The Unblessed Dead Read online

  “That’s a lie! You spoke to him!” Prudence protests. “He told me!”

  Careful, Ilyse.

  “Only to tell him to not speak to me! It was a moment of weakness. I was afraid of the Unblessed attacking our walls and fear loosened my tongue.” I unleash the tears that have been threatening to fall since I arrived in the room, and turn to face my father. I hate that I’m willing to use my tears to sway him. “I’m so sorry, Father! I never meant to sin against the Lost Texts.”

  My father reaches out to take my hands. “Ilyse, you did sin and it has brought us to this moment. I’m disappointed but it is important that you fully confess to the Elders.”

  I nod and slide from my chair in obedience. Quade continues to linger nearby, having placed himself between Prudence and me. He regards the proceedings with apprehension, his fingers lightly stroking the golden scruff on his chin.

  I have to do this, Quade or they’ll suspect me of even greater sins.

  Kneeling in front of the two Elders, I bow my head. “I confess my sin before the Elders of the Lost Texts. I spoke to a man who is not my father, brother, husband, or leader of my faith.”

  Elder Johan replies, “Detail your sin and seek forgiveness.”

  “I was approached by a man and he spoke to me. Instead of walking away to inform my father, I indulged in the sin of pride, believing I could rebuff him with silence. When he persisted, I gave into the sin of anger and told him to cease speaking to me.”

  Those are pretty lame sins in my opinion.

  “Was this the only time you spoke to Bale?” Elder Alvus asks.

  I nod. “Yes, this was the only time I spoke to him.”

  “Was there any other form of communication with him? Did you send messages through his sister?” Elder Johan looms over me, his shadow blotting out the light overhead.

  Tears trickle along my cheeks. “I never sent him messages through Prudence or anyone else.”

  “Is this true, Prudence?” Elder Johan directs his attention toward my former friend.

  Prudence clenches her hands into fists on her lap while staring at me with unbridled hatred.

  If she lies, stay calm.

  “Prudence, did Ilyse send messages through you to your brother?” Elder Johan slowly walks toward her, his robe flaring out about him. He reminds me of a hawk swooping down on prey.

  “She never rebuffed me when I delivered the messages from Bale. Ilyse always listened, clearly intrigued,” Prudence answers at last. “Especially when I told her about the illicit things happening in the cemetery. I could see she wanted to meet with him even though she pretended to deny him.”

  “And you told your brother that?” My father sounds furious. I’m not certain who the target of that anger is.

  Prudence nods. “Yes.”

  “If you follow the Lost Texts, why would you encourage both your brother and friend to sin?” Elder Alvus’s query is pointed and his harsh glare frightens me.

  Lips trembling, Prudence swallows nervously. All eyes rest on her for she’s condemning herself as much as me.

  “Did she encourage you to sin with her brother?” my father asks me.

  Don’t lie, Ilyse. Tell the truth.

  She’s my friend, Quade.

  Not anymore. She’s trying to hang you.

  I am guilty.

  You defended yourself. Don’t throw your life away for a serial rapist.

  “Ilyse, if you are truly humble and pious, you must answer your father’s question in a spirit of truthfulness. The Three Gods demand it,” Elder Alvus says to me.

  With a weary sigh, I nod. “Yes, she encouraged me to meet with her brother. I refused. I did not want to go against the gods and defy the Lost Texts. I aspire to honor my family and adhere to my faith. I wish to be Pious Standing in all ways.”

  Elder Johan moves to stand in front of my sister. “Carrie, did Ilyse ever sway from the path of the Pious?”

  “Never,” Carrie lies without hesitation. I marvel at how convincingly she projects innocence and honesty. “My sister is plain, humble, and pious. I aspire to follow in her footsteps.”

  “Did Ilyse at any time leave your house at night?” Elder Alvus stands with his arms folded over his scrawny chest. He frightens me more than Johan for his gaze implies that we are guilty and he knows it.

  “Never.”

  “How can you be certain?” Elder Johan asks.

  “Ilyse snores. She wakes me up,” Carrie answers. “If she attempted to sneak out, I would hear her moving about. I’m a very light sleeper.”

  “That is all true,” my father interjects. “Ilyse does snore and Carrie awakens at a pin drop.”

  Elder Johan tilts his head to regard all of us one by one before turning to face my sister. “Carrie, on the Lost Texts, do you swear that your sister remained in her bed all night?”

  Carrie doesn’t hesitate. “I do.”

  “She’s lying!” Prudence shouts. “Bale told me he saw both of them near the Perdition Sanctuary a few nights ago after midnight! He was returning home from his late shift when he saw them holding control poles and looking through the observation window at the Beloved Dead. He followed to see what they were doing, and saw them reenter their house.”

  I’m glad that I’m on my knees with my head bowed, otherwise my expression may have revealed my guilt. I swiftly rein in my fear and hope that Carrie managed to retain her composure.

  Damn! She’s trying hard to hang you.

  Carrie’s laughter startles me and I raise my head.

  “Carrie?” My father regards her with uncertainty.

  “Can’t you see how desperate Prudence is to lay her brother’s sins at my sister’s feet? She won’t accept that he was lecherous. He pursued Ilyse and she ignored him even when he openly defied the Lost Texts to engage with her. Yes, she slipped, but I almost told him to shut up myself! He was so persistent!” Carrie confronts the two Elders without a shred of fear in her countenance. “My sister is being falsely accused. Can’t you see that by Prudence’s own words she’s revealed her brother to be a cancer in our midst?”

  “No! You are! You’re both necromancers! Everyone knows what you mother was! What you are! What were you doing with the control poles? Is that how you got my brother into the Perdition Sanctuary?”

  “We don’t possess control poles,” Carrie retorts.

  “Bale saw you!”

  My heart beats ever faster in my chest.

  “Have their room searched,” Elder Johan instructs Elder Alvus. “Oversee the search yourself.”

  “Understood.” Elder Alvus immediately departs, the door shutting behind him.

  Panic fills me. If they find the control poles hidden in the frames of our beds, Carrie and I will both be found guilty. Carrie appears completely unbothered by the order to search our room.

  “Can’t you see what happened?” Prudence leaps to her feet and darts past Carrie to stare up at Elder Johan. “They’re necromancers! They killed my brother for seeing them that night.”

  “I thought your allegation was that Ilyse killed your brother to cover their illicit tryst in my cemetery,” Quade says.

  Prudence frowns at him. “You have no say here. You’re not one of us!”

  Quade shrugs dismissively. “No, I’m not, but I know you’re trying your best to condemn Ilyse when you know your brother was engaged in all manner of sinning. I’m no fool. I saw the way he looked at your friend. I was in the shop with them during the attack of the-what do you call them?-the Unblessed. I’m from The Enclave where men are much more open with their interest in women and I know all the moves. Hell, I’ve used them myself. She shot him down and ignored him. If your brother ended up in the Perdition Sanctuary, it was most likely due to his own misdeeds.”

  “Master Reed, are you certain you didn’t see or hear anything unusual outside your home last night?” Elder Johan steps toward Quade so he can meet him eye to eye. “It’s vital that you do not lie to us.”

  Quade d
oesn’t waver when he says, “I saw and heard nothing unusual.”

  “What more do you need to hear?” my father dares to ask. “It seems Bale had many secrets and one of those may have been his undoing. Prudence is a distraught child attempting to lay blame on someone other than her brother. Her family has been disgraced in the past and nearly exiled. She’s trying to protect her family’s honor.”

  At some point the Wescott family had a scandal that lowered their standing in the community. I’ve only heard rumors about what they’d done wrong, but didn’t know they’d been close to being evicted from the settlement. Is this why Prudence was my friend? Maybe the other girls had rejected her and I hadn’t noticed since I was wrapped up in my own problems.

  “His daughters are evil! They’re necromancers and their father is trying to cover for them! Ilyse met with my brother, seduced him and killed him! Then she used her necromancer powers to put him in the Perdition Sanctuary!”

  “I thought you said she used a control pole?” Quade arches an eyebrow at Prudence.

  Prudence sputters with indignation before lunging toward me. Clutching my arm, she hoists me to my feet. Spittle striking my face, she screams, “Tell them what you did! Tell them what you are!”

  The stricken look upon her face reminds me far too much of her brother’s before he was dragged beneath the earth. A confession lingers on the tip of my tongue. k12

  Don’t, Ilyse.

  I killed him, Quade.

  He forced you to defend yourself.

  “I’m sorry your brother died but I never went to see him. I had no interest in him,” I answer. I’m relieved that it’s the truth.

  Prudence slaps me so hard, my teeth tear open the inside of my mouth.

  Quade doesn’t hesitate to pick her up and haul her away from me. My father and Elder Johan don’t attempt to stop him. With a sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach, I understand why. Prudence has lost all her standing.

  Elder Johan opens the door to the hallway and gestures the two waiting wardens inside. Witt and another young man enter. I wonder if Strom is with Elder Alvus searching mine and Carrie’s room.

  “Warden Witt, please escort Prudence to the House of the Unclaimed. Please send four more guards as you depart.”

  The wardens immediately claim Prudence from Quade. Startled, she struggles against them. My former friend is so distraught she doesn’t realize that she’s sacrificed her own future in her attempt to end mine. Her cries when they drag her from the room will remain with me forever.

  “What of my daughters?” My father attempts to remain calm, but his colorless face and strained voice betray his fear.

  “We have no choice, Harris. The accusation is made. They must be tested.”

  My heart races as Carrie gasps.

  My father shakes his head. “Ilyse was tested before and found innocent.”

  “But she’s been accused again. We cannot falter, Harris.”

  “What do you mean ‘tested?’’ Quade asks. “They clearly didn’t do anything wrong. That girl’s distress was misdirected.”

  “I recognize you are a newcomer here, Master Reed, so I will excuse your breaches of decorum,” Elder Johan says. “Necromancy is a mortal sin and these two young women have been accused of it. We have no choice but to test them.”

  “Test how? I don’t get it.”

  “It’s the Necromancer Trial. They’ll have to face the Unblessed Dead. If they are necromancers, their powers will be discovered. If they are innocent, that will also be revealed. The Council of Crats has spoken.”

  Carrie stretches her hand to me and I clasp it tightly.

  I will once again have to stand on a platform surrounded by the Unblessed Dead. Will they howl for my blood this time? Or will they reveal me to be a necromancer?

  Chapter 11

  Courtyard of the Accused

  The scene before me is frightening in its familiarity. Stripped of our bonnets and capes, I stand with Carrie in the center of the Courtyard of the Accused. The sun is starting to set, but the flagstones are warm under our feet. The air is still and humid, and my shoulders twitch as sweat runs from my scalp down my neck.

  The Council of Crats stands in a semi-circle to our left, grouped by their guild colors. The trade emblem stitched onto their shoulders is the sole decoration on their long capes. My father stands apart from them with my aunt in the area designated for the family of the accused. The Elders, the oldest and most powerful of all the Crats, loom over us on the dais set over the heavy iron doors leading to the testing room.

  Trembling, I stare at the entrance with dread. I remember all too well the horrors I endured on the other side of those doors. I wish Carrie didn’t have to endure the Necromancer Trial, but I’m helpless to protect her. Is this how Angelina had felt about me when we’d been forced to walk to the Courtyard of the Accused? My older sister had held my hand, told me to be strong, and dried my tears with the sleeve of her dress when I’d been frightened by the angry faces of the public.

  Much to my relief, the tradition of parading the accused through the streets was eliminated after one woman was trampled when her family attempted to rescue her. I’m glad that Carrie has been spared that humiliation. Instead, we were taken by a covered horse-drawn cart from the council building to where trials for crimes take place. Usually the public is allowed to observe, but since we’re not formally on trial, the stands are empty. If we fail the test, those risers will be packed with people wanting to see the necromancers on trial.

  I listen to Elder Alvus read Prudence’s official accusation with my heart thudding so loud in my ears I can barely hear it. My mouth and throat are parched, so I swallow continuously trying to moisten them. I don’t raise my eyes to watch Elder Alvus as he drones on, but instead stare at the doors that will open in a few scant minutes.

  What will happen when I face the Unblessed if I really am a full-blown necromancer? What if I’m something else, like Quade, and the Unblessed attempt to drag me off the platform again? Will the wardens save me since I’m accused of murder?

  “This is ridiculous,” Carrie mutters.

  We stand alone in the center of the courtyard and no one is close enough to hear us. “I know.”

  “If they eat us, will that prove we’re innocent?”

  “I guess so.”

  “Like I said. Ridiculous.”

  I remember Angelina said something similar when we stood side by side years ago. Chin thrust out, her long blond hair whipping about her head like serpents, she’d glared at the Elder reading the accusation against us. Out of the three sisters, only she had inherited our father’s curly locks, and they had always made her appear a bit wild. She’d openly mocked the accusation against her, resisted entering the testing ground, and screamed at the Crats that they were unjust. After she’d passed the test, she’d been declared Unclaimed due to her outburst. She’d gone over the wall soon after.

  “I could tell them I’m the necromancer so they’ll let you go, Carrie.” The thought has been on my mind since we were told we must face the Necromancer Trial. I don’t want to die, but I’m not innocent and Carrie is.

  Carrie glowers at me, her lowered voice harsh when she speaks. “If you do, then I will confess, too. This isn’t your fault. Besides, we both know they’ll make me do this in the future because of our mother. Someone will accuse me one day. Might as well get it over with now. It won’t be so bad, since you’ll be with me.”

  “Carrie, it’s awful. You know what happened to me.”

  White scars crisscross my feet and ankles where the Unblessed grabbed me, shredding my skin.

  “We’re in this together,” my little sister answers, taking my hand.

  I sigh with surrender. Carrie is not easily deterred. In that regard, she reminds me of Angelina. I don’t have their rebellious spirit and strong resolve. All my life I’ve tried to obey the Lost Texts and only faltered when I realized I might be a necromancer. If not for the Beloved Dead appearing in t
he garden, I would be preparing for a humble life as the wife of a Crat.

  “Do any gathered here have reason why these accusations should be dismissed?” Elder Johan calls out.

  “I do,” my father says, stepping forward. “The accusations leveled at my daughters have been found to be untrue. Master Quade Reed testified he did not see my daughter or Bale in the cemetery or near his home. My youngest daughter vouches for the whereabouts of her sister last night. A thorough investigation of the girls’ room did not turn up the control poles the accuser claimed they were seen wielding. There isn’t any evidence to connect my daughters to the death of Bale Wescott. Just the accusations of his sister who has been declared Unclaimed due to her deception and illicit behavior! Both of my daughters are of Pious Standing.”

  I glanced toward Carrie, confused. How had they missed the control poles we had hidden in the frames of our beds? Then I remember how flushed she’d looked before breakfast. The slight upturn of her lips says it all. She’d taken the time to dispose of them before she joined us at the table. My sister is better at being sneaky than I am.

  The Elders don’t even discuss my father’s points.

  Elder Johan dismisses his words with a flick of his hand. “Your protest has been heard and considered, Harris, but the accusation of necromancy has been made and cannot be disregarded. Your family has harbored a necromancer in the past and we cannot ignore that fact.”

  “My family atoned for that sin and has lived in obedience to the Lost Texts. We’ve been faithful in all ways.” The raw anger in my father’s tone and manner is shocking. Even when my mother, Angelina, and I endured the test before, he hadn’t protested with such vehemence.

  “And once your daughters pass the test, your family can continue its service to the Lost Texts,” Elder Johan answers. “And if they fail, your remaining family will once again atone.”

  “This isn’t right! To do this to my daughters because of the accusation of a duplicitous, ill-behaved-”

  “This is your burden to bear, Harris, given to you by the Three Gods,” another Elder says. “Do not falter. Offer up your daughters for judgment as any man of piety would.”