“Son, I hope yer not lookin’ to cause trouble.”

Gloe stopped doing sit-ups and looked up at the speaker. He was probably only in his late 40s or early 50s, but since he was the oldest one here everyone called him ‘gramps.’ Gloe smiled. “Not quite sure what I’m going to do yet. I don’t know much about my situation.”

“Ya just keep exercisin’. Given the slop they feed us would choke a kaoc, it strikes a few of us as not quite right. Ya ain’t plannin’ to bust out some crazy shit, are ya? None of us want to get caught in that. Them enforcers ain’t exactly discriminate.”

Gloe smiled. “No, I’m not going to make trouble. Quite the opposite.” He reached inside his rudimentary tunic. “Ah. Here.”

“What’s this?”

“Bracelets. Should help with digesting stuff. Go ahead and give them to whoever needs them the most. I’ll make some more when I have the materials.”

Gramps frowned, peering closely at the bracelet. “Magic? I just said we ain’t lookin’ for trouble.”

“It’s pretty faint, and nothing that would help with mischief. Just helps your digestive system to be less…what did you say? Discriminating.”

“Looks funny.”

“Yeah, it was really hard to get the gyok bones to join together like that.”

“These are gyok bones?” Gramps’ tone took on a bit of vindictiveness.

“Gotta kill the gyoks before they nibble all our toes off. Very important. I try to get some every night.” He paused. “In fairness, I’ve been eating them too. That’s why I don’t take a portion of the slop.”

Gramps was looking down at his feet with a peculiar expression on his face. “I see. Son, you seem like an alright sort, but yer awful young for the kind of composure yer showin’. Worries us to no end.”

“Well this isn’t my first time you know. I was born in a prison colony. Did some time in an interim reaver dungeon too. This isn’t too bad by comparison.” He looked around critically. “Not at all” he said, more to himself than anything else. Shaking himself slightly he looked up and smiled. “Not that I’m here voluntarily of course.”

“Well we saw that son. The way ya came in all black and burnt, we weren’t sure ya’d make it. They musta slipped ya a healing potion though, ‘cause ya cleaned up pretty well. What’re ya in for anyway?”

Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Gloe shrugged. “I’m not certain exactly. I wasn’t formally charged. Was sitting in the woods and suddenly ‘bam,’ they hit me with something and I woke up here. Probably poaching though.” He grinned. “Alleged poaching. I find their charges without foundational merit, substance or due process. What about you? What’d they get you for?”

“Debt. Same for most. Expect there’s a prison colony in our future.”

“Huh. It’ll be like old times then.”

“Yer crazy son, but ya stay out of trouble and we’ll get along jes’ fine. Oh, and stay on those gyok bastards.”

“Count on it.”

...

“You. Get up.” The guard’s tone made it clear that, as far as he was concerned, Gloe’s status was about the same as the stone that made up the floor.

“Alright officer.”

“Shut it.”

Gloe shrugged and exited as commanded. The heavy manacles and leg shackles seemed excessive, but he supposed it made sense. They didn’t know he had ruled out escape until he knew how he had been tracked down.

“Stop. You stink.”

“Yes, your facility’s sanitation amenities are gravely lacking.”

The truncheon slammed into his back. “I said shut it!” The guard watched for another outburst, then turned to his fellow. “Slop him down.”

“Right. Hold still please.” The second guard carefully poured a bucket over Gloe. Some sort of deodorizer. “Hey, let me sit him outside in the sun for a few minutes. We can’t bring him in sopping wet.”

“I don’t care if he’s wet.”

“Do we really want him dripping all over the floor in there?”

The first guard’s frown intensified. “Fine” he growled.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Come along please.” The second guard led him through a series of doors, then up a long flight of stairs. Finally they emerged into a large courtyard.

Gloe blinked in the bright sunlight. As he’d thought the prison was fairly deep underground. He’d underestimated the size of the overall structure though. The keep above the prison was quite sizable, and based on what he could see of the outer wall he was actually in a fairly large castle. That…probably didn’t bode well.

The sun was nice though. Due to the nature of his regeneration he technically didn’t need Vitamin D as long as he had emotions to eat. But it was still pleasant.

He took a moment to enjoy it, then moved on with his thoughts. This was more elaborate preparation than he had expected. There was no reason to clean him up at all for a pro forma trial or sentencing. He wasn’t certain what that ultimately meant though. He once again considered and temporarily ruled out an escape attempt. Better to get more information first. The worst they could do was execute him, which might be the penalty for attempting to escape anyway.

After an all too brief respite the second guard spoke. “Sorry, but we’d better get back.” Gloe shrugged and followed directions again.

They made their way through many doors and several flights of stairs. Past a lot of guards too. They weren’t in the prison section anymore. They passed too many servants and ordinary rooms for that. Interesting that security was nonetheless so high. The first guard saw Gloe looking around and belabored him with the truncheon again.

Finally they arrived at what looked like some sort of audience chamber, complete with a throne. Lot of guards in here too. Courtier-looking folks as well. It probably had something to do with the guy sitting in the big chair. He was impeccably dressed and despite his sharp features he had a sort of handsomeness, but he looked easy to irritate, and there were a couple of humorless-looking guys with giant halberds on either side of him.

Well this was going to be fun.

A man with a legalistic cast and dark purple and black robes stepped forward. “Duke Charmal will now hear the case. Let justice flow from the throne.” The two guards nudged Gloe forward and forced him on his knees. Just to the side of the long carpet that ran down the center of the room, he couldn’t help but notice. Perhaps they didn’t want him to drip on it…or maybe they were just dicks.

“State your name defendant” legal dude commanded.

“None.” The cranky guard hit him. Hard. “Answer the question slime!”

Gloe just shrugged. “I did. I have no legal name. Don’t shoot the messenger.”

The pants-less legal guy glowered for a moment, then composed himself. “The unidentified poacher claims to have no name, and shall instead be referenced by his prisoner number.” He glanced at a piece of paper, then continued. “Prisoner #351006, how do you plead?”

“Well…no one’s actually bothered to tell me the charges, but I don’t recognize your sovereignty over me. In order to be legitimate a government has to have the consent of the governed, and I don’t consent. Therefore your organization is illegitimate to the extent it attempts to exercise authority over me. Additionally, I don’t recognize your sovereignty over the territory where I was brutally and repeatedly assaulted without cause. Your organization shows no sign of maintaining control, use, or even properly marking it as your territory, so I regard it as an unsubstantiated claim.”

That got him another solid wallop from the mean guard. No Pants barely twitched before turning to the throne. “Your grace, as reported, Prisoner #351006 shows signs of being a lost sojourner. By your leave, I will depart from the facts of the case in order to ascertain if this is the case.” The duke nodded, and Trouser Hater turned back.

“Prisoner #351006, are you a sojourner? Were you reincarnated by the gods of light, blessed be their names, to serve as a champion of our world? Be careful with your answer, as we will question you carefully to substantiate any such claim.”

“No.” Gloe got hit again.

“Prisoner #351006, are you certain of this answer? Reports from our agents indicate that you do not appear to tire, ever. Additionally you seem to heal incredibly quickly, and possess some sort of natural enchanting ability. Were these not gifts given to you by the gods of light, blessed be their names?”

“Still no.” It was a good thing a lot of the people in the room were a lot more miserable than they seemed, because the damage to his back would have started to add up otherwise.

“Prisoner #351006, I will ask you one final time if you are a sojourner. You do not have the lineage of a chosen. Your appearance, position and abilities do not support the possibility of you being a reaver. As such, given the reports we have received, the only other possibility is that you are an aberration who has somehow picked up or otherwise imitated a sojourner’s manner of speech. As you are aware all aberrations are obligated to report to the nobility so that their chaotic powers can be ordered for the greater good of the kingdom. If you are not a sojourner than you are guilty not only of poaching, trespassing, resisting arrest and insolence but also of a failure to report that is equivalent to desertion. How do you answer?”

“Still n…” a sudden shove cut his words off, but this time it came from the right side, not the left. The less aggressive guard made a show of pulling him back up, hissing in his ear as he did so. “Don’t be stupid. If you’re a sojourner then you’re a national treasure. They won’t punish you, you’ll be sent to a sojourner academy. Your status will dramatically improve.”

Oh, was that how it was? “Thanks man. Now I understand” Gloe whispered back. Kneeling up straight, he spoke loudly and clearly. “I am not now, nor have I ever been a sojourner. Also, this trial is a farce, your legal system is a joke, your authority is non-existent, and this ‘good guard bad guard’ routine is hilariously transparent.”

This time both guards hit him. In fact he seemed to have angered pretty everyone in his line of sight. (Although he did notice almost uncontrollable amounts of mirth coming from somewhere behind him. He ate most of that. No need to get someone in trouble for laughing.)

The duke wasn’t real happy either. For a moment rage flashed on his face, then he composed himself. “Get this filth out of my sight” he said coldly.

Breezy Legs was quick to take the hint. “Prisoner #351006, you are hereby judged by this court to be an aberration. You are convicted of poaching, trespassing, resisting arrest, insolence, desertion and sacrilege. You are sentenced to lifetime indentured labor and defense, with no opportunity for parole. Guards, take him away, brand him, and put him on the next labor caravan to Tranche.”

This sparked a great deal of emotion and murmuring in the crowd, but Gloe didn’t catch much of it. As soon as the guards had finished dragging him outside they started beating the shit out of him. He noticed the ‘nice’ guard took care to try to hit all his most sensitive areas. Apparently being outed had pissed him off. Gloe took it with aplomb. With this much negative emotion in the area they weren’t doing any lasting damage to him anyway.