Centyr Dominance (30 page)

Alyssa’s trial was held two days after her return,
which was almost a mercy, since she was kept in the Lancaster jail during that
time. She was allowed no visitors but the food was good. It was better than
she felt she deserved.

She had been surprised when Lady Hightower had
appeared early on the morning of her trial and she had lowered her face,
ashamed.

“Raise your eyes, Alyssa,” the noblewoman had told
her.

“I don’t deserve that much honor, milady,” she had
replied, “not after what I have done.”

“This is going to be awkward if the client cannot even
face her counsel,” Rose had said.

She had looked up then, “Counsel?”

Rose’s face had been serious, showing no humor but
filled instead with somber resolve, “I will be defending you today.”

“But why?”

“Because otherwise they’ll execute my son’s fiancée…”

That had been six hours ago, but even now she found
herself glancing sideways at the woman beside her in disbelief. Rose Thornbear
was a woman in her middle years, but she sat on the hard bench with her back
perfectly straight. Everything about her spoke of dignity and decorum and the
light in her eyes made certain there was no doubt of her intelligence.

She could not read her at all. By every measure that
Alyssa could think of, Rose Thornbear should hate her, but she could detect no
malice in her mannerisms. She had spent the morning with Alyssa, questioning
her over and over again, making certain of every detail. During that time
Alyssa had been unable to decide whether Gram’s mother honestly wanted to help
her or was acting on some unseen directive, perhaps from the Count.

The Count sat in the row behind her, with Moira on one
side and the Countess on the other, another surprise. Alyssa had somehow
expected that he would be presiding as judge, but apparently in Lothion the
nobles could only dispense low justice. High justice, cases that could result
in execution, were the sole province of the queen herself, or the royal
justices that she had appointed.

His Honor, Lloyd Watson was just such a man. He had
been summoned from the capital purely for her trial. He was younger than
Alyssa had thought a judge might be, appearing to be in his early thirties with
short brown hair and eyes that were so dark as to seem black. He had a
piercing gaze that made her nervous whenever he glanced in her direction.

“Calm yourself,” cautioned Lady Hightower, “fidgeting
will make you appear guilty.”

“I am guilty,” replied Alyssa softly.

Rose scowled at her then, “Do not presume to use that
term here. We are pleading innocence today.”

Alyssa’s incredulous expression was all the reply she
could give to that statement.

Lady Hightower smiled at that, the first smile she had
shown Alyssa all day. “See the Count behind you? I stood before the High
Justicer in Albamarl when he was accused of murder.”

“And you proved him innocent?” asked Alyssa.

Rose pursed her lips, “No, but I could have gotten him
out of the charges on a legal point of order. Unfortunately, he was stubborn
and insisted on allowing the case to stand and he was convicted.”

“You think there is some trick that will save me?”

The noblewoman shook her head, “No. I merely told you
that so that you would learn from his stupidity.
Don’t
be like the
Count. They would have executed him if the Queen hadn’t threatened to pardon
him.”

“I can hear you,” hissed Mordecai from behind them.
Penny elbowed him to warn him to silence as a result.

Alyssa glanced past Rose to look at Gram, who sat
farther down the bench beside his grandmother, Elise Thornbear. He gave her a
thin smile that couldn’t dispel the nervous anxiety on his face.

John Stanton, the prosecutor was standing and reading
the charges, “…did willfully and intentionally conspire to commit murder and
kidnapping. The state charges the defendant with conspiracy, fraud, treachery,
treason, kidnapping, and murder.”

“How does the defendant answer these charges?” asked
Lloyd Watson.

Rose stood, “Your Honor, the defendant respectfully
enters a plea of not guilty.”

The judge’s brows went up, “Are you certain? Unless
you are planning to argue the facts of this case…”

“The facts are indisputable, Your Honor,” agreed Rose,
“but the circumstances are not.”

The judge sighed, “Very well.”

The prosecution proceeded as expected. Master Stanton
laid out the facts, beginning with Alyssa’s fraudulent identity as the daughter
of a nobleman and continuing to her disappearance and subsequent return with
the men who kidnapped Irene Illeniel and slew Lilly Tucker.

In the course of matters, the prosecution called Peter
Tucker, Lilly’s brother, to testify regarding his sister’s death. Then they
called David Summerfield, her fiancée. Neither had anything material to add to
the facts of the case, but their moving descriptions of Lilly Tucker’s kindness
and generosity caused many an eye in the courtroom to grow misty. The final
witness called was Irene herself, but the questions directed at her were
punctual and self-limiting, giving her only enough leeway to confirm the facts
of her kidnapping.

Rose had declined to examine Peter or David, but she
rose to her feet after the prosecutor was done with Irene. “If I may also
question the witness, Your Honor?”

“Of course,” said the judge.

“Did Jasmine Darzin murder Lilly Tucker?” she asked.

Irene looked confused, “I’m not sure who…”

Rose waved her hand at Alyssa, “This woman, the woman
you knew as Alyssa. Did she murder Lilly?”

“No,” said Irene. “She told him to stop but he
ignored her. She protected me later when…”

“I will get to that in a moment,” said Rose, cutting
her off. “By your statement you imply that Jasmine did not, in fact, have
command over the men that took you.”

Irene nodded, “Yes, Lady Hightower.”

“How did you escape your kidnappers?”

“Gram tracked them and confronted them at the edge of
the mountains, near the Northern Waste. He fought Alyssa, I mean Jasmine’s
father, and killed him,” Irene answered.

“And why didn’t Jasmine return with you after that?”

“They shot her. Her father ordered his men to kill me
and she covered me with her body,” said Irene.

Rose smiled, “You say they shot her. How many arrows
hit Jasmine?”

“Two, I think.”

“And after that you and Gram fled?”

“There were horsemen coming to take us, from across
the wastes. Jasmine couldn’t run and Gram couldn’t run fast enough and carry
her, so she begged him to leave her with a sword. She was going to try to
delay them.”

“Do you think that the defendant wanted to kidnap
you?”

“No,” said Irene. “Alyssa hated what they were…”

“Objection, Your Honor,” said John Stanton. “The
victim’s opinion of the defendant’s intentions isn’t relevant.

“It is entirely relevant, Your Honor,” argued Rose.
“The charges include treachery and fraud, which to be proven, must show that
the defendant had a deliberate intention to commit a crime, in this case murder
and kidnapping.”

The judge paused a moment but then spoke, “You may
continue.”

Rose looked at Irene, “So you don’t think Jasmine
wanted to kidnap you?”

“No. She looked after me when the men tried to
torment me. She only did it because her father ordered her to,” answered
Irene. “She didn’t want to hurt Lilly either.”

Rose had no more questions after that, but Stanton
asked to reexamine the witness. The judge agreed and he directed a new
question at Irene, “How did the men from Dunbar find your parent’s home in the
mountains?”

Irene looked unsure, “I don’t know, exactly.”

“And yet, the only one of them to have been in Castle
Cameron, was Jasmine Darzin, is that not true?” he asked.

“The house isn’t in Cameron, though,” responded
Irene. “It’s hidden in the mountains. No one knows where…”

“But that isn’t true, is it Irene? Does not your
friend, Gram Thornbear visit your home sometimes?” continued the prosecutor.

“Well, yes…”

“And isn’t he also romantically involved with
Jasmine?”

Irene faltered, “I don’t know anything about…”

“You are friends with Carissa Thornbear, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Didn’t she tell you her brother was in love with the
woman calling herself Alyssa?” added the prosecutor.

Irene looked at the floor, “She might have said that.
It’s hard to recall.”

“Someone must have told you, though, for you knew that
he was in love with her, didn’t you?”

The girl’s lip trembled, “Yes.”

“Then isn’t it reasonable to assume that she learned
the location of your home from the man she had seduced, and then used that
information to lead her accomplices to your home?”

Irene’s eyes filled with tears and her mouth opened,
but she couldn’t find the words to speak. Alyssa heard Moira shifting in her
seat and a low growl was coming from Mordecai.

Rose stood once more, “Objection, Your Honor. The
witness’ inferences about the defendant’s source of information are hearsay.”

Justice Watson agreed, but the prosecutor smiled as he
sat down again. He had made his point.

The case went on and the court heard testimony from
Gram, the Count, and various servants that had interacted with Alyssa in the
castle. Rose called on Cyhan near the end to discuss the nature of his
brother, T’Lar Darzin’s training techniques. She tried to get a full
description of what had happened to his younger sister, but the prosecutor
argued that it wasn’t material to Jasmine’s case and the judge agreed.

Alyssa lost hope as the day dragged on. She knew she
was guilty, and so did everyone else. Rose’s defense seemed pointless. The
prosecutor’s closing remarks made that clear enough, all the facts were against
her. Neither she, nor anyone else, had denied what she had done. There could
be no verdict other than guilty, regardless of her motivations or the
circumstances.

And then Rose stood.

“Your Honor, you have heard the prosecution’s case,
and the facts are not at issue here.” Her blue eyes caught the light as she
turned to face the room. The gray hair that was visible in her coiffure seemed
to only highlight the shine of her dark hair. She did not look like a woman
about to admit defeat.

“What is at issue, are the charges,” continued Lady
Hightower. “Jasmine Darzin is accused of conspiracy, but it cannot be shown
that she was willingly involved in planning these crimes. She is accused of
treason, but she had not sworn loyalty to Lothion or Albamarl. She was no
vassal of the Count’s either. She was acting unwillingly under the coercion
and direction of her uncle, the man who raised her and abused her. What should
be amazing is that she was unwilling. The only loyalty she had been trained to
know, was to that evil man, and yet she chose, when the moment of crisis was
upon her, to risk her life to save Irene Illeniel.

“Treason is impossible to justify, as is treachery.
Treachery involves the unexpected use of force to commit a crime in such a way
that the offender is safe from retaliation, and yet she put herself in harm’s
way. When her uncle ordered the kidnapping of the Count’s family, she went
with them, willingly, yes, but not to further the crime. She went to guarantee
the safety of the people she had come to love and respect, and when she was
forced by circumstances, she betrayed her comrades to protect Irene Illeniel.
The only treachery she committed was against her
uncle.

“Murder is likewise untenable. By the account of Irene
herself, as well as the other witnesses, Jasmine Darzin did not murder Lilly
Tucker. In fact, she spoke out against it. Her sole purpose for being there
was to
prevent
that very thing from happening.

“Jasmine Darzin, who by the way, prefers to go by the
name she assumed when she first came here, Alyssa, is not guilty of those
charges. Not as they are written, not treason, or treachery, or murder, or
even conspiracy. I will not argue against the charges of fraud or kidnapping,
but the rest is an attempt to foist upon her a punishment that she does not
deserve.

“The true question facing this court today, if reason
is to be honored, is not as simple as deciding guilt or innocence. This young
woman is not guilty of most of the crimes named. The real issue is how we will
treat a woman abused and betrayed by those who should have cared for and
nurtured her, a woman who then was ordered to kidnap our Count’s daughter, a
woman who in the end made the correct choice by turning against her uncle and
saving Irene Illeniel, even at the possible cost of her own life.”

Rose pointed at Alyssa, “This woman is not a murderer,
but she has broken the law. Will we use this court as an excuse for vengeance
and reprisal? The men responsible for those other crimes are dead. Will we
make her our scape goat in their stead, a sacrifice to fulfil our need for
revenge, or will we treat her according to the mistakes she is truly guilty of?”