She raced down the crystal-paved path towards the lake, face held to the sun as she shrieked with excitement. Stark birch trees rose up out of the earth, their foliage thick and verdant in the warm summer sun. She had everything she could ever wish for, and in that moment, she was the happiest she would ever be.
“Shailagh!” her mother called, smiling broadly with her arms held wide, beckoning her down to the water. “Would you believe that it’s the perfect temperature?”
“Coming!” she squealed, tearing past an errant bramble bush. The delicate silk of her silvery dress caught on a thorn, rending apart each shining thread with the quiet yet insistent snap of permanence. Panic began to rise in her chest as she grasped at it, trying to hide the tear in her clutched fist.
“Shailagh!” her father shouted, grabbing her by the hand. “What have I told you about running like that? It’s not befitting of a princess. It’s not befitting of royal lineage.”
“Faarys, she’s just a child,” her mother chided, standing up. She straightened her own dress, moving to smooth out the wrinkles. “Royal or not, she deserves to have some fun.” She approached, resting a hand on his arm. “It’s only fabric, dearest.”
“The finest fabric in either realm,” he replied sternly. “Child or no, she needs to learn how to hold her place in Fae court. She’s old enough to start understanding the consequences of her actions.”
She stared up at her parents, flinching away from the growing tension between them. It wasn’t the first argument they’d had about her, and it was difficult not to feel responsible. Pulling from his grasp, she broke free and ran to the water, kneeling on the edge to stare into the glassy, mirrored surface.
At first, it was just her face that stared back at her, young and childlike and innocent. Her parents, rushing to catch up with her, one concerned, one furious. The crisp teal water rippled, disturbing the picture before her. The earth shook, and the lake boiled, disappearing into the deep chasm that had appeared at the center. In its place, a viscous purple sludge oozed up from beneath, pushing aside the land as if it were made of spun sugar.
The forest disintegrated one giant tree at a time, their limbs floating and carried away by the current. She tried to run, but she was rooted to the ground. She reached for her mother first, but she was no longer there. She reached for her father, who stared down from his safety on the bank.
Screams echoed through the ruined woods at the exact moment that the crystalline sparkling path erupted, shooting streams of purple magma into the air with unrepentant fervor. Pain, suffering, exposure.
She held her dress in her hands, and when she looked down at the ruined fabric, it, too, began to melt through her fingers, the purple fluid burning her skin and drawing ripe blisters to the surface. When she reached out, there was nothing there.
Birch trees swayed in the chaos, their roots twisting up out of the ground like tentacles, the wood far too brittle to bend. Bark splintered, the echo of annihilation like barbed thunder in her ears as one trunk after another cracked into fragments, the snap, crack,
thwack of files against a worn wood table. “Your Honor.” Sadie took a breath, and exhaled it quietly. “As much as it pains me to miss the opportunity to spar with the prosecution, we all have to admit that there just isn’t enough evidence for them to bring a case against my client.”
The prosecution pointed across the table in accusation. His oversized, ill-fitting suit hung off him, nothing more than a mess of navy pinstripes and white pocket squares. “What Ms. Sinclair seems to be forgetting is that the prosecution had plenty of evidence, the cornerstone of which was our eyewitness to her client’s crime of insurance fraud!” He sighed angrily, letting his arms flop back to his sides. “Your Honor, I humbly request an audience in chambers to discuss the possibility that Ms. Sinclair engaged in witness tampering.”
“Your Honor!” she protested, gasping audibly, the hard intake of breath echoing around the courtroom and settling in the empty gallery seats. “I am appalled that Mr. Link of the prosecution would accuse me of something quite so unethical, not to mention illegal, in open court.” She tugged at the hem of her aubergine suit jacket and flipped a dark curl over her shoulder.
The judge picked up his gavel, turning it around in his hands as he considered. “Mr. Link, are you prepared to offer evidence that the defense engaged in witness tampering?” he asked.
“No, Your Honor, we’ve yet to uncover hard evidence, but given her track record—”
Sadie spat out a laugh. “My track record?” she repeated. “Please, Mr. Link, point me to even one shred of evidence that I’ve done anything beyond the scope of the law, and I will immediately turn over this case to another attorney.” She glanced at the door, the huge wood panels still closed, even as the minutes ticked by on the clock that hung above them. She cleared her throat and turned back to the judge. “Your Honor, I am simply asking for this case to be dismissed, as the prosecution no longer knows the whereabouts of their eyewitness. That’s all.”
Edward Link offered her an oily smile over the gap between their tables. “Your Honor, the prosecution asks for a continuance, in order to regroup and issue a subpoena to our errant witness. We are still prepared to question her, even if she has decided to be a hostile witness.”
“Ms. Sinclair, I am inclined to side with the prosecution,” Judge Haber said, clearing his throat with a wet sound. “They have indicated that there may be more evidence to support their claims, even if their witness declined to show up to court.”
Hinges creaked open and Sadie had to resist the urge to spin around, triumphant, instead of waiting until Ella tapped her on the shoulder.
“Ms. Sinclair,” Ella said in a loud whisper that could still be heard across the court, “I think you should see this.” She looked perfect in a sapphire blue dress that skimmed over her shapely hips, her dark brunette hair shiny even in the dark courtroom, braided into an intricate crown around her head.
“Thank you, Ms. Beaufort,” Sadie said, taking the envelope. She opened the flap and looked inside, feeling every eye in the court on her. The page read exactly as she knew it would, having prepared it that morning. Evidence, hidden by the prosecution that implicated another perpetrator that had long since fled the country. She raised an eyebrow, looking across to the prosecution. “How very interesting,” she said evenly.
Edward flinched, shuffling through his paperwork noisily. He dropped a page, and it fluttered silently to the floor, coming to a rest under his polished patent leather shoe. “Your Honor, I would like to respectfully request a recess,” he announced. “Just a brief one, if you will. The prosecution doesn’t wish to waste the court’s time.”
Judge Haber considered the request before nodding. “Fifteen minutes,” he said, smacking the gavel against its platform.
“What do you have?” Edward Link demanded, reaching for the envelope. Sadie snatched it out of his grasp, sitting back down in her chair.
“What do you think I have?” she asked. “Come on, Ed, you can’t be serious with this case. You’ve got nothing, and this envelope proves that your office has been—”
He bent down, his face inches from hers. “Keep your voice down, alright?” he hissed. “Now, what do you want?”
Sadie glanced over at her client, a thin, weedy-looking man hunched over the table, still looking as terrified as a wounded gazelle on the plains, waiting for a hyena to finish him off. “Probation,” she said. “Six months.”
“A year and he has to pay a fine,” Ed challenged. “Come on, Sadie, you know I can’t go lower than that or I’ll be on the chopping block next week.” He pulled at his red silk tie, standing up straight again. “Or, we meet the judge in chambers, and I tell him everything I learned about how you employed the enforcer who scared off our witness.”
“Do you have proof of that?” Sadie asked. “Because if not, it’s nothing more than conjecture. You’re grasping at straws, counselor. You and I both know I did not engage in witness tampering.” She smiled up at him, clutching the envelope to her chest. “If you want the fine, then no probation.”
“Six months probation and a fine, and that’s the best I can do,” he said. “And don’t think I won’t be watching you all the more closely next time we face off in court, Ms. Sinclair.” Edward huffed out an angry sigh, irritated that he’d let a sure-thing case slip through his fingers. “Take the deal, you’re not going to get a better one. Your client is in dire straits. Neither of us wants this to continue in court.”
“Deal,” she agreed, extending her hand to shake his. “We’re ready to sign.” She shuffled through her folders, locating the one with the green tab poking out of the side where Ella had placed it. “Fortunately, I already have it drawn up.”
Ed narrowed his eyes. “Oh yes, fortunate,” he deadpanned. “What a completely unforeseen scenario.” He took a pen from his inside pocket, signing each page and dating it after he skimmed through the wording. “Tell your client to keep his nose clean or we’ll be back in this courtroom in six months, and next time I’ll make sure that he does time.”
“Pleasure doing business with you,” Sadie said, leaning back in her chair. “Anything good coming up next on your docket?”
“Why, so you can undermine that case, too?” he retorted. “All you shadows-damned ambulance chasers—”
Sadie interrupted him with a theatrical gasp. “Mr. Link!” she protested, folding her hands atop the table. “I’ve never once chased an ambulance, nor do I make it my business to scrape cases off the public defender’s floor. Working on contingency certainly won’t pay the rent, now will it?” She crossed one leg over the other, sliding the contract to her client along with the pen, already bleeding black ink into the margins of the first page. “We are supposed to be professional peers, not adversaries. After all, we all have to attend the same dry galas, don’t we?”
“I happen to enjoy the galas,” he said politely, taking the signed contract from her client and closing it into a folder. “As does my wife. It’s an opportunity for the women to get out of the house and get gussied up.” He shifted, staring a little too hard. “Perhaps I will see you there, if you aren’t busy undermining more of my witness prep.”
“I’ll try to make time for it,” Sadie said easily, ignoring the latter half of his statement. “Judge Haber, I think the defense and the prosecution have reached an agreement,” she said, standing again. “I believe Mr. Link has the completed contract.”
“Excellent,” the judge said, taking the folder from Ed. He settled a pair of wire-frame glasses on his nose, reading over the contracts and nodding. “This all looks appropriate,” he said, signing his name on the final page. “Ms. Sinclair, your client is free to go, but will need to stop at the probation office on the way out of the building.”
“Thank you, Your Honor,” Sadie said politely. The jury began to shuffle out, grumbling to one another no doubt about their wasted time and Sadie couldn’t blame them. She hated her time to be wasted, too. “Mr. Pender, you will need to be assigned a parole officer, do you understand?”
Her client nodded, wringing his hands in his lap.
“My payment terms are thirty days,” she reminded him. “And you will need to pay the court’s fine, there’s no getting around that.” She nodded towards the door, and he silently followed her instruction, disappearing through the doors along with the rest of the jury.
Sadie turned in her chair, leaning over the divider that separated the attorney desks from the court gallery. “Nice timing,” she whispered to Ella. “I wondered for a moment if you’d forgotten.”
“Who, me?” Ella asked, batting her eyelashes. “Never.”
“That last-minute evidence tactic is going to run out of steam now, at least with Ed Link. That man is out to get me. He hates me.”
Ella shrugged, playing with the pearl stud in her ear, dainty and polite in its size. “He only hates you because you beat him.” She crossed her legs, showing off shapely calves and a pair of blue t-strap heels that matched her dress. “And if that’s the problem, I imagine most of the state’s attorney’s office hates you.”
“Yes, it makes these galas rather uncomfortable.” Sadie cast a sideways glance at Ella, wondering if it was worth roping her into it. If nothing else, she’d look amazing, just as she always did. “You wouldn’t want to come with me, would you?” she offered, looking back towards the door to make sure her client didn’t pass up the probation office on his way out. She’d almost been surprised he’d shown up to the court date at all. He’d made it clear that he preferred the idea of following his ex-friend out of the country to exile, but she’d convinced him to stay and clear his name.
“Oh, I can’t,” Ella apologized, biting her lip. “Ray is taking me to The Saffron Rose tonight.”
“Of course,” Sadie said, waving her away while internally roiling with poisonous envy. “I forgot. Your anniversary, right?”
Ella nodded. “One year this weekend!” She smoothed her skirt, plucking an errant thread from the hem. “You have that meeting tomorrow,” she said, leaning in close. “Astrid Frost.”
Sadie stifled a noise of irritation, aware that Ed was still watching her. “My favorite client,” she said. “Her account pays the bills, I’m afraid, but it makes up for her perfectly repulsive attitude.” She cleared her throat, watching Ed cross the courtroom once more. “What was it she wanted, again?”
“She thinks she has a squealer in her club.”
“I can’t imagine why she might require my services, then. Ella, do me a favor, call her when you’re back at the office, and tell her to call Ms. Vane for this.”
Ella nodded, standing up from the worn wooden bench. “Of course.” She laid a hand on top of Sadie’s, smiling. “I’m awfully sorry I can’t come tonight. I hope it’s not too terrible on your own.”
“I will likely survive it,” Sadie said, feeling like she should wave her off, but being completely unable to move her hand from where it was under Ella’s. “It serves me right for being so perilously single all the time.”
“Oh, Sadie,” Ella sighed. “You’ll meet that special guy soon enough, I just know it.”
“Perhaps,” Sadie said, staring, and she was distracted just long enough for Ed Link to snatch the empty envelope from her table. “Excuse me, Ed,” she said, standing to snatch it back, “that’s confidential.”
“Oh really?” he said, holding it out of her reach, utilizing his tall, wiry frame to his advantage. “Something from my own investigation is confidential?”
“My case strategy certainly is,” she said. “If you wanted to know what additional evidence I had, you should have pressed the issue before we signed a deal.” She stood, aiming to match his height but falling short by about six inches. She reached for it, breath constricted in her chest, but he stepped backward, pulling at the lip of the envelope.
He held it upside-down and took the page, reading it with bewilderment. Ed looked back at her, fury collecting in the shallow lines on his face. “How did you get this?” he whispered, and the softness of the realization was far more threatening than any raised voice would have been. “You used pitted evidence?” Ed asked, still staring at the envelope. “How many times have you gotten your hands on something like this?” he demanded. “Who do you know in the state’s attorney’s office?”
“Ed, you and I both know that this never should have happened,” Sadie said carefully. She took the envelope, slid it between her other files, and handed it to Ella over the barrier. “Do you mind taking these back to the office?” she asked.
“Of course,” Ella said, keeping things short and sweet because she wasn’t just one of the most beautiful women in Verdance, she was whip-smart and had saved cases more times than Sadie could count. Before Ed knew what was happening, Ella was out of the courtroom and rushing to flag down a cab from the front of the building.
“I’m taking this to Judge Haber,” Ed declared, crowing it loudly, full-voiced as if he had a leg to stand on. “You manipulated this trial, Sadie. That would never have been allowed into evidence.”
“Please, I encourage you to take this to him,” Sadie replied easily, leaning back against the barrier because it was easier than staring up at Ed’s narrow face, cheeks red and blotchy from the barely contained rage. She smiled at him, being sure to show all of her teeth. She’d had the second set of canines filed down years back, but the slight point was sometimes enough to cow people who weren’t observant enough to realize why she was as unsettling as she was. “I’m sure the judge would love to hear about how you didn’t do your due diligence before presenting a plea bargain.”
“You should be disbarred,” he growled. “You’re an embarrassment to the law.”
Sadie straightened herself to her full height, albeit petite in stature. “Mr. Link, I have done nothing that would merit being disbarred. I received new evidence that may or may not have been admitted into the trial, but before you could ascertain the veracity of the documents, you panicked.” She tilted her chin upwards, glancing at the mirror just at the edge of her periphery. “You may want to discern why it is that you felt like that was the best option.” Standing with every ounce of her tarnished regal expectations, she adjusted the placement of the briefcase handle in her grip. “I hope to see you at the gala later.”
Ryann Fletcher Writes 