Exactly three days after Simani’s earth-shaking testimony, Ruban found himself fidgeting on the witness stand. The fingers of his right hand were wrapped tightly around the armrest of his chair. With his left, he held the plastic bottle he’d been drinking from, if only to distract himself from the yearning for a cigarette.
He’d spent the last two days trying to avoid the reporters, colleagues, bosses, and even old classmates – who all wanted to know his opinion on Simani’s testimony. Half of them probably thought he’d put her up to it, while the other half believed she’d been coerced into perjuring herself by Ashwin and his Aeriel buddies. As if Simani was the type to submit to threats or blackmail.
Still, that didn’t stop the media from speculating. And speculate they did. On TV, in the newspapers, and over the internet, there was never any escape from the incessant rumor-mongering.
It had gotten so bad he was forced to temporarily shift base to the guesthouse he’d stayed at earlier, this time with Hiya in tow. Just to escape the crowd of reporters parked outside his apartment building, seemingly at all hours of the day and night. He shuddered to think what the situation was like in the Vaz residence.
The next question, eerily perceptive, yanked him out of his thoughts.
“Did you know Prince Shwaan planned to attack your partner, Ms. Vaz, when you were called to assist the Central Ragah team during the attack on the fair?”
Ruban looked up to see the prosecuting attorney scrutinize him, his bulbous nose twitching. It was an unexpectedly comical sight, and he had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep himself from chuckling. “No,” he said, at length, having successfully quashed the impulse. “He’s not the forthcoming type.”
The prosecutor blinked. “Did you know he was in the vicinity? Or that he was monitoring the Hunt?”
“No. Prince Shwaan isn’t in the habit of keeping us apprised of his whereabouts. He comes and goes as he pleases.”
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“Would you not say that is a…dangerous practice? He’s an Aeriel, after all. Regardless of how trustworthy you might consider him to be.”
“The problem isn’t that I consider him trustworthy,” Ruban retorted calmly. “Which I don’t. The problem is that he has wings. So short of putting him in a cage, there isn’t much I can do to restrict his movements.”
“Are you saying the Hunter Corps is ill-equipped to control the prince of Vaan?”
“I’m saying the Hunter Corps is trained and equipped to kill Aeriels, not babysit them.”
“Mr. Kinoh,” the prosecutor sighed. “Why do I get the feeling you’re not taking these proceedings seriously? Need I remind you the defendant nearly killed your partner just a few weeks ago?”
“On the contrary, I’m taking it very seriously. Which is why I think it’s a travesty that Prince Shwaan is sitting a few feet from us in this courtroom, right now. Instead of being locked up in a sif-lined cell in Jahagrad.
“If he could conspire to murder Simani in cold blood, when the whole nation was singing his praises and he had everything to lose,” Ruban raised an eyebrow. “What’s to stop him from blowing this courtroom to bits, anytime the whim strikes?
“The worst that’d happen is he’d get killed by one of the surviving Hunters. But those are better odds than he has here, anyway. We all know he dies as soon as he loses this trial. And lose it he will. So, what’s holding him back? If the prince really has murderous intentions, it’s a miracle someone lived long enough to put him in sif-lined cuffs and drag him to court, don’t you think? I mean, he can hardly be executed twice. If he’s going down for one murder, he might as well go down for five. Or fifty.”
“Ms. Vaz is still alive,” the prosecutor pointed out.
“Are you telling me that’d make a difference in the sentencing?” Ruban asked. “We regularly execute Aeriels for less than what he’s accused of. Even the average X-class is considered too high-risk for long-term incarceration, and he’s the prince of Vaan. Just the logistics of holding him imprisoned against his will, for decades on end…” Ruban shook his head. “It’s more than this country can afford. You know that as well as I do.” His eyes flicked to Ashwin. “And guess what? He knows it too. He might or might not be a murderer, but he certainly isn’t an idiot. So if he hasn’t killed us all yet, there has to be a reason for that.”
They went back and forth like this for the next twenty minutes, until court was adjourned for the day. Ashwin was whisked away by his retinue of armed Hunters. Ruban didn’t know where the Aeriel was being held, and he was not sure he wanted to find out.