Magdalenia plans her assault for the next day. She is undecided whether she wants Kazimir executed or sent to the arena for some fun. Magdalenia knows that it will be an uphill battle for the twins since she does not have their papers. She sent them back to Tenskie to have their contract renewed for another ten years. It is easier there than in Shen Sherin. However, if it comes out that they were on their way back from there, it will not sit well with the magistrates. In addition, her power and influence within the inner islands have been diminishing over the last few years, and with the loss of the clone and the staff, her standing has eroded more quickly. On the bright side, her influence in the outer islands has grown, mainly because they still fear her. Her brother’s influence within the city has grown, almost surpassing hers. He has the respect and the ear of the upper class, nobility and even the king.
This case quickly gets the attention of the city. Neither two have the proper documents proving ownership, even though everybody knows the symbols on the collars. Also, it is unusual for ownership papers to leave the city except to skirt the laws within the city, and that has drawn a lot of attention to this case. Last is a rumor that the king himself with his court will be watching, and he never involves himself in civil cases, and that in itself leads to wild speculations.
That night, the city is abuzz about the upcoming trial between the newcomer, a stranger, and Magdalenia over something as important as undocumented indentured servants. Everybody knows the stakes are high. Should the newcomer win, it could set a precedent, and reduce Magdalenia’s prestige within the inner circle even more, to the delight of many, except then the city would face her wrath. If Magdalenia wins, the newcomer would become her slave, and most of the town expects her to use him in the arena, where she could make some money from his humiliation and death.
The case has the city divided in many ways. Some want her to win because of who she is, and some don’t for the same reason. Some disapprove of slavery and see this as a possibility of changing the laws while others like the current system. That night, the local guards stay busy breaking up brawls over the court case. The group is lucky to avoid the one that breaks out in the inn by making it up the stairs and staying in their rooms that night, except for Mashaun, who wanders the city alone, thinking about the next day. He wants to visit Kazimir but decides that it would be better not to tip his hand just yet.
The guards awaken Kazimir early in the morning when a thin, wiry middle-aged man with short blond hair wearing a red robe arrives. When they let him in the cell, he introduces himself as Thom and that he will represent him in front of the magistrates. Kazimir explains that they do not have any papers for the girls and that he found them in a cage in the forest. He tells him that they came upon the wagon with dead bodies lying around and the girls locked inside. They had let the girls out and burned the wagon with the bodies. Thom asks about the “we,” and Kazimir realizes that he slipped up and tells him about Mashaun but does not tell him about the cave. Thom wants to speak with Mashaun, but unless he is at the hearing, it won’t happen, and he would have to try for a postponement, against Magdalenia’s counsellor that will be tough.
After a lengthy conversation, Thom decides on the defense and knows that it’s going to be a hard sell because the other side has one of the best barristers in town. Thom tries to speak with Ericka and Elina, but they will not allow it. The opposing counsel has already been there, and the guards will not allow them to speak with anyone else. The guards are well paid to make sure the twins are not allowed to anyone. Slaves and indentured servants receive free counsel. Slave owners magistrates may visit them at any time while barristers need a document from the owner. Thom tries to argue that they belong to Kazimir but the guards like breathing and won’t cross Magdalenia, denying his request.
Pavvo and Mashaun leave at dawn for the castle where the case is going to trial. On a normal day, it would take about an hour, but today it takes them three-hours to get to the castle. What few shops are open have one or more guards and all the side streets have extra guards. There is already a crowd at the last bridge and up the path to the door, of the castle. Only the brave or foolish argue with Magdalenia, and many want to see the fireworks. Pavvo and Mashaun force their way through the crowd and get to the main door to the outer castle, where several large armed guards stop them. Pavvo tells them that they have business with dealing with the slave case. After Pavvo slips them some marbles, the guards step aside. Inside along the walls are heavily armed soldiers and archers on an elevated walkway. They make their way through the crowded courtyard to another door. Where he pays another guard to enter the courtroom, where they stand in the back, waiting for the case to start.
At the far end of the room are three large chairs behind a half circle table sitting on a platform, allowing them to oversee the room. Along each wall are tables and chairs, and the three make an equilateral triangle with a stone circle in the middle. Like the main walls, the building looks grown, including the tables and the center circle. Symbols etched into the walls give off an eerie glow in a sequence of colors rotating in the room.
***===***
Mai tells Berg and Abigail that they are moving to a different inn for safety reasons. Dalistra has a fit when Mai picks her up. But, without revealing her abilities to Mai there is nothing Dalistra can do. She is furious at Mashaun for allowing this floozy take her away from him when she hates even being touch by her. The three gather their things and quietly slip out the back where Wilmer and Axtel sit on one of the wagons. Mai tells them that Mashaun doesn’t think it will be safe after the court’s decision. They need to move to a different location without telling anyone. Wilmer and Axtel look at each other and tell them to wait in the wagon. They hitch the horse as Mai tells them where she wants to go. Wilmer tells her there is a safer place and that they need to trust him. The three agree, and they cover themselves with the tarp as the wagon rumbles down the street and over a couple of bridges.
***===***
There are several other cases of people with unpaid bills forced into servitude. Some have a specific time limit while others are indefinite, but all have a set amount for their release. Mashaun studies the proceedings hoping to get a little insight on what to expect. Pavvo whispers that this is nothing and he shouldn’t pay much attention to these cases.
Just after lunch, they hear the case of Kazimir versus Magdalenia over the property of Ericka and Elina. First, they bring in the twins, their hands manacled behind their back with a chain leading down to a cross chain connecting their ankles. They lead twins to a wooden bench and attach to their chains to the wall. Next, they bring Kazimir in, setting him in a chair next to Thom. Magdalenia and another woman sit across the aisle at another table and a pair of chairs. Kazimir turns around to look at the crowd. Seeing Mashaun and Pavvo, he whispers something to Thom.
Magdalenia also turns to look at the crowd. She has never seen so many people in the courtroom. She glances up at the royal balcony and sees the king calmly looking over the room. She knows that his presence could affect the outcome. Taking one last quick glance at the crowd, she sees her brother. The two stare at each other for a moment before she quickly turns around, wondering what he is doing in the room.
Three magistrates walk in and take their seats behind a high table. As they look around the room, it becomes deathly quiet. The magistrates acknowledge the king, who motions for them to proceed, and they recognize each barrister and ask for a statement from the accuser, Magdalenia. She is the spitting image of her clone, wearing a long black robe with a blood-red leather bustier that laced up the front, with brown hair that hangs freely down her back. She accuses Kazimir of knowingly stealing her property, and she not only wants them returned but also wants him as her slave for restitution. Thom tells them that his client did not knowingly steal them; instead, he came across them in the wilds and has taken care of them, and they should belong to him as they were abandoned.
He closes his statement by asking if she co
uld provide the ownership certificates for the slaves.
Magdalenia cannot produce the needed documents, and when the magistrates ask her why not, she just tells them that she has given the document to someone else to keep. For hours, they call people who vouch for her ownership of the twins. Magdalenia tells them that she has owned them for many years, and that is common knowledge. The magistrates tell her to stand in the question circle in the middle. One of the guards lifts a section, and Magdalenia steps in. Pavvo tells Mashaun that the rocks will turn different colors, depending on whether the person is telling the truth or not. If it turns red, then the court knows that person is lying.
The magistrate repeats the question. Why they were out in the wilderness without travel papers and who has their papers. Usually, when slaves travel, they have travel documents, not the owner’s certificate, which stays with the owner in their home city.
She says that they were on loan to a friend in Tenskie and were on their way back. The courtroom becomes abuzz when she mentions the city of Tenskie. Everybody in the court knows that if you want to skirt the slave laws in Shen Sherin, you send them to Tenskie. She tells the court that she didn’t worry about sending the papers with her clone with a company of guards; after all, who in their right mind would attack a mage unless they knew she was a clone? She gets excited toward the end, feeling a little desperate. The railing color fluctuates during her answer but never becomes red. When the magistrates finish with questions, Magdalenia returns to her seat.
Kazimir tells the same story as before. When Thom asks about what he meant by we, Kazimir tells them Mashaun. Thom request Mashaun to take the stand. Magdalenia looks at her barrister before looking back at the crowd and sees Mashaun making his way forward. She quickly recognizes him as the one with the red bow. Taking his place in the circle, placing his hands on the bar, he introduces himself as Mashaun from Tianjin. One of the judges asks him where that is, and he tells them that it is far away. To his surprise, his speech is translated word for word. Making his answers choppy, but he hears the questions in his language. Thom questions him at length about Kazimir and the twins. He tells them about seeing the wagon in the clearing with dead bodies around. He tells them that he let Kazimir and the twins out of the cage and burned the dead in the wagon as a funeral pyre.
Later he found a metal box in the ashes with the documents, and he hands them to the Thom, who hands them to the magistrates. Thom asks him how many documents were in the box, and Mashaun tells him two. Thom asks if Kazimir had slave collar on at the time, and when Mashaun says no, there is an audible silence from the crowd. Thom then follows by saying that Kazimir was caged with known slaves. The law is clear, that slaves and non-slaves remain separated, but this was not the case here. Thom asks Mashaun about Kazimir, and he tells them that they have traveled together since that day and that he had permission to take the twins out.
Mashaun chooses his words carefully, telling only a limited truth. He has rehearsed the story so many times in his head that he almost believes it himself, although he is still apprehensive being on the stand that changes to red. Magdalenia’s barrister gives Mashaun the arrow that killed the captain and asks if it belongs to him. He examines it for a short time, hands it back, telling her, “No, would you like to see my arrows?” The railing does not change color. Mashaun is a little surprised when neither sides asks about the staff, or why he or the clone was in the forest and not on the road.
The judges move something on the table, and a light-blue cube surrounds them for several moments before the cube disappears. The room is like a cemetery as they have Ericka and Elina taken over to the magistrates, and a guard pulls down the left back shoulder to expose a magical glyph about the size of a playing-card face. It is a picture of the castle on a mesa with a number under the mesa. They compare the glyph and documents to determine if they are the same. They compare the tattoo and the documents with the documents kept by the city on all slaves. They find inconsistencies between the three, and they are suspicious when done in Tenskie. When the magistrates ask why the twins’ internment was renewed, Magdalenia tells the court that their father still owes her money, and the agreement was that his daughters would work off his debt. The agreement is not common, however, that only happens when there is new debt.
They know the tags on the collars belong to Magdalenia, and they really want to give the twins back to her to reduce her wrath; however, Mashaun has the legal certificate of ownership, and according to law, the twins belong to Mashaun. The magistrates realize that if they try to give the twins back to Magdalenia, it would undermine their already tenuous credibility with the king and his court. They know that with the large crowd and the king looking on, they have to follow the book.
The magistrates are satisfied that Kazimir did nothing wrong and order him released. The courtroom explodes with excitement, as guards have to calm them down. Magdalenia stands and protests while the magistrates tell her to sit down several times. According to the law, the twins are the legal property of Mashaun. Magdalenia is furious and starts to storm out of the courtroom when Mashaun tells the magistrates that their service is paid in full, and he would like to release them from any further servitude. Magdalenia turns and stares at him for what seems like an eternity, as the room becomes still. She raises her hand and begins to speak in the language of magic, and the symbols on the wall become a solid color. She stops, looks at the symbols now glowing bright red. In a huff turns around and continues out that door, stopping briefly to tell Pavvo something as she charges out of the room.
The magistrates nod and have the guard take them down to have the collars and the glyphs removed. Mashaun quietly tells Kazimir to watch their backs before asking him to go with the girls and to take them back to the inn when they are done, asking the magistrates if it’s OK for Kazimir to stay with the girls. The courtroom is full of talk as the people file out into the city streets, spreading the news about the surprise in court. Soon it’s on every island of the city and spreading beyond.
Pavvo tells Mashaun that is not the smartest thing to do. You just made a powerful enemy, but the look on her face was worth it. Pavvo suggests that they move to a different inn or, better still leave the city tonight. Mashaun just nods. They return to the inn, where Axtel quietly tells Pavvo that Wilmer took a wagon and went to the Golden Unicorn. Pavvo tells Mashaun that it would be safer for the twins at his place for the time being. He tells Mashaun that Magdalenia would not attack them while they are under his care. Mashaun is hesitant but finally, agrees.
Shortly Kazimir and the twins join them in the inn, each of the twins giving Mashaun a big hug and a kiss, thanking him for their freedom. Mashaun tells them that he needs to leave town, and they will be staying with Pavvo for now. The twins nod their head in agreement. Pavvo quietly tells Mashaun that Mai is not where he thinks she is and that he should visit a friend of his, Llewellyn, who has a place up in the mountains. Mashaun nods.
Pavvo asks Kazimir if he has any plans before offering him a position at his manor. Kazimir would be a bodyguard, and the girls would learn usable skills. Elina enthusiastically says that she wants to be a mage. Pavvo thinks about that before telling her that it might be possible. Before leaving, Pavvo points out that two men sitting at a distant table. Wearing red tunics with a red staff with a sphere in a basket, work for Magdalenia and are probably there to watch him. Mashaun watches them from the corner of his eye during the evening as they remain at the table. Once, someone with the same outfit stops to talk with them. He wonders how many others that work for her are there in disguise.
After a good meal and some brandy, he goes to his room for the night, watching them as he heads up the stairs to his room. Lying on the bed is a cryptic note from Axtel. After taking some time to decipher it, he burns the note, making sure not to leave anything but ashes that he scatters out the window. The note tells him they went to the Golden Unicorn and they will wait for him there. It also says that everything at the gate is arranged, all h
e has to do is leave the city.
After waiting a few hours, he slips out the window by using the bed linen as a rope. He ties it in such a way that when he reaches the ground, he can remove the linen so no one can tell from the outside. A thick fog fills the streets, extinguishing non-magical light. He hears the night watchmen several times, but there lanterns light remains in the lantern. A few have lights that pierce the fog with a beam like a flashlight. Just a few blocks away all the lights shine through the fog like normal.
Using the shadows for cover, he sneaks to the rock wall by the gate, climbs over and into the river. Hiding under the bridge, he uses the linen rope and creates a makeshift hammock, providing a dry place to rest in until morning. He knows that he has to make it across another island and bridge before exiting through the gatehouse, and with a little luck, they won’t be looking for him until he is out of the city.
A cool breeze awakens in the early morning hours as he almost rolls out of the hammock. Over twenty-feet below him, some sea-grass is growing in a mud flat with a stream flowing through it. Barnacle crusted walls line the man-made canyon with a large circular hole about three feet under each bridge end.
He hears footsteps on the bridge, but they’re soft and random. Peeking out, he sees a group of peasants going across the bridge toward the Synhom. Scampering out from under the bridge, he falls in behind them, walking across the next island and right through the next gate. He keeps his hood over his head like everybody else as he walks through the gate with the crowd. Before the sun reaches the top of the trees, Mashaun is on the road. With some vague information, he heads toward the mountains, hoping that it is the right direction.
Thesila Prophecy - The Journey Home Page 10