Roger paused, clearly considering the question. “No, and sleep with one eye open, just in case.”
“I’ll have to call Pawly back for that. I’ll do it late tonight. If you can warn Cyra first, I’d appreciate it.”
“Done. See you tomorrow.”
“I’ll be here,” Stern snorted.
Reaching the door, Roger banged on it. “Open up.”
The door opened for him and he left, the door banging shut behind him.
Stern exhaled and thought about what was happening. “Well, it’s one of the reasons I was given the letter, but I doubt they thought I’d need it for something this dire… I just hope Dad doesn’t show up... or worse, Mom.”
Chapter Seventeen
Stern sat up when the door opened and dismissed Pawly. He snorted softly when the sergeant entered the cell area with a dozen guards. “Overkill, much?”
“You’re a double murderer. We have to be careful,” the sergeant said coldly.
“‘Accused’ is the word you’re looking for,” Stern said as he stood up, “unless the laws have changed.”
Jaw tightening, the sergeant growled out, “On your knees, hands behind your back!”
“I’m not that kind of boy,” Stern said with a smirk, “but as I don’t feel like being ganged up on by a dozen men...” He lowered himself to his knees, facing away from the guards. He put his arms behind him and waited.
The clank of the lock coming undone was swiftly followed by two men driving him into the stone floor. Stern grunted— blood welled in his mouth as he’d gashed the inside of his lip with his teeth. Thankfully, none of them had broken.
“I’m complying!” Stern hissed.
Arms being wrenched even farther behind him, Stern did his best to not resist as the guards manhandled him, roughly putting the iron manacles on his wrists.
“Lift him and walk him,” the sergeant said once the manacles were on.
Hoisted to his feet by his arms, Stern spat a wad of blood onto the ground. “I was compliant...”
“Felt resistant to me,” one of the guards snickered.
“If I’d resisted…” Stern trailed off, knowing he shouldn’t say anything that might be considered threatening.
“If what?” the sergeant asked darkly.
“Judge?” Stern asked, his anger rising.
“Take him,” the sergeant said.
It wasn’t a far walk from the cells to the hall of judgement, but they had to go into the streets for part of it. Stern walked slouched on reflex, meaning he didn’t tower over the guards as much as he could. When he overheard the commotion from behind a handful of guards and their pace slowed to a crawl, he stood upright.
A few dozen people were between the jail and the hall. Stern was surprised to see Frank, the Walker with the prismatic steel badge, along with his dwarven friend. He was less surprised to see Gustav and his crew. The others he had glimpsed at before, but hadn’t talked to except for Sarah Kalma, the Sharp Ears’ group leader, and her crew.
“Why’s he bloody?” Gustav asked pointedly.
“He resisted,” the guard who’d helped injure him said.
“By complying,” Stern added with tightly-leashed anger.
A guard behind him hit him in the back with a truncheon. “Quiet, you!”
Stern’s grimace of pain and the dull thud made all the Walkers present move closer toward the guards. The guards closed in and a few looked worried— the most any of them had done was a handful of dungeons.
“Sergeant,” Frank asked icily, “are your men beating a chained man?”
“Walker, this doesn’t concern you,” the sergeant growled. “You all need to disperse right now, or I will be arresting you for obstruction.”
“You and what army?” a voice from the back asked darkly.
Frank held up a hand. “We’re not obstructing you, Sergeant, we’re helping you. You see, we’re all going to the court to speak on his behalf.”
“Fucking Walkers,” the first guard sneered. “Think you’re so damned special just because you’re stupid enough to—?!”
“Be quiet!” the sergeant snapped, having seen some of the Walkers start reaching for their weapons. “If you’re going to the court, get out of our way,” he said directly to Frank.
“Walkers, form up. We’ll make sure the guards make it there without incident. By the way, Sergeant, there was a man with a crossbow on the roof.” Frank pointed to where two angelics and infernals stood. “They subdued him— he had poisoned quarrels on him. He looked dangerous and tried to shoot one of them. We’ll deliver him to the cells for you.”
The sergeant looked suddenly very worried. “Uh… right…”
The Walkers formed a ring around the guards and began to walk, forcing the guards to keep pace with them. The guards went along with them— it was that or be moved.
Frank nodded to his companion and the female dwarf took off at a trot away from the group. He watched her for a moment before he followed the others, his eyes cold.
~*~*~
The judge sat up straighter when the mass of people came into the room. He glanced at Mayor Victor Bloodcoin, wondering what his friend had gotten him into. When he looked back, he watched the group split apart and take seats in the stands. The guards marched forward after them to deliver Stern to the desk on the left of the judge’s bench.
The sergeant stepped forward after a glance toward Victor. “Your Honor, the Walkers helped escort us. It appears that there was an assassin lying in ambush for the accused.”
The judge’s nostrils flared and he nodded. “I see. Walkers, you have my thanks.”
Frank went to stand beside the sergeant, his prismatic steel badge on full display. “Your Honor, on behalf of the Walkers, we’ll be interested in this hearing. The accused has shown himself to be a man of honor, integrity, and on the path to join the Rescue Squad.”
Lips thinning, the judge’s eyes went to Victor again before he looked back to Frank. “I see... Not everyone is as righteous as they appear. We will peel back the truth and see what the facts present.”
“Facts are always good,” Frank agreed with a smile on his lips.
The judge exhaled slowly, as Frank’s eyes weren’t pleasant. “Please take your seat. We’re going to begin.”
“Of course,” Frank said, turning to take a seat. He stopped beside the desk where Stern was sitting. “Where is his defender, Your Honor?”
“I’m sure he’ll be here shortly,” the judge replied stiffly. “We’ll wait for the defense to arrive, of course.”
The mayor stood up and cleared his throat. “Your Honor, the defense was told when the hearing would take place. If they can’t be here to handle their tasks, we shouldn’t delay things just to accommodate them.”
“That is a good point, Mayor Bloodcoin,” the judge nodded. “We’ll give them another minute or two, but we won’t delay too long.”
Frank motioned to a few people near the doors and they left. “I’ll just have some people go retrieve him.”
“Thank you, Walker,” the mayor said, but it was clear he didn’t mean it.
“Of course,” Frank replied equally as false.
~*~*~
Minutes ticked by and the mayor had just stood up to tell the judge to get on with it when the doors to the room opened and Roger came inside. The mayor glared at Roger and took his seat beside the prosecutor.
“You are late, Defender,” the judge said pointedly.
“I apologize for that,” Roger said amiably. “A pair of guards were keeping me from attending the court. If not for the Walkers who came to check on me, I’d likely still be detained.”
Lips pursing, the judge nodded curtly. “I see. Well, take your seat. We have things to be about.”
“Before we begin, sir,” Roger said, placing a folder on the desk in front of Stern, “I have a document to present to you.”
“Fine, fine,” the judge sighed. “Bring it up.”
Roger grinn
ed and carried a simple piece of parchment folded into fourths to the judge. “You might want to read that carefully, sir.”
The judge took the paper and snapped it open, looking down at it. He started to fold it back up right away, but he stopped and leaned forward as he read it. The color drained from his face and he looked up at Stern.
Stern stared back at the judge, knowing what the paper said.
Folding it closed, the judge handed it back to Roger. “I see...”
“Objection!” the prosecutor said. “I demand to see this paper.”
“Denied,” the judge said without pause.
The mayor’s face flushed darkly. “Denied… Your Honor?”
“Yes,” the judge said, swallowing hard, “denied. We will proceed with this hearing.”
“Your Honor,” Frank said, raising his hand, “so you are aware, I will be representing the Walkers. I have the certification, if needed.”
The judge waved him off. “If we need to verify, we will.”
The guards in attendance looked curious as to what had caused the judge to suddenly defy the mayor. The sergeant kept glancing at the mayor, but the mayor was glaring at the judge only.
“This hearing of Bloodcoin versus Walker Stern is called to order,” the judge said, picking up the gavel and tapping his desk. “Walker Stern, have you been told the charges?”
“Two counts of murder,” Stern said flatly.
“Correct. Do you wish to save the court its time and plead guilty?”
Roger laughed, having just made it back to the desk where Stern was. “Your Honor, I must have misheard you.”
“Do you plead guilty or not guilty?” the judge asked tightly.
“Not guilty. Self-defense,” Stern said with clipped tones.
“Yes, of course,” the judge exhaled. “Mayor, your prosecutor may begin.”
“Yesterday, it is alleged that you accosted several men on the street,” the prosecutor started, standing up and turning to face Stern. “Those men included Skippy Bloodcoin and his friend, Klein Ashson. Is that true?”
“I saw them on the street,” Stern replied.
“Did you not stand in their way as they were walking?”
Stern frowned, but spoke truthfully, “I did come to a stop, and they did the same.”
“Why did you stop them? Surely not to ask about the weather,” the prosecutor snorted.
“They wanted the soul shards I’d collected from the dungeon.”
“Of course, of course,” the prosecutor nodded. “Why?”
“The shards belonged to a person who had gone in with them on their run,” Stern replied. “Cyra. She died in that dungeon— they didn’t collect her shards on the run she died, nor the one after that.”
“I see... Could it be that they were trying to collect the shards to have her reborn and you took them before they could? Maybe they even offered to pay you for the shards?”
“Objection,” Roger sighed. “Hearsay.”
“Do you have anything to corroborate those statements?” the judge asked.
“I have statements from a dozen people who were on the street at the time claiming the defendant rudely stopped the son of the mayor and demanded money for the soul shards of his lost crew member.”
Stern frowned, but Roger placed a hand on his arm.
“Statements? Why not the people themselves?” Roger asked.
“They’re busy and couldn’t be here,” the prosecutor said, waving a hand to brush off the statement.
“Objection,” Roger sighed. “The defendant has a right to face those people to verify that they are indeed real and truthful.”
“Are you implying that I am lying?!” the prosecutor snarled.
“Yes,” Roger replied with a smile. “I went up and down that street yesterday to find anyone who had witnessed the event. I found three people and only three who would talk with me. I have them waiting outside. Your Honor, if you want to accept those statements, I will have to ask the eyewitnesses to attend to give their recollections.”
The judge grimaced. “Prosecutor, you have until this hearing ends to supply any of your witnesses.”
The mayor surged to his feet. “What?! Clarence, have you lost your damned mind?”
“Sit down, Victor!” the judge roared back at him. “I will make sure this hearing is done in accordance with the laws!”
Purple-faced, Victor sat down hard on his chair, which creaked alarmingly.
The prosecutor coughed and set his statements down. “I doubt we can get them here in time. I will not bring them forward if the defender will waive his people.”
“Gladly,” Roger grinned. “Can someone tell the three outside they can go for now, but that they might still be needed later?”
One of the Walkers by the doors stepped out of the courtroom.
Stern glanced at Roger questioningly, but the older man just shook his head.
“Very well. We have the guard who found the dead here to speak of the incident,” the prosecutor said, motioning to the sergeant.
The sergeant moved to stand before the judge. “Your Honor, may I?”
“Proceed,” the judge said, hoping that the guards had something good.
“We were notified by fleeing citizens that a fight with weapons was happening. This had two of my men blow the alarm and rush to see what was happening. They found a number of dead men and a crew of Walkers who had been injured. The defendant was on the scene and, as we were dealing with that, a few more of my men found another couple of dead a street away.”
“These other dead, who were they?” the prosecutor asked.
“Skippy Bloodcoin and Klein Ashson.”
“The two men the defendant killed.”
“Objection,” Roger sighed. “We still haven’t established that my client was even where the dead were found.”
“Sustained,” the judge said grudgingly. “Sergeant?”
“Yes, sir. As we took the guilty away from the scene, my men examined the area. We found bloody footprints leading from where the defendant had been sitting to where Bloodcoin had been killed.”
“How were they killed?” the prosecutor asked.
“Ashson had been stabbed repeatedly in the chest and Bloodcoin… he’d been clawed to death. His throat was ripped out by teeth and his body had dozens of deep scratches.”
“Did my client have a weapon on him?” Roger asked suddenly.
“Not on him,” the sergeant replied. “We found an empty sheath on the street in the blood. It appeared that he dropped it when he ran.”
“It was Klein’s knife,” Stern said.
“What was that?” the prosecutor asked with a smirk.
“Klein pulled the knife to attack me,” Stern said.
Roger grabbed Stern’s shoulder. “My client needs a moment.”
“No,” Stern said. “I will speak the truth. Your Honor, if you want the truth, I will speak it. The court does have the ability to invoke a zone of truth, doesn’t it?”
The room went silent and the judge just stared at Stern. “Young man, what you’re asking for is only used in very rare cases.”
“My life means a damned lot to me,” Stern said firmly. “I will willingly subject myself to the zone.”
“Your Honor, my client—”
“Yes, do it!” the mayor yelled over Roger. “Make him speak!”
“Don’t do this,” Roger said intently to Stern, grabbing his shoulders and pulling him closer.
“I’m going to,” Stern said flatly. “This circus needs to end.”
“Fine,” the judge said, his lips turning up. “The defendant has asked and the prosecution has agreed. Anyone who doesn’t wish to test the strength of the zone needs to leave now.”
Most of the Walkers quickly left the room, as did all of the guards but the sergeant. Roger stood up and gathered his papers, giving Stern a soulful look. Shaking his head, he followed the others out. Frank stayed where he was.
When everyone
had left, the judge brought out a fist-sized black and white gem, shaped to be two bent teardrops forming a circle. When he placed it on his desk, he spoke the incantation needed, “Goddess, we ask you to look down and judge the words spoken in your presence.”
The room trembled and those who were still there shuddered as a wave of power encompassed them. Stern exhaled slowly and he bowed his head.
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