Chapter 779: Show Trial

After listening to five hours of witness testimonies, Jadis was beyond grateful for the hour-long break in the trial that was declared by Vraekae at precisely one in the afternoon. In all honesty, Jadis was impressed by how quickly the court proceedings had been up to that point. None of the witness accounts had dragged on and only the most relevant questions had been asked by the inquisitors. There was no time wasted on officious or bureaucratic ceremony, and the mechanics of the trial were simple and straightforward. Dozens of witnesses had been called and questioned and yet they had managed to get through them all in the first five hours of the first day of the trial. True, many of the witnesses did not have much to say since they had been drunken morons who had limited memory of the event, but still, the speed of the witness portion of the trial was impressive.

“The rest of the trial will likely involve sworn affidavits rather than live testimony,” Eir explained as she sipped on a cup of fruit juice that Jay had bought for her from one of the many conveniently located food wagons that had been parked near the city hall that morning. “In fact, I’m surprised Vraekae allowed so many witnesses to begin with. There are usually less in-person testimonies when the witness statements are all essentially the same.”

“Clearly, she wanted to make a point,” Jay sighed as she ruffled her own hair with a firm hand. “I mean, I assume she at least knows how many witnesses are going to be called ahead of time?”

“The magistrate doesn’t write the list, but she would review and approve it,” Eir confirmed. “She would be well informed regarding the investigation by the inquisitors. It is a collaborative effort.”

“Which means this trial really is just for show,” Jay pointed out. “Vraekae’s the magistrate, and she already knows everything that the inquisitors are going to present, because they already presented the materials and information and stuff directly to her. Her mind is already made up.”

“Yes and no,” Eir tilted her head from side to side as she made a face. “Yes, in most cases the trial is more of a public announcement than anything else. The investigation’s conclusion, if you will. However, for situations where the application of the law can or should be called into question, all of the evidence needs to be laid out not only for the magistrate, but also for the jury. Their expertise will validate the magistrate’s decision. Or potentially invalidate it, if they disagree with her ruling.”

“What if the jury can’t decide? I mean, what if they differ among themselves over the decision and can’t come to a consensus?”

“Then the matter goes to the emperor,” Severina answered the question as she walked up to Jay and Eir. “Such cases are rare, but the emperor does have the final say in the matter of law.”

“Where have you been?” Jay gave the Seraphim a questioning look.

As soon as the recess had been called, Severina had practically sprinted out of the courtroom. The Seraphim had been noticeably and increasingly on edge as the trial had gone on, but she had said almost nothing. Jadis had wanted to ask the justicar questions, but seeing Sev’s determined rush to leave, she didn’t prevent her departure.

“I needed to pass word of the trial on to my contacts in Valtar’s temple,” Severina explained. “As well as to Eadgar, though I am certain that he already has his own informants here today.”

Eadgar was Prince Kestil’s spymaster. Considering how efficient Jadis knew Kestil’s information gathering to be, she had to agree with Severina’s assumption.

“What did you need to tell them?”

“The… concerns regarding the Rubaline Dominion that have arisen thanks to this trial,” Sev answered, choosing her words carefully. “I needed to make sure that they were aware of my position on those concerns.”

Jay put a hand on her hip and gave the Seraphim a hard stare.

“Sev, I can tell when you’re tiptoeing around something. Please, just tell me what’s happening before I start jumping to conclusions.”

“Well, we wouldn’t want that,” Severina muttered while sharing a look with Eir.

Before continuing, Severina glanced around them to see who was nearby. They were all outside the courtroom but still inside the main public chamber of the city hall, so there were quite a lot of people milling about due to the trial as well as for the typical day-to-day bureaucratic business of the empire’s capital. Jadis’ other bodies and the rest of her companions were loitering nearby, but most of the rest of the public were keeping a respectful distance. To help with privacy, Jay, Eir, and Sev moved behind one of the pillared archways that lined the sides of the great hall while her other bodies maneuvered with the rest of her lovers to stand between them and anyone who might have been trying to eavesdrop.

“We can discuss more when we are in private,” Severina began in a hushed tone. “However, I want you to know that I was already aware of the possibility that the Rubaline Dominion was involved in the riot.”

Sucking in a deep breath through her nose, Jay released it slowly before speaking.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“For a few reasons,” the blonde said as she gazed unflinchingly into Jay’s eyes. “First, Vraekae and I discussed the possibility while the march on Kastoria was still underway. Neither of us wanted to distract you from your purpose. Especially since there wouldn’t have been anything you could have done to help at that time.”

“Okay,” Jay accepted the reason with a nod of her head. “But we defeated the Demons in Kastoria more than a month ago, and you are just telling me now, after this information has been heavily implied during Cobbler’s trial.”

“The second reason is just that,” Severina pointed at her. “Implied. All of the evidence that I have seen, which has been decidedly sparse, has also been circumstantial at best. Vraekae has not updated me on everything, I’m sure, but so far as I know she and the inquisitors heading the investigation into who or what caused the riot to happen have not found any evidence that confirms direct and purposeful interference from a foreign nation. All we have currently are implications. Strong ones, but still just implications.”

Jadis took another deep breath and ruminated on Severina’s words. It seemed obvious to her based on the many witness statements that someone from the Rubaline Dominion was involved, but really, there wasn’t that much evidence to prove it. At least, no other evidence had been provided during the trial thus far. All she had been given was the word of others, and thus an assumption had been made.

“The third reason was to prevent you from jumping to conclusions,” Severina continued as Jay remained silent. “Now more than ever, we do not need you to fly off to the Rubaline Dominion, demanding to speak with Queen Rubal XIV, or breaking down doors to interrogate their nobles. This is not a situation where the answer involves fists and noses.”

The corner of Jay’s lips twitched upwards at the last comment. She wasn’t the only person who understood her own personality.

“Not yet,” Jay countered.

“Not yet,” Severina allowed with a small nod of her head. “Until that point is reached, it would be best for everyone if you did not interfere and allowed those with the right skill sets to do their work.”

Reading between the lines, Jadis recognized what Severina was saying. The inquisitors were only one faction investigating what had happened that night. Spies and information brokers of all kinds would be involved, and as of that morning, Maeve was on the case as well. Jadis trusted that the truth would be revealed. She just needed to be patient.

“Patience is not one of my virtues,” Jay muttered darkly. “However, I can keep the peace if I need to.”

“Thank you,” Sev smiled at her.

“That said,” Jay held up a finger, “I don’t want to be kept in the dark like this again. Don’t hide shit from me just because you think I might react badly. Tell me. I’m an adult. If I do something stupid, or I’m about to, just tell me and we can talk it out. None of this ‘we know what’s best for you’ bullshit, alright?”

“Yes, you’re right,” Severina looked away. “I should have trusted that you would be able to restrain your impulses.”

“Yes, you should have.”

Tilting her head to one side, Jay narrowed her eyes at the justicar.

“You aren’t hiding anything else like this from me, are you?”

“No,” Severina stated firmly. “Nothing else.”

“Good.”

Letting out a long sigh, Jay realized that Eir had been standing with her and Severina for the whole conversation, silently watching without participating. Smiling apologetically to her lover, she turned to face her fully.

“Anything you need to add, Eir?”

“Only that I hope that this has not soured your relationship with Vraekae,” the elf spoke in a mild tone, her expression calm. “I would hate for you two to be at odds with each other again.”

“Soured?” Jay paused and thought about the question. “I mean… I’m upset with her, not going to lie. But she also didn’t really lie to me. She hid the truth, but she didn’t directly lie, either. Dammit…”

Jay once more ran her fingers roughly through her white hair as she thought about the situation. Was she angry with Vraekea? Her instinct was to be mad, certainly. And yet, she definitely wasn’t as upset with her as she felt she would have been if Vraekae had pulled the same tactic before they had come to a mutual understanding with each other. Vraekae wasn’t trying to control her. She was trying to do her job while also balancing the tenuous relationship that they had formed. Jadis didn’t think that was a reason to be angry with Vraekae.

“We’re going to have to have a talk, me and her,” she finally said while crossing her arms over her chest. “A long one. You might need to be involved, for peace-keeping reasons.”

“I will prepare some cookies to share. With extra icing. That should keep Vraekae’s mood positive,” Eir smiled broadly at her.

“Since when did you start baking?” Jay raised an eyebrow in question.

“Oats has been an inspiration and a surprisingly good teacher.”

Before Jadis could inquire as to what kind of cookies the baking-obsessed Demon had taught Eir how to make, the announcement notifying all of the observers that court was about to resume session was made. Moving quickly, Jadis gathered her companions and headed to the front of the line to get back into the courtroom. The reasons for Jadis to not miss a moment of the trial had grown thanks to the information that had been revealed thus far. She had no intention of skipping out on whatever the second half of the day’s hearing might uncover.

Rushing to conclusions had led to poor results thus far in Jadis’ life. Her tendency to act and react quickly served her well on the field of battle, but less so on the field of politics. She had only just received an important lesson from Duke Colgrave concerning the lengths and depths that a clever opponent might go to in order to get what they wanted, and she would have to be a true fool to ignore the warning she had been given. Jadis didn’t think she was a fool. Reckless at times, yes, but not a fool.

The Rubaline Dominion could have sent agents to Eldingholt, and those agents could have been responsible for the attack made against Fortune’s Favored. The question was, first and foremost, why? Why would the dominion send agents to attack Jadis and her home?

To sow chaos and discord was Jadis’ first thought. The Rubaline Dominion and the Alfhilderunn Empire weren’t exactly allies so far as Jadis understood. Considering the terrible misfortune that had befallen the dominion thanks to the demonic invasion, and the way that the empire had failed to assist them thus far in the war, it was possible that the dominion had made a move against the empire out of spite or revenge. If that was the case, then Jadis’ company might not have even been a specific target and instead just a convenient opportunity.

For that matter, if sowing chaos was the design, there was nothing saying that the act hadn’t been committed by a Fetch who was just trying to fuck with their god’s chosen champion. It was certainly a very Fetch thing to do. The only caveat to that end was that based on the witness testimony given for Cobbler’s trial, there would have had to have been at least three different Fetch involved, possibly four or more. From what Jadis knew, most Fetch didn’t work well together, so that many of the shapeshifters working towards one goal in the same place and time seemed unlikely.

Then there was the possibility that the people who had instigated the riot were from the Rubaline Dominion but weren’t working with the government. Just because they were organized didn’t mean that they were working for the queen or whoever it was that ruled that nation. It could be anyone or anything, from a noble to a wealthy merchant to loose-knit group of middle-class citizens behind the agents sent to Eldingholt.

Or, Jadis realized, the people behind the agents might not be from the dominion at all.

What was there to stop a different foreign power from hiring people who could put on a convincing accent and sending them to Eldingholt, pretending to be from the dominion while they committed their terrible deeds? Not a damn thing so far as Jadis could tell. And that wasn’t even beginning to consider the possibility of cultist involvement. The Playwright was dead, but that didn’t mean that all the cultists in the empire were. Or outside of the empire. Literally anyone from anywhere could have been involved if Jadis looked at the situation from that perspective.

Jadis shook her heads to stop herself from going too far down that particular rabbit hole. At that point, she was basically opening herself up to the idea that the act was no different from a lightning strike; complete chance and with no cause that she would ever be able to determine. Instead of banging her heads against that wall, she switched to looking at a different question.

Who would stand to benefit by attacking Jadis’ compound?

Setting aside the idea that it was either cultists or just people who didn’t like the fact that she was consorting with Demons, Jadis could think of a few other reasons why certain persons in elevated positions of power might want to attack her home, and not all of them were located in the empire. After all, Jadis had herself said that if the empire would not accept Alex and the rest of the Demons who had broken away from Samleos, then she would leave the empire and settle elsewhere. Considering that meant that all of her lovers would leave with her if that happened, whichever nation Jadis moved to would benefit greatly by gaining access to the world’s only supplier of airships, magic engines, and long-range instantaneous communications, never mind the power of multiple individuals who had progressed past CLR one hundred and possessed the kind of power that rivaled the Hero and his companions.

It seemed that there were quite a lot of people who would stand to benefit by attacking Jadis’ compound and driving a wedge between her and the empire.

Thoughts of intrigues and underhanded tactics swirled around in Jadis’ brains as she and the others took their seats in preparation for the trial to continue. As Proctor Crestwood called out the resumption of court proceedings, only one of Jadis’ bodies devoted her attention to announcement. Her other two selves remained focused on the questions she had regarding the who, what, and why of the attack made against her home, friends, and family.

Jadis had learned her lessons. She wouldn’t rush ahead without proper evidence and a plan. Not all situations required immediate, decisive, bold action.

She was still going to punch someone in the nose eventually, though.