The Palace of Imat was a soaring, monolithic affair. Great stone struts arching up to support the grand keep, spires and buttresses adorning the grand work. The stone itself was neither brickwork, nor any mere stone.

It was one solid structure, the stones melted together hundreds of years ago by the finest arcanists of the age, able to withstand most every non arcane assault.

Seeing it up close for the first time left Jon reeling. The grandeur was on a scale he had never seen before, not even the few notable times his father would deal with a nobleman in the Noble Quarter.

Walking through the carpeted halls, the guardsmen stock still, scarcely even breathing did nothing to help how he was feeling.

Jon and his master, who had been unnervingly silent throughout the entire trip to the Imperator's Palace, were now waiting in an audience room.

It seemed to Jon who was entirely correct, though he wouldn't learn so for quite some time, that the room had been designed with one simple goal in mind.

Oppressive Grandeur.

His master looked far more comfortable, but to Jon the slanted ceiling, raised podium and opulence strewn everywhere set his nerves.......... well 'on edge' is too mild a term. Perhaps off the edge and plummeting at terminal velocity would be more apropos.

They had been waiting for this audience for almost half an hour already. In one of the few comments his master had made, Moro said they would be left waiting, as this was something of an official rite. Whatever the Abyss that meant.

He had also said to leave the talking to him, and Jon intended to do just that, unless commanded otherwise.

At what Jon reckoned to be nearly exactly thirty minutes, they were asked into the adjoining room.

The Imperator was seated centrally, with two other men Jon could see, as well as a young girl on his left. This room was almost a relief from the other one, it's architecture far more reasonable.

Moro gave Jon a look, and shook his head slightly as Jon's stance relaxed. Ah. It seemed that being off guard was also purposeful design.

The pair were ushered forward to stand in front of what appeared to be a defendants stand, the type criminals are usually found in.

Jon's nerves spiked again, and had at this point hit the ocean below the cliff's edge, and were now struggling not to drown.

A stern gaze was almost embedded in the Imperator's face, years of constantly using that same look having added wrinkles which only deepened it's effect.

Master Moro began to speak.

"We have come to face the Apprentice's Inquest."

It was solemn. It was near-reverent. It spooked the Maker out of Jon.

The man to the left of the Imperator replied.

"Advocatus acknowledges the defendants came freely and when called. Has the Apprentice been kept uninformed of the proceedings?"

"He has.", Moro replied.

The Imperator finally spoke.

"Apprentice, you have been summoned to this trial for your wrongdoings. However, if you wish to deny culpability, a formal Inquisition will begin, though be warned, any leniency will be severly curtailed for wasting Imperial resources if you are still found responsible. Do you understand?"

Moro looked worried, but Jon nodded, rather shakily.

"Before you can request an Inquisition, We shall lay the charges before you, such that you may make an informed decision. One count of use of highly destructive magic inside city limits, one count of Imperial property damage, and one count of wilfully endangering civilian lives. How do you reply to these charges?"

Jon shuddered, and then drew a few breaths, focussing on everything he had ever read about the law.

"Gratiam, Idex.", Jon began.

Moro looked shocked, the man to the right of the Imperator appeared to have just consumed a raw lemon, the Advocatus smiled openly. For the slightest second, Jon thought he saw the ghost of a smile appear on the Imperator's face, but he didn't have time to work out whether or not he was imagining things.

Jon continued.

"Before I respond to the charges, I would like to invoke my right to Idicem, an unbiased peer, because my charges rest on magical technicality, and I believe that calling on the Imperator's Court Wizard may result in a biased witness."

This time Jon was SURE he saw a lip twitch on the Imperator's face.

The Advocatus responded.

"Normally you would be correct, however the tradition of this trial is such that none but the affected party, the apprentice, master, Advocatus and Idex are present. Do you have reasonable cause for requesting an expert witness?"

"I am not entirely familiar with the traditions of this particular trial's customs..."

The Advocatus openly grinned at that.

"However, the little schooling I have in the nature of Magical Law would lead me to the conclusion that a cantrip does not qualify as Highly Destructive Magic."

An eyebrow raise was all Jon got from the Imperator this time.

The Advocatus nodded.

"Very well, an unbiased peer will be summoned. This trial will recess until such a peer can be found. Expect a break of no more than one hour. In this time, your master may inform you of the nature of this Inquisition."

Jon breathed a sigh of relief as they were ushered back into the waiting room.

Moro simply raised an eyebrow as he sat opposite Jon.

"What? I like to read."

After snorting, Moro's face once more grew serious.

"Well done, at least so far. You're right about cantrips, by the way. It's a bit stupid that we can't tell apprentices about this before it happens to them, but that's the rules. This is the Apprentice's Inquisition. Don't worry it's usually fine, as the Master is the one facing the Idex, but it appears someone decided to push for a more traditional trial."

Jon nodded. It was commonplace for an Idex to insist on traditional customs when trials occured. Of course, some, even most, ususally dispensed with unnecessary customs, but it appeared luck wasn't on Jon's side.

"The Apprentice's Inquisition is something that happens when an apprentice screws up during his or her apprenticeship. Essentially, while responsibility falls on the master for things such as paying fines, if found to be criminally culpable, the apprenticeship can be annulled and the Apprentice exiled from the state. Possibly even branded."

This was doing fuck nothing to help Jon's nerves, which, while having managed to breach the surface and stop drowning, were now being circled by sharks.

"However the usual outcome is that an apprentice has to perform some kind of service to the Empire, usually locally. This will more than likely be the outcome, but how lenient it is depends on your defence, which with the way you're handling it, will likely result in you being tasked to retrieve a cat stuck up a tree, or some such."

Jon smiled at that, his nerves weren't leaking any blood and the sharks seemed disinterested.

"Be glad you aren't an apprentice alchemist, I've heard horror stories about what can happen to them if they say, concoct a potion right, but some flaw makes it extremely addictive. The state has to pay for rehabilitation, assuming it's possible, and the apprentice has to then pay that back to the state, as well other considerations. In one case, an apprentice alchemist had to give all his profits for the first 10 years after his apprenticeship to the affected party."

Jon nodded, but he wasn't paying much attention. He was busy concocting a defence. As soon as whatever wizard they found was informed of the spell he had cast, he was sure he would be off the hook for the Highly Destructive Magic charge.

Then, the Wilfully Endangering Civillians charge would go with that, but the Property Damage was a bit of a snafu. He could say Moro threw the wand out the window, but that's what saved both their lives, and he wasn't going to throw his master under the wagon like that.

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Soon, the hour recess was complete, and Jon and Moro re-entered the courtroom.

The same group as before was present, with the addition of a man in the middle of his third decad. He seemed rather serious, but he also had a playful look in his eye, and smile lines etched into his cheeks.

The Advocatus began again.

"Returning from recess, an Idicem has been summoned, one Karel Fenam. Present your case, Defendant."

Steeling his nerves once more, Jon began.

"Gratiam Idicem Karel, for giving us your time. To begin, may I ask what your schooling in the arcane is, if you don't mind?"

The man quirked his lips for a moment, then began.

"I am a blade dancer from Kothros, and have studied the arcane for seven years."

Jon glanced at Moro, who gave him a nod, the signal he hadn't been given a bad Idicem.

"Very well. In that case to what degree have you studied enchanting?"

Karel seemed to think for a moment before he replied.

"Traditional enchanting? Not a great deal, however I am familiar with the basics."

Jon internally groaned, but he had to make the best of it.

"Advocatus, I would like to submit material evidence to be examined by Idicem Karel"

The man nodded, seemingly enjoying the proceedings. 'I guess you'd have to.' Jon thought.

Fortunately, Moro had recovered the wand, which although was completely splintered, and missing large chunks, was able to be reassembled by an advanced repair spell.

Jon placed the wand on the table in front of Karel, who picked it up and began examining it. Once he seemed satisfied, Jon began to question him.

"Karel, can you tell the Idex what spell is inscribed on the bottem of that wand?"

"Salu, Idex. This is, to the best of my knowledge, the inscription for the 'Light' enchantment."

"Gratiam, Karel. Can you speculate as to what caused the violent explosion which this wand produced."

He picked up the wand again, and studied it for a few more moments, before putting it back down.

"As far as I can see, the inscription is acceptably made, and there are no flaws in the channels, however, in my opinion, there is a highly unusual but possible explanation for this."

I gestured to Karel to continue, grateful to the Maker my fears were largely unfounded.

"These circumstances would need to be present. Firstly, it would need to be the case of a beginner enchanter for there to be an errant line, which normally will either simply impede the flow of aether, stopping the enchantment from activating, or greatly decreasing it's efficiency."

"Then, you would also need to pour a large amount of aether into the containment circle, which I can still detect saturating the wood, so that is one factor I am sure of."

"Finally, the line would need to be JUST thin enough that the enchantment could work, however thick enough, and in JUST the right spot, that Aether flowing through it would cause it to interact with the rest of the enchantment, creating an entirely different effect than desired. I believe this caused a cascade where none of the light energy could escape the wand, and as such became unstable."

"In fact you can see where this line was burned deeper into the metal by the Aether, right here."

The entire court leaned forward, and all could see the clearly visible line, almost a scar on the face of the enchantment.

As Jon looked at it, he suddenly gasped with pain and blood began flowing down his nose.

A gasp or two eminated from the court, but Jon was given a moment to wipe his nose before the Advocatus spoke up.

"Defendant, can you continue, or is recess required?"

Jon thought about it for a moment, before grinning internally. His nerves had beaten the sharks to death and were now relaxing on a beach, eating well-done shark meat.

"Gratiam Advocatus but I can continue. In fact, I have just proven my case, though not intentionally."

The Advocatus looked confused for the first time, but allowed Jon to continue.

Karel smiled after Jon spoke.

"Gratiam, as well Karel, I have but two more questions. The first being: Do you believe that this incident was foreseeable?"

Karel shook his head.

"No the chances of an accident like this are.... perhaps a million to one odds. Your other question?"

"Well Karel, it is possible that I'm such a devilish fiend that I intended this result, and specifically put the line there so as to endanger lives. However, what we just witnessed disproves it. Could you tell the court what happens when someone familiar with magic looks at an enchantment or written spell that their mind isn't capable of understanding?"

"They experience incredible headaches, possible nosebleeds, and if they try to push it, considerable brain damage."

"Gratiam Idicem, you have answered all my questions."

Jon turned to face the trio of his prosecutors.

"Idex, Advocatus........ Affected Party, I have just proven without doubt that I could not have willingly made such an effect magically, and that the chances of doing so accidentally are as Domin Karel put it 'a million to one'."

"Therefore I would say that not only does the charge of using highly destructive magic apply, because the magic I used was a beginner cantrip, not even of the Echelon, I would also say that the charge of wilfully endangering civillians does not apply, because as was just proven, I could not have wilfully created the effect for which this Inquisition is being held."

"To the charge of Imperial property damage, I have retort, as while attempting to dispose of the wand, it was flung out the window, and into imperial property. As such I plead guilty to the one remaining charge, however, in case the the other charges are not dropped, I plead innocent to both. Gratiam Idex."

The Advocatus looked at Jon with something approaching respect, while the Imperator's furrowed brow was far less deep than it had been earlier.

The Advocatus spoke first.

"It would seem that two of the charges are to be taken from the docket, as they have been proven false, and the charge of Imperial property damage still stands. Merchant Han, you may leave, as the proceedings no longer concern you."

The merchant who Jon assumed was somehow the affected party, bitched and moaned under his breath, shot Jon a glare, before slinking out of the room.

"Before we turn to the Idex for judgement, Apprentice, do you have anything else to say?"

"Yes Advocatus, may I ask how the merchant was harmed in the incident?"

The Advocatus actually snorted.

"Merchant Han was 'dazed' from the bright explosion that occured, causing him to lose control of his wagon, and take a corner too hard, leading to one of his carthorses being injured."

Jon gaped for a moment, before closing his mouth.

"I see. Thank you Advocatus. I have nothing further to say. Atu, Idex."

The Imperator tapped his fingers on the table for a few moments, before seeming to come to a conclusion, which left another twitch on his lips, and a light in his eyes.

"Apprentice Kerijon, you have defended your Inquisition well, and in doing so proved yourself a young man of responsibility and honour. In the case of Imperial Property Damage, the State finds you guilty. You have proven that this incident was largely unavoidable, and you admit culpability to the damage done. Your sentence, will be one of public service."

Thank the Maker, thought Jon. Finally I can leave this ludicrous palace, and just get back to my life.

"More specifically, it seems as though you have a good grasp on your arcane studies. My daughter is being tutored by a Licensed Teaching Wizard, however he has made no progress with her, as she refuses to engage with anyone not her own age. As such, you find yourself with a unique sentence. Tutor my daughter, once every Maker's day, for a month, and even if you make no progress with her, your service will be counted as paid."

Motherfucker.