“Would you characterize the Brigon trial by combat as a ‘routine event’?”
Lady Selene was taken aback, but her face remained perfectly composed.
“No,” she said judiciously. “It was not. However, it was an event that involved violence, so I decided to use military rather than civilian observers.”
“You also ordered Seignora Princess Caitlin to provide security to a group of market women, using the same trip for their immersion.”
“Yes,” said Lady Selene, now back in control. “I thought that the presence of the civilian market women would serve to make Seignora Caitlin more cautious and curb her temptation to…interfere.”
“Would you characterize Seignora Princess Caitlin’s attempts to save this young girl from rape, torture, and certain death as criminal?”
“That for this court to decide,” said Lady Selene. “Our laws are designed to protect the Sisterhood and the Zon way of life. A court of law is a place for facts, not emotion.”
This drew applause from the commoners seated on the main floor of the court. Ling Mae saw that she had been outmaneuvered. She excused the witness and returned to the defense table. As Lady Selene made an elegant exit, Ling Mae leaned over to Caitlin.
“I am sorry, Princess Caitlin,” she whispered. “I am afraid I am not doing a very good job defending you.”
Caitlin smiled at her.
“I have not given you much of a case, Centuria,” she replied in a low voice. “No one could have done better.”
“Doing my best and failing seems to be my lot,” said Ling Mae, sounding very upset.
Kyra looked down from the bench, first at Anika and then at Ling Mae.
“Do counsel wish to call further witnesses?” she asked.
“Praefecta Kyra, I could call many more witnesses,” said Anika. “But they would merely repeat the facts that you have already heard. I do not wish to waste the court’s time.”
“Your Honors, I would like to call some character witnesses,” said Ling Mae.
Kyra looked from Tignona to Diana.
“Seignora Princess Caitlin’s character is not being questioned,” Kyra said. “The court accepts that prior to the events in question, her conduct was blameless and indeed, exemplary. Do you wish to bring any further witnesses to contest the facts of the case?”
“No, Praefecta Kyra,” said Ling Mae.
“In that case, I call on Seignora Princess Caitlin to make her closing statement to the court,” asserted Kyra.
Ling Mae sat down with a disappointed look. In the gallery, Andromache twisted her handkerchief, raging at her powerlessness.
Caitlin slowly stood up and approached the bench. She took a deep breath, looked into the eyes of each of the judges, and began.
“Your Honors, you have heard the facts of the case against me. I do not dispute them. By the laws of the Sisterhood, I am guilty indeed, and I do not beg for mercy. I will accept any punishment this court sees fits to impose. However, I wish to use this opportunity to explain to the court and to the entire Sisterhood the reasons for my actions. Centuria Anika has told you that the barbarian girl, Nitya, was found guilty by a court of King Harald of Briga, our ally. This much is true. But what she has not told you is that the trial was a sham, where the girl stood accused of nothing more than healing the sick. For this she was sentenced to death!
“We Zon consider ourselves superior to the savage races of New Eartha. I ask my sisters, why? Is it because of our brilliant medicine that gives us lifespans four times as long as the barbarians? Is it because of our motherhood programs and Excellence boards that ensure that our active population approaches physical and intellectual perfection? Is it because of our technological wizardry that gives us capabilities and weapons that the barbarians consider magical? I say to you no, no, and no again. A physically gifted, clever barbarian with an advanced weapon is still a barbarian—consider the behavior of the Skull Watch in Ostracis!
“I say to you that we are above the barbarians because of what we will not do and what we will not countenance. Duke Artor Hilson sent defenseless women and children to besiege the Brigon Residency, but my sister Megara would not fire upon them, and Resident Lady Selene supported her decision. This is what it means to be Zon!
“Twelve-year-old Nitya chose trial by combat thinking she would face a quick, honorable death in the fighting pit. Neither she nor we knew that she was to be raped and tortured by a brutish gladiator before being killed, providing sick entertainment for thousands of the good citizens of Dreslin. She is not Zon, but does that make her suffering less real? If she were a horse, our administration would have given me money to buy her out of ill treatment and take her into our stables. But since she is human, it was my duty to sit and watch this vicious cruelty. Well, I failed in my duty! And what is more, I am proud of my failure. For I believe that if we Zon do not right what we know to be wrong, if we cynically allow and even encourage barbaric behavior, we are no more than technologically advanced savages.”
Idealistic, naïve Caitlin! thought Andromache, her heart beating faster with worry. Megara thought, This will not go over well. This is not what they wanted to hear.
Caitlin surveyed the ranks of commoners as she walked slowly back to the defense table. They were silent and stone-faced, and she did not see much sympathy there. She sat down and ran her fingers over the ax-and-hammer insignia on her wrist bracers.
“Thank you, Seignora Princess Caitlin,” said Kyra ceremoniously. “I declare a short recess. The judges will retire to consider their decision. We will reconvene in about half an hour.”
Kyra, Tignona, and Diana rose and entered the judges’ chamber. Two huntresses in Pentheselia Legion uniforms again functioned as bailiffs and escorted Caitlin from the courtroom. The commoners all remained in their seats, knowing that they would not get them back if they left. However, some of the electrae in the gallery rose and left to get some refreshment.
The time passed very quickly for Caitlin, and it seemed to her that she was returned to the courtroom from the holding chamber in very short order. Soon after she was brought back in, the judges filed in and took their seats. There was a buzz of anticipation in the courtroom, and Kyra had to bang her gavel several times before she could get complete silence.
“The panel has reached a verdict and decided on a sentence,” Kyra said in a carrying voice. “By a vote of two to one, we find the defendant, Seignora Princess Caitlin, guilty as charged.”
There was a huge burst of cheering from the commoners and from many in the gallery of electrae. It continued for several minutes. Everyone was opening comm channels to tell their relatives, friends, and acquaintances. Kyra again had to bang her gavel many times to restore silence. She projected the sentencing document from her wrist bracer and looked up at the courtroom before she read it.
“Seignora Princess Caitlin,” said Kyra, addressing her directly. “The sentence for your most serious crime of endangering the Residency is death. Your less-serious crime of failing to obey orders is punishable by forced retirement. However, one of the members of the panel argued vociferously on your behalf. On the basis of these arguments and in light of the fact that we are no longer at war, your sentences of death and retirement are both commuted.”
This was greeted by pandemonium. Screams of abuse arose from the courtroom floor as the commoners showed their displeasure. Many electrae in the gallery looked displeased, and there was an angry buzz there as well. Kyra banged her gavel again and again to restore order with little effect. Finally she engaged the courtroom megaphone and said, “If I do not get order, I will have the courtroom cleared!” Slowly the chamber subsided into angry muttering.
“The panel imposes the following sentence,” continued Kyra in a sharp tone. She turned to Caitlin again. “You are stripped of your status as an electra. All the positions, rights, and honors that have been conferred on you are revoked. This means you are expelled from the Legions and lose your membership of all the Templ
es.”
There was silence in the courtroom as Kyra finished reading the sentence. Kyra motioned to the Pentheselia huntresses, and the two of them approached Caitlin, asking her to stand. One of them went behind her and removed her choker. The other motioned for Caitlin’s hands, and she put them forward meekly. The huntress removed her wrist bracers one at a time. Caitlin had worn these accoutrements of a huntress, waking and sleeping, for so long that removing them uncovered vivid white bands on her throat and wrists.
Seeing Caitlin humiliated so publicly, Megara felt hot tears sting her eyes. “This is so unjust,” she whispered more to herself than to anyone else.
“You may apply for a commoners’ communicator from the Government Supplies Office,” one of the huntresses told Caitlin. “We have a speeder waiting out back to take you to the d’Orr palace. The panel thought the crowd outside may do you harm.”
Caitlin nodded, saying, “Thank you for your consideration, Officia. I will accompany you.”
As Caitlin was escorted out of the courtroom, the panel exited through the judges’ chamber. Andromache looked from Megara to Jena to Felicia.
“This is a travesty,” she said.
ANDROMACHE LEFT THE courtroom immediately after the sentencing and ordered her speeder to take her straight to Chateau Regina. Hildegard was in, and Alex was on duty in the outer office. In response to Andromache’s request, she opened the portal to Hildegard’s main office and announced her. Hildegard looked up from her desk as the High Priestess entered and stood up to greet her.
“Your Majesty, I come straight from the courtroom,” said Andromache without preamble.
“Yes, I was expecting you,” said Hildegard with a smile. “I am sure you are disappointed. But realistically, this is the best outcome she could have hoped for.”
“To be publicly humiliated and to lose everything she worked for her whole life,” said Andromache indignantly. “This administration has itself repeated many of Caitlin’s ‘crimes’ in winning this war. We have taken barbarians into our airships and into our Residencies and used them to further our ends. The war is over, ma’am, and you have led us to a magnificent victory. As we begin a new era of peace, can’t we be merciful?”
“Where Caitlin is concerned, the mood of the Sisterhood is not forgiving,” said Hildegard. “You know of the violent rants on the comm. My advisors find similar responses in their polls. The comm is reflective of the temperament out there. If I overturn the court martial decision, it is very likely there will be severe public unrest. I cannot risk that.”
“That is hypocritical, ma’am,” said Andromache. “If we are making decisions based on public opinion, your own past behavior would hardly pass muster.”
“Andromache, I am past that,” said Hildegard. “Deirdre held that sword over my head long enough. If you wish to expose me, go ahead. I will face the firing squad with a light heart now that Greghar is safe. But I will not be blackmailed again.”
“You know I would never blackmail you,” said Andromache, suddenly contrite. “I just find it so terribly hard to accept that we are punishing Caitlin so severely for doing the right thing.”
WHILE CAITLIN’S FEW supporters felt that she had been unjustly punished, the public perception was that she had gotten off far too lightly. This infuriated the commoners and even many electrae. Vitriol poured out onto the comm, much of it simultaneously lauding Deirdre. Comm edges expressed outrage that Caitlin had not been executed or even banished to Ostracis. Soon more and more fanciful tales began to appear, and even the most outlandish stories gained currency. Gradually most of the Zon became willing to believe almost anything about Caitlin.
“I know one of Princess Deirdre’s handmaidens. She told me that she was heartbroken over her daughter’s behavior…”
“My womb sister’s best friend was with Princess Caitlin at the Academy. Even back then, she used to disparage her mother mercilessly…”
“One of the grooms at the Brigon Residency told me that she heard that Princess Caitlin performed a sexy striptease for the barbarians in the fighting pit in Dreslin Center and that they threw coins to her…”
“I heard that she brutally beat Lady Selene when she tried to stop her bringing the barbarian into the Brigon Residency…”
“My cousin’s friend is with the Engine Maidens. She told me that her friend saw Princess Caitlin copulating with the barbarian Greghar in his cell at Simrania and…”
“She is a whore! She has always craved male flesh…”
“This Greghar was only the latest of many…”
“I heard that her daughter’s carrying on with the barbarians was just too much for Princess Deirdre. She was so pure and true, Queen Simran come to life again! I think she lost her will to live…”
“One of my girlfriends knows the server Franna Kostarina. She told me that when the barbarians fired, Princess Deirdre saved the two commoners but made no attempt to save herself. She stood erect and took the bolts straight in her breast. It was suicide, plain and simple. Her daughter drove her to it…”
“We all heard Caitlin’s statement in court—she said that barbarians are just as good as Zon…”
“Shooting is too good for Caitlin. She should be roasted like the barbarian that she is…”
“The Queen and the high electrae will never punish her. They are afraid to tarnish the d’Orr tiara. It is up to us…”
“We cannot send her to Ostracis. So let us send her to silencis. Forever.”
Silencis was a punishment that had originated among Zon schoolgirls to shun a girl that had done something her fellows considered egregious. A sister in silencis was given a particularly severe silent treatment—no one spoke to her, and her very presence was not acknowledged.
Vivia was enjoying a light dinner on her terrace, skimming through some comm edges. Darbeni sat at the table with her, picking at her light, fluffy pie and absently sipping fitza.
“This is wonderful, Darbeni!” exclaimed Vivia, looking up from the projection in front of her. “I think I struck a chord. It took so little orchestration to get the whole process going. A few pointed comm edges, one or two live site shows, and the public is doing the rest. I didn’t manage to get her shot, but soon Princess Caitlin will wish she were dead.”
“Why are you taking the trouble?” asked Darbeni. “What has she done to you?”
“How can you say that?” asked Vivia, bridling. “When I was young and poor, her grandmother, Princess Truda d’Orr, was beastly to me. Her mother, Princess Deirdre, made my life miserable, blocking contracts, restricting our activities, and treating me with contempt.”
Vivia rubbed her hands together, looking very pleased with herself.
“My strategy is like a work of art, if I say so myself,” she said. “I organized Princess Deirdre’s death—with exceptional assistance from you, my dear. Now I am building her up as a heroine who gave her life for the Sisterhood and using that very status to bring down her daughter. Could it possibly be more perfect?”
“But you have still not told me what Princess Caitlin has done to deserve this,” persisted Darbeni. “Her grandmother was killed before she was born, and surely you cannot hold her responsible for her mother’s behavior.”
“She is a spoiled, rich, aristocratic brat, to the palace born,” said Vivia. “She has had everything handed to her, while I have had to fight tooth and nail for every copper. I hate her kind, but I especially hate the d’Orrs! It does my heart good to see her suffer.”
Vivia watched another comm edge.
“Silencis!” she said with relish. “This is something to encourage. Let us see how long the good princess can keep her sanity as a non-person.”
Darbeni felt sorry for Caitlin but thought, I must pick my battles. I have nothing to gain and everything to lose in fighting this one.
CAITLIN HAD THOUGHT that she was so deep in sorrow, so deprived of everything she had worked for and valued, that she was beyond further hurt. She was wrong. As silenc
is began to bite, she found she could not get service in cafés or stores and acquaintances would not open her comm channels. Her mother’s handmaidens were withdrawn from the d’Orr palace, and she could get no paid help, no matter what she offered. The palace was a national monument, so maintenance crews came in once a week to clean and keep everything in order, but they refused to acknowledge her existence. In spite of her strong, independent spirit, the loneliness made her increasingly depressed.
As more negative comm edges began appearing, it became difficult to even walk outside, for everyone crossed the street to avoid passing her. When she went to Repro to continue her rehab, she found that even many medicae refused to deal with her. Eventually, she ceased going there when she found several staff made sure to speak about her in the most unflattering terms within her earshot. She continued working on her rehab in the palace. Rehab was almost the only thing that gave her purpose.
Megara, Jena, and Felicia returned to the Brigon Residency at the end of their leave, so the only person in Atlantic City who welcomed her was Andromache—and with her demanding job, she was busy most of the time. Megara opened comm channels to her almost every day, and Caitlin tried to make light of her situation whenever they spoke. However, Megara followed her predicament on the comm and grew progressively more concerned about her isolation.
She brought it up with Jena and Felicia over breakfast in the officers’ mess at the Brigon Residency. Jena was proud of her ability to now enter on own and sponsor Felicia, rather than be sponsored as Megara’s guest as in the past.
“I can’t believe how much hatred is directed toward Caitlin,” Megara said. “Can either of you remember the last time anyone was sent to silencis?”
“You mean, as an adult?” asked Felicia. “It has been many years. I seem to remember someone who committed murder and got off on a legal technicality back when I was in junior school.”
“Yes, that’s the only one I can remember,” said Jena thoughtfully. “Though I must say that Caitlin has only herself to blame. Remember, when she first took Nitya from imprisonment in the Residency, she told us she was leaving the Sisterhood forever. At that point, she expected to be shot if she were recaptured. Now she has returned to Atlantic City and escaped the firing squad. So things could have been worse.”
The Empire of the Zon Page 67