RAY VAN CAMARO
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The days proceeding the trial were spent organizing the evidence. Old Man Marcel brought two cases of luggage with him. One was for his clothes and the other was full of the evidence we asked him to gather. We also practiced responses to debates that the Armstrong family lawyer might throw at us.
Hendrik always did the paperwork for me which made him instinctively review everything we had. By the end of the week, he was running on caffeine and determination alone.
After a few days, the witnesses from Rockbell that staggered behind finally arrived in the city. Since the settlements near the mining town were in John’s pockets, we had to hire stagecoaches from further towns to make sure the townsfolk were actually brought here safely.
We had built and finished the case two days before the trial. It wasn’t responsible to drink a day before the trial and so decided to congratulate ourselves now.
Heloise dropped by the tavern we were loitering in late into the evening. I’d only gotten one chance to visit her. She wasn’t in her apartment at the time so I left her a note.
“What took you so long?” I asked.
She sat across from me and ordered food. “Work. I found a job as a jynx tutor teaching the children of a noble family. The oldest is eighteen and the youngest is fourteen.” She took a drink. “Ilias becoming a State Jynxist only months after he became my only graduating student makes me look good. Everyone wanted to hire me.”
“I know you’re not supposed to talk about your students, but they don’t hold a candle to your first, right?”
“I became Ilias’ tutor when he just turned six. He was more mature then than my two students are now.” Heloise flashed a smile. “By the way, how did he like his gift?”
“He loved it. He went crazy during the party and kept shooting out spells from his staff.”
“The next step in Ilias’ journey is to learn swordplay. You’re supposed to be his next teacher. Instead, you’re here incriminating that drunk colonel we met that’s obviously going to be convicted guilty.”
“As a soldier and a State Jynxist, I have duties to attend.” I leaned back in my chair, relaxing my stiff back. “If it were up to me, I would’ve sent someone to be the plaintiff in my stead. However, if you want the job done, you’ve got to do it yourself.”
“So he’s just sitting at home playing around?”
Her question made me snicker. “Do you really think Ilias is just playing around while waiting for me? Ilias is a State Jynxist that wants to learn swordplay and Jaime is a swordsman that wants to learn jynx.”
“I see what you mean. Having them teach each other makes the teachings we taught them stick better in their heads.”
“It also makes it so that I don’t have to teach the basics. They’re the hardest lessons to teach because you’ve got to simplify so many complex things.”
“So what day and time is this trial of yours?” the elf asked.
“Next Monday at ten in the morning. King Arthureus is serving as one of the three judges.”
“The family I’m tutoring is going out on an outing that day. I’ll come and watch your trial.”
I took a sip from my glass of wine. “Thanks. We worked hard on it.”
“So, what’s the story behind the case?”
I pressed a finger against my lips. “The trial is in a day. You can wait to hear the story and have a verdict until then, can’t you?”
“I suppose,” she sighed. “Just know that I’m going to be biased towards you.”
“I know.” I watched my unit, who was in the corner singing along to someone playing the violin. “I just want this to be over with so I can go back home.”
The trial, for someone that came from the Armstrong family, was surprisingly quick.
The Armstrong family was a rich and powerful house that lived in the north. Every member of the main family entered the military and many were jurisdiction of a settlement. The Armstrongs inspired the north and took honour in serving the military.
The head of the household and Warden of the North was John’s grandfather, General Edwin Armstrong. John was the heir to the family which meant the general went out of his way to attend his grandson’s trial. However, John was getting no help from his grandfather except for getting granted access to the family lawyer.
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The other members of the Armstrong family that attended the trial were John’s three younger brothers, two cousins, two nieces, and a nephew. They came through Gluttony’s portal.
Surprisingly, the Armstrong household were big fans of Heloise the Heroine. The general himself accompanied her in the audience, entertaining her with many of his stories.
The three judges overlooking the trial were Steward Caine, General Crow, and King Arthureus himself.
As good as the Armstrong family’s lawyer was, the evidence was too much for him to handle. Old Man Marcel, the other Rockbell townsfolk, and the people who exported coal from the mining town all came to speak ill of the colonel.
The nearby towns that were in John’s pockets were mentioned and a full investigation for them would take place.
By four in the afternoon, the entire court was convinced that John was guilty. The Warden of the North was ordering him to be sent to the Divot.
“I’ve heard enough. I’m going back to Drenyev and I better get a letter telling me that he was pronounced guilty. Colonel Camaro, thank you for exposing John’s crimes. I don’t want someone as low as him to be associated with the Armstrong name.” General Armstrong began marching out of the courtroom accompanied by his guards. He turned to John. “Let this be known, you had the privilege to use the Armstrong name. But no more. You are no one to us now. You are just John and I will personally make it so that you are removed from the family tree. It’ll be impossible for you to wear the iron fist that is my family’s sigil ever again.”
The court was silent throughout this, King Arthureus was even staring at the general with a look of respect.
“Paul,” General Armstrong said, referring to John’s younger brother. “You and your wife are now the head branch of the family. And until you bear a child, your successors will be your younger two brothers, Richard and George.”
Paul bowed. “I will serve it honourably, Grandfather.”
“One more thing,” the general said as he exited the room. “Once everything is over, take the pin with our house’s sigil from John and give it to Colonel Camaro. He exposed a rooted evil within our family which makes him more of an Armstrong than John.”
The Rockbell colonel couldn’t look his family in the eye. His low gaze was directed at the floor the entire time.
I kind of feel bad for him.
After General Armstrong’s speech, a unanimous decision was made by the three judges convicting John to three-lifetime charges with no chance of parole.
The Warden of the North insisted on sending John to the Divot, but King Arthureus declined it. The Divot was an island prison at the southern tip of the continent. It had been around for five hundred years and housed the most dangerous criminals Armestis had to offer. Over the course of its history, there had been many attempted breakouts, but none were successful.
As vile as John was, one look at him was all it took to know he wasn’t a hardened criminal. There was no chance of him breaking out of a regular jail. Sending him to the highest security prison where his spot could’ve been used to house a more dangerous criminal like Scar was overkill.
The king decided to keep him in the dungeons underneath the keep as an example of what might happen to members of the military who disobeyed the laws of the land.
That night, we had a giant party at a tavern to commemorate John’s incarceration.
The real hero of the trial was Sergeant Hendrik, who organized all of the evidence and paperwork all by himself. Each of us treated him to a drink and he was from exhaustion and alcohol by nine.
Paul dropped by to take a shot of vodka and give me the pin his grandfather tasked him to retrieve from John. The craftsmanship and steel used to make this pin were high quality.
The Armstrong sigil was an iron gauntlet making a fist.
“You’re finally going home, huh?” Heloise asked, leaning her drunken face against my shoulder.
“Yeah. I just want to sit back and guard Gilead while making sure Ilias and Jaime don’t make any trouble.”
“A simple life for a simple man.”
“It is, but that’s the life I want to get back to.”
On the morning we were to depart from the Capital, I visited the dungeons. Many of the cells were filled with criminals and drunks. The deepest cell belonged to who I was looking for.
John shot a sneer look at me. “Why are you here?”
“I just want to tell you that you are a sick lowlife monster who takes advantage of the people you swore to protect.”
He broke eye contact. “Yeah, I know.”
“But I know that you can overcome that monster. What I saw in your grandfather’s eyes was the defeated look of a parent that knows they failed. Your entire family prides themselves with the military, which means your grandfather basically disowned you for this act.”
John kept quiet.
“However, I’m not like your grandfather.” I handed him a waterskin filled with ale. He accepted it. “I despise you for taking advantage of Rockbell, but I believe no one is irredeemable. None of us are too far gone and we can all come back to the light.”
“You really believe that? From me? Someone that tried to hypnotize you with a charm. That actually succeeded in tricking your men and others?”
“Yes. You are the worst kind of person. But if someone like you can change for the better, then I have hope in what I’m fighting for. I have to believe that we can all come back.”
John rolled his eyes, chugging the ale. “That ain’t happening.”
“If you don’t want to change for yourself or for me, do it for your grandfather. When we were back in the courtroom, I could see how his words truly hurt you. Change for him. If you do, I will advocate for you to get the Armstrong name back.” I produced the Armstrong pin from my pocket. “I will give this back to you, but you’ll have to earn it.”
John’s response was quiet and meek, but it lit me up with hope. “I’ll try.”
“Good, that’s a step in the right direction.” I began to make my way out of the dungeons. “There will come a time when I will ask for your help. Maybe it’ll be soon or maybe it’ll be far into the future. When that time comes, I pray that you make the right choice.”