When Leyla woke just after dawn, she found herself alone in bed. The fact that she hadn't felt Raphael move was testament to how deeply she had slept. I won't let anyone hurt you, so sleep comfortably. She must have truly believed his words to have allowed herself to be so defenceless. Leyla closed her eyes, thoughts of Raphael flooding her mind. 

His sad eyes, his warm kisses, the feeling of being in his arms...Bloody Diya, what was she doing? Yes, everything he said seemed to make sense and yes, she had lost track of the number of times he put himself in danger to save her, but... but what if it all ended up like before? What if she was misreading things like she had with Alec?

You make me weak; that was what Raphael said. But wasn't it reversed? He kept pushing at her, kept offering his hand, his warmth, his care until the walls that had protected her heart all these years were reduced to rubble. 

He made her weak. And weakness scared her.

Wanting to escape her conflicting thoughts, Leyla pushed out of bed and made use of the water and fresh clothes that had been left on a nearby set of drawers. She was tying the white sash on the flower embroidered dress when a strange humming beyond the windows caught her attention.

On most mornings, Leyla could hear the chirping of the birds that lived in the gardens of the minister's islands, but not today. She moved across the room and pulled aside the heavy curtains, surprised to find dozens of people gathering around a small platform in the garden below. 

The trial!

She had been so focused on Raphael, that she had forgotten about what happened to the guards! Now, as she remembered the attack, she also remembered the blood on her hands with a sense of growing unease. No, she had to stay calm. Raphael said there was nothing to worry about, so the perpetrator must have been caught.

Leyla watched as a group of cloaked alchemists joined the gathering below. Who exactly was it that stabbed the men last night? It would surprise her if there was anyone other than Annabelle who would go to such lengths to frame her.

The crowd below her parted to give Raphael and the Book Keeper space to pass. Adults bowed and youngsters rushed forward, making a respectful circle around their Prorex. Leyla could see a group of young girls giggling after they received a nod of acknowledgement from him, then they were moving aside so he could climb the steps to the platform. Leyla was following his progress across the stage when there was a sudden knock at the door. 

"Consort?" She recognised the voice of the servant in charge of Raphael's room. "The Prorex wanted me to make sure you had risen."

"I'm awake!" She crossed to the door and opened it.

"Ah, you are dressed!" The servant sounded relieved as he smiled. The two guards behind him gave her a short bow, then looked away. "If you are ready, Consort, would you follow us please?"

"Lead the way." Leyla followed them down to the front gardens where there was barely a place left to stand. The crystal dome's courtyard was now filled with people; men, women, even a few older children, newly arrived from the White Gardens, were in attendance. She recognised some of the ministers standing with their families, then looked up to the platform where Raphael and the Book Keeper were conversing. The guards stopped walking and pointed her up the steps.

Silence began to fall with each step she took, setting her hair on end. Things just didn't feel right. Why were the guards following her up the steps and where was Michael? Wasn't he always present at important meetings?

Once she reached the top step, the Book Keeper turned her way and motioned for her to stand to her the right. The woman's eyes lacked the warmth they normally carried and her mouth seemed tense. Sensing the presence of the guards behind her, Leyla looked to Raphael for some kind of explanation. He said nothing, but tipped his head ever so slightly as if to tell her it was alright.

By Tevvuk's Beard, it certainly didn't feel alright.

"Yesterday evening, two Light guards were attacked," The Book Keeper began. Her voice carried over the crowd, silencing the last of the rushed whispers. "While one guard was knocked unconscious, the other was stabbed with a knife. The guards in the observation towers beside the outer wall gates said they saw a woman fleeing the scene." She continued reciting the facts without inflection: "The only woman found anywhere near the scene was the Consort."

A murmur went around the garden and suspicious glances turned Leyla's way. Leyla kept her features relaxed, reminding herself that Raphael had told her not to worry. He might have kept the truth from her at times, but he had never lied to her. 

The Book Keeper took a slow breath and went on: "No one saw the attackers face, but when the unconscious guards woke after several hours of medical attention, one of them said this: 'I heard the attacker say "I'm sorry, this is my only chance to go back". These words were spoken in Warrior language."

Gasps were followed by condemning stares, but Leyla barely noticed. She watched Raphael's stiff back, her fingers curling with tension. He had told her not to worry, but what the injured guard claimed to have heard put the blame squarely on Leyla's shoulders! Who else, but the Warrior turned Consort would say such a thing and in the Warrior tongue no less? It was such an obvious ploy, but with no other suspects, she was an easy target.

Just wait a little longer. Raphael always has a plan, she reminded herself. 

Scanning the audience near the front of the stage, Leyla spotted a concerned looking Delphine before she found Annabelle standing beside her father. Although she had already been fairly certain that this whole thing was the doing of Raphael's mistress, the satisfied gloating on the woman's face confirmed it.

"Consort," the Book Keeper addressed her. "After much investigation, the council has found that there are no suspects other than yourself and there is substantial reason to believe you may have committed this crime." When the Book Keeper's voice shook on the last word, Leyla stiffened her spine, realising what was coming next. "After much deliberation the council of High Thinkers has found you guilty of attacking two Light guards."

Guilty. This was no trial, it was a sentencing and they had found her guilty. Feeling numb, Leyla listened to the rest without blinking.

"Together, the crimes of attacking a guard, using a weapon with ill intent and causing bodily harm, is punishable with fifty lashes and a month in solitary confinement. However, due to the lack of concrete evidence and the swift recovery of the victims, the council has decided to reduce the punishment to a lashing that will end at the first sight of blood."

Gasps echoed within the inner keep walls. The audience looked stricken, none of them having witnessed such violence before. Delphine had begun to cry, while Annabelle crossed her arms over her chest with a pleased look.

So this was how it was going to be.

Surprise and bitterness warred inside her, but Leyla pushed them both aside. She was under threat now, and her military training drove her bury her emotions and focus. 

People parted to make way for the tall guard approaching the platform. His face covered in a mask to make him unrecognisable, he was carrying a large whip with long lashes that swung to and fro as he walked.

The Book Keeper turned to her. "Is there anything you would like to say, Consort?"

Leyla looked from the impassive face of the Book Keeper to the unyielding stiffness of Raphael's body. He hadn't looked her way, not since she first came to stand on the podium.

Good. This was good. Now she knew where she stood with him and would have no regrets when she left. Her fingers dug into the palms of her hands as she fought the pain in her chest.

Why? Why did it feel like everything was on repeat? This was the second time she had gotten drugged and set up. The second time she had given her trust and been betrayed. And the second time she was to get publicly whipped. The writer of her fate must have run out of ideas.

"What is there to say?" Leyla turned to face the guard carrying the whip who was now only a few paces away. A laugh pushed past her taught lips, betraying her bitterness. "I have already told you I did not do it, but the council has decided not to believe me." She took a step closer to her torturer, turned her back to him and spread her feet to steady her stance. "So, let's get this over with."

More gasps followed her pronouncement and she could see that even Annabelle couldn't believe her attitude. The bitch probably wanted her to be crying and quivering with fear. Hah! The rivers in the Greenlands would run dry before she would give anyone that satisfaction.

"Stop!" Raphael spoke for the first time. He stepped to the front of the stage, his jaw hard. "I am the Consorts fiancée and as her soon to be husband, I exercise my right to take her punishment."

Leyla looked on in shock as a murmur of disbelief travelled through the crowd. What in Four Kingdoms did he think he was doing? Was this his plan! ?"That is ridiculous, I don't accept!"

Raphael finally met her eyes, and what she saw in them now was steely determination. His fingers unbuttoning his jacket, he moved beside her. Then with his eyes on the guards standing behind her, he lowered his voice: "I told you not to worry. I will not let anyone hurt you."

"I thought you meant you found the culprit!" Leyla hissed. She saw the man with the whip swallow with difficulty as he watched his Prorex. A young girl in the distance had begun to weep audibly. "You can't do this, Raphael."

"I can," he said simply. Then, stepping back, he nodded to the guards behind her. On their masters cue, they rushed forward and grabbed Leyla by the arms.

Eyes flaring, Leyla pulled at her arms to shake them off. "Don't be an idiot, Raphael!" What the hell was he thinking trying to take her punishment after giving it to her in the first place? Was he trying to make her feel guilty? This was all his fault to begin with! Why the hell didn't he just believe her?

Raphael let his jacket fall to the ground and took off his shirt, revealing a toned chest and perfectly unmarred skin. She knew just how warm the wide expanse between his arms was; how comfortable, despite the muscles that rippled with every move.

"You may begin." Raphael said, turning his back. The masked guard stepped forward, the whip hanging by his side. Dozens turned their heads away and the Book Keeper tensed.

"Father, do something!" Annabelle's whine carried from just under the podium as the masked man raised the whip with a shaking hand.

"I said I. DO. NOT. ACCEPT!" With a sharp twist of her shoulders, Leyla gripped her guards by the arms and yanked. They both fell to their knees, their arms bent at painful angles, then toppled over when she gave a swift push. Swiping a knife from one of their waists, she turned on the masked guard who dropped his whip in shock.

"ENOUGH!" The command in her voice brought an instant hush to the crowd. "You -" she pointed from Raphael towards the Book Keeper and the wide-eyed ministers standing around the podium. "You are all right about one thing. I AM capable of violence! In fact, I am capable of serious violence and that is precisely why the high and mighty council should have realised that had I wanted to get out of that gate, I would have! Easily! And without stabbing anyone or giving myself away by something as ridiculously obvious as, what was it, an apology spoken in Warrior tongue?" She laughed mirthlessly, stopping only when a worried looking Raphael took a step towards her. "Don't come closer!" she gave him a scathing look, then faced Annabelle.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you Lady Annabelle. I'm sure you didn't mean for me to survive after all your plotting, but unfortunately for you the council only demands my blood."

When the significance of her words sunk in, several people cast surprised looks in Annabelle's direction. Leyla scanned the expressions of the ministers; a spectrum of shock and horror. Those idiots didn't even know what real shock and horror was.

Having said what she wanted to, Leyla decided she'd had enough. Schooling her features not to reveal pain, she cut across the top of her left arm. Once, then again for good measure before Raphael managed to grab the weapon out of her hand. Leyla let him have it. Several onlookers screamed, seeing the red spread instantly across her white dress. Warm blood now ran down her arm, dripping to the floor. Leyla grimaced. 

"You wanted blood? Here it is! Does this meet your needs, council, or do you need more?"

Annabelle's father was purple in the face while the other ministers could only gape. Turning to the Book Keeper, Leyla spoke with barely contained fury. "I am taking the silence to mean I have served my sentence."

The older woman gave her a nod, her eyes sad.

What? Did they feel bad now? This was what they wanted, wasn't it? Turning on her heals, Leyla passed a stone silent Raphael and walked down the steps of the stage and back to the Crystal Dome. Behind her, the chirping of birds could be heard as hundreds of eyes watched her leave in stunned silence.