Familiar's Calling - The Bond
Chapter 19 - Confronted and Withheld

As Chase, Krista, Sylas and Jinx recuperated, Sylas noted a pair of people eyeing the two witches carefully, curiously even. He reached out with his mind and spoke to them, even his thought-speak voice husky. We should get out of here. You two are drawing too much attention.

From his position on the ground, Jinx was able to peer through the few sets of legs remaining in the square to see that Chase’s head snapped up looking around at Sylas’ comment.

Perhaps you’re right, Sy. The crowd is beginning to thin out anyways. He replied with a sense of urgency to his voice.

Jinx was just pushing himself back to his feet, still rather weary, as Chase was getting wearily to his own feet accidentally dislodging his hood. Disregarding it with a sense of urgency in the way he moved, he strode across the square, hurrying past the group below the burned platform, and stooped to help Krista to her feet. She was obviously weary. Jinx could feel her exhaustion through their link, but she allowed him to pull her to her feet and leaned against him as he held his arm around her protectively.

Jinx began to move forwards taking no more than a couple of steps to check on Krista when suddenly Sylas, who had appeared quite suddenly beside him, threw out his arm catching Jinx roughly in the chest. Jinx mumbled, “What you do that for?”

In answer, Sylas pointed across the square nodding his head in Krista and Chase’s direction. Jinx followed his friend’s gaze, eyes widening in abject horror, as he watched the group led by the judge approach the young witches. “Sy, we have to -” he began, but Sylas cut across him.

“No. No, we do not. We cannot risk exposing them unless absolutely necessary, or our destiny will never be fulfilled and these trials will never end,” he warned sternly looking down at Jinx, a hand still on his shoulder, and a serious look in his brilliant blue eyes. Swallowing and gazing across the square at Chase and Krista, who was still pressed to Chase’s side looking utterly terrified, he nodded his understanding.

Sylas must have caught Chase’s eye because he ever so slightly nodded telling him. We will get you out. Don’t react. Chase slid his hand casually into the pocket of the cloak he wore to signal his understanding as he turned to the group approaching them.

*

“Just what are you two young people doing here?” the judge demanded, his voice echoing across the nearly empty square as Chase made a show of adjusting Krista’s cloak, feigning unconcern.

Chase’s first instinct was to run, fight, get away from this man and his entourage using whatever magick he had to. However as he held Krista protectively to his side, he ignored this instinct, pushing it down. Now was not the time to rush into such brash actions and events. The newly formed bond between himself and Krista - and their familiars - called for more tact than he had employed in the past. “My little sister here just tripped and fell., I was helping her up, sir,” he replied calmly, and sincerely.

The judge narrowed his eyes at Chase. “Your sister, hey?” He eyed the two, noting the similar hair colour and lightly tanned skin - then his eyes found each of their eyes. “Sister, hey? Then why do you have very blue eyes and she has incredibly green ones? Odd occurrence, no?” he sneered at them, causing Krista to shrink into her brother’s side in fear.

Chase glared back for a moment before forcing himself to relax his face and reply calmly. “Actually, it isn’t such a strange occurrence, no.”

The man sneered and the others surrounding him smirked back at Chase. “And does your sister have a name?” He turned his unpleasant gaze on her.

Krista shook with anxiety, her eyes threatening tears, and held Chase’s arm tighter.“Of course she does, you simpleton, but that is none of your concern,” he bit back, gently squeezing Krista’s shoulder in reassurance.

The judge spluttered in fury at Chase’s behaviour, and before he could bring his arm up to block it, Chase was struck across the face by a woman’s hand coming from his left.

“Mind who you are speaking to and show some respect!” the women hissed, shaking her finger at him. Stunned, he held a hand to his cheek and felt Sylas tense up through the mental link.

I’m okay, Sy, he reassured him, before replying to the women, “I show respect to those who have earned it from me.” He glared first at the women and then at the judge, unable to hold his tongue.

The judge smirked. “Oh, really? Perhaps some lashes will loosen your tongue - the girl as well.”

*

Watching the whole event from afar Jinx cringed and gritted his teeth as the woman struck Chase. He was nearly shaking as much as Krista was, feeling her emotions on high through the link, and as the men made to grab the pair of siblings he started forwards, only to have Sylas grab him again.

Just then Krista blurted out, “My name is Krista! And yes, Chase is my big brother. He speaks the truth - we were walking through the square, and I got scared by the fire so I tried to run away from it. I tripped, is all.” She looked terrified as she met the judge’s eyes.

The judge laughed at her before turning back on Chase. “See? now was that so difficult?” Chase was just glaring back at him, so the judge continued, “However, your rudeness aside, this is not why we approached you. Your actions are suspicious, as is your presence here, so I have no choice but to place you under arrest under suspicion of witchcraft. You will be incarcerated and tested in a manner befitting your accused crime. Should you fail, you will be given a fair trial and then executed by popular vote,” he stated this plainly, and without any sort of emotion.

Krista was all but panicking now, and sensing it, Chase reached out with his mind to calm her. Relax, Sy and Jinx will rescue us before it comes to that. Trust me.

But Krista couldn’t relax. The tears that had been threatening to spill out of the corners of her eyes did just that, and she had turned into her brother’s chest, sobbing uncontrollably.

“As you wish, but you will replace no evidence for such an atrocious crime. My sister and I are simple people, as is our family,” said Chase, tightly - resisting the urge to grit his teeth and running a hand down the back of Krista’s head comfortingly.

The judge sneered at him before crowing, “Let us be the judge of that. Guards!” he called, and with that, two rather large and well-muscled men marched over and snapped chains to Chase and Krista’s wrists. When Krista refused to let go of Chase’s arm they chained their feet together too. Mercilessly, they frog-marched them across the square and through a grand oak door on the building opposite the platform.

*

As all of this transpired, it was all Sylas could do to hold Jinx back. “It’s okay,“ he kept murmuring as he dragged him into a small alcove down one of the alleyways. “We will save them, Jinx. You have my word, but we can’t do that if the witch hunters take us too.”

Jinx stared across the square at the place where Chase and Krista had disappeared moments ago, his stomach doing flip flops as he felt the last vestiges of Krista fading from his mind as she got too far away. As she faded, he finally looked up at Sylas who had been eyeing him with a look of obvious concern. Licking his drying lips, he blinked back the threatening tears from his eyes as he tried to speak - stuttering every other word.

“Bu- but we ca- can’t just leave them. How wi- will we ever save them from such a fate? We have to save them, Sy! We have to!”

Sylas wrapped an arm around Jinx’s smaller shoulders, much as Chase had done for Krista. His voice grim and barely steady, Sylas swallowed to moisten his dry throat.

“I know, Jinx. I know and we will save them. I swear to you on everything I am, we will rescue our companions.”“But if we just… we could just break them out… easily!” he suggested, tripping over his own words in his grief.

Gripping his shoulders, Sylas spun him around to face him directly. “If we just break them out, we will never be able to fulfil our destiny. We will have to go into hiding. No. we have to come up with a plan, but then we will save them. Okay?

Jinx swallowed nervously after tossing his head back over his shoulder to gaze in the direction he had last seen Krista. Still shaking and sniffling, he nodded before turning on his heel with Sylas to depart the dreaded square for home and the beginning of their planning.

The End (Of book 1)