Chapter 44

Ethan

Day 41

Population of Thornhill - 53

Few events united a small village quite like a witch burning, the shared conviction of a righteous crowd against a common, wicked enemy. All we needed were two things: a spectacle and a witch.

Our spectacle was this sham of a trial, cobbled together by mostly ignorant villagers whose only experience with criminal proceedings came from TV legal dramas and the occasional high-profile celebrity case in America. There were no pre-trial motions, no preliminary hearing, no discovery, no voir dire. Just a hasty proceeding in a mess hall, with picnic tables and wooden stools as the courtroom.

And we had our witch—an oddball known as Super Nine. I hadn’t bothered to acquaint myself with my “client” before the trial, aside from his freestyling performances at the mess hall, which, to be honest, I wasn’t a fan of.

Someone had to play pretend lawyer, and of course, it had to be me. To make things worse, I had to defend someone accused of stealing my coins. I didn’t know the first thing about being a lawyer. It felt like the council had reverse-discriminated me into this role. There’s this expectation that med students are smart, but I didn’t know anything about the law.

I’m a med student, not a public defender.

Still, I believe in the justice system. I was all about the idea that justice is blind and everyone’s innocent until proven guilty. Nobody was stepping up to defend Super Nine against these serious charges, and it didn’t seem fair to me. So, I argued with the council that someone should defend him and for my efforts got assigned to be his defense counsel.

I didn’t just believe in justice—I believed in our village. We had to handle this fairly, even if everyone thought Super Nine was guilty.

Anika and Cade were on the prosecutor's side. I promised Super I’d do my best, but I knew I was outmatched. Cade was a police cadet, and Anika was way smarter than me in most things.

Our judge was Herman, pulled away from his boat, along with his helper Vesper—another of the thief’s victims. The jury would be five people chosen by lottery. It felt like we were in Ancient Greece, with people fighting for jury duty instead of trying to avoid it, like in the modern world.

We arranged the picnic table in the mess hall, set up Herman at the "high table" and placed the witness stand next to it. The two counsel tables were near the front, with the gallery of wooden stools behind us.

The village came to watch what they dubbed the “trial of the century”.

Herman limped to his seat at the judge’s table, exhaling as he sank. “I sure hope this is important enough to skip a meal over. Let’s get started. Anika, begin.”

“Good evening, Judge, jury members, and villagers. Today, we’re here to prove that Mr. Felix ‘Super Nine’ Yates is guilty of stealing—not from one, but five members of our community, including myself, his defense counsel, the judge, Sasha, and Vesper, his coworker. I remind the judge and the villagers that this trial is just a formality.” For the first time, the usually stoic and analytical Anika showed fire in her eyes as she stared directly at Super Nine. “For the good of Thornhill, confess and plead guilty. Stop this farce so we can move on.”

The crowd cheered and hooted, which I thought was rude for a court setting, but this was a mock court at best—we were kids playing at being lawyers. I felt embarrassed as I got up to give my opening statement.

“Mr. Yates claims he is innocent of all charges. It’s worth noting that his alleged victims are all people with the power to convict him. If this were America, this trial would end in a mistrial because of the conflicts of interest. My client believes he’s being targeted because of discrimination and prejudice, and there’s no hard evidence linking him to the crimes.”

“Discrimination?” Cade scoffed.

“Quiet,” Herman ordered. “Anika, call your first witness.”

“We’d like to call the defendant himself. Mr. Yates, please take the stand,” Anika said.

Super approached the stand, which was just a wooden stool. I had tried to get him to wash his face beforehand, but everything was rushed, including this trial. He straightened his technicolor-dyed dreadlocks, pulled down his sleeves to hide his tattoos like I asked, and sat up straight.

“Mr. Yates, can you explain why you had Ethan’s coin purse when Cade apprehended you?” Anika asked, her tone clinical.

“Yo… I mean, I didn’t know it was his. Thought it was mine,” Super shrugged.

“Ethan kept his coin pouch in Shelter Two, also known as the Heart Shelter. You live in Shelter Three, the River Shelter. Am I correct?”

“Yeah, but that day I was at Two ‘cause it’s closer to the mess hall. Had to cop some meat—legit meat, not fish. Must’ve grabbed it by accident.”

“And can you explain why we found another coin purse on you with forty-five coins?” Anika pressed.

"Yo, it’s like when you’re looking for your keys, and boom, they’re in your pocket the whole time. Same vibe," Super said, getting laughs from the gallery. Cade just shook his head, like he’d heard this excuse a thousand times.

“So those forty-five coins are yours?” Anika asked.

“Yeah, they’re mine. Ain’t much, but they’re mine,” Super confirmed.

“Father Gallagher said you spent five coins on wine today and five yesterday, which would bring your total to fifty-five coins. Molvin said you paid 10 coins for a cupboard recently, bringing it sixty-five coins. Herman, you were there each time Bianca paid Super. How often was that?” Anika turned to the judge, which was a breach of proper protocol, but nobody cared.

“Maybe six or seven times. He’s been skipping work recently,” Herman replied.

“Six or seven times. Bianca told me she gives two coins for each day of work to you. So even if we count that and your initial allowance, you’re still well short, Mr. Yates. We know from Father Gallagher and others that you’ve spent your earnings on wine and meat. So, where did the rest of the coins come from?”

“I’ve been hustlin’, cuz. What do you want me to say?” Super shrugged, his left leg bouncing like a jackhammer.

“In what way? Can anyone in the gallery confirm buying from you or giving you coins?” Anika asked.

“Yeah… umm,” Super scanned the crowd, then said, “Yeah, that fine piece Sophie hooked me up. I slid her some fish on the low, and she hit me back with a few coins for it.”

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“How convenient, considering she’s not here,” Anika replied, clearly frustrated.

"Yo, take it up with her," Super said, grinning like he’d just dodged trouble.

“When she returns and denies it, will you admit your guilt?” Anika asked.

“Nah, it’ll be her word against mine, like all of this,” Super said, nodding toward Cade and Sasha.

“No further questions,” Anika said, returning to her bench. Super winked at her, and I saw her turn red with anger.

I really didn’t want to do this, but I stood and approached the stand.

“Mr. Yates, can you explain your relationship with Sasha?” I asked.

“Sasha? She’s a baddie, man. Lowkey tryna slide into that, feel me?” Super smirked.

“And how did Alex and Cade react to that?”

“Objection!” Cade said, standing up. “That’s irrelevant.”

“Sit down,” Herman snapped. “I want to hear this.”

“Both Cade and Alex were tryna get with her, but Cade was too late. Feel me?” Super grinned.

Like vultures, the villagers in the gallery leaned in and started whispering juicy speculation.

“So you think this is all payback for hitting on Sasha?” I asked, feeling ridiculous.

"Can you blame ‘em? She fine as hell," Super shrugged.

“You little-“ Sasha growled.

“Quiet!” Herman barked.

“No further questions,” I said, retreating to my seat. Super rubbed my shoulders as he sat down besides me, and I just wanted to disappear.

Anika’s next witnesses—Astrid, Sasha, and Cade—all testified that they saw Super take my coin pouch. Super responded that they were ganging up on him because they were angry about Sasha. His defense was flimsy, but it was all I had to work with.

When Astrid took the stand, I asked her, “Are you friends with Alex?”

“Does this have anything to do with the case?” She glared at me. It was clear I lost a few points with her for defending Super.

“Answer the question, please.”

“Yes, I am. Anything else? Want to read my diary next?” She crossed her arms.

“Are you friends with Sasha and Cade too?”

“Yes,” she replied curtly.

“You’re all part of the dungeon group, right? You’ve been getting closer lately.”

“You know we are. You patch us up all the time.”

“So far, all the testimony has come from one group of friends. Don’t you see how that could be a problem?”

“What? I might be friends with them, but I wouldn’t like lie on their behalf to get an innocent person convicted!” Astrid hissed. Her dog lying in wait near her also got up and barked as well.

Why was I burning this bridge? For Super Nine? This guy?

“No further questions,” I mumbled, feeling like a tool as I returned to my seat.

The closing arguments were more or less a rehash of the opening statements. The jury deliberated, and to my surprise, there was one holdout—Ruth. We needed a unanimous decision to convict, and she wasn’t budging. She argued that the case was rigged against Super, as if some shadowy group had conspired against this poor kid, and she couldn’t shake the feeling of injustice.

“They’re ganging up on that poor kid!” Ruth argued, her heart aching for Super as she pleaded to let him go. “It’s rigged! It’s rigged against him! All of them are dungeon people! Astrid, darling, I love you, but those others can’t be trusted!”

In the background, amidst the clamor and heated arguments of the hung jury, the crowd grew restless, debating Super's fate. Through it all, I noticed Cass, the young, bright boy I’d been teaching in my spare time, leaning in to whisper something to Anika. Moments later, she stood up, her face resolute, as if whatever Cass had said was the final nail in Super's coffin.

“Judge Herman, I’d like to call another witness—Cass Sterling,” Anika pleaded.

“I ain’t no judge,” Herman huffed. “Fine. Cass, get on up here, son.”

Surprise witnesses? It was clear this was a kangaroo court—nothing went through due process. I thought about objecting to this farce, but what was the point? Cass walked up to the stand, sitting confidently.

“Cass, do you have any testimony to present to the court?” Anika asked.

The young boy removed his baseball cap, revealing wild, long blond hair, twirling the cap around his chest. “Yeah. I saw Mr. Super steal Herman’s coins.”

“Man, that’s bullshit! He don’t know what he’s saying! Dude’s just a dumb kid!” Super jumped up, pointing and getting heated.

“When did you see this happen?” Anika asked.

“It was late at night. I was gathering clams for dinner when I saw Super sneak into Herman’s stuff near the beach shelter,” Cass said nervously, gripping his cap, his hands trembling. Super looked like he wanted to get up and throttle the kid.

“He’s lying! I didn’t steal it at night! Why the hell would I do it then? That’s when Herman— I mean… I didn’t steal anything! That kid’s lying! Hey, you little snitch, you know what happens to snitches, right?” Super snapped.

“Sit your ass down! You threaten that boy again, and I’ll whoop you myself,” Herman growled, pounding his fist. “I’ve heard enough. This is a waste of time. Jury, get another verdict going. And keep your damn feelings out of it this time.”

Herman shot a glare at Ruth, who shrank under his gaze. After a second deliberation, even Ruth couldn’t argue against the tide—all five members voted guilty.

We used the old manacles from our dead frog prisoner to shackle a defiant Super, swearing vengeance, in one of the newly built rooms in the hostel expansion. He got a fur rug to sleep on and a chamber pot while we decided what to do with him.

Later that night, I was eating with Cass. He’d caught some large coconut crabs from the beach, and we dipped potatoes into the roe. I showed him my hand, naming all the bones, before moving on to more topical things.

“Good thing you were there to catch Super stealing. Otherwise, we might not have convicted him,” I said, sucking meat from a giant crab claw.

“I wasn’t there,” Cass admitted.

I froze, staring at the boy, shocked. He continued pulling meat from his crab leg with a copper knife, completely unfazed.

“But… that means you perjured yourself, Cass. Why did you testify against him?” I asked.

“He was guilty, Ethan. Sometimes you gotta do a tiny bad thing to protect the village,” Cass explained, not an ounce of remorse on his face.

“It’s not good, Cass. Those tiny bad things add up,” I muttered, suddenly losing my appetite.

My heart sank, the weight of it heavy, as I realized our village’s first conviction had been built on a lie. In the end, they did what was necessary since Super was guilty, but I had never been the kind to believe that the ends justified the means. I felt a quiet relief that it hadn’t fallen to me to make that kind of choice.

The next day, another commotion broke out as I made my rounds. I was headed to check on the health of our first human prisoner when I found Cade, Bianca, and Alex already there.

Super was gone. Someone had unlocked his chains.

Soon, Herman limped over, saying a fishing rod, his backpack, a bunch of dried fish, and several waterskins were stolen.

“He’s gone!” Cade cursed. “I should have… damn it. He took our stuff and ran!”

“Who set him free? How did he unlock the manacles?” Bianca asked.

“The key’s right here. Nobody took it off me,” Cade said, waving the key ring in Bianca’s face.

“I think he’s a Thief class,” Alex suggested. “He must have used some ability to get out.”

We formed a search party, but Super was long gone. Even with Bianca and Alex’s low-level tracking skills, he was nowhere to be found. We decided to install locks on the warehouse, knowing full well a Thief could pick them if he wanted to. The village had its first brush with crime, and now everyone was watching their meager belongings.

Soon, the legend of Super Nine began to spread—lurking in the dark, ready to steal what little we had. The village slept a little less easily, gripping their purses a bit tighter.