They met up with the rest of the crew and found a sushi place, not the best sushi place in Cap, but a decent enough of one. Despite Amanda’s remark about buying more time, they spoke of everything but the trial.

  The hour flew by far too quickly. Sirius quietly watched Amanda chatting with the others as if this were just any other day. Outside he was as stoic as ever. Inside, he couldn’t stop thinking about the alp. It had taken the form of his mother, not the one in his dreams that screamed at him to save her, only for him to always be too late. This one had been different. It had told him that it wasn’t his fault.

  A part of him knew that was just the alp trying to get what it wanted. To be invited. At first Sirius had assumed that meant like a lover but when his mother had appeared he knew it wasn’t. The alp wanted comfort and food. Like a child suckling at the breast. Oh, it had appeared in the form of Amanda too, but blood ties were just as strong as those that were chosen. Maybe even stronger, like red cords that tied him to the ocean floor. And if that were the case then Amanda was a kite.

  He had worried that he would pull Amanda down with him, trap her in his past. That’s what he had felt when his childhood treehouse had collapsed in the dreamworld. That they would both be drowned by everything he could not leave behind, no matter how far he sailed, and he had tried. But now he saw it differently. The alp had set him free. It had told him it wasn’t his fault. He’d been a child. He never could have saved his mother. It had told him that with her lips, and then it had asked for a hug goodbye.

  That was the trap. And the only reason he hadn’t fallen for it was because he hadn’t been ready to let go, not then.

  Then he’d seen Amanda punch Sirena and he’d realised how, even when violent, she was still so controlled. His father had always been controlled right up until the moment everything bubbled over and he let loose. Amanda let loose all the time but she was always in control when she did. There was no bottling things up with her. The contrast to him was obvious.

  Halfway through lunch Amanda glanced Sirius’s way with a questioning smile, checking he was okay.

  He smiled back, but there was something in her expression that told Sirius that she was still worried about him. It gave him a comfort he couldn’t remember ever feeling before. For a moment he had the sudden urge to forget about the trial, to grab her hand, return to the ship, and set sail. To never go back to Little Rock but to instead kidnap her for real.

  He didn’t even think she’d mind.

  But the chatter of the crew reminded him that it wasn’t about him and Amanda. He had other responsibilities.

  Still, if they got out of this one, the first thing he was going to do was take Ghost for a fly with her. He understood why she loved soaring up in the air on the back of that pegasus so much, because flying was exactly what she made him feel like he was doing whenever he was around her.

  The alp had cut his binds, torn down his treehouse, given him a chance to say goodbye, but Amanda was what had pulled him out of the ocean. And that was when he decided that there was no way he was letting anyone at Cap take that pegasus, no matter what the result of the trial. He’d become a thief for her if he had to.

  Luckily for him, no choice was required when the time for judgment came that afternoon. Amanda had done that herself with compelling speech. The council unanimously judged the pegasus as belonging to her. Sirius’s joy was short-lived however.

  Renault delivered the council’s agreed judgments. “We forgive all theft that occurred at the docks of Scarlett, provided that the snakes are returned to Sirena.”

  Sirius looked into the crowd behind him and found Crick with a crestfallen expression on his face. He then glanced over at Sirena. She had raised her chin slightly and looked neither annoyed nor overjoyed.

  Renault continued. “We require that all future snakes passing through Capilliaria, whether to be sold here or not, will be henceforth subject to an inspection to ensure that their transportation enclosure is of a minimum standard. We cannot control what other ports do but Capilliaria is defined by quality.”

  Another glance at Sirena, and Sirius could see that she was scowling now.

  Another glance back at Crick. The poor man looked like he’d lost all interest in the result of the trial. Beside him, Amanda was giving Crick a worried look.

  Sirena was shaking her head now. “That’s-”

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  “I will buy them,” Sirius called out, interrupting her.

  His shout caught Sirena off guard. “What?”

  “The snakes,” he explained. “I will buy the ones that were stolen at whatever their market price is.”

  She blinked a few times.

  “Given your planned buyer has canceled on you, that sounds like a very generous offer,” Mephistopheles told Sirena.

  “They wouldn’t have canceled if this trial hadn’t taken so long,” she huffed. But then she turned to Sirius and after a few moments of studying him she gave a nod. “Fine, I accept your offer. I will sell you the snakes.”

  “Very good,” remarked Renault. “Now, as far as we could find, no permanent damage was done at the docks of Scarlett. One man was bruised when he was pushed against a crate, another accidentally scratched his arm after a passing snake startled him. Furthermore, as it did not occur in Capilliaria, we consider this matter one for the rulers of Scarlett. Likewise, Sirena, we believe you are perfectly capable of handling your own relations with those in Scarlett, however we are open to further discussion regarding provision of testament to the royal family of Scarlett on your behalf. If you wish, we may discuss this later in private.

  With regards to damage caused to the containers which resulted in the release of the arasnids and beetles, we find that the actions taken by both parties to be lacking. Sirena, you should have been more upfront about what creatures you were shipping. While we deem the damage to the infusement accidental, it’s possible, had more transparency been provided, it might not have occurred.

  Sirius, your response to the escaped creatures was likely about as good as it could have been given your did not know about them, however, as ship captain it is your responsibility to know what it is you are shipping including having appropriate action plans in place to deal with any expected issues. When you chose to take on cargo without performing an inspection of the contents, you accepted the risk.

  As such, you have both made mistakes and both of you have paid for them. Hopefully, this serves as a warning for the future. We feel no need to apply any further punishment here beyond the standard charge for the council’s time which will be split equally between you.

  On the charge of assault and murder of Michael Von Whisker we will now vote. Councilors, how do you each find?”

  From left to right, each one answered.

  “Not guilty,” said Eddie.

  “Guilty,” said Sandy.

  Sirius felt his insides chill. He stared straight at Sandy. The man stared right back. Sirius couldn’t read him. What was going on? Why had Sandy voted against him?

  “Guilty,” said Beatrice.

  Sirius turned his eyes on her. He didn’t know what to think now. At least she had the decency to look sorry. Had they been blackmailed? Or had they thrown him to the sharks of their own accord?

  He kept his eyes on her as Renault, Benjamin, and Napkin gave responses of ‘not guilty’, ‘guilty’, and ‘not guilty’, respectively. Nearly half the council had voted, including two he had thought were on his side, and the result was dead even.

  He looked at each of the rest of the council as they spoke.

  “Guilty,” said Ren who was too busy writing something to look up.

  Glory met his eyes briefly and then ducked her gaze away and down. “Guilty,” she said quietly.

  Marie looked him dead in the eye as she declared, “Guilty.”

  Mickey was next. Given, that both Eddie and Napkin had voted not guilty, he hoped Mickey would vote the same.

  He was correct.

  “Not guilty,” said Mickey with a grin.

  “Not guilty,” said Klaus.

  That left two to go, Mephistopheles, who had stood up and defended Sirena earlier, and Vlad, who Sirius knew very little about and whose appearance was not reassuring. The man was stern and grumpy-looking. Both needed to vote not guilty for him to go free.

  Mephistopheles was looking at the rest of the table with an expression that looked something like disappointment. For which half though?

  After what felt like an eternity, he turned to the crowd and declared, “Not Guilty.”

  That left Vlad for the tiebreaker.

  Sirius couldn’t bring himself to turn around and check how Amanda was handling the situation.

  All eyes were on Vlad. Vlad looked at Sirius. Then he looked at Sirena. And finally back to Sirius again. In a deep voice he gave his judgment.

  “Not guilty.”

  Sirius was so relieved, it took him awhile before he realised they’d finished with all his charges and had moved on to the ones against Sirena. They gave her a warning with regards to the quality of animal care and cleared her of all other charges.

  “Meeting adjourned,” declared Renault finally.

  The councilors all filtered out, some faster than others.

  Sirius saw Sandy leaving in the first group, so he took off after him. He caught up to him by the fountain.

  “Sandy?”

  Sandy turned. He glanced both directions at his fellow councilors who were on their way to wherever they next had to be, and he silently moved over to where Sirius was.

  For a few seconds, neither of them spoke. Then Sandy nodded his head toward the bathroom.

  Sirius waited a little longer before joining Sandy inside.

  Sandy checked under the stalls but the bathroom was otherwise empty.

  Finally Sandy remarked as loud as he dared with vampire ears outside, “We both know who murdered him and you are his captain.”

  “You can’t prove it,” Sirius replied in a low whisper.

  “You and I both know that’s not how it works here. Anyway, I knew you wouldn’t be found guilty overall. I did crunch the numbers.”

  “What if you’d been wrong?”

  “Beatrice never would have forgiven me. At least now they can’t accuse either of us of playing favorites. But you need to watch your step Sirius, and keep better control of your crew.”

  The bathroom door flew open. Amanda entered the bathroom. She marched toward Sandy with an angry look on her face.

  Sirius stepped between them and he shook his head.

  She looked up at him and studied his face, and that was all it took for her to back down.

  “I’ll be outside,” she said. With a piercing look at Sandy, she turned and she left.

  “That’s some woman you’ve got there,” remarked Sandy.

  “Yes, I know,” replied Sirius fondly.