Excerpt from Weyward by Emilia Hart, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

The man shackled me for the short walk from the dungeon to the courtroom. I stopped myself from flinching at the shock of the cold metal on my skin and held my head high as we walked up the stairs and into the courtroom.

The prosecutor rose from his seat and walked towards the bench, where the judges sat. His footsteps on the boards drove fear into my heart, and I shook in the awful silence before his speech.

Still, I was unprepared for the horror of his words. His pale eyes burned as he denounced me as a dangerous, malicious witch, in thrall to Satan himself. I had, he said, engaged in the most hellish practice of witchcraft and sorcery, to take the life of Master John Milburn, him being an innocent and God-fearing yeoman. His voice grew louder as he spoke, until it rang like a death knell in my skull.

He turned and spat the closing words at me. "I have confidence," he said, "that the gentlemen of this jury of life and death shall find you as you are. Guilty."

And then, to the court:

"I call the first examinate to give evidence against the accused." The blood rushed in my ears when I saw who the guards escorted to the box. Grace Milburn.

From Weyward by Emilia Hart. Copyright © 2023 by the author and reprinted by permission of St. Martin's Publishing Group.