‘There isanother witness.’ argued Miranda ‘I left one alive so that shecould reveal the truth as to what happened.’
‘All bodieshave been accounted for, My Lord.’ replied one of theCouncillors.
‘That is a lie.Ask Quab. I left the witness in his care.’ shouted Miranda.
‘Gag her.’ordered the High Druid. ‘She has been warned.’
Two of thedruids acting as guards stepped forward, bound her arms to thechair and gagged her. Curbut was then asked to tell the committeewhat had happened.
‘We arrivedoutside the sanctuary at Twin Towers and entered. The criminalAquitain, the druid Miranda and the druid Quab were in adiscussion. Druid Holsten, the leader of the retrieval missionaddressed druid Quab and told him that the Council requested thecriminal be taken into custody. Would he please escort the villainoutside the sanctuary?’
‘The villainstated that he would not accompany us anywhere and cast a powerinjuring several druids. The druids prayed briefly to The Lady forforgiveness and tried to overpower the villain without using undueforce, however, the villain used some vile power that incapacitatedmany of the less experienced druids. The more experienced onesresisted the effect and attempted to incapacitate the villain.’
‘The druidMiranda first ran from the fight like a coward then returnedcasting a malevolent power that seemed to be clerical in naturerevealing that she is no longer a servant of The Lady but apriestess of some disgusting god. This divine power paralysed allthe druids present. Fortunately for me I was able to resist it andwent invisible.’
‘I then saw herand her friend the druid Quab butcher all the paralysed druids. Shethen prayed to her obscene god to heal her lover. That god answeredher prayer covered the sky with cloud so The Lady would not witnessthe depraved massacre and stole the spirits of the druids thatdruids Miranda and Quab had murdered.’
‘She thenescaped with the villain hiding him somewhere and went to visit hermother. I believe that even her mother has disowned her as she hasbecome obsessed with the villain fornicating openly on the beachesaround Twin Towers with the creature in defiance of councilregulations, in breach of her vows of refraining from bestialityand turning her back on The Lady.’
‘That will beenough.’ said the High Druid and ordered her gag to be removed.
‘Would you nowtell us your version of what happened?’
Miranda quicklygathered her wits. They were going to find her guilty and executeher before anyone could help. If she could only drag it out alittle, cast doubt on Curbut she might be able to survive longenough for someone to realize what was happening.
‘I wish toclaim diplomatic immunity. I am the Princess of Argenta. You cannotput me on trial for anything. Could you please notify the Queen ofArgenta.’
‘Not a chance.’said the High Druid. ‘Your request is refused. You have committedheinous crimes in Mudrun. You are employed by the Council and assuch are liable to Council rules. Do you wish to give evidence inyour defence or shall we consider your fate based upon the evidenceof the witness.’
‘All right, forthe benefit of the remaining three councillors of the old Council,I will tell you what happened.’
‘Aquitain thebear and I visited Quab’s sanctuary to discuss the strangehappenings all around Mudrun.’
‘So you admitboth being in the sanctuary and accompanying the villain.’ statedthe High Druid forcefully.
‘You allowedwizard Curbut to tell his story without interruption. May I do soas well?’ snapped Miranda sarcastically.
‘I willinterrupt any time I believe it necessary to ensure the truth comesout.’ replied the High Druid. ‘Now answer my question!’
‘Yes I was inthe sanctuary with Aquitain who has committed no crimes inMudrun.’
‘The villain isnot on trial here yet. You are! So please keep your comments to thepoint. Continue!’
‘The druidstook down Quab’s wards and invaded the sanctuary demandingAquitain’s surrender but you could tell they wanted to killhim.’
‘They actuallysaid they were there to kill him?’ asked one of theCouncillors.
‘No they didnot say that but all their weapons were covered in blue fire andthey were itching to use them. I ran to get help and they attackedhim. He had no chance to surrender. Wizard Curbut shouted to killhim.’
‘You’resuggesting that the druids were using divine fire of the lawfultype. In other words they had lost their neutrality and had takenup with some other god. Is that likely Councillor Pandan? You knewmany of the druids in the party sent to retrieve the villain.’
‘No. My Lord.They were all devoted to The Lady and would never defect to someother god. That is obviously a lie.’
‘So whathappened next, did you use some weapon given to you by this new godof yours to incapacitate all the druids present?’ asked the HighDruid.
Miranda was ina bind here. They wanted her to say that Quab and Featherdown wereinvolved so that they could put them on trial as well.
‘No. I am andalways will be a fervent follower of The Lady. Aquitain had anobject containing a power that could paralyse a group of people soI flew to his workshop retrieved the item and returned. I used iton the group as they were desecrating his body.’
‘And then youmurdered them all.’ said the High Druid.
‘No. I executedthem for desecrating the peace of the sanctuary as is proscribed inour law.’ she replied defiantly.
‘So in shortthey tried to capture your lover and he was killed in the struggleso you killed them all and after that you prayed to your new god toresurrect him.’
‘No I asked TheLady to resurrect him and she agreed. The Lady knows both he and Iare not guilty of your charges. Aquitain is alive and when he hearsyou captured me he will come here to find me. I would caution youall to tread carefully. He will not react kindly if I ammistreated. Nor will my mother.’
‘Gag her.’called the High Druid.
‘Well I haveheard enough.’ said the High Druid. ‘I would say she is guilty assin itself. She has broken countless druid laws. She has associatedwith a wanted criminal and ruthlessly killed her fellow druids in asanctuary devoted to The Lady. She even has the audacity tothreaten members of this council. I find her guilty as charged butI will wait
