Chapter Thirty-Seven

Elek

Sera’s anxiety seemed to be holding onto her just as tightly as her hand was on mine. Not that I blamed her, though. As we sat in an elevated box of the courtroom of Jovan’s castle, we had a good view of the proceedings.

Lined behind a long, elevated bench were the five remaining monarchs waiting to hear the evidence and to cast a vote on King Oberron’s fate. Jovan and my father sat in the middle to lead the court. I knew that those two were going to vote guilty regardless, and I assumed that Latvia was going to side with Jovan. It was the kings of Ignatia and Durant that were toss ups, and if the vote was not unanimous then there was a chance of Oberron and his sons walking free. Taking in the expressions of my father and Jovan, however, told me that they wouldn’t go down without a fight.

“Sera, are you sure you want to be here for this?” Zander asked from Sera’s other side.

She kept her gaze on the podium in the center of the room, that had yet to be utilized by the defendants. They hadn’t entered the room yet, as the rest of the pews were being filled with spectators. It was probably going to be the most important event in their lives to witness the trial of a king.

“Yes.” Sera answered tightly.

“But you don’t have to subject yourself to this.” Zander said, almost pleading.

Finally she pulled away from the podium to look at her brother, her expression determined.

“If I don’t see this through to the end the what ifs will haunt me for the rest of my life. I want to know why he wanted to invade Demarcus and why he was so determined to have me. Also, I want to understand how a king can treat half of his subjects so viciously.” She said and then turned back to the courtroom.

Behind us sat Sera’s original set of guards, with the addition of Anton. How I wished for him to be on trial as well for attempting his own form of kidnapping of my wife. If she hadn’t asked me to stay out of it I would have cut his head off as soon as we returned to Regnum.

They all whispered amongst themselves about how they believed the trial was going to go. Occasionally one would stroke Sera’s hair or grip her upper arm in comfort and ask if she was alright. Each time she responded the same way as she had with her brother. They needed to speed things up, if so I could just get her out of the room.

As if hearing my annoyance, the double doors at the back of the room creaked open revealing two lines of guards and three disheveled fairies between them in chains. Sera’s hand tightened around mine as they made their way to the center of the room.

“It’s almost over.” I reassured her, stroking the back of her hand with my thumb.

She gave a subtle nod but said nothing. None of the monarchs or spectators stood. Instead, they all fell silent so that only the rattling of chains echoed through the chambers and tension blanketed over us all. Today was going to determine the fate of an anointed king and the decision would not come lightly.

Jovan rose to his feet to address the crowd.

“Oberron Orwell, Hamish Orwell, and Kellen Orwell you have all been brought here to stand trial and face judgment for the following crimes,” he began and lifted a paper to read from.

“Unlawful advancement of your military forces and occupation of the southern border of Demarcus; unlawful detainment of Demarian soldiers that result in torture and fatalities; unlawful use of necromancy on said Demarian soldiers and Silvania’s own citizens; fraudulent records of the Orwell family line with the exemption of one female daughter now deceased; the violation of the Being Rights Act with the abuse of your elvish citizens; and the unlawful kidnapping of Princess Serafina Gavriil of Demarcus, formally Regnum. Oberron Orwell, how do you plead?”

“Not guilty.” Oberron answered, holding his head up high.

It would be so easy to cut it off. I thought as he continued to stretch his neck out.

“Hamish Orwell, how do you plead?”

“Not guilty.” Hamish answered, appearing just as smug as his father.

Not surprising. I thought. I then looked over to see Sera’s face as she heard their pleas. Like a statue her gaze didn’t move. It was only her hand on mine that gave away the turmoil I could feel from inside her. Along with it crossing over to me also came the nausea from anxiety. I just hoped she didn’t make herself ill.

“Kellen Orwell, how do you plead?”

“Guilty.” Kellen said, voice unwavering as he stared up at Jovan.

The room erupted into an audible gasp, as I nearly did.

“Interesting.” Huri whispered from beside me. Their eyes lit up as they watched in delight.

Always interested in the drama. I wanted to say but kept it to myself. Instead, I looked back at Sera to see her reaction. Her breath came out rattled as she spoke.

“He would be the honest one.” She murmured.

I had to agree with her, even if I didn’t say it. Kellen’s sense of honor always trumped his pride in all the time I had known him. But I wondered if he would incriminate his father and brother for his honor or if his sense of loyalty to them would be greater. You never could tell with fairies.

Jovan returned to his seat and motioned for the prosecutor to the podium to make his case. He was considerably young looking with a bowl haircut of brown hair and spectacles.

“That’s Cedric Gaines, our tutor and Father’s personal attorney.” Zander said, drawing my attention to him.

“Don’t let his youthful face fool you, he is vicious in the courtroom and has had many years to perfect his skills.”

“Many years?” I questioned.

“He’s been around for a while as his grandmother was an elf in Silvania. He didn’t have to take this case up, but I think this is his way to give his grandmother some justice.”

I looked at the lawyer more closely to see the slight protrusion of pointed ears hidden by his hair.

“What happened to her?” I dared to ask.

“Supposedly when Cedric was still young, she returned to Silvania after escaping decades before to save her sister and bring her back to Regnum. The story ends with them both being caught and tortured to death.” Zander explained, keeping his voice barely higher than a whisper.

Sera looked up at him, her expression seeming confused.

“Why have I never heard that?” She questioned her brother.

Zander shrugged his shoulders.

“It’s not really my story to tell now is it? Dad is the one who told me when I asked about Cedric’s ears as a kid.” He said before turning back to the room.

Cedric gave a low bow at the podium.

“Majesties, in an era of peace and prosperity it goes without saying that even one mishap can disrupt our entire way of life.” Cedric began, his voice booming over all the bodies sitting below.

“We have evidence showing that not only has Oberron Orwell and his kin have disrupted this peace, but also been premeditating much larger plans that would spread throughout our lands. From the tip of Regnum to the isolated nation of Kai, the Orwell family was not going to stop at seizing the lands of Demarcus but lands of every nation. Before each of you are various documents taken from the palace of Lockwood, most written in Oberron’s own hand, of implementations of his plans of world domination. Please be advised that some of the content contains graphic images scribed by his own counsel members and necromancers of how they took control of the corpses of Demarian soldiers, as well as their own elvish people. Many are detailed drawings used for identification purposes and display every mark inflicted onto their bodies to allow for the forbidden spells to take hold.”

The monarchs passed the documents amongst themselves as Cedric continued his case. Latvia’s face appeared to considerably ashen at the sight of one paper. I wondered if I could ask to see them later, just for my own understanding of how my men were used as puppets.

“As you can see, these documents give in detail Oberron’s plans, with admission to the unlawful advancements into Demarcus, illegal funding and use of necromancy, as well as the neglect done onto his own people. Many of the test subjects used for the necromancy projects were malnourished elves.”

“Not to mention the use of iron on them.” Sera added quietly.

“And then, there is the matter of kidnapping the daughter of Regnum’s noble king and the future daughter-in-law of Demarcus’ honorable king, Princess Serafina Gavriil.” Cedric continued, raising a packet of pages in the air.

“Each of you have a full statement given by the princess herself of her imprisonment and treatment while under the care of the Orwell royal family.”

“Why does the princess not come down and tell us herself of her experience.” The king of Durant interrupted. I looked over to take in the brother of Queen Regina.

King Fallon had always been known for being vindictive when it came to matters involving Regnum. Although it was his parents who arranged for his sister to come to Regnum and gave up all the land where the springs were. He was the one I had concerns about when it came to the vote.

From beside me, I could feel Sera begin to squirm as if she were about to take him up on that. Huri then hovered in front of me towards her.

“Just sit right there. The statement you gave is more than enough and he knows it. He’s just baiting you, because if you fumble or forget to mention any detail, he will file a motion to dismiss the case. He’s too close to the Orwells to let them hang.” Huri explained.

My stomach rolled as it contended with her inner thoughts. Bringing her hand up to my lips, I kissed the back of it.

“Huri’s right. You’ve done more than you should have.”

She gave a silent nod, but I could tell that my words did nothing for her nerves.

“My lords and lady,” Cedric began again, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “As I am sure you can all understand, the princess faced not only imprisonment but physical, emotional, and, to an extent, sexual abuse.”

My heart tightened remembering when she was writing down her statement. The advancements that Hamish took in her vulnerable state made me want to retch - it made me wish for his blood more than Oberron’s. Gritting my teeth through the new wave of nausea washing over me, I gave Sera’s hand a slight squeeze for support. It would be over my rotting corpse that someone as despicable as Fallon force her to voice her abuse aloud. It was then that my father rose from his seat, turning his body slightly to face Durant’s king.

“We will not be forcing any victim to recount their statements verbally. Written statements are good enough from all the victims and their families. We are not here to cause them further distress than what this trial already does. We are here to cast judgment based on what is already submitted and need nothing more to add to it.” He said and then sat back down, giving Fallon a challenging gleam.

Sometimes he could be a legible person, especially when he had the most to gain. I knew that he took Sera’s abduction as a personal attack and was searching for any excuse to wipe the Orwells out of existence regardless of what the catalyst was.

Clearing his throat, Cedric drew the attention back onto himself.

“As stated before, the statement has been given in full detail and in it you will read her disturbing accounts of not only her treatment but the treatment she saw done unto others in the palace. I am certain that the consciousness of Your Majesties and your hearts will come to the conclusion that the Orwells have caused immense damage in this world and will judge with sound minds. As I come to the end of my own statement, I would like to open the floor to Kellen Orwell as he has made a request to be heard.”

Again, the room erupted into gasps and whispers as Cedric stepped aside to allow for Kellen to take the podium. The betrayed expression on his father and brother’s faces was enough to tell me that this was an unplanned decision. As Kellen squared his shoulders and raised his head, the entire room went silent with everyone teetering their seats to hear what he had to say. Even I had to admit that I was also intrigued by his self-incrimination.

“As the disgraced crown prince of Silvania, I, Kellen Orwell, take full responsibility in my roll of sedating Princess Serafina by means of force, bringing her against her will to Silvania, taking part in imprisoning her, and,” he paused, turning his head up towards my wife.

She met his gaze, her body becoming breathless beside me. He was the first to break by turning back to the monarchs and she inhaled deeply.

“And for forcibly holding her down as Prince Hamish Orwell maimed and butchered her body with a dagger.” His voice cracked, just slightly, but there was remorse. And I knew it was genuine.

He continued.

“As for the advancements of my brother onto her person, I take responsibility for that as well because she was supposed to be under my personal care and protection while in Silvania. I will make no pleas for forgiveness, as I know the actions I took part in are nonredeemable, I just ask that if you should find me guilty, then I hope you lay down a punishment that will fit those crimes. I will accept whatever you deem worthy of my despicable deeds.”

When he finished, he returned to his father’s side, who looked at Kellen as if he were a stranger. But Kellen kept his eyes on the monarchs as they whispered to each other. Once they were finished, Jovan rose to his feet again.

“Will there be a defense?” He asked, turning to a short male fae that was holding a stack of toppling papers.

The fairy looked up in terror as the feat he was given was seeming to sink in. Stepping up to the podium, he put the stack of papers onto the surface and began to fidget with his fingers in front of him.

“Yes, Your Majesties.” He said in a high-pitched voice. Then he began to fumble through the papers as if his defense was going to miraculously appear from within the pile. When he looked back up at the bench all of the color drained from his face and he looked as though he wanted to run.

“The defense of my clients is not in the potential deeds that they may have committed but in the neglect of the policing that has occurred from the World Peace Alliance.” He stammered.

“Excuse me?” Jovan blurted out, leaning over the bench with his face in disbelief.

Even I couldn’t believe that it was the defense they were going with. Blaming ones actions on the fact that they were not being watched closely enough was absurd. The defense attorney seemed to know it as well, as their legs visibly began to shake.

“Umm, well, you see, Your Majesties, the World Peace Alliance has an obligation to take action when one nation has potentially wavered from its path. As no actions were ever taken, my clients potential deeds cannot be judged properly.”

“Are you saying that you want your clients to be acquitted based on a useless technicality? Are you saying that I, as head of the WPA, should allow my own daughter’s abusers and kidnappers to leave here without punishment?” Jovan challenged, his voice becoming more threatening as he spoke.

The fae was now drowning his clothes in sweat as he began to rummage through the stack once again.

“No, Your Majesty. Well, maybe?” His voice squeaked as he looked up again.

It was then that Latvia raised a hand to gain attention.

“Let us remember that the defense attorney can only defend their clients.” She said, giving the trembling lawyer a small, yet encouraging smile. “Please finish your statement and we will listen without interrupting.”

It seemed like her words caused the defense fae to shake even more. It was clear that he did not want to be the one who could save the Orwells from deserved retribution.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.” He said, bowing lowly. “So, yes, because of a potential lax of restrictions and moderating, my client cannot be tried on something that was not seen by another governing body. Thank you for your time.”

He was quick to leave the podium, and stood at least ten feet away from his clients. Part of me held some sympathy for him.

“We will adjourn for lunch and a two hour recess. When we all return we will have a verdict.” Jovan promised as he gathered up some papers and rose to his feet.

No matter what I put in front of her, Sera refused to eat. I didn’t fault her, however, as even I was having a difficult time getting down a simple sandwich. And when we returned to the courtroom I was convinced she would collapse. Throughout the proceedings she became more pale and sickly as time went on. Pray to the gods that they worked it out. I thought as the monarchs re-entered the room and took their places.

To give the final verdict, King Absalom of Ignatia stood before the bench, facing the accused. He was a good choice, in my opinion. He had the least amount at stake and Ignatia always did its best to remain neutral in the affairs of other nations.

As an older man, with his white hair and amber eyes, I sometimes forgot that he, too, was descended from the first dragons.

“After careful deliberation, it is with sound minds and sound hearts that we come to this verdict. Each individual will be given their own verdict and sentencing. Please wait until the end of the verdict to make any comments. The accused is also now reminded that if any sentencing is to occur that they retain the right to appeal the decision within a month’s time. The sentencing will remain in effect should such an appeal be approved.” He began, lifting a small piece a paper to read from.

“In the case of the WPA versus Prince Hamish Orwell of Silvania, the jury concludes with a guilty verdict with a life-long sentence of imprisonment in the city of Hyperion.”

Whispers merged together, causing a loud humming to take over the spectators. Meanwhile, Hamish collapsed onto the marble flooring with an ear-shattering crack as his knees met the floor. He screamed in agony as guards pulled him out of the courtroom. It wasn’t until some saw Absalom’s disapproving gaze that they all fell silent once more.

“In the case of the WPA versus Crown Prince Kellen Orwell of Silvania, the jury concludes with a guilty verdict with a sentencing to be determined at a later date.”

That’s odd. I thought as I watched Kellen give a nod of acknowledgment but remained silent. Beside me, Sera exhaled slowly as Kellen’s verdict was read and I wondered if she had anything to do with the delay in sentencing. Before I could ask, Absalom started again.

“In the case of the WPA versus Fairy King Oberron Orwell of Silvania, the jury concludes with a guilty verdict with a sentencing of,” Absalom paused, turning back towards the other monarchs.

Jovan and my father gave a definitive nod, as Latvia looked on with her hands clasped against her chest and Fallon turned his head away to look anywhere but Oberron.

“Fairy King Oberron Orwell of Silvania, you are sentenced to be executed after the expiration of the appeal time allowance by means of decapitation and then the burning of your remains.” Absalom said, regret seeming into his voice.

I sat there dumbstruck. Yes, it was the verdict that I wanted to see. Yes, I wanted to see him and his sons hanged. But to see in reality that an anointed king could just be dethroned and executed by his peers hit me with an odd sense of mortality. Such an event had never happened before in written history and it made me think of the disgrace someone had to feel to fall in such a way.

It would have been more honorable to kill him during the chaos that night, at least then he would have died fighting. But this… to die knowing that it wasn’t for glory or for your country but instead for your own greed - it just pissed me off. And as Oberron continued to stand there, appearing unfazed by the decision made, I found myself becoming more and more angry. He didn’t even try to argue it. He hadn’t made a single noise since walking in.

Did he truly not care about the lives lost for his endeavors? Did he not care that his own fellow monarchs were going to chop his head off in thirty days?

“Hey,” Huri whispered beside me, pulling me away from my thoughts as their hand rested on my shoulder. “Let it go. Take care of her and move on.”

They motioned to Sera, who looked like she was about to faint. I stood and offered my hand, feeling relief when she accepted it. Her dull eyes said it all, we had to get out of there.

Bringing her to the orphanage was the only thing I could think of, and I sighed in relief seeing her smile towards the children as they ran to her. I knew that it was going to take time for her to heal, but seeing that smile gave me hope that it would happen sooner than later.

That night, after hours of playing with the children, Sera pressed her body against my chest as we readied for bed.

“I asked for Kellen to be returned to Silvania, in my statement.” She admitted softly.

She has her reasons. I thought, my mind whirling through what they could be.

“In the end, I know that he only did it because of loyalty to his father and that if given the chance he could make real changes for the people of Silvania, especially the elves.” She added.

She’s too kind for her own good. But I knew that she was right. She may be naive and at times too trusting of others, but her ability to give second chances for logical reasons and her kindness were traits that I thought my nation could use once we sat on the thrones.

Kissing her on the top of her head, I pulled her closer so that our bodies were fully flushed with one another.

“I love you, Serafina.” I said, lifting her chin to take in her features and those beautiful eyes.

Her lips lifted upwards, revealing her white teeth.

“I love you too, Elek.” She returned.

Snaking my hand from her chin to the back of her neck, I ushered her closer and pressed my lips against hers. At that moment, I promised that each bit of available time I had would be spent on making her forget those terrible days in the dungeon.