Lord Caladen's face remained impassive as he continued questioning
Istvan. "You also were present when Lady Korinne gave birth to her child in the keep?"
"Yes."
Lord Caladen inhaled a breath. "Did she and the child survive the birth, or did she die while in the process of giving birth?"
Again Istvan hesitated a moment. "It was a difficult pregnancy and Lady
Korinne was in pain almost daily as the child came to term.
Unfortunately, the pain became too much for her and she died while giving birth to the child.
Sadly, as a result of further complications, the child died as well."
Voices grew louder at the back of the room.
Soth smiled broadly. If the only eyewitness to the birth said Korinne had died birthing the child, then the high justice would have no option but to issue a full and public apology for this travesty. Soth would be dismissed at once.
But Lord Caladen did not look to be satisfied with Istvan's statements.
It was as if he didn't believe what the healer was saying. Then he looked over at Soth and saw the wide smile on the knight's face.
"I warn you, Istvan. As healer of Dargaard Keep, you are bound to live by the code of ethics outlined in the Oath and the Measure."
"Of course, milord."
"Then you understand that it is a grave breech of honor to tell a falsehood, especially in such a place as the Hall of High Justice."
"Yes, of course."
"Good. Then you would be more than happy to take part in a little test that will settle once and for all the fact that you are indeed telling the truth."
Istvan had been backed into a corner. He had no other choice but to agree. "As you wish," he said.
Soth glanced around, wondering what in the name of Paladine was going on.
Lord Caladen raised his right hand and beckoned someone in the crowd to come forward. A short, thin figure wearing dirty white and yellow robes moved away from the crowd.
"A mage?" said Soth. "What sort of game is this?"
"No game, Lord Soth. Only a search for the truth."
"But if I'm not mistaken, this"-he gestured to the man in the white and yellow robes-"is a mage. Surely you are aware of the fact that magic has been outlawed by the Kingpriest of Istar. What purpose can this mage serve in the Hall of High Justice?"
Lord Caladen waited for silence, then spoke. "Not all magic has been banned by the Kingpriest. Some magic, that which has as its purpose the promotion of Good, the quest for truth and knowledge, is still sanctioned."
"But I don't-" stammered Soth.
"If Istvan is telling the truth, then he won't be troubled by having this good mage cast a spell of truth over him, since it will only serve to prove that his words are truthful."
Soth too had been caught by his own words, just as Istvan had been before. If he argued the matter it would seem as if he had something to hide. But, if he readily agreed to the test and the spell proved successful, the truth would become known to all.
He couldn't risk it.
"I protest Lord Caladen, Istvan has already spoken-"
"And you have said that you would accept what the healer said as being the final word on this matter. Now remain quiet and let the healer speak." He nodded in the direction of the mage.
The mage pulled back his right sleeve to reveal a glassy blue stone in his hand. It was connected to a leather thong that was wrapped tightly about his fingers. He moved the stone closer to Istvan and it suddenly began to glow with a strange incandescent light. The mage began mumbling a series of words and guttural tones. After several minutes the mage nodded to Lord Caladen, then stepped back, leaving Istvan standing absolutely rigid, his eyes staring blankly at the far end of the hall.
"Istvan is now under the power of a truth spell and is unable to tell a lie, even if he so wishes," Lord Caladen said to the people within the hall. It was obvious he wanted to show that no trickery was being used and that the spell hadn't been cast simply in order to make Istvan say what the high justice wanted to hear. "Istvan, I'm going to ask you a question and I want you to answer by saying the word green."
Istvan nodded.
"What color is the sky?"
"Blue."
"Very good."
"Now, Istvan, when Lord Soth brought Isolde Denissa to Dargaard Keep, were her injuries life-threatening?"
"No."
"How so?"
"Her injuries would have healed simply with the passage of time."
The hall was silent.
"When you assisted Lady Korinne in the birth of her child, did she survive that birth?"
"Yes. She was in fine health. In fact, the child's birth eased her pain considerably."
Dead silence.
"And what of the child? Did it survive the birth?"
"Yes. It survived. Only it was hideously deformed."
"If mother and child survived the birth, then how did they both come to die a short time later?"
"Soth entered my chambers and sent me from the room.
When I saw him again he reported to me that they had both died during the birth." The silence continued.
"Did anyone else enter the room after you allowed Lord Soth into the chamber?"
"No."
"What did the bodies look like when you saw them next?"
"Hacked to bits. It was hard to recognize any of the; pieces as being human."
Lord Caladen took a breath and nodded to the mage.
The wizard stepped forward and released Istvan from the spell.
Istvan looked about the room as if he were unsure of what had happened.
Soth had watched the proceedings with his mouth agape, unable to say a word. Now he simply stood defiantly, shoulders straight, lips tight, chin thrust forward- a classic portrait of the noble and gallant Knight of Solamnia.
However, the image of the great knight, of strength and gallantry, did little to mask the truth.
Soth was a murderer.
"Knights of Solamnia," said Lord Caladen, addressing the seven knights in the jury. "You've heard the words of Istvan the healer, words spoken under the power of a spell of truth. How do you judge the accused?"
The seven knights spoke quietly between themselves for several moments before Lord Walter Dukane, a Knight of the Rose, stood up and addressed the high justice.
"Guilty on all counts," said Lord Dukane. "By a unanimous vote."
Lord Caladen nodded solemnly, then turned slowly to face Soth. "Loren
Soth," he said, stripping Soth of the title of Lord Soth. "I hereby find you to be in gross defiance of the Oath and the Measure and guilty of the murders of your wife and child, crimes punishable by death. You are to be immediately held in custody and will be duly executed at a public beheading in the center of Palanthas at precisely noon tomorrow."
Soth, his face a rigid mask devoid of any emotion, was led from the hall by way of a side door.
At the rear of the hall, people shook their heads in disbelief.
Several others wept.
Chapter 23
A kender father stood on the front steps of his cottage on the outskirts of the village of Mid-O-Hylo, watching the fog-like clouds descend from the high mountains in the west and the low mountains in the east.
The light gray mist was covering the land in a shroud that, unlike other fogs he had seen, seemed very dark and gloomy.
"What's happening father?" asked the kender's young son as he ran up the path toward the cottage, his ponytail bobbing and swishing behind him.
"Something." "What something?" asked the boy.
"Something," repeated the kender. "But what something, I do not know."
"Something strange, I bet," said the boy, watching the mist continue to invade the lands surrounding the village, further blotting out the light from the sun.