The clerk went through all the charges against Ceerah, including the aliases she used. "Now, Ms. Kade, how do you answer these charges," the magistrate asked.
"I am not guilty," she said. "I was insane at the time and not in proper control of my faculties."
"But you are not insane now?"
"Yes. I am still insane."
"Has a mental evaluation been performed?" the magistrate asked. A clerk brought a comp-vid forward and offered it to him. The magistrate scrolled through the information for a short time.
"It says here that you are competent, Ms. Kade. Now, are you still insane? Remember, the truthfulness of your statements here will be considered when you answer questions later. Bear in mind that you took—and passed—a mental evaluation when you began working for Doctor Halivar. He would not have hired you otherwise, and those records have been provided to this court." He held up the comp-vid.
Ceerah conferred with her counsel for a moment and then said, "I was only insane after I began working at the clinic."
"And those are the least of the charges I see against you," the magistrate observed. "Very well, we will proceed with this hearing."
Ceerah's defense was very weak. All she could do was deny that the fingerprints were hers and insist that the vid-images had been altered—most on unalterable chips recorded by the constabulary or certified businesses. She'd once sold drakus seed to an undercover constable, who identified her from photographs. She'd managed to escape, however, when he attempted to arrest her.
After lunch, several people were brought in, all of whom testified that they'd purchased various prescription medications from Ceerah while she'd worked for Kevis. Many patients in the facility had gotten placebos or sugar pills instead of the proper medication as a result. Kevis was seething beside me at the magnitude of her duplicity. A midafternoon break was allowed, then the magistrate went after it again. I was hoping I could stay awake. Hearings often went far into the night, with a short sleep break before continuing the next day. Some could go on for weeks. I was hoping that wasn't going to happen with Ceerah. I just wanted her to go away. For a very long time.
"How are you feeling?" Kevis asked as we walked out of the Courts and Hearings building into a muggy, Refizani night. We were in the capital city of Ordinandis, which was near a river and the ocean.
"Tired," I said.
"I know," Aurelius said sympathetically, taking my hand and kissing it. "We have a suite of rooms nearby. Edward and some of the others have to go back, but Lok, Lendill, Kevis and I will be here with you throughout."
"Let's get something to eat," Kevis suggested. "I know a good restaurant not far away." We were led to a circular booth in a quiet area, comp-menus were handed out and I looked it over.
"What are you having?" Kevis leaned over to look at my menu.
"I don't know. Steak or prime rib sounds good, but I don't know how they cook it here."
"Go ahead and get it, we'll send it back if it isn't good."
"We shouldn't have to send anything back," I pointed out.
"Come on, you're tired. We'll get food and then put you to bed."
The prime rib was decent. I ate half of it; Lok helped himself to what was left. Bed was next, and Aurelius slept with me. "Reah," he said, pulling me close, "we'll take some time, very soon. Just us, all right? We'll find a place where we won't be bothered and we'll do whatever we want."
"That sounds nice, Auri." I snuggled into his embrace and closed my eyes.
* * *
The hearing resumed the following morning, and Ceerah was preparing to answer questions when something happened. Later we learned that it was a planned event from two factions on Tulgalan, Ceerah's homeworld. Yes, she and I had that in common. Little else as it turned out, but then Tulgalan was home to around four-hundred-million or so. It was a large planet. These two factions had worked just to the legal side of the law since drakus seed had found its way there a quarter of a century earlier. They saw Ceerah as the worst kind of traitor.
Both groups were prepared to not only kill her, but destroy that section of the Courts and Hearing building as well, in addition to anyone inside that chamber. We were knocked around from the explosion that came; Aurelius and Lok managed to protect the ones in the public seating. The roof caved in and fire whooshed through. It happened so quickly to those watching from outside, so slowly for those inside. Instinct took over for me.
Turning to my larger Thifilatha, I gathered everyone in the hearing area, wrapped them in my arms and shielded them with my wings. I'm afraid I may have squashed some, but they were alive when I walked through the fire and out to the street. No fire will ever harm a High Demon; it's the way Kifirin made us. Setting the people down I'd rescued, I watched calmly as Ceerah was held back by the two bailiffs I'd saved.
The magistrate stared up at me, as did Kevis. Lendill had protected Norian with whatever power he held as the Elvish Prince-Heir. Both of them proceeded to herd people toward the perimeter surrounding us. Aurelius and Lok brought out the ones from the public section of the hearing chamber, which was being sprayed by robo-hoses. All of them were drenched but still alive.
* * *
"The hearing will resume tomorrow in an undisclosed location," the journalist reported as I watched the news later at our hotel. "Both antidrug factions from Tulgalan have claimed responsibility, although they seem disappointed that Ceerah Kade did not die in the attack."
"They didn't care that others might have died," Lendill tossed the vid-remote onto the bed and paced angrily. The images of me, carrying an armload of people out of the building and setting them down was getting more airtime than anything else, though. The sun was shining through my wings, making them glow.
"Reah, you look as if you're protecting children," Norian sighed as we watched yet another vid-version of my larger Thifilatha.
"I was afraid they'd get hurt," I said, shaking my head at the images that splayed across the screen. "Humanoids aren't fire resistant."
"The Governor of the Realm has invited you to his palace after the trial," Kevis walked in and handed over an expensive, paper invitation.
"I guess there's no way to gracefully refuse that, is there?" I flopped back on the bed.
"No, breah-mul, but Norian and I will come with you. You don't have to talk much if you don't want to." Lendill sat beside me and gently rubbed Garwin Wyatt. "And we've had to provide extra security for Ceerah Kade and her legal counsel, in addition to sending agents out to track the ones who did this."