Myra’s heart thudded.

The judge declared her sentence and his voice boomed across the large, empty courtroom. “We, the royal courts of his Majesty, serving under the oaths of our Lords, sentence Myra Shriya Kala to a lifetime under our eye.” 

Myra heard what the judge said as if the Earth had tapered, yet wasn’t capable of repeating a single word as if he had never said a thing.

The arched ceiling grew higher, and stone pillars protruding from the walls disappeared into the dark swirl far beyond Myra’s dazed vision. The sanded marble and dark woods brought a warm feeling to the room that Myra vehemently rejected. Not even the pot of fresh lavender propped on the table she was ordered to sit behind brought her an ounce of positivity. It felt like a kick to the teeth, actually. Fear continued to isolate her in the cavern of her death sentence that only few guards and Myra’s companions failed to fill.

Myra gripped her palms, hand in hand, her head lowered, and her gaze burned through the wood grains below her. That was it.

A pang of anxiety jolted Myra’s body toward the attention of her friends, one question forming in the forefront of her mind: What about them? Her eyes swept over Dacien’s frozen features, his wide eyes and his tapping thumb. 

They reached Magnolia’s stony expression, an anger burning through her mind so visible that Myra could feel it. That was unexpected. Even more so, Magnolia took a step forward. 

“Please hear me,” she began with a stoic voice as loud as the judge’s, “I do not agree with this sentencing. I have known Myra for a long enough time to make good judgment of her character, and she is anything but dangerous when unprovoked. I agree that what transpired was unlawful, but a life–”

“Silence in the court!” The judge yelled as if casting his voice over a full, bustling room. It certainly angered Magnolia more. “This sentencing is about more than what…transpired those days ago. She is infected with magic, and these people cannot be trusted, not even by themselves. This is for the greater good of everyone.” He nodded, cast a smile so wide it couldn’t provide joy to the most optimistic of people.

The stream of sand falling down the hourglass was getting thinner. Magnolia knew they would have no ground left to stand on, so she took a sharp breath and spat, “Tell the king, Myra knows where the magic of the north is. She can guide him there.”

“What?” Myra almost couldn’t say with her slack jaw. She turned back to the judge in a hurry.

He was already eyeing her up. “Do you now?” He mused, eyes reading his thoughts.

With a quick, reassuring glance to Magna and back, Myra nodded her head with so much enthusiasm that the judge threw her a sceptical look. Myra grabbed her temple to hold her head still, and she tried to play it off as a comb of her hair. “I do.”

The judge sat still for moments more, contemplation across his face. Myra fought the itch to glance back at her friends, and shuffled in her seat instead. She tried to gather all of the nerves she had developed over the years of being outcast by her own community, but it had little effect to slow her raging heart.

“Then, the sentencing of Myra Shriya Kala will be postponed. First, I will request an audience with the king. It is dependent on his word what you will do.” The judge’s eyes were sharp and warning, intense upon Myra’s own.

She didn't dare breathe, fearing moving an inch could change the judge's mind. But also fearing the adventure to a place she barely believes exists.

It will have to do. Freedom is freedom. Myra's life has been anything but easy, so what's one more hardship?

The judge gathered his papers and took his leave, his commanding posture ever present. Myra stiffly turned around, eyes bouncing from one friend to the other. “The magic of the north?” Myra tried to loudly whisper, very aware of the guards walking towards her. “Are you crazy?!”

The smile Magnolia replied with was sheepish, yes, but also mischievous and certainly without regret.

Myra stood upon the guard's orders. She was instructed to take her leave, back to the holding cells, and the escort began. She took a glance in Magnolia's direction just in time to see her mouth, “You'll see.”

It didn't slow the blood of pure anxiety rushing through Myra's veins.