After a night with even less rest than he had when Ravi was loudly and feverishly moaning his way towards death (something Vance had a hard time believing was possible), Vance awoke and awaited the arrival of the advocate. There wasn't really anything for him to do from a preparation standpoint, and he didn't have any belongings or anything to sort out. Vance paced his cell a little bit, trying not to become overly anxious as the evidence of the sun's rising became clear through his slit of a window. After considerable more time had passed - enough to make him wonder if things had been postponed - a disinterested-seeming advocate finally made his way toward Vance's cell, accompanied by the guard, and introduced himself as Oran. Vance tasted freedom, however briefly, as he was remanded to Oran's custody and led outside.

They sat down at a small table in the courtyard of the Khartok court house and Oran sighed. "I'll be honest with you, I'm not looking forward to this," Oran began. "Ever since I tripped and spilled a hot tea on Councilman Talry's shirt, I've only been getting these hopeless cases, and my reputation can't survive much more. If that wasn't bad enough, you've been assigned Judge Barnollen. Barnollen is a fast judge who doesn't have a lot of interest in back story or opinions, just facts. That's never good for the defendant, and his conviction rate is very high. Barnollen also has a particular sore spot (one of many) for people who commit crimes that hurt the poor, and there's a good chance he's going to see your case in that light."

Vance considered what the advocate was telling him, and realized that his chances of getting out of this positively were indeed pretty slim, unless his mother really had managed to get a bribe put together on his behalf, which seemed unlikely. Judges had an incredible amount of power, getting to decide any appropriate punishment, and served as the sole declarers of guilt or innocence. Considered equally important to the legal side of a case in Juldania was the moral argument, as it heavily impacted the harshness of the punishment doled out by most judges; it seemed from what Oran was saying that Barnollen would not be particularly kind. A death sentence was definitely in the realm of possibility. Still, breaking down would do Vance no good, so he simply nodded, and waited for Oran to continue.

Seemingly pleased and surprised at a lack of protest or fit, Oran made a face somewhere between a frown and an indication of approval, and then started back up. "Since the facts are really all Judge Barnollen will probably tolerate hearing, let's think about those. People got sick, some even died, so there's clearly physical injury. Plus on top of that, there is a pretty clear claim that you defrauded your biggest customer, because what was found in the warehouse raid will surely be presented as evidence. The way the two companies were structured is not necessarily illegal, but as they are one hundred percent dependent upon each other, they'll probably be treated as a single entity (which also opens up tax evasion questions, but I doubt we'll get to that unless they really want to pile on, and besides, that will really only matter if you're still alive at the end of the day). Safe to say there's a lot of liability for you here. Any facts that we should present in your defense?"

Vance thought briefly, and told Oran about his corporate structure, that the inventory and production team ran separately from the research team, with which he was more directly involved. He mentioned the recent fire and said that in the aftermath he had been outside of daily operations and more in liability and insurance, working with his customer - his appointment book would back that up. Finally, all he could think to offer was that he had no medical or chemical training, but was an administrator, which would not point towards a direct influence on the recipe or formula used, despite his potential liability for the final product.

Oran listened dutifully, as if all of this was what he expected to hear, then declared them due to the courtroom for the trial. Vance had never been inside the court house, and was somewhat unimpressed by it; it seemed to be far less imposing than he had imagined, once he entered. People rushed back and forth, but it had the feel of a totally emotionless place, almost purely functional. Apart from the slight frowns of the overly-busy, it was difficult to see even a trace of humanity in a place that Vance expected to be full of emotional energy. Instead, it reminded him more of watching ants at work, as he had done as a child. Once he and Oran entered the courtroom, though, things couldn't have been more different.

First off, the room was nearly full of people - apparently word had spread quickly about his trial, and although Vance had no way of knowing it, he and Ben had been the talk of the city, heavily vilified, since Chemist Levin had started his investigation. The room wasn't large, but it was far more ornate than the rest of the building, and the benches were brightly polished and gleaming. The audience was in a near round circle girding the judge's bench and advocate chairs on all sides, and were slightly raised, giving a feeling of being completely surrounded. Among the faces that Vance saw as he walked into the room, the first that caught his eye was Jez. Vance had expected that he would probably see her here, but the hatred and vitriol that came off of her in waves was almost tangible, and he had to force his eyes to move on.

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He recognized a few others, some of which were familiar only as faces frequently seen, whereas others were residents of his old neighborhood, a few chemists, even one or two of his crew from his early days. One face that he didn't see was that of his mother - she was nowhere to be found. Vance cringed slightly inside, knowing that she had probably realized she had gotten all she could from him and moved on. Right as he sat down, out of the corner of his eye one face suddenly lit up his brain's alarm centers to full attention.

It took a minute for Vance to recognize the man, who had gained a lot of weight and now had a full beard and mustache, and long slick hair, but clearly there was enough of him that knew who was seeing that it unconsciously drew his attention; his brother was here. But how? And why? Vance couldn't think of what would bring Richard back to Khartok, especially just to watch his trial. He turned his head once to make eye contact, and saw something like vicious glee reflected in his elder brother's eyes. That man was a terror - and a mystery - to Vance, like a wounded bear about to pounce. Vance never knew exactly what had set Richard so far against him, but he had long ago accepted that given the chance, Richard would probably kill him or someone else.

Vance was shaken from his thoughts by the sounds of the court being called to order. Judge Barnollen sat down, and the list of charges against Vance was read, to some hooting and name-calling from the stands - people were quickly called to be quiet or face ejection. The court official then announced that the judge had declared this to be a one-day trial, which seemed to surprise Oran, based on the look on his face; that couldn't be good news, Vance thought. They settled in as the prosecution began presenting their case.

Throughout what seemed like a never-ending monologue, the lead for the prosecution's case presented a litany of evidence, each issued succinctly and summarized neatly and factually, the way that Barnollen preferred. While there were no witnesses called to testify in front of the judge, prepared statements had been transcribed, the key points of which were presented to the court, along with copies of the full statements should Barnollen choose to review them. Both Ben and Jez had submitted statements against Vance, which the prosecution greatly relished. His common-law wife and his closest business relationship both having turned against him must take great courage on their part, and great offense on Vance's, they claimed. Even a statement from the chemist's guild was summarized, with a specific quote from Levin (of course, thought Vance), as to the harm of turpentine in orally-ingested medicines, and was then linked to a recent batch of large-scale purchases of turpentine for which there would be no other legitimate purpose, all entered into the company ledger which Vance himself had responsibility for reviewing.

It was a bloodbath, and that was putting it mildly. By the time the prosecution ceded the floor, it was after the scheduled lunch break. The judge declared a short recess, but made the unusual decision to forego the traditional lunch hour in order to ensure that sufficient time was given to consider all angles of the case. Upon his return, Oran began to present the defense, but there was virtually no point to the exercise. All he could really do without giving way to much conjecture, or denying the facts presented, was to make a case for mismanagement, saying that while the tragic mistake clearly happened within Vance's company, any of his employees might have been the person or persons responsible. Oran presented what he could of the argument he and Vance had discussed earlier that morning in the courtyard, but tragically, Oran made the mistake of drifting into speculation, and Judge Barnollen took the opportunity to shut him down right there.

"I see where this is going, advocate, and I'm not interested. Considering what your argument has turned into at this point, it is clear to me that there are no more facts to consider. Frankly, I'm not much interested in your client either, as it is self-evidence that he is either criminally negligent or simply a criminal. Either way, I will declare my verdict now." The councils both immediately took their seats, and the courtroom became so silent that the judge's low voice easily echoed throughout the chamber. "Your client is guilty. I have a small shadow of doubt as to his intent, but none as to his culpability. Due to this doubt, I will not sentence him to the punishment that I may personally feel he deserves, but I also will not allow him to stay here and pollute our fair city with his greed and lack of care."

The judge turned his face towards Vance and spoke directly to him. "Vance Marknosan, I sentence you to a life in exile, not only from Khartok but from all of Juldania, beginning at the next sunrise. Should you set foot into this land again, the punishment will be death. All possessions are to be forfeit. Khartok shall provide transportation by sea away from our waters immediately. You are to remain in custody until you are upon the vessel, at which point you will be a free man save for the restrictions I have placed upon you this day. This matter is settled."

And with that, the life that Vance had known was over.