Curse of the Red Evil

by Zel Spasov

  There was also a positive side to the rain. It would help extinguish the numerous fires in the city which illuminated the night with their ominous, blood-red glow.

  “So, what now? They’re going to give us a stern talking-to and let us off?” Cayden tried to lighten the mood with a lighthearted remark.

  “They'll prosecute us,” answered Jean with a serious face. “If we're lucky, they’ll condemn us to a life in prison. If not, they’ll send us to the hangman.”

  “Ah. Not the answer I was hoping for.”

  Although he was trying to keep a positive outlook on things, the horror in Cayden's soul grew. He imagined the moment of his sentencing. Cayden Starosta, I sentence you to death, he heard the judge’s voice in his ears. A cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and his stomach tied in a knot. He didn’t want to spend the rest of his life in this cell, however short that time would be. Besides, he hadn’t done anything wrong.

  “I’m sure it’s not that bad,” he said again, trying to find even a little bit of hope to hang on to. “So you stole some things from the palace. They must have a ton of them lying around anyway.”

  Jean gave him a look filled with deep pessimism. “Even if they decide to forgive me, King Fraud is so afraid of you he will convict us at any cost.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  The question seemed to catch Jean unprepared. His eyes widened, and he opened his mouth, but only an “Um...” came out.

  “Why is the king afraid of me?”

  “The king doesn’t like humans... People are rare in Agapea, and he’s afraid of them,” the Frog said unconvincingly.

  Cayden's fear turned into confusion and anger. The Frog was hiding something from him. He had the feeling they had met before.

  “Tell me honestly. Do you know who I am?” Cayden asked.

  “Me?” asked Jean innocently. “Know you? I don’t even know your name.”

  “Then why were you following me around town?”

  “Coincidence,” said the amphibian.

  With every following question, his discomfort seemed to intensify.

  “If the king doesn’t like people, as you say, why did you use me to get to the palace? Why not use another animal—a kangaroo, for example? They have comfortable pockets.”

  “Have you not seen how aggressive kangaroos are? If I got close to one, it would crush me with its enormous feet.”

  “You're lying to me,” Cayden said. “I started to remember some things. Does the name 'Red Evil’ mean something to you?”

  “Be quiet!” Jean's eyes almost jumped out of their orbits. “Are you insane? It could hear you! Is that what you want? For both of us to die because you can’t keep your mouth shut?”

  So it was true. The vision of the tentacle creature was not just a projection of his confused mind. There was some Presence, which was called the Red Evil. Cayden felt that it wanted something from him. It was the reason he was in this place.

  “What is… It?” he asked the Frog.

  There was silence. Jean looked as if he was grappling with a way to explain things. Finally, he gave up and said, “All right, fine. I'll tell you if you want to know so bad.”

  At last, he would learn the secret of his past. He leaned toward the amphibian to hear better.

  “It,” said the Frog cautiously, “appeared a while ago. Everything was fine before that.” Jean looked at him. “You were...”

  There was silence again while the Frog carefully chose the appropriate words to continue his story.

  “I was what?” asked Cayden impatiently.

  “You were...”

  Suddenly, the sound of footsteps came from the hallway. The door to their cell swung open. Two boar guards entered the room.

  “Cayden Starosta and Jean Dieudonné, King Fraud requires your presence in the courtroom,” they said.

  Cayden's and Jean’s eyes met. Cayden desperately wanted to know what the Frog was going to say. He was what? Why did the king hate him?

  The answers to these questions would have to wait. The guards grabbed Cayden and the Frog and shoved them into the hallway.

  ***

  A long corridor made from stone led to the court. It was illuminated by torches burning with different colors. The defendants, accompanied by the guards, entered the room through a double door. Inside, a lion wearing a black robe had taken his place on the judge’s bench, which was a raised desk. Behind him hung a golden flag, depicting a roaring lion. Adjacent to the bench were the witness stand and the desks where the court clerk and the court reporter were sitting. There were also two tables for the prosecution, the defendant, and the counsel. A hen dressed in a black robe stood on one of the tables. The bailiff gestured to Cayden and the Frog to sit at that table. Behind them, there was a separate group of seats for an audience. Now they were empty. The room was lit by numerous candles.

  The guards walked out. The lion was writing something on a piece of paper. Occasionally, he would dip his pen in some ink. He was completely engaged in what he was doing and didn’t show any signs that he had noticed the arrival of the accused.

  Cayden had mixed emotions. Apparently, he had done something wrong to be here, but he didn’t know what it was. How could there be a trial without an accusation? Everything will be fine, he thought, trying to calm himself down. He was innocent. He hadn’t violated any law that he knew of. But what if somebody had framed him? Or what if, without intending to, he had broken a rule or a local custom unknown to him? And what would the punishment be? The Frog croaked beside him. What if they were blaming him for helping the Frog? He would tell them he didn’t know Jean. Would they believe him, though?

  His heart was racing, and his breathing was shallow. The Frog waited with a blank expression on his face, and the hen pecked on the surface of the table. The judge continued to write something on his sheet and to ignore what was going on around him. The court reporter looked bored. Cayden put his hands on the table, trying to project a calm and confident image of himself.

  “Name?” asked the judge.

  The sudden interruption of the silence shocked Cayden. He didn’t know if the question was directed at him, so he didn’t answer.

  “Tell the judge your name,” the bailiff told him.

  “C-cayden Starosta,” he said.

  “Jean Dieudonné,” said the Frog.

  “Address?” asked the judge.

  Cayden couldn’t remember having an address or a home. He had woken up in a room without a roof, but he didn’t know the name of the street in front of it.

  “I don’t know,” he said.

  “Me neither,” said the Frog.

  “Homeless,” muttered the judge while scribbling something on the paper.

  He wrote down a few more things and finally left the pen on his desk.

  “Is the counsel for the accused present?” asked the lion.

  There was no one else in the room except for the judge, the court clerk and reporter, the bailiff, Cayden, the Frog, and... Oh, no. The chicken was their attorney, Cayden realized with horror.

  “Cluck!” answered the hen.

  “All right, I think we can get started,” the judge said as he turned to the bailiff and the court clerk and reporter, who nodded. “My name is King Fraud. You may also refer to me as Judge Fraud, Your Majesty, Your Excellence, Your Divine Handsomeness, or Your Supreme Awesomeness. I will preside over this trial as an impartial judge and make sure that the proceedings go according to the rule of law. We are gathered here to decide whether the despicable criminals known as Cayden Starosta and the Frog Jean are guilty or not. The accusations are clear.”

  Cayden wanted to say that the allegations were, in fact, not clear at all, but his throat was so dry that he couldn’t make a noise.

  “We continue to the opening statements of the prosecution. Because of the urgency with which we had to start the proceedings, the prosecutor can’t attend. For this reason, I will assume his duties. Are there any opposed?” Fr
aud looked around in the hall.

  “Buck buck!” said the hen.

  “The defense agrees. Good.” The judge wrote down something again.

  Cayden was deeply concerned by the way events were unfolding. He wanted to contradict the hen, but he didn’t know what to say. The proceedings were developing so fast that it was impossible for him to react in time. He decided only to listen for now.

  “The accused have committed one the lowest crimes known to civilization,” the king said. He spoke passionately and with conviction. “They are disgusting and dishonest beings whose mere presence in this courtroom defiles the purity of the legal process.”

  Cayden’s chest tightened more and more with each sentence. The case was a farce.

  “Evaluated according to general law and morality, their deeds, which are determined by unrestrained selfishness, stand on the lowest level and are therefore particularly despicable and deserving of only contempt in the public space. In their actions, the accused were led by greed, nefariousness, and pure evil. The consequences of their crimes were catastrophic—material and psychological damages of incalculable value and the destruction of the moral pillars on which our society is built. Creatures like them, born out of darkness and moving in the shadows, constantly spinning webs of lies and manipulations, do not know what good and honest behavior is. Their motivation is the ruin of all that is sacred. They were completely aware of the illegality of their deeds. There is no excuse in this world that can exonerate them from responsibility. Their guilt is beyond any doubt. Rehabilitation is impossible. Because of the atrociousness of their crimes, the punishment must be appropriate. It is the duty of a righteous court to reach a verdict of ‘guilty’ to all charges and punish them with death.”

  A gloomy atmosphere descended in the hall, following Fraud’s opening statement. Cayden was as terrified as he was confused. The judge had never said what crime he had committed. He felt increasingly disappointed and bitter about the judicial system. In fact, this trial was so absurd that it was a funny. How could he not laugh? They had put him in jail, and now they wanted to sentence him to death without telling him what the accusation was. This couldn’t be happening.

  Judge Fraud cleared his throat, picked up the pen, tapped it in the ink, and wrote something on the paper in front of him.

  “You heard the statement of the prosecution,” he said. “Now the defense can respond if it wishes to do so.”

  Cayden looked at the chicken with anticipation. If there was a god in this world, now was the time for a miracle. Maybe it wasn’t as bad as it looked. Perhaps the hen was a disguised genius who would deliver the most persuasive speech in the history of speeches. The hen continued to peck at the table. Finally, she raised her head.

  “Cluck!”

  The little hope that Cayden had managed to gather vanished in a moment.

  “The defense has decided not to make a statement,” the judge said and wrote something down again.

  “Now wait a minute!” Cayden couldn’t take this anymore and stood up from his chair. The lion looked at him with a mixture of surprise and anger. The bailiff put his hands on his weapon and took a step in Cayden’s direction. Cayden held up his hands to show that everything was fine. “Your Majesty,” he said in a quieter voice, “may I say something?”

  Now everyone in the room looked at the judge, who leaned back in his chair. He looked at Cayden with a piercing stare.

  “The accused has the right to speak at any time during the trial. It is not recommended,” he said, “but it is allowed. I can’t stop you from talking. If it is to admit your guilt, then I can promise you a quick and painless execution.”

  “It's not that,” Cayden replied immediately, lest Fraud interpret his silence as an admission of his guilt and pass the death sentence. At the thought of his own death, Cayden shivered. “I have to admit that I was listening to the statement of the... prosecution... with great interest. Unfortunately, it didn’t become clear to me—and forgive me if I missed that part out of the excitement—what is the crime of which I am being accused?”

  “Mister Starosta,” the king replied, barely hiding the contempt in his voice, “the crime you are accused of must be very clear to you. This court has no obligation to clarify your own deeds to you. You yourself know what you have done. We're only here to find out whether you have any guilt or not. So far, the evidence speaks against you, but a fair trial must necessarily allow the accused to defend himself, however futile it may be in this particular case.”

  “How can I defend myself, ‘Judge’ Fraud,” Cayden said in a slightly sharper tone, “if I do not know what I'm accused of? How do I contradict unclear and undefined accusations? Also, is it not in the interest of a fair trial for the accused to be provided with an adequate attorney rather than a stupid hen?”

  “Cluck!” The hen looked insulted.

  “Your lawyer is legally qualified to represent you in court,” said King Fraud. “I see no reason to provide you with a different one. This chicken is fully capable of defending you.”

  “That's absurd!” Cayden laughed. “This is a court of law, is it not? It is a place of justice, and yet today I see no justice here. All I see is a farce!”

  “Mister Starosta!” The lion struck his desk with his fist. “I remind you that you are in court! One more similar comment out of you, and I will hold you in contempt! The trial will continue without you, and you will have no opportunity to defend yourself.”

  “Then I ask you, Judge Fraud, to declare a mistrial or at least to postpone the proceedings for another date.” Cayden became increasingly angrier. He felt not only anger because of the unfair trial, but also a general bewilderment at how a court could function this way. The trial represented maltreatment at the highest level. “I wish to be granted enough time to prepare my defense.”

  “I refuse you this right!” The king bared his teeth in rage. “And another thing, Mister Starosta. If you continue to contradict me, I will be forced to conclude that you are guilty. Sit down, Mister Starosta.”

  Mister Starosta hesitated.

  “But…” he began, but was interrupted by the judge.

  “I said sit down!”

  Cayden sank slowly into his chair. Fraud scribbled something on the paper in front of him.

  “Congratulations,” the Frog whispered to him. “You almost killed us both.”

  “After this unnecessary and unconstitutional interruption of the proceedings, we shall continue with the direct examination of prosecution witnesses,” the judge said. “Enter Mrs. Eidetic.”

  A goat, walking on two legs like all the other animals Cayden had seen so far, entered into the hall. The goat wore a dress and held a small handbag. She took her place on the witness stand.

  “Mrs. Eidetic, is your name correct?” King Fraud asked.

  “Yes, it is,” the goat said in a shaky voice.

  “Do you know the accused?”

  “Not personally,” said the goat. “But I know of him.”

  “Tell us what you've witnessed.”

  “I'll tell you. Cayden Starosta is the most dangerous criminal in the whole of Agapea.” The goat’s indignation was apparent. “He doesn’t possess a conscience. Everyone in my family is afraid of him, yes. Even my son, the respectable Master Rhymester, has warned me about him! I have never met such a sneaky and dishonest person before.”

  “Mrs. Eidetic, please have a look at the accused,” Fraud said. “Tell me if that's the same Cayden Starosta you are talking about. Sometimes mistakes are made, and the wrong suspect is apprehended.”

  “It’s him, I’m sure of it,” said Mrs. Eidetic after looking at him. “I never forget; I have the memory of an elephant.”

  “Mrs. Eidetic,” said the lion, “we don’t allow speciesism in the court room. For example, I’ve examined many elephants who couldn’t remember what they had for breakfast.”

  “I have a good memory, was what I was saying,” said the old lady. “I'm sure this Cayden St
arosta is the one who did all these unforgivable crimes. This Windhavener attack is probably his fault, too. How else do you explain the fact that he appeared exactly when the attack happened? He deserves to be sentenced to prison. Lock him up and never let him go! And the Frog too.”

  “Thank you, Mrs. Eidetic, you are free to go,” Fraud said.

  After the goat left the room, the judge called for a new witness. This process repeated itself several times until all the prosecution’s witnesses were examined. Each one of them said the same: how disgusting Cayden was, how there was no justification for what he had done, how he had to be punished. None of them went into details, however, and Cayden still didn’t know what his crime was. The king had threatened him to remain silent, and so he did.

  “Now, if the defense wishes, it can cross-examine the prosecution’s witnesses,” Fraud said.

  “Cluck!”

  “The defense has decided not to cross-examine the witnesses,” the judge said. “If the defense has witnesses it wants to call forth, it can do this now.”

  “Cluck!”

  “All right, the defense has no witnesses.” The lion made a check on the piece of paper in front of him. “We continue with the closing statements of the prosecution and then of the defense. As the prosecutor for this trial, I only want to say that the evidence provided undoubtedly points to the guilt of Cayden Starosta and Jean the Frog.”

  “Cluck!”

  There was no winning, realized Cayden. No matter how much he ranted against the absurdity of this process, the madness would still go on. The closing statement was his last chance to appeal to King Fraud’s better nature—if he had one.

  “King Fraud, if I may, I would like to do my own closing statement,” said Cayden.

  “I cannot see how that would help, but you are free to do so,” said King Fraud.

  “King Fraud,” began Cayden, “I don’t know what I did to hurt the people of this land in such a way, nor do I wish to harm them in the future. For all my wrongdoings, whatever they were, I apologize—they were not done in an evil spirit, but simply out of ignorance. Today, King Fraud, I am pleading a case with no merit. Our lives are placed in your hands, mighty and just King Fraud. I beg you to show mercy upon two pitiful creatures such as ourselves so we might live on to redeem our sins. Today, I stand in front of you, and I ask you to pronounce us innocent.”