Maddie was nervous still, despite his comforting words, but she gave an appreciative smile and nod of thanks before following him out. She kept her head down until she was brought before the acting judge. She knew she should not be so fearful, but she was. The man seemed calm, but she saw a stern, disappointed look in his eyes that was not truly there. When asked to state her name and an account of what had happened, she hesitated. How could she even begin to describe such a creature of nightmares?
"Madeline Eskridge," she breathed, her chest puffing slightly with pride over her name despite how she had certainly muddied it for her family. "I was heading home... I'm sorry, I don't remember how many days ago it was now, but I was heading home. With Carina. The neighbor's daughter. We were just on the main road, nothing special, but this... This creature attacked us, sir. It-It was like it was made out of darkness itself." Maddie shuddered slightly and twisted her arms uncomfortably in her bonds, wishing she could hug herself for the memories made her injuries ache. "It had me pinned to the ground," she continued, her voice much softer. "I thought I was going to die. It acted like it was trying to...eat me or something. But then it just happened."
She shrugged, uncertain how to describe it until she was asked to be more specific. "This light came out of my hands. The monster was gone. Died, I assume. I hope. And the lightning... I never saw lightning like it before but there was just the brightest light I'd ever seen! I suppose that could have just been the storm that day, but I don't really know what else happened after that. I woke up at home, with my mother. And he," she paused, gesturing with her shoulder to Lorcan. "Mordecai Dempsey was there to take me to the jail. And that's all." Madeline shrugged, hanging her head slightly with the realization that she was admitting to magic-use even if it had been accidental.
"Please, I'm very sorry. Nothing happened while I was in the jail," she told him honestly, as if that should make him trust her anymore. "And nothing like this has ever happened to me before. I swear it. Honestly, I'm quite scared of myself," she admitted, a nervous laugh escaping her before she settled into silence to await the decision of her fate.
The final word was rehabilitation, a term she'd heard before but didn't quite understand until the terms were explained to her. For the foreseeable future she was on a probation of sorts. She would be permitted to return home and travel between it and Uthlyn proper but nowhere else without written permission and a timeframe of her return. There would be regular checks at her home for evidence of magic use and she thought it went without saying but it was stated anyway that she was forbidden from using magic again. Truthfully, Maddie was a bit scared of agreeing to such a thing. After all, it had not been a conscious effort the first and only time her magic had manifested. How was she to control what she had no control over?
The young woman was eager and happy to sign the agreement presented to her, though, even though the letters on the paper were mostly a blur of gibberish with the odd word she could read.