Published at 21st of February 2026 8:31 pm

Chapter 19 Predicament

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The interrogation room was surprisingly spacious and well decorated. A copy of the letter sat on the table. A man wearing the pauldrons and striped tabard of a captain was reading a copy of another of the identical letters.

Captain Mandez? Here she is, one of the guards escorting her said.

Hm? Good. Have a seat, Mirian.

Mirian sat. Captain Mandez was silent as the other guard left and shut the door behind them. She heard it lock and expected Mandez to start interrogating her, but he was silent. She looked around the room. There was a nice vase in the style favored by Palendurio artisans, and the two glyph lights illuminating the room were of the latest design. The table was a nice polished oak, and the carpet an import from Akana Praediar. It had the sparse, simple designs they favored. Mirian thought it was ugly. She much preferred the complex geometric designs of the carpets out in east Baracuel.

Captain Mandez set the letter down and looked calmly at Mirian. Mirians heart was beating out of control and her hands were trembling. Gods, how had she been so stupid? Of course there was a simpler explanation for predicted a murder than prophesy, and that was did the murder.

So, did you ever figure out who was breaking into all the Academy buildings? Mirian asked.

I dont know, the man said casually. Why dont you tell me?

Akana Praediar spies, she said.

Ah. Of course. The captain smiled at the letter in his hand that mentioned the Akanan attack in five days. Then he was quiet again.

Arent you supposed to ask me questions? she said.

Sure. What would you like me to ask you?

How about did you do it?

Did you kill Platus?

No.

Captain Mandez gave a sad smile again. I find that quite hard to believe. He sat there, staring at her again.

I dont actually have anything to hide. Ive never been to the room. Didnt interact with Platus except in the dueling room. I knew he would die because it happened last time, just like the attack happened last time. Probably, it was one of the spies that killed him because he knew something. If you act now and start evacuating Torrviol, call in the Baracuel Army, youll save thousands of lives. Maybe more, I dont know how it ends. But no witness or evidence will tie me to that room. The Gods gave me a prophecy. I dont know why, but I have to try to stop whats coming.

Captain Mandez lounged back in his chair. It was a nice, cushioned chair, dyed a rich blue. I have two witnesses who will testify they saw you enter the building in the morning.

Mirians heart raced. Thats a lie, she snapped.

Mandez leaned back farther and knocked on the door behind him. The guard entered. Did you see Mirian enter the Alchemistry building this morning?

Yes, sir, the guard said.

Very good. The guard closed the door. Mandez leaned forward. Thats the eye-witness testimony of a sworn officer of the kings justice. We both know you did it. Give me the details, sign a confession, and Ill tell the magistrate youre a sympathetic figure. Driven mad by something, I suppose, and after a few years of hard labor and treatment by the clerics for whatever ails that mind of yours, youll be able to live out the rest of your life. Not in peace, mind you, that guilty conscious will follow you wherever you go. But the alternative is execution.

It was supposed to scare Mirian. And it did. But it also made her angry. Officers of the law arent supposed to lie before a magistrate! When my letters went out, there was a reason I didnt give the guards one. Are you corrupt, or just incompetent and lazy!?

Mandez was unfazed by this outburst. How many of these letters did you write?

Mirian narrowed her eyes. And why would you care? That doesnt affect the case at all!

He gave a dramatic sigh and stood up. Oh, just idle curiosity. Well, when youre ready to tell the truth, let me know. Im going to go have lunch. He knocked on the door again. Throw her in the cell. Not gently.

I am telling the truth. You just cant handle it! Fucking incompetent bastards, if you were doing your job you would have caught the Akanan spies and prevented this disaster! As the guard dragged her down the corridor, Mirian shouted, The blood of the innocent is on your hands!

When the door was closed on her cellwhich was not nearly as nice, it contained a chamber pot, a cot, and a tiny barred windowMirian finally cried. Theyd searched her and confiscated all her thingsher notebook, her glyph pen, her writing supplies, even her coat!

She sat on the filthy cot and cried more, feeling sorry for herself. Shed ruined it all. Shed been given a second chance, and not only was the attack going to still kill everyone, if she did manage to escape, her reputation and career was going to be over. Shed be expelled from the Academy, her family would be disappointed, and Platus had died for nothing. And when the attack came, she wouldnt even have the spellrod shed designed just for that purpose! The Gods had wasted their time on her. Mirian punched the stone wall, which hurt a lot, and didnt really make her feel any better.

A few hours later, shed cried enough and was starting to get both bored and hungry. Hey, do prisoners get food and water, or are you also violating the kings decree on the fair treatment of the accused? she yelled through the door.

The answer, apparently, was yes. The door was solid oak, reinforced with metal bands and, she guessed, strengthening glyphs and wards on the other side. She used the chamber pot to pee, and instantly regretted it. The smell permeated the whole room, and the tiny window did nothing to alleviate it. Then, she spent some time thinking about how she had promised to teach Selesia again today and then go have dinner. Shed been looking forward to that. Now shed screwed that up. There was nothing to do and no one to talk to, so Mirian stewed in self-hatred for a bit before she tried to distract herself. She started passing the time by reciting magichemicals and their formula, then got bored of that and went through all the myrvites she knew and what special organs they had, then got bored of that and noticed it was getting dark.

Mirian pounded on the door again. Even prisoners get a meal and water! Kings decree! Even a child at primary school knows that!

Still no response. There wasnt even a blanket on the cot. This was Torrviol, not some frontier dungeon! What was wrong with these guards? They were just straight up violating the kings law.

The smell of piss may not have been able to escape the room, but the winter chill easily made its way in. Mirian didnt sleep at all, she just spent the night curled up on the nasty cot, shivering.

She was exhausted and miserable as the sky brightened, and she kept drifting off to sleep then immediately waking up wracked with cold, teeth chattering. And she was thirsty. Gods she was thirsty, she hadnt had anything to drink since the morning before her first class!

Finally, the door opened. A woman dressed in a thick red coat, decorated with gold embroidery, looked down at her. Captain Mandez, what in the five hells are you doing? she said, and it took Mirian a moment in her sleep-deprived haze, to realize she wasnt the one being yelled at.

Hm, must have been an oversight, he said.

It wasnt, Mirian whispered hoarsely. She wasnt sure if the womanclearly the magistrate of Torrviolhad heard her.

Shes a student of the Academy. We are not barbarians, Vicent. Does the kings law mean nothing to you?

It was an oversight, the captain said. Ill see its fixed. Even murderers get fair treatment, right?

The magistrates voice got cold. It will be my office that determines that. Do not overstep yourself. Are we clear?

Captain Mandez looke bored by the whole thing. Of course, your honor.

After that, Mirian got water, food, and a blanket, though she was sure theyd chosen the nastiest wool blanket they could find, and the stalest bread. She ate it all ravenously, then slept.

***

The days passed, and Mirian got increasingly more frustrated. Occasionally, one of the guards would stop by and ask her if she wanted to confess. None of it worked the way shed learned in secondary school. Investigators were supposed to get at the truth, not try to force confessions on people! Shed seen that one guard talking with the Akanan spy before she was sent back, and that first guard shed talked to hadnt reported the obviously suspicious thing up the chain. Now she had all the validation in the world that shed been right to trust her instincts. Was it really the entire Torrviol guard in on it? At least the magistrate wasnt also conspiring. Probably.

On Secondday, the day before the attack, Mirian went to her cell window. She clasped the barswhich were freezingand pulled herself up so she could see what was going on. People were just walking about like normal in the street she could see. She could just make out people fishing at the cleverly named Torrviol Lake, and a few people weeding the farm fields on the edge of town.

Mirian tried shouting at someone, but they didnt startle from the noise. When she looked closer, she found, to her dismay, there were tiny glyphs preventing the movement of sound through the open window. That was just needlessly cruel. Installing a glass pane was twice as cheap and then it would keep the room warmer! By then, her arms were trembling from the effort of holding herself up, so she dropped down.

The cell was, like most of the things in Torrviol, hundreds of years old. They hadnt bothered to wash the sheets on the cotsomething had been busy biting her in the night, and she itched fiercelybut that also meant theyd been too lazy to take proper care of the walls. Professor Holvatti would be so disappointed in them for ignoring natural erosion.

She found a place in the stone wall where the mortar was missing and cracks lined the stone. She smashed that corner with her boot until a piece chipped off the wall, then dragged her cot over so she could stand and reach the window. It didnt take much to break the key glyph in the sequence. All of a sudden, the sounds of the world poured into the cell. She was annoyed at herself for not realizing the sound-ward was in place sooner. No wonder no one had responded to her shouting.

Mirian started shouting. The Akanans attack tomorrow! Torrviol must be evacuated! She kept this up for some time before a guard finally entered the room and told her to shut up. Shed seen him before, though still didnt know his name. He was the taller, muscular man with a short, well trimmed beard. Shed seen him plenty of times on patrol, and now several times when her foodwell, slop, reallywas delivered.

Charge me with disturbing the peace, she said. Put me before the magistrate. Ill confess to that crime before her.

The guard slapped her in the face, hard, which send her stumbling back, clenching her jaw.

A fury rose in her. She clenched her jaw, then said, Fine. Tell Captain Mandez Ill confess to the murder if he puts me before the magistrate. Ill tell her and her only.

The guard didnt say anything, he just closed the door and left.

Mirian went back to screaming at passersby, only she added in that the guards were corrupt and violating the kings justice decrees. After a few hours, shed screamed herself hoarse and sat back on her cot, thinking.

It was dark by the time the guard shed talked to entered her cell again. Will you shut up, he snapped.

Is the magistrate ready for me?

I havent talked to the magistrate, he said.

Its been four and a half days, and I havent even been properly interviewed. Produce any evidence that I

Shut up, the guard said again, and raised his hand threateningly.

Mirian recoiled, but then said, Wheres Captain Mandez?

The guard didnt say anything. Something was bothering him.

There was exactly one piece of evidence even tying her to Platus. Wheres the letters I wrote?

The guard still didnt say anything, but by the muscles twitching in his face and the way he glared at her, she knew that had something to do with it.

A realization struck her. He ran, didnt he? Mirian suddenly wondered if Nicolus knew. That was twice now he vanished without a trace. Nicolus was well connected. Had other well-connected people started fleeing? She said, I recognize you. You patrol between the station and the market. You watch the train depart. How many other people have run?

There was a silence as the man ground his teeth. Then he said, Word is the Baracuel Army is on its way. The train has been commandeered for that purpose. No one is leaving town anymore.

Finally! After all this time, she was vindicated. You have to order the evacuation of Torrviol. Get people moving south along the cart path. Theres still time.

I dont have that authority.

No one with any authority has done shit, Mirian spat. The governor, the commander of Fort Aegrimere, the Archmage, the professors, no one. You think theyll start now? Tell the magistrate what you know. Tell the mayor.

The other guards look, I trust the captain, the guard said. They want to wait for his word.

Whats your name? she asked. The conversation had turned weird. It was like the guard was looking for permission from her to act.

Roland, he said. Look, the captains last order was that you stay locked up. Ill talk to the other guards. Give us give me a few more hours.

Baracuel needs you, she said. After he closed the door again she muttered, Ill just wait here then, shall I? Prophets, I wish theyd change out the chamber pot.

Eventually, she slept. She woke with a start. There was some sort of commotion outside the jail. She raised herself up to see, but dawn had only just started to lighten the sky, and everyone was wearing cloaks to ward away the chill of the winter morning.

The door suddenly burst open. The guardRoland, Mirian rememberedsaid, Youre free. He looked scared. He shoved a wrapped bundle at her that included her cloak and other things, then left the door open.

The jail and the adjoining guard headquarters were deserted. Everyone, it turned out, was outside.

Mirian! she heard someone say.

When she turned, it was Lily. Next to her were Selesia and Xipuatl.

Gods its good to see you all, she said.

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