“My Defender thinks I should plead guilty.”
She was stunned. “You’re not going to protest your innocence?”
“I did it,” he said.
“But you didn’t mean to, did you?” Crystal stressed.
“What does that matter?”
“Everything! You can enter a plea of Innocent of Intent.” She studied Unt’s frown. “You’re Defender didn’t explain this?”
“No,” Unt felt like a child, “What’s ‘Innocent of Intent’?”
Crystal put a hand on top of his. “There are three possible pleas you can enter: Guilty, Innocent and Innocent of Intent. Innocent of Intent is when you admit you did it but you either couldn’t help it or weren’t aware of it.”
“Ostin didn’t say anything about that.”
“Ostin’s your Defender?”
“Yes.”
“He hasn’t committed you to anything yet, has he?” Crystal spoke earnestly.
“He told me to think about it overnight.”
“He’s coming back this morning? Then I’ll stay and wait for him. We’ll get you out of this.”
Unt wanted to ask her why she was doing this but doing so seemed ungracious. She might be doing it because it was her duty or it might be because she cared. The important thing was that she was helping.
Just then, Tulk shuffled over onto Crystal’s shoulder. “Where are my manners, my dear?” he said. “Would you like let in so you can have a seat?”
Crystal looked at the bars like she hadn’t seen them. “Oh, thank you,” she said, favouring Tulk with her regal smile.
Tulk let her in and left the door open. Crystal went in and sat on the bed beside him. She put a hand on his thigh. They didn’t know what to say from that point. It was like Crystal was visiting him at his sickbed. Or his deathbed.
“They’re saying the trial’s going to be this morning,” Crystal spoke to fill the void.
“Where did you hear that?”
“My mother heard it last night from a neighbour.”
So the rumour had spread across town, then. There was no hope of a quick trial keeping things quiet. “Your mother’s neighbour’s not wrong,” he said.
“You’d think the man could be here in good time,” she said. Unt had never seen Crystal angry. It was a strange honour that it was on his behalf.
They sat in silence for a few minutes when there was a second knock at the door. Tulk got up and admitted Ostin.
The Defender did a double-take when he saw Crystal. He stood there, blinking, like he couldn’t fathom her presence there. In the end, he seemed to dismiss it as an unsolvable riddle and entered the cell.
“Unt, how are you this morning?” he asked, offering his grey hand. When Unt had shaken it, he looked around as though trying to figure where to sit.
“Here, take my place,” said Crystal, getting up. Ostin didn’t even protest for politeness’ sake, he just plonked himself down in the warm patch she’d created and left her standing over them.
“Ok,” he said, “I received word this morning that the trial is to begin at eleven. It’s just after nine now so that gives us plenty of time to get your plea sorted.”
Plenty, thought Unt.
“Now,” Ostin continued, “Have you decided to enter a guilty plea?” He flicked a glance at Crystal as though wary of this unexpected apparition.
Crystal took that as her cue to speak. “We wanted to explore the option of pleading Innocent of Intent,” she told him.
Ostin looked at Unt as though seeking an explanation. “This is my wife, Crystal,” he introduced her.
“Defender Ostin.” Ostin rose to shake her hand and quickly retreated back beside Unt. He sucked air through his teeth. “Innocent of Intent, you say?”
“It’s my understanding that in your last discussion you didn’t explore this option.” Crystal was imperious.
Ostin scratched between his shoulders. He looked at Crystal, then at Unt as though deciding who he should respond to. “That’s an option, to be sure,” he settled on Unt, “but it carries the same risk that we discussed.”
“But that’s exactly what Unt is,” said Crystal. “Innocent of Intent.”
Ostin looked annoyed. “If we don’t win this thing the judges tend to look harder on these cases than a straight plea of innocence. Then you’ve got to consider the fact you’re one of their own. Councillors are supposed to be above reproach and frankly, you’re pissing on their reputation. They won’t take kindly to that.”
“Or maybe that could help us,” said Crystal, “They won’t be in a hurry to convict him if it tarnishes their image.”
“You’re putting a lot of faith in their intent,” said Ostin.
“And you’re putting a lot of doubt in it,” Crystal fired back.
“If I’m convicted, what happens to my position?” asked Unt. This time, it was his turn to wonder who to direct the question at.
“They won’t want you as a Councillor. You’ll probably be redeployed to another Order,” Ostin got in first.
“They can’t redeploy him,” said Crystal. “It’s never been done before.”
“No Councillor’s ever admitted to cheating the system either,” laughed Ostin nasally. “He falsified his way in there so they’ll argue they can chuck him out. At the end of the day, these are Councillors: they can change the rules as they go.”
“Would they swap me with someone?” Unt was thinking of Rob.
Ostin huffed. “Who knows? They might go back and work out the whole Fall but that would be a logistical nightmare. My guess is they’d add the post into next year’s Fall and give you a new posting when you get out of prison.”
“How would it affect our marriage?” Unt asked Ostin. He couldn’t face saying those words to Crystal.
Ostin hissed. “Difficult to say,” he said and flicked a shifty glance between the two of them. “Has it been, er, consummated?”
Crystal was looking out the window. “Yes,” replied Unt.
“Any issue?” asked Ostin.
“Issue?”
“Children,” he explained.
“We’ve been married less than two months.”
“Of course! Don’t mind me,” Ostin tittered to himself. “Well, I’ve never heard of a marriage being annulled before. You’ve consummated it, which is good, but unless the two of you are expecting, there's no family unit to split up. It might boil down to what Crystal wants.”
Crystal turned back from the window. Unt cursed himself for opening the floor to temptation. What she wanted was Rob. They might have started to build the foundations of a real relationship but given the chance, would she cast Unt aside for him? Probably. The question then was, would she still help him?
“If we win, it doesn’t matter,” she spoke to both of them with a different meaning for each. “Unt has to fight it. He can’t just let himself be condemned for a mistake.”
“What do you want to do, Unt?” Ostin asked him.
Unt couldn’t bring himself to look up. “I can’t go to prison,” he said. “I want to plead Innocent of Intent.”
Ostin knew he was defeated. “Guilty in deed but not in mind, eh?” he laughed his watery laugh and patted Unt’s leg. His palm was already sweaty and left a damp imprint on his trousers. “Unt my boy, I always make it a policy to listen to my wife and I think you’re right to do so here.”
“You know I wasn’t keen on going the full Innocent route but Innocent of Intent? I think we can manage that. The essence of the case against you is that you tried to beat the system. The Councillors will forgive anything but that.
“But if you can present yourself as the naïve, wide-eyed boy who didn’t realise what he was doing, you’re giving them an easy excuse to absolve you. Can you manage that?”
“I can,” said Unt firmly.
“Excellent,” said Ostin, “Now we only need roll for it.”
“Roll for it?” Unt frowned.
“Oh, yes,” replied Ostin. “This
is just like real life. We don’t just get to choose our case, we have to decide by rolling for it.”
“Then what have we been discussing?” Unt demanded.
Ostin delved into his satchel and came up with a small green card. “This,” he said, “is your Plea Card. I fill it in with your options, weigh the scores according to our preference and then you roll. Understand?”
Unt nodded cautiously.
“Good,” said Ostin, “Now, the law requires that all options are present on the card, even if it’s a plea we don’t want to use. What I’m proposing then is that we enter a plea of innocence on a double one. Does that sound good to you?”
Again, Unt nodded.
“Now, our remaining two options are a full and open admittance of guilt and an admittance of guilt without intent. I think we should go for the second option between three and nine and keep the first option for a score of ten or more.”
“Make it twelve,” said Crystal.
“How about eleven or more?” countered Ostin.
“Twelve,” said Crystal. “Unt’s already told you, he can’t bear the thought of conviction.”
“Alright,” said Ostin resignedly, “twelve it is.” He started filling out the card in scratchy handwriting. His tongue flicked the side of his mouth as he wrote.
“Ok, Unt,” he said when he was done, “We’re ready. Do you have your dice with you?”
In reply, Unt took his fist out of his pocket and opened his fingers to reveal his dice.
“In your own time, then,” said Ostin.
Unt cast the dice on the floor. One landed resting on the metal at the bottom of the bars. The other rebounded back toward the cot, went between the two men and stopped just short of going fully under.
The score on the bar showed six, the one by their feet showed two.
“Eight,” said Ostin, writing the score on the card, “Guilleless-guilt it is!” He slipped the completed card into his satchel and rose to leave.
Unt decided to ask the other question that had been playing on his mind. “Do you know who made the accusation?”
Ostin shrugged, “My understanding is that they’ve given him or her anonymity. If that will be all, I’ll see you later.” He spared no time in leaving.
Crystal stayed standing. “Thank you,” he said to her.
She stepped over and put a hand on his head. “It’s what I’m here for.”
Her touch was reassuring but his mind was restless. He couldn’t help wondering if he’d done the right thing. This situation had Lasper’s touch all over it. He wouldn’t give Unt an easy ride. If he was going to prove his innocence he would have to fight for it but the worst of it was, deep down, he didn’t feel innocent.
“You should go,” he said to Crystal.
She looked unwilling but asked “Would you like me to fetch you anything from home?”
“I won’t be here long but a change of clothes would be nice,” he said.
“I’ll fetch you toiletries and some paper and ink,” she said. “If you come up with any ideas, you can jot them down.”
Her list made, she got up to leave. That left them with a final awkward moment: the kiss goodbye. It was duty, not passion that demanded it and neither knew what to do. They settled for a peck on the lips.
It was a nothing gesture but as Crystal was leaving, she looked back from the front door and smiled. It was the first true smile she’d given him and in that instant, Unt was reminded why all the boys loved her.
There was so much kindness in that one smile that she seemed to project light. To have even a fraction of her full passion bestowed on him gave Unt hope.
11. The Charge
“Time,” said the beadle, rousing Unt from his reverie. He looked at the old man, blinking.
“Time for your trial, young ‘un,” Tulk repeated. “Time for the big event.”
Unt was already dressed. Crystal had been over with a change of clothes and his appearance was as ready as it was going to be. He’d sent her away after she’d made the delivery.
He’d told her to go and get a seat for the trial. Her support would be more use there than it was here and he didn’t want her getting shut out by the crowds or relegated to the back benches. He would need her where he could see her.
Unt stood up as Tulk opened the cell and let himself be led to the cabin door. As the beadle swung the door open, Unt was prepared to be blinded by the sun but the day was overcast. It was the kind of sky that didn’t want to shine but couldn’t be bothered to do anything else, so it just sat there, grey.
The people gathered outside matched the weather’s mood. He’d thought there’d either be a baying crowd or else no-one at all but instead, there were maybe three-score people. It was more than a group but less than a mob and their attitude was more curious than hostile. They looked on Unt with the macabre interest of people viewing a corpse.
They pressed in for a closer look but Tulk pushed through them with the easy authority of experience. One skinny youth, a few years older than Unt, pushed through from the back. “Cheat!” he yelled.
“Becker, is that you caterwauling?” asked Tulk without looking. “You should be more careful banding that word around with your curious luck at the tables.”
That silenced the boy and the crowd as well. As Tulk walked Unt up the street, the rest fell in behind or walked alongside them. The farther they walked, the more the crowd grew but an eerie silence stayed over them.
If Unt’s journey to confinement had seemed long, the journey to his judgement was even longer. Yesterday, he’d dreaded seeing people he knew but now, anonymity was out of the question. Everywhere he looked among the crowd, he saw the familiar flicker of people he knew. Not one of them could meet his eyes and neither could he meet theirs, so he walked on with his eyes to the floor.
When they reached Fortune Square, a second crowd was already gathered. This was larger than the one that moved along with Unt and as the two merged into one, the assembly reached a critical mass that energised them.
“Move aside!” bawled Tulk. “If the main event’s stuck out here, who do you think is gonna be standing trial inside?”
He had to back up his voice with the use of elbows but he ploughed them through the Square without any difficulty. Unt had little time to dwell on his return to Fate Hall: his place of work, the site of his former triumph, arrest and now, place of judgement. Tulk had him through the entrance corridor before he knew it.
Inside, the press of people was denser. Old Tulk had to work harder but he barged his way through in the same old manner. The squash of people was so dense that it didn’t seem possible they had somewhere to move to. For his own sake, he had enough difficulty breathing, never mind moving. It was an actual relief when they broke through into the depopulated space where he was to be tried.
Tulk squeezed his shoulder. “It’s time I’ll be leaving you, son,” he said. “I never make it my business to get to know the ins and outs of cases but as far as I’m concerned, you’ve been a good lad and you’re all right in my book. Good luck, Unt.”
With that, he slipped away as easily as he’d got them through the eager throng. Except for some guards, Unt was left alone, isolated in a square defined by invisible walls. It seemed absurd that on the other side of this emptiness was a furious crush of people and all of them focused on him.
In the lower galleries, the congestion wasn’t so bad, as though a sense of the unseen boundary was holding people back. Up above, the balconies were fit to burst. The people up there looked so tightly packed that at any point, the pressure could squeeze people up and over to spatter down below.
In the higher and lower arenas, Unt searched for Crystal, Bulton, Bull’s parents or any other familiar face. All he made out were strangers. It seemed madness that so many people he didn’t know were willing to suffer this to see his trial.
He decided to assume that Crystal was there, somewhere. She might not have got to the front but it had been difficult enough f
or him to get in.
Unt noticed a few differences from the Hall’s normal look. A podium had been erected between the judges’ bench and his own. He guessed that was the witness stand. The other change was a black velvet curtain that hung behind the judges’ seat. A board stood behind it but the contents were concealed.
From the corner of his eye, he detected a commotion on the edge of his bubble. When he looked, he saw Ostin bustling through. The Defender was using his experience to slip through the throng. He seemed to ride under the crowd, letting himself be buffeted around so long as he kept on course. His satchel was clung to his chest like a precious relic.
On seeing Unt looking, he sat down on a distant pew, reconsidered after a moment and came and sat at Unt’s bench.
“Thinking of abandoning me?” Unt half-joked.
“No, no, no,” Ostin shook his head. “I’ve just got some, er, I was just going over a final bit of prep.”
“And you need a lot of space to do that?”
“No, just to concentrate,” said Ostin. He pulled a sheaf of papers from his satchel and began casting dice. He scribbled the scores in the margins in a minute and illegible hand. Unt wondered why he was showing such energy now when he hadn’t before and what it was he could possibly be deciding. He suspected the Defender was just making to look busy so he wouldn’t have to deal with his client.
Time dragged, waiting for the judges to appear. The allotted time came and went and the only thing that changed was that Unt’s area of isolation had shrunk. The curiosity and the pressure of human bodies had slowly overcome any sense of decorum. By the time the door to the Council chambers opened, only the benches around Unt and the floor directly before him were free from interlopers.
At last, the five Councillors appeared. Unt mentally ticked them off as they appeared: Erk, Taylor, Pello and Hodd, and finally, the dread form of Lasper. The first four moved to their positions quickly, as though embarrassed by the situation but Lasper milked his position at the tail for everything it was worth. The smile of triumph was written everywhere on his body but his face. All the while, he kept his eyes on Unt.
The Fall of Chance Page 21