Page 66 of I Married Amreth

“Chase them away from Kestria, but do not give pursuit,” Maeve ordered.

“WHAT?! Absolutely not!” Aku hissed. “We’re going to catch those murderers, and they will answer to my people.”

“They must face justice!” Maeve argued. “The law—”

“ToDramstawith your laws! This is Kestria!” Aku shouted, his muscles swelling with anger. “You off-worlders caused thedeath of countless numbers of my people, and now you dare to dictate how the culprits will be handled?!”

Maeve raised her palms in an appeasing gesture. “We’re not trying to dictate anything or to impose our will upon your people. Despite the tragic events that took place, please rest assured that we respect your sovereignty. However, we need irrefutable proof against the people who ordered these crimes and funded this attack so that they can face justice. You cannot kill them.”

“Why shouldn’t we?” Aku challenged, his anger still audible. “Their remains will be proof enough. Unlike them, we will not use poisons that will liquify their bodies to the point they are unrecognizable.”

“She makes a valid point, Aku. Without them alive and forced to testify, it will be harder to prove their guilt,” I said in a soothing tone. “The fact that we have their bodies does not mean they came to your home world with evil intentions, or that they even came intentionally. It could be a setup to harm someone we have a conflict with.”

“You have your recording devices,” Aku countered.

“We do,” I conceded. “However, those videos can be doctored, modified to show what we want them to show. Many courts will not grant them a lot of weight when it comes to passing judgment.”

“They’re landing!” Aku said, his attention shifting to the overlaid display on the screen showing our quarry beginning its descent. “Go faster!”

Unlike Svast Temple, there was no need to walk a narrow path to the river that led to the entrance. A large clearing framed each side of the river, which led to the rocky formation that this temple had been carved into. A few trees, placed at equidistant intervals, adorned the edges of the shore, their long branches almost forming an arch over the river.

“I’m sorry, Maeve. We must go,” I said apologetically.

“Please, Amreth! Do not kill them! They’re vital to this case!” Maeve pleaded.

“Noted. Goodbye,” I replied in a non-committal fashion.

She pinched her lips in resignation and gave me a stiff nod. I terminated the communication and sped towards the temple. I cursed myself inwardly for not having pushed harder earlier. Despite the long journey we had traveled, I stupidly thought we would have had a bit more time and therefore reined in our speed to reduce the chances of being discovered.

To my surprise, although their ship landed, they didn’t lower the ramp right away. In fact, nothing seemed to happen in the five minutes it took for us to catch up at high speed. I slowed the ship down and landed two hundred meters away from them. Still, they remained inside with no sign of coming out.

Another incoming message nearly had me jumping out of my skin. Tharmok’s blood! When did I become so nervous? To my surprise, it was an analog signal from Ciara. My initial relief quickly gave way to worry that something might have gone awry.

“Ciara?” I said in lieu of greeting as soon as the communication was established. “Is everything alright?”

“Yes. We took care of everything at the temple,” she replied. “If you find more stones, do not touch them. Just send the coordinates, and we will come handle it.”

“They are at another temple, right now. But for some reason, they are not coming out of their vessel. Our systems do not indicate that they have detected us, but I’m beginning to wonder,” I replied, hating that I could not see her face.

“I’m not surprised,” Ciara replied immediately with confidence, taking me aback. “Raitheans need time to create more of those stones. Considering the quantity that we retrieved from the river, and depending on how skilled he is, it should take him about an hour to create a similar amount with a comparablethickness of fibrous shell. That means at least another fifteen to twenty minutes.”

Relief flooded through me. “That’s excellent news.”

“Is Svast Temple safe?” Aku interjected.

“So far, we have every reason to believe that it didn’t sustain any damage. The initial tests indicate that the water is safe, but we are going to continue running more in-depth scans,” Ciara responded.

“Perfect. We’re going to try to prevent them from putting anything in the water. I will message you once things are handled here,” I replied.

“Understood. Be safe,” Ciara said.

As soon as the communication ended, I turned to look at Aku.

“We can’t kill them, my friend,” I said in a gentle tone.

His face immediately hardened. I could deal with his anger, but the glimmer of betrayal in his eyes cut me deeply.

“I amnotletting them escape and then just hope that some off-worlder will catch them and make them answer for their crimes,” he snarled. “You above all others, as a Warden of the principal prison of your alliance, should understand that local laws should be enforced when a crime has been committed against the people.”

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