The Blood Legacy (The Lost Heir Book III)

The Night Trial

Seth tuned out the testimonies of the witnesses ahead of him. He prided himself on being strong and level-headed in the field, but this was something different, something he didn't really have experience doing. On top of that, what Colin had told him about the forest was getting to him. Add more to the mix, the fact that he might ruin his testimony put him even more on edge. Thankfully, trials moved a lot quicker in the Violet City than they did Skyside, but that did little quell his nerves. What if he couldn't get the mirror to work? Why did he have to do this in the first place? Colin was innocent why couldn't everyone see that? The sooner this was over, the quicker he could go to Isabella.

"The defense calls Seth Logan to the stand," Marcellus's voice boomed after what seemed like hours but was likely no more than twenty minutes.

Seth knew how to exude confidence even when he was terrified. It was a skill he'd had since before he could remember. He brought his patent bravado forward, a bravado he realized he hadn't used often since he'd met Isabella, but she wasn't here, was she? Seth stood tall and strode to the witness stand. The mirror was with Marcellus, so he could introduce it to the court officially during Seth's testimony.

After Seth detailed his time traveling escapade with Isabella, the judge accepted the mirror as evidence. Marcellus handed it to Seth.

"And this is the item you and Isabella Foxworthy observed in Dodge's Diverting Delectables upon your return?"

"Yes, it is," said Seth, resisting the urge to pull at his collar. Cool and collected. That was him. He was doing great. "It showed us everything that happened in the Ghost Realm and who her killer was." People's reactions were skeptical as expected, but Seth pressed on. The truth was on his side, and so was the mirror with secrets ready to be revealed. "The mirror locked onto the last moments we saw in the Ghost Realm."

"Why do you think that is?"

"I don't know. Perhaps some entity was trying to help us tell the story as accurately as possible."

"We have checked it for dark enchantments, and it's clear. The mirror," Marcellus projected, turning to the courtroom as if performing in a play, "is a Mirror of Incident. What is revealed through it is as real and true as if it was happening before all your eyes. It has been proven authentic but can only be revisited by someone who was at the very scene in its real time. Since Mr. Logan and Miss Foxworthy traveled back to the date of incident, he should be able to make it work." Marcellus turned back to Seth. "Did you know what type of mirror this was when you first saw it, Mr. Logan?"

Seth shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He hadn't been able to make it work back at the Landry House, and he'd been so pre-occupied worry over Isabella, that he hadn't tried to make it work again. But thankfully Elias had told him the proper way to summon it forth. "No. That all happened really fast," he explained to the room.

"All right then, summon the incident," said Marcellus.

Seth took a deep breath and clutched the handle of the mirror. "Reveal the night of July 13, 1954, Foxworthy Hotel," Seth said, summoning the memory to his mind as Elias had instructed him to do along with the faces of the people he recalled being there: Jack, Isabella, Serena, Long John and the bloody broken body of Beatrice Foxworthy.

After a few seconds that had Seth believing that he was about to fail both Isabella and Colin, the handle warmed and the mirror swirled with various colors. "It's working!" he blurted out. He wanted to shake it to speed it up. But he was patient. Then, the night of the murder appeared just as it had when he and Isabella had first seen it in Theophilus's store.