Neither of these magnificent, awe-inspiring chairs was occupied now. The chairs the two judges sat in were more humble, plainer affairs of wicker covered in leather. In front of them stood a low table with a single object on it: a wooden spike, its blunt end splintered as if it had been broken off from something, and its point dark with dried blood.
Several men stood in the room and one woman kneeled.
Apart from a few thickset men who were obviously guards, most of those present were similar in appearance to Obsidian Tongue, and I supposed that they were either fellow lawyers of his — including, of course, whoever was presenting the charges against Lily — or officials connected with the court. The function of one such official was obvious from the screenfold book he had placed in front of him, which he was drawing in as he squatted on a reed mat beside one of the judges’ seats. In addition, besides having a scribe to record his orders, I knew that every judge had a bailiff to enforce them, a man with functions similar to those my brother carried out in Mexico in the course of his duties as executioner. I was wondering which of the stony-faced men around me might hold that office. I stopped wondering the moment I caught sight of the woman.
What I saw made me gasp in horror.
She kneeled on a reed mat, off to one side, close to the judges’ seats. I knew she must be Lily because this was her trial and she was the only woman I could see, but otherwise I would not have recognized her. Her hair fell loose, lank and tangled about her shoulders. Her face was pale and puffy and turned towards the floor, and her eyes were shut, as if she were comatose, or did not care to see what was around her. Then I looked at her fingers.
Her name broke spontaneously from my lips. ‘Lily!’ I took a step towards her, although she gave no sign of having heard me. Then a sharp tug at my elbow brought me up short.
‘You stay here!’ snapped Obsidian Tongue.
‘But her hands!’
The ends of her fingers were wrapped in bloodstained cloth. From here, it was impossible to see what had been done to them.
‘What have they done?’ I cried.
‘I don’t know,’ said the lawyer frankly, ‘but they’re only likely to do worse if you don’t come back here and listen to me! We haven’t much time.’
I turned and looked at him, noticing for the first time the strain that showed in the shadows under his eyes and his sunken cheeks. He looked as if he had not slept in a while.
‘All right,’ I said, ‘but look, Obsidian Tongue, there’s something I want to say first, about me running away and that argument we had the other day, in front of the palace…’
‘Forget it,’ he said stiffly.
I stared at him. ‘Forget it? I thought you were going to kill me! I didn’t expect to see you here, let alone…’
He gave a short, harsh laugh. ‘You mean, you thought because I was pissed off with you I wouldn’t do my best to defend my client?’
‘Well, yes. I mean, that’s what Kindly thought too!’
The lawyer looked disgusted. ‘You don’t understand, do you?’ he said. ‘I may think the whole lot of you are a heap of worthless Aztec shit, but that doesn’t alter the fact that I have been instructed to defend Lily, and that’s what I’m here to do. Kindly ought to know that. Why else is he paying me eighty large cloaks?’
I heaved a sigh. ‘All right. Sorry, I mean, thanks…’
‘Now can we get on with this? The judges will be back in a moment. I’d better tell you what’s happened so far. Then you’ll know why your evidence is so important all of a sudden.’
‘Can’t I talk to Lily?’ I asked, looking longingly in her direction.
He jerked my arm again to get my attention. ‘No! Now listen! You know how hopeless this case has been from the beginning.’
‘I don’t see why,’ I said sulkily. ‘It’s not as if they can prove Lily killed anybody.’
‘They don’t have to prove she did anything,’ the lawyer said with the exasperated air of someone trying to explain why it was impossible to carry water in a wicker basket. ‘It’s the other way around. Lily has to prove she didn’t do what she’s accused of. Killing’s the least of it. I told you that before. Don’t forget that if there’s any question about the verdict in this sort of case, it’ll be for the King to resolve it.’
I knew what he meant. Kings tend not to give the benefit of the doubt to those accused of plotting against them. ‘So it’s hopeless, then,’ I said quietly. ‘If they’re going to say she was helping to convey secret messages, we can’t very well deny it!’ To my surprise, the lawyer smiled. It was a very thin smile, formed of tightly compressed lips curled up almost imperceptibly at the corners, but clearly something I had said amused him.
Not quite hopeless,’ he murmured. ‘You see, the prosecution case is in a mess.’
‘Why?’ I said, surprised. ‘They’ve got Hunter and Rattlesnake, the men who arrested her, as witnesses. They saw her talking to Mother of Light and found her with that spike. And then, I’m sure… Oh…’ My voice tailed off as I thought about what I was saying.
Rattlesnake and Hunter were, I suddenly recalled, in no position to testify about anything. I knew for certain that one of them was lying cold and lifeless in Hare’s courtyard and was fairly sure the other was still on the roof of the merchant’s house with a dart sticking out of him.
‘The prosecutor said at the start of the hearing that he was going to call those two to
