Realms of Shadow - Lizz Baldwin [7]
Back in the bedchamber, the homunculus shuddered. Horrible, it moaned. A horrible way to die. Andoris, however, merely turned away from the view. He snapped his fingers, causing a decanter and two tiny glasses to hover in the air in front of him. He glanced at Wentar, who nodded, then caused the decanter to tip, filling one glass with a yellow liquid, then nudged it through the air to Wentar. He then filled the second glass and took a sip. The honey wine was delicious, warm and sweet.
"I'd like to hear your thoughts on the case," Andoris said.
Wentar pushed his mask onto the top of his head and took a sip of wine. He gently swirled the liquid in his glass, considering it with a slight frown.
"The accused has a point," he began. "If the shadow double was an independent creature that committed the theft of its own volition-even if the original motivation sprang from its creator's psyche-then Blamira must be found innocent. Whichever one she is." "Quite so," Andoris agreed.
"It all comes down to the question of when the thing gained free will," Wentar continued. "If the shadow double was commanded by Blamira at the time of the theft, and only gained or was granted free will afterward, then Blamira is guilty-and only Blamira. Enclave law states quite clearly that any 'person or creature' that is magically compelled to commit a crime is innocent of that crime. This shadow double can indeed be classed as a 'person or creature.' Since it displays permanence combined with independent thought, it is no longer a 'spell effect' in the eyes of the law. That entitles it to be judged an independent, sentient being."
Am I a spell effect?
Of course you are, Andoris answered.
"I wish we had some way of telling arcanist and shadow double apart," Wentar continued, "but even that wouldn't be much help, since we don't know which one committed the crime. I can't just sentence both of the accused to death, since there is a strong possibility that one of them might be innocent. That's why I asked that you try the case. I thought you'd discover the truth of the matter-as you always do-but it looks as though there's no solution to this puzzle. Which means," he sighed again, "that they both must be set free, I suppose."
The homunculus slammed a fist against the bed. No! We mustn't let her get the better of us!
"That would equally be a miscarriage of justice," Andoris noted, "since one of them is indeed guilty."
"It's the memory loss that perplexes me most," said Wentar. "Not the mechanics-the erased memories obviously the result of a forgetfulness spell, with its potential for erasure extended well beyond the few moments of oblivion that were all that Keonid was ever able to achieve. I wonder, though… did Blamira try to cast a forgetfulness spell on the shadow double for some reason- perhaps so it couldn't testify against her-only to unwittingly also cast the spell upon herself?"
"A spell cast upon a shadow double doesn't affect its master," Andoris reminded his fellow judge. "Even if the shadow double is killed, the arcanist is unharmed-and vice versa."
"Maybe there was another arcanist involved," Wentar mused. "One who cast the spell on Blamira and her double to cover up any knowledge of his or her involvement in-"
"There's no evidence to support that conclusion," Andoris interrupted. "A forgetfulness spell requires a line of sight to its target-and according to the second Blamira's testimony, the laboratory in which she found herself