She steeled herself a little bit and took a measured breath. Xxnx He could see how the flames had now inevitably reached her and, according to the baying crowd at least, were about to send her straight into the jaws of hell. The evidence had been laughable and vague, to her ears at least, but the crowd had lapped it up, and were deaf to any of her emotional protestations of innocence. She shuddered violently, her skin starting to tingle and scorch as the choking flames reached her. Burnings soon became a regular occurrence, and Pike began presiding as both prosecuting counsel and judge of the court, over each and every public trial. She could feel him loop the warm metal links around her slender neck and secure them, just tight enough to hold her in place.
