Page 75 of Magic Touch
In the hearth, a fire burns bright.
Sara Beth remains standing. "Let this circle begin. She turns in each direction as she speaks. "Water, air, earth, and fire form this circle of truth. Be with us and guide our hearts and minds with openness and justice."
The witches all say as one, "Goddess be with us."
"It has been accused that Katrina Davidson tried to kill another witch, and perhaps two." Sara Beth sits. "What say you to the charges, Katrina?"
With her arms crossed and her eyes narrowed, lips in a thin line, Trina stares at the dark wood floor.
"You will not defend yourself?" Minerva asks.
Frowning, Sylvia searches the circle. "Someone must defend her if she'll not speak for herself."
No one says a word. Only the fire crackling in the hearth breaks the silence.
"I will defend her." I don't know why, but I can't allow her to go without someone to speak on her behalf.
The witches all speak at once, both to me and to each other. There's so much chatter that I can't make out anything.
Prudence rises and holds up a hand. In a light gray dress with a dark sash, she might be someone's grandmother, even my own.
The room silences.
"Sir William Meriwether, you are one whose life may have been taken by the accused. Why should you wish to defend her?"
Standing, I enter the inner circle. "I don't know what power has gripped this girl. I know what she did, but don't believe she had a choice. It goes against my nature to see her harmed if her ability to choose was taken from her."
"As you wish," Sara Beth agrees.
With a sigh, Prudence sits and smooths her skirt.
"What say you to the charges against Katrina Davidson?" Sara Beth asks me.
"I say another influenced her in the room of Esme O'Dwyer, and another's hand held me to the bottom of the pool. I say whatever that force was is malevolent and would have killed Katrina Davidson with me, had we not been saved by Miss O'Dwyer." I know nothing of coven law, but I believe I have the right of it and hope I'm not making matters worse for Trina.
Lorelei is a pretty witch with blonde hair and brown eyes. Her peach dress is too big on her, as if it might have been gifted from a larger woman and not altered. Her angelic voice matches her delicate features to a tee. "If Katrina was forced against her will to commit these acts, she should be cleansed, but not bound."
"How do we prove that she has free will?" a petite witch named Ava asks.
"I want to know what is happening in Kent. Has that coven all gone to the dark? If Trina will tell us, then perhaps we believe she deserves leniency." Sylvia's bright eyes flash with anger.
Arguments boil over between the witches, and Sara Beth lets them go for several minutes before calling for silence. "Esme O'Dwyer, will you tell what you saw and felt at the pool?"
Esme moves beside me in the inner circle and tells them everything she felt, saw, and did when Trina and I nearly drowned.
When Sara Beth calls on me, I step out of my role as defender and tell all that I can remember about the pool, and then all I know and saw in Esme's bedroom when Trina held a ritual knife over her.
Prudence gives her testimony before the witches begin a spirited debate. It reminds me of watching parliament debate a point. Some make grand hand gestures, and others shout. Some are more timid, and wait for a quiet moment to get a word in. Anger, hope, and fear riffle around the room with every point made and fought.
Returning to my seat, I watch and listen as well as I can. I lean toward Esme. "What do you think?"
"Ask for the cleansing. At least then we'll know if she's in possession of free will." She shrugs, and sorrow shines in her eyes.
I stand and march to the center. "May I speak?"
"The defender may address the coven." Sara Beth quiets the witches with a look.
My heart pounds in my throat, and I'm dangerously close to losing my dinner in the middle of a witches’ circle. "I am not familiar with your laws or processes. I stand in defense of this woman because no one else would speak for her. What she is accused of is most grievous. If she has not the ability to do good because she is under dark magic's control, or because she is herself dark, seems to be the question. I would ask that a cleanse is attempted. None of us wishes to get this wrong and unjustly condemn a witch to binding. Would not a cleanse give us at least part of the answer we require?"
