Brother Qown sighed, but he followed the guard’s orders. They couldn’t stop him from thinking, though. Brother Qown wondered if Count Janel had any idea Mare Dorna also qualified for the Joratese definition of a witch. He remembered all the people who’d lost their purses around the old woman, although he’d never seen a knife in her hands. He thought of how well she darned fabrics, making stitches so small he’d never been able to pick them out with the naked eye. She probably knew just a single spell—binding and unbinding—but she wielded it with brilliant expertise.

“What was she thinking?” Dorna muttered again.

Senera walked like a queen. Nothing about her attitude suggested she thought anyone would call her to justice for the deaths in Mereina. Sir Oreth, on the other hand, fidgeted and kept looking around to see if anyone was watching.

He was probably looking for his father.

Senera led the group to a higher, private area in the stands, where everyone had their own servants and guards.

“You have a box?” Dorna sounded scandalized.

Senera laughed as she sat down. As soon as she did, a small dhole, perhaps eight months or so old, woke up from a velvet cushion and bounded over to the woman, hopeful for scraps and attention. Senera rubbed the dog’s ears and let it sit down next to her, so its head lay in her lap.

Brother Qown blinked as he recognized the dog. The warden’s puppy from Mereina, the one Senera had taken with her when she abandoned the town to choking gas.

“I’m going to check in with my father,” Sir Oreth said. “If I find him first, he won’t come looking for me. I assume you have this well in hand.” He left, motioning for his soldiers to follow.

“There goes a very handsome idiot,” Senera said, shaking her head. “I’m glad we don’t need him for anything important.”

Brother Qown started to respond when another roar sounded, and Count Janel rode into the ring. She waved her sword and shouted to the crowd.

Brother Qown realized she was shouting her accusations. That Relos Var, a sorcerer, had ordered demon and dragon attacks within the province, with a white witch from the south aiding him.

Next to him, Senera paused while petting the dhole.

“That may prove inconvenient.” Senera turned to Dorna. “Don’t your people have laws protecting against slander?”

“Yeah. You’re watching it.”

Relos Var came next, and although he didn’t have the same panache as Janel riding Arasgon, he still looked at home enough on a horse not to embarrass himself.

Relos Var’s speech was damning.