose to live." She leaned forward. "Do you know how many moon witches existed before the purges?"

I shook my head.

"Thousands. Across every continent. We were powerful and we were everywhere." She paused. "Now there are three of us. You, your daughter, and me."

Three. Out of thousands.

The weight of that number settled in my chest.

"I didn't betray our kind," the judge said. "I saved what was left of it by teaching the Assembly that not all moon witches needed to die."

"Just most of them."

"Yes." She didn't flinch from the truth. "Most of them died because they refused to bend. They fought and they lost and they're gone."

"So you bent."

"I survived. There's a difference."

I looked around the courtroom at the hunters filling every seat, at the weapons and the chains and the hatred in their eyes.

"Where are the others?" I asked. "You said I could surrender with everyone. Where are they?"

"The males are being held as witnesses. They'll testify at your trial."

"And Lily?"

"Your daughter is in protective custody as I told you."

"I want to see her."

"You'll see her at the trial."

"I want to see her now!"

The judge raised one hand and the chains around my wrists tightened, burning hotter.

I screamed and fell to my knees.

"You are not in a position to make demands," she said calmly. "You surrendered yourself to our authority. That means you follow our rules."

The burning stopped but the pain lingered.

"What's your name?" I asked through gritted teeth.

"Judge Celeste Thorne. I've presided over this court for three hundred years."

Three hundred years of judging her own kind.

Three hundred years of sentencing moon witches to death.

"How many have you killed?" I asked.

"Seventeen." She said it without shame. "Seventeen moon witches who refused to submit, who threatened the fragile peace we'd built."

"Peace? You call this peace?"

"I call it survival. The alternative was extinction."

"The alternative was freedom."

"Freedom for how long? A year? A decade? Before the Assembly wiped us out completely?" Celeste stood. "I chose a future where moon witches could still exist, even if that existence meant serving rather than ruling."

"You chose slavery."

"I chose life."

We stared at each other and I saw something in her silver eyes that I hadn't expected.

Doubt.

She wasn't as certain as she pretended to be.

"You're questioning yourself," I said. "After three hundred years, you're finally wondering if you made the right choice."

"I wonder every day," Celeste admitted. "Every single day for three hundred years."

The confession hung in the air.

"Then change it," I said. "Stop this. Let us go. Let moon witches be free again."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because the moment I do, the Assembly will kill me and hunt down every moon witch who ever existed." She sat back down. "My survival bought time. But time for what? That's the question I can't answer."

"Time for me," I realized. "You've been waiting for someone like me."

"Someone powerful enough to change things. Someone who could fight where I couldn't." She looked at me with something that might have been hope. "Or someone who would prove I was right to choose submission."

A test. This entire trial was a test.

If I survived, she was wrong. If I died, she was right.

Either way, she'd finally have her answer.

"What happens now?" I asked.

"Now we begin the trial. You'll be charged with murder, destruction of property, and rebellion against supernatural law."

"And the sentence?"

"Death. The sentence is always death for moon witches who refuse to submit."

My stomach dropped. "Then why have a trial at all?"

"Because the Assembly requires the appearance of justice. They need witnesses to see that you were judged fairly before you're executed."

"That's not fair. That's theater."

"Yes." Celeste's face was stone. "But it's the only theater that keeps the remaining moon witches alive."

The doors behind me opened and guards dragged in Kael, Daemon, and Orion.

They were chained like me, though their bindings didn't glow with anti-magic.

"Sienna," Kael said when he saw me. He tried to move toward me but the guards held him back.

"I'm okay," I lied.

Daemon's face was hard. "Where's Lily?"

"Protective custody," I said. "They won't let me see her."

"That's illegal. She's a minor."

"We're fugitives. We don't have rights."

They placed Kael, Daemon, and Orion in a witness box off to the side, chained to posts.

Celeste watched them settle, then turned back to me.

"The trial will proceed as follows. The prosecution will present evidence of your crimes. Your witnesses will testify. You'll be given a chance to defend yourself."

"And then you'll kill me."

"And then the Assembly will decide your fate based on the evidence presented."

"You already said the sentence is death."

"I said it's always death. I didn't say it couldn't be changed."

A flicker of hope sparked in my chest, small and fragile.

Maybe this wasn't completely rigged. Maybe there was a chance.

Or maybe Celeste was just giving me false hope to make the execution easier.

"I want my daughter present," I said. "If I'm going to die, I want her to see me one last time."

"Denied. She's too young to witness an execution."

"She's already seen me kill people. I think she can handle a trial."

Celeste considered this. "I'll allow her to attend the trial. But not the execution, if it comes to that."

"It will come to that. You already decided."

"No." Celeste's eyes met mine. "The Assembly decided. Three hundred years ago when they wrote the laws I've been enforcing ever since."

"Laws you helped write."

"Yes." She didn't deny it. "Laws I helped write to save what was left of our kind."

"Did you save us or did you doom us?"

"That's what this trial will determine."

She raised her hand and a gong sounded, deep and resonant.

"Let the record show that on this day, Sienna Voss, moon witch and accused murderer, stands trial before the High Court of the Assembly." Celeste's voice rang out. "The charges are murder of Assembly guards, destruction of property, and rebellion against supernatural law."

She paused and looked directly at me.

"How do you plead?"

I could say guilty and accept death. Or I could say not guilty and fight for my life.

Either way, I had the feeling the outcome was already decided.

"Not guilty," I said.

Celeste nodded. "Let it be recorded. The defendant pleads not guilty."

She gestured and a door opened on the far side of the courtroom.

"Bring in the prosecution's first witness."

A figure walked through the door.

My blood turned to ice.

It was Vera.

Alive, free, and smiling like she'd already won.