Blind Justice

The Ferris Wheel turned round and round at the cheerful music played all across the fair's grounds. Below its occupants, the tents and the attractions resonated with laughter and awed sounds.

But the three silhouettes seated in the highest cart on the Wheel seemed oblivious to their surroundings.

"What is the subject of our meeting?" the lone figure seated across her two companions sweetly asked. Despite the night, she wore sunglasses; her blond hairs were braided and wrapped around her head, held in the front of her forehead with a laurel leaf pin.

Two men, one with long curly brown hair, held in a loose ponytail, and the other with medium length auburn hair, sat more comfortably. The former man spoke.
"You have been given an assignment, Lady Rachelle. Your assignment is Teresa Miller, a nineteen years old girl from this town."

"It is my honour to be of service, Lord Jegudiel. What is her crime?" Lady Rachelle asked.

"When Teresa was six years old, her parents, Doctor Fate Miller and Jeremiah Duffus divorced. Consequently, three months later, Fate and Teresa became broke. Fate thus decided to find a way to gather the funds and the charity of this town's citizens. The morning of the declaration that they would be in the streets in three months, Teresa was admitted at the hospital for a major leg fracture."

"An accident?" the second man asked.

"No, Lord Zedechiel," Lord Jegudiel corrected. "Fate broke Teresa's legs after anesthetizing her with morphine. She then infected the wound with Staphylococcus aureus. Two weeks later, Teresa was diagnosed with osteomyelitis."

"It's a bone marrow infection, if I'm not mistaken?" Lady Rachelle asked.

"Yes; two weeks later, Teresa's condition got worst, and the doctors were forced to ampute both her legs before the infection moved to her spine."

"That's horrible!" Lord Zedechiel exclaimed.

"So what happened?" Lady Rachelle urged softly.

"Being a doctor at the hospital, Fate kept her daughter sedated, both for the pain, but also as a guarantee: Teresa could not reveal what truly happened.
>> Fifteen years passed, Teresa kept mainly sedated. She learned to walk with special crutches around the house, but she was not allowed outside. Meanwhile, Fate gathered during those years enough donations to secure her life. She also began making plans to amass enough money to leave the country and live comfortably. She meant to leave Teresa behind in a permanent medical lodging that she arranged with a colleague."

"Where do I come in?" Lady Rachelle asked.

"Last night, while Fate was sleeping, Teresa woke during the night and found out about the documents. Furious, and temporarily lucid, Teresa picked up a nearby blunt instrument and administered a fatal strike to Fate's head."

Children's laughter reached them as their cart moved toward the ground.

"What was the court's judgement?" Lord Zedechiel asked.

"They're looking for her at the moment; but the current sentiment of this town is anti-authority. They will vote for her freedom."

"We can't allow that," Lady Rachelle softly intervened.

"What do you mean?!" Lord Zedechiel argued angrily. "Her mother broke her daughter's legs and infected them in order to ampute her!"

"She needed the money to keep her daughter off the streets. Would that have happened otherwise? They would have resorted to theft, and who knows what other vile sins," Lady Rachelle countered.