"Lord Peers, yesterday we saw footage from an independent sector drone working in the victim's house. The footage clearly showed the accused brutally murdering the guardians that chose to love her, chose to take her in, chose to give her their name. Six witnesses testified to this girl's ungrateful character. The matron that governed her in the asylum said the accused was an unruly girl that had no respect for authority and felt entitled to certain freedoms. The accused routinely refused to give confession, refused to give information about fellow orphans, and tried to escape repeatedly. These tendencies never got any better. In fact as the girl aged her vices and defects became more pronounced. She grew into a secretive, selfish girl, ungrateful to her superiors. Your duty is clear. I ask that you protect us and yourselves by giving this girl the justice of the court. The crooked branch has to be cut off. This crooked girl has to be cut down."
The chamber of dukes beat their canes in a steady beat. They chanted the call to action. "Cut her down. Cut her down. Cut her down."
The Old Lord played the file for the summary of defense. "Sum, Sum, Summary Of Defense."
Young Korivian would not get up from his station. He hunkered over into himself. His shoulders quivered. It was clear the young man was crying. The landed dukes started to jeer. The youth tore the helmet from his head and threw it across the floor. He walked the chamber staring into the audience wiping his face and daring someone to meet his eyes.
"You all think this is justice? She never had a chance. There is no honor here. This is a den of thieves, of hypocrites. Some of you have children. She was just a child when her parents died. You would never allow any of your young to set foot in any of the places she was forced to live. Yesterday you heard the testimony of three orphans that lived with her in those foul institutions. They told us about rotten food, cruel masters, and forced labor. They told you about how Sirena protected them from deviants, how she shared her food, and cared for them when they fell ill. You all know she is innocent. You all know she deserves better. You just refuse to care. If there was any justice here you would all be down below in the cells waiting for your turn."
"Bre, Bre, Breach Of Etiquette." The sound effect had a red flashing light that accompanied it. The young Lord of Defense turned to face the Old Lord on his platform. Two members of the security force took him by the arms and forced him into his seat.
The Old Lord pointed to the Cordon of Peers. "Give us your judgment."
One by one the lords stood up and one by one they gave their verdict. "Cut her down."
The Old Lord played another file. "Time To Cut." He came down off his dais. An attendant got down on one knee and held a razor stick up over his head. The Old Lord took the blade. Before he could draw it from its sheath, young Korivian began to wail like a child that lost a limb. The girl could not be given justice. She was already dead.
Old Korivian paid his son's fine to the chief attendant and gave the man a year's wages to ensure his son was delivered into his custody, bound and gagged, so no more damage could be done. He paid the attendant two years wages for the right to bury the girl in his own garden. The attendant snickered. "I guess your son freed the girl after all. If you hurry you can get her home while she is still warm. You all can have dinner together and not have to worry about getting an ax in your skull." Old Korivian did not laugh.
The wyre wood parted and they cut Sirena's limp body down. She looked like she just closed her eyes for a nap. A healer listened to her heart and went back to his paperwork. One of the attendants suspiciously ran a blade down the girl's wrist. She did not bleed. Old Korivian snatched the girl up and carried her out of the chamber in his own arms. The dukes that stuck around to watch swore there was an air of tenderness about him as he put the body into his carriage. His son struggled and fought but the old man took him out the same way, like his son wasn't a lord, just a child.
The toddler ran with bowed legs. The boy's shorts were flecked with pieces of the sea as he charged the retreating surf. The little body stopped and turned trying to flee a larger wave that wanted to claim the child for itself. The boy cried out as the cold water knocked him down. His mother, a young woman from Thian, wore the long dark veil. She scooped him up and tried to soothe him, tried to get his face to register something other than shock. The girl's scarred wrist was exposed. The boy's father slid her sleeve down and bounced his son on his knee, kissed him on his cheek. The grandfather led the child by the hand, back out to the surf. They faced the sea together, letting the water take away the sand beneath their feet. The sensation had a certain pleasure.
Some people say the trial changed old lord Korivian. He still punished all those that wronged him but sometimes he rewarded those that served. His household talked amongst themselves about how he retired to his chambers in the evenings to be alone. Some of the servants claimed to hear someone else in his chambers, someone crying like a woman, like a woman grieving for something she lost.
Part4
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