Demortams. Again. Nothing good ever comes out of visiting this place. The last time we were here, Ms Pink was whipped. And another time, I was forced to be intimate with Ms Pink with the Feds watching. So it is with great trepidation that I walk towards the great hall where the trial is to be held.

“Why are you nervous?” Ms Pink asks me.

“How do you know I’m nervous?”

Ms Pink looks at me like I just asked a stupid question. “I know you.”

“Even if you know me, something must have given it away,” I argue.”

“Becoming an immortal has not cured you of the human condition.”

“What condition?”

“Stupidity.”

“You—”

“Welcome back to Demortams, dear Princess Pan Ni and our esteemed Erika.” Standing in the middle of the great hall is Sintix, arms extended, crystal wand in hand.

“Good to see you again, Sintix,” Ms Pink replies with a curtsey.

The act has me raising my brows. Why is Ms Pink acting like a demure princess all of a sudden? The demure princess squeezes my hand and I meet her eyes wondering what’s up with her.

“I trust you are well, esteemed Erika,” says Sintix, swinging his crystal wand that is casting rainbow waves from within.

What is going on? “I am well, Sintix.”

“That is good to hear. We wouldn’t want our esteemed heroine to be any less than well, would we?”

I am staring at Sintix, on the verge of gaping at this point. “Thank you,” I say simply, not knowing what else is safe to speak.

“Please, take your place on your royal throne.”

Royal throne? Sintix steps aside, revealing a long seat of red and rose gold. It doesn’t look like the kind of throne I’ve seen in movies and museums though. In fact, it reminds me more of the grand chairs in High Society than a throne. Plush and cushy, I sink into the throne and lean back with a sigh of comfort. The back of the throne towers just above my head and there’s a headrest to nestle my head in, like a glorified mega first class seat on airplanes.

“The accused will be trialled in a few moments,” Sintix informs us before bowing and returning to his seat with the Feds.

Unable to hold in my curiosity anymore, I lean to Ms Pink’s ear and whisper, “What’s going on?”

Ms Pink takes my hand, pink and black dancing like flames in her eyes. “We are going to get the truth out of Tatua today.”

“What has that got to do with this royal treatment?”

“This is Helene’s doing.”

“Helene? But why?”

“It is between Helene and Kharne.”

“Is Kharne ruling over the Feds now?”

“He is an Ancient. Few are as powerful.”

“What about me? Could I beat him in a fight?”

Ms Pink frowns at me. “You are to avoid conflict.”

“Why? If I can defeat Ttrowtos—”

“Seo is still studying your EEL.”

“And?”

“Knowledge is power.”

“Ms Pink, I’m confused.”

“If we lack knowledge, we lack power.”

“But I can still beat them with my energy.”

“We do not know how your EEL will affect you.”

Then it hits me. “You’re worried about me.”

“Of course.”

“I get it now,” I reply with a big smile. “I’ll listen to you.”

Other than Sintix, none of the other Feds talk to us. Yuri is sitting like a cheetah ready to pounce, barely even looking in our direction while Miras is just sitting there, decked out in black yet again, staring straight ahead. On the other side, Yaelhu and Edith are engaged in conversation while Charles and Ayers are simply staring at their digital devices.

Wait. Someone is missing. Kharne. Why isn’t he here yet?

Just as I think that thought, the great doors creak open and in comes the hulk himself. It seems impossible for Kharne to be more muscular than he already was but his muscles seem to have grown larger since I last saw him. Muscles and rippling veins popping out like huge worms all over his neck, arms and legs.

“What happened to Kharne?” I ask Ms Pink in a whisper.

“He gained power.”

“So quickly?”

“It is possible. But suspicious.”

Kharne scans the crowd before setting his eyes on us. “Princess Pan Ni and her Erika.” His voice booms and bounces all over the hall, attracting the attention of everyone in here as he bows.

I don’t like the tone he uses on me but I try my best not to let it show. Ms Pink, ever the professional princess, rises and curtsies. Unsure if I should curtsy as well, I end up standing stiffly like a chunk of ex-human ice.

“The Erika is haughty.” Kharne stares at me with emotions I cannot read. “But a privilege duly deserved. A great addition to our family.”

Family? What is going on with Kharne and the Feds? What sort of deal did Helene strike up with Kharne?

I hope my face isn’t showing any of the confusion in my mind. The last thing I want to look like is an esteemed Erika that doesn’t know what is going on.

“The Erika is new. But she will learn quickly,” says Ms Pink.

I sure hope so.

The great doors are closed with a grand clang and I look to the set of smaller doors opening in front of us. Two glass prisons, exactly like the one I was locked in before, are rolled in and come to a stop under the high dome over our heads. My heart rate quickens at the sight.

The trial of Tatua is about to begin.

X

“Tatua, you are guilty of bringing Ttrowtos back to power and corrupting the system. What do you have to say about your crimes?”

I turn to Ms Pink in disbelief. Did Kharne just announce the verdict right at the beginning of the trial? What’s the point of a trial if their guilt is already assumed to be true? Ms Pink doesn’t even blink, however. She must be used to this.

Tatua’s glass prison splits open, allowing him to be heard.

“Ttrowtos is my vicist. I cannot be penalized for being loyal to my vicist,” says Tatua.

“That is true,” proclaims Charles, jumping from his seat in a hurry.

Kharne tosses him a condescending glance. “Sit down, human.”

A collective gasp is heard in the hall and I have an idea why. Even though the supers are obviously superior to humans in many ways, they have never been condescending to humans in open spaces such as this. I understand that there is an effort to maintain balance, like the equal number of seats given to both supers and humans in the Federation, and Kharne is upsetting it right now.

Miras stands. “Kharne.”

The hulk turns to Miras, clearly daring Miras to challenge him in this instant.

“We seem to have forgotten to bring the evidence out here, Kharne.”

“Who needs the evidence? We are all witnesses. We saw which side Tatua was on during the battle.”

“It is a procedure we need to respect,” Sintix adds from where he’s seated, crystal wand still in hand.

Kharne growls like an angry beast and flexes his muscles but relents. “Bring in the damned evidence!”

The doors open again, and trays roll in with vials of blue and a helmet that looks like a cross between a space helmet and a Darth Vader mask. What is it for?

“Esteemed Erika, rise for us,” Miras requests and I stand immediately. “Tell us,” she says while picking up a vial of liquid shimmering blue, “where you have seen this before.”

“Er, I saw it at the scene of Max’s murder.”

Members of the Parliament burst into a buzz of murmurs and Kharne glares at them. “Be quiet. We did not disclose the murders since it is none of your business.”

The murmurs grow in volume at Kharne’s blatant disrespect until Miras holds her hand up. “What Kharne means is we had to maintain secrecy while the investigation was happening. Only members of the Federation were aware of the murder of Max. We kept it that way to enable a more efficient investigation.”

“Max was killed by the dark power of Tatua,” says Kharne. “He opened the path to Max for Ttrowtos.”

Ms Pink rises to her feet as well. “Please allow my secretary to provide more evidence of the murders committed.”

Kharne nods. “Of course, Princess Pan Ni.”

“Seo will present the evidence we have collected during the last few months.”