The Free Guards escorted their prisoners on foot, frogmarching them in chains through the early morning chatter of the city. Elizabeth and the others were taken immediately to the Great White Hall, where word of their arrival had evidently already arrived. The Moodlight was a swampy green as they came through the imposing entrance to see the Wyse Council sitting in their high-backed chairs.

　　Arraflax wore a face like a thunderhead.

　　Lord Vilchford sat perfectly still, pale soft hands in his lap.

　　Baron Bagley was nursing a plateful of buns.

　　The guard who had arrested them presented Arraflax with the Omnaria, setting it down at the foot of the steps with a flourish and an extravagant bow.

　　Arraflax dismissed him with a wave of a arm. His icy, black ruby eyes fixed exclusively on Barnaby.

　　"Just leave all the talking to me", Barnaby said, as the guards prodded them into position.

　　"Aye, that went so well last time", remarked Aelgren, shuffling along.

　　The prisoners were ordered to stand in a straight line facing the Council. Elizabeth was so woozy and tired and she rubbed her eyes and wondered if the three men could have been gargoyles. The blue and white sun-moon tapestry seemed strangely hypnotic. It was a struggle just to try and stay awake.

　　"You have defied the will of this Council for the very last time", declared Arraflax, deliberately savouring every word. "There shall be no leniency for you now. Whatever you may have done for the Free Lands in the past, you have more than undone with your blatant disregard for the rules".

　　Baron Bagley lifted up a bun and began munching away contentedly.

　　"Is there anything at all that you would care to say in your defence", Arraflax continued. "Before I sentence each and every one of you to spend the rest of your lives in the dungeons of Ka`halth?"

　　Barnaby bridled. "Only that we, single-handedly, and without any assistance from you, have managed to get the Omnaria back from the Darkstone Tower!"

　　Arraflax thinned his eyes. "This machine", he hissed, pointing stiffly to the clockwork box at his feet, "is the reason why you were facing banishment even before you decided to go absconding".

　　"Yes, and now we`ve got it back it could be a chance for us to finish the Dominion for good!"

　　"That is of no consequence", chewed Arraflax, bluntly.

　　Luella looked as though she wanted to fly at the man and tear him to pieces, one small bit at a time. "We found something else while we were there", she announced, very loudly, so even the guards around the sides of the Hall could hear.

　　"Oh really?" said Arraflax, disinterestedly.

　　"A letter".

　　"How fascinating".

　　"Actually it is. Because this particular letter was found in the private office of the Empress herself".

　　"And?" Arraflax shrugged.

　　"And it reveals that there is a traitor on this Council! A traitor who has been passing secret information to the Dominion and plotting to destroy the Free Lands".

　　Elizabeth thought she saw several of the guards stiffen on their feet as the glass orbs of Moodlight turned grim and silky-dark.

　　Arraflax smirked, glanced over at Lord Vilchford and snorted with contempt. "And who might that be?"

　　Barnaby gritted his teeth. "It`s you!"If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it`s taken without the author`s consent. Report it.

　　Time stretched like an elastic band as Arraflax and Barnaby engaged in a fierce duel of eyeballs.

　　By the time he spoke again Arraflax was quite visibly seething. "Very well. Then let us see this letter` of yours". He clicked his fingers like a High Lord calling forth a lowly servant.

　　Barnaby fumbled about in his jacket and pulled out the folded up piece of paper that Elizabeth had found on Penelope`s desk. "Here it is".

　　A guard passed the note to Arraflax . . . Who read it with an air of complete, unforgiving disdain. "Nothing but a cheap forgery", he sniffed, handing the note to Lord Vilchford. "Did you really think that you could impress anyone with this?"

　　Lord Vilchford tore the letter up with a single swish of his hands. He held the pieces aloft and scattered them airily onto the floor.

　　"As it happens I have some words of my own that you might be interested in", said Arraflax, with sinister loathing. "I assume you are familiar with the procedures for banishment?"

　　Elizabeth couldn`t believe what was happening. "Banishment?" she gasped. "But you can`t do that. It`s not fair! You should be - "

　　"SILENCE!" commanded Lord Vilchford. "You will s-speak only when and if you are s-s-spoken to".

　　Arraflax rose, imperially, to his feet.

　　Elizabeth felt her blood beginning to boil. It was unfair. Barnaby had only brought her through to this place because her future self had asked him to, and they had all risked their lives to rescue the Omnaria - her dad`s Omnaria - from the Darkstone Tower. The Wyse Council couldn`t just treat them like this!

　　A tinge of smoky tangerine began creeping in from the walls.

　　Arraflax grandly extended an arm and snapped his fingers again. Another guard strode out from the side of the Hall, handed Arraflax a scroll and crawled, bowing repeatedly, back to his post.

　　Arraflax kept his gaze fastened on Barnaby as he unravelled the scroll and read the words aloud. "By the power vested in this Wyse Council of the Free Lands of Orrica. We - Sir Arraflax Cramblethorn, Baron Harrius Bagley and Lord Albara Vilchford . . . "

　　Elizabeth blinked.

　　A drop of inspiration plopped inside her head. It sent tiny ripples of thought cascading through her mind that very swiftly turned to waves the size of mountains, remorselessly battering the inside of her skull.

　　"Do hereby declare that you, Barnaby Thimblewick, for the crimes of wilfully disobeying a direct command of the Council, and, in so doing, endangering the safety of the Free Lands . . . "

　　Elizabeth pulled out the feathers from her dress, seized by a quite irresistible idea.

　　"Shall, from this moment forth, and for all of time hereafter, be - "

　　"STOP!"

　　Arraflax, eyes ablaze, came crashing to a halt.

　　Elizabeth cringed as everybody in the Hall turned to look at her as if she had just blurted out the most inappropriate thing imaginable.

　　Her insides began to tremble. "You can`t do this", she said, still hoping to convince herself that what she had just thought of might actually work.

　　"And why not?"

　　"Because the prophecy is true!"

　　Arraflax was bristling with rage. A vein in his temple throbbed with such force that it looked as though it might burst free from his head and strangle the nearest person. "I`ve had quite enough of this", he hissed. "Guards - take that girl away".

　　A pair of sentries began taking strides towards her.

　　"NO!" yelled Barnaby, forcing himself in-between them and Elizabeth. "By the code of the Free Lands anyone sentenced to banishment has the right to make a final statement before the Wyse Council in their defence, do they not?"

　　Arraflax ground his teeth like tectonic plates about to crack. "They do".

　　"And if they so wish they may nominate another to speak on their behalf?"

　　"They may".

　　"In which case", Barnaby announced, "I demand that Elizabeth be heard".

　　Arraflax turned his fiery gaze back to Elizabeth. "Make it quick", he ordered, sitting back down.

　　Elizabeth stepped forward as confidently as she could, the memory of her dad`s final words glowing like a beacon.

　　"The prophecy is true", she declared. "I have come here from Beyond, just like it says".

　　Her voice seemed to echo off the walls of the chamber in the stark, blank, silence that followed. The air was browning like a sorry apple core.

　　She gathered her composure. Everything now depended on this. "Barnaby brought me here using the Omnaria. My dad built it. He got stuck in my universe and couldn`t get back home. He tried to build another Omnaria but it wouldn`t work properly. He was going to use it to destroy the Dominion so the Empress killed him. She wanted to kill me too but I managed to get a message to Barnaby from the future. That`s how he knew where I was . . . "

　　Elizabeth`s words drifted away as morning mist in the warmth of the sun. She knew how they sounded, and so far Arraflax was showing absolutely no sign of being persuaded by any of them.

　　"I didn`t want to believe it either at first", Elizabeth said, glancing over at Izzario. "But it is true, I swear".

　　Arraflax sighed, blinked slowly, and got back to his feet. "I think we`ve all heard enough", he announced, raising a hand for silence. He looked at Barnaby, almost piteously. "I have to say, I expected more from you than hiding behind the tall tales of a girl".

　　And that was that. Arraflax simply wasn`t going to listen. They were all going to be banished and thrown into the dungeons of something or other, the Omnaria was going to be taken away and Elizabeth was never going to see her mum again.

　　She felt sick down to the empty pit of her stomach.

　　Arraflax held up the scroll and began reading aloud once more.

　　Elizabeth closed her eyes and floated through the numbers, criss-crossing her fingers exactly seven times.

　　And . . .