The Land In Between

C H A P T E R 5

Ditse was absolutely livid when she found out Amihan went to Banawag about his findings. She apparently came the same time Amihan offered Banawag a chance, and once Amihan walked out of the cell, Ditse must've overheard it because she dragged him away the moment she spotted him.

And while he respects his sister for everything she has done, he can't help but feel ticked off by the way she was screaming at him at the receiving hall of the fortress. Her angered voice carried throughout the prison chambers, he was sure that even Banawag must've heard Ditse.

He calmly reasons, "I had to interrogate him about the agimat, I needed to check whether or not my theories were correct." 'Well, it didn't feel like an interrogation anyway, mostly just a harsh exchange of words.'

Ditse seems to raise her eyebrow in doubt as she places her hands on her hips, scrutinizing him in a way that makes his hairs stand on end. "And? Was the investigation useful?" Amihan didn't appreciate the casual disrespect to his being, "I beg pardon Ditse, but you seem to imply otherwise."

Ditse stares a bit more before scoffing, "You believe him." The younger of the two can't help but feel as if he was burned. "I am not naive! Stop treating me like a child!" His sister comes up to him, and despite being nearly a head taller than her, he feels so incredibly small underneath her heated gaze. She grips his arm harshly to make sure they're at eye-level. "You are being emotional", gripped Ditse. "There is a reason why I don't want you into this case." Amihan's mouth opens before his brain could catch up, "Why, because I'm not the legitimate heir of Fourth House? Because out of all of us three, I am the weakest?!"

Ditse lets go as she slaps across his face, causing him to stagger a bit. Ditse doesn't even hinder for a moment as she reprimands him. "Look at your state! You ask me not to treat you like a child and yet here you are, believing a criminal over your own family due to some...some warped sense of affection!" Amihan cradles his cheek and he knows for a fact it'll be a little swollen, come later. "That is not what is happening, you barely even give me the opportunity to explain myself!"

Ditse looks more apoplectic than she's ever been. She screams, "I've told you, we are a neutral party in this case! Why did you have to offer him", she says the word like it was scalding hot on her tongue, "sanctuary in a crime he clearly committed?!" Amihan brings out the agimat from his pocket, still wrapped carefully in the sigil-covered parchment. He explains, trying to convince his sister. "You already know about this." He can't say anymore but he's lucky Ditse gets the idea as well as she doesn't interrupt him. "I have enough evidence to prove that he was forced."

Ditse pinches the bridge of her nose, "Amihan, you're not listening to me. Even if he was coerced to do such a thing, it was against a Princess...From our fellow House." Amihan throws an argument, even though he knows it's weak. "Banawag was a Prince from our fellow House as well, he has every right to parity." Ditse shoots back, "The key word is "was". "Was"! No matter what, he killed the heir to a House! He will be executed, regardless of reason!" Amihan feels his insides freeze and his heart touch ice. He feels like every argument died down in his throat and it wasn't even because of the silencing curse.

He slowly says, "He will die." It was no question, nor argument. It was a fact that Banawag would be executed. Ditse's rigid posture softens a touch and honestly, Amihan hates the pity over the anger. "You should've known this already, that this... this farce of a trial is formality. This is the only grace he has left." It's true and Ditse knows that Amihan knows it too.

If it'd been any other person, they would have been executed on the spot. But Banawag, despite being the only living member left, was the sole heir and even Head of the First House. But the way his sister said it almost made it sound like a favor, a privilege and not a right. No matter how much Amihan denies it, his Ditse would always be right.