The Effaced: Chapter Forty-One (Patreon)

After that, the landlord was very compliant, and also kept addressing me as Archmage. I wasn’t an archmage, even if I was only one star away from being one, but I wasn’t about to break the illusion I’d put on of being strong enough to casually rip a building out of the earth and throw it at people. I think he was under the impression I was a new enforcer for the Concrete Crown, something I was happy to let him think. 

Kelly seemed almost as stunned as the landlord, which didn’t seem fair. He’d heard about how I’d reinforced all the metal in the hospital of the White Rooms, and this wasn’t that far off. 

But even with the landlord returning the golden pocketwatch and handful of jewelry pieces that Kelly’s father had owned, there wasn’t a lot that Kelly needed to pack, and just a few basic metal-lifting spells later, we were headed back to Rhys’ apartment. 

The next several days continued in a relatively peaceful vein, until I got a call from Aiden, the lawyer. 

“Get ready. We’ve finished putting together the jury. You’re going to stand before a judge in four days. I’ll meet you outside of the court building two hours before it starts.” 

I sucked in a tight breath. 

“Thank you. See you soon.”

Over the next four days, Rhys coached me on etiquette in appearing before a judge. Some things, like the clothes, were self-explanatory, though even that had some minefields that I had missed, as evidenced by the time I suggested a black tie. Apparently, that would look sleazy, though I wasn’t sure why. 

Other things were more devious. While leading questions might be illegal, people still used them, especially in trials of a jury of peers. It was hard to get someone to simply disregard information once they heard it, no matter how much they were told to. 

Ultimately, much of the advice boiled down to a few basic principles: shut up, let Aiden do the talking, and try to not look incredibly nervous. 

I was, though. The last time I’d seen the courtrooms had been as a child, and those memories weren’t exactly the best. Even if Nexus was ostensibly on our side right now, there was still a chance that Abraham would have enough political acumen to shift things somehow.

Before I was ready, the day arrived. Hadiya, Rhys, and Kelly were all in suit, while Jessica was in a white and yellow sundress and large hat – both of which likely held some enchantments in the stitching.

I hadn’t realized it before now, but trials were apparently open for anyone to sit in on, and Rhys had insisted that it would look bad if I were to show up alone. As such, he had shilled out even more cash for Kelly to purchase a suit of his own, one that was less striking than mine, like it was meant to blend into the background. The running tally of money that I owed to Rhys was getting uncomfortably high for my liking, but at the same time, I was immensely grateful for all of the implicit loans he was giving me. 

Kelly… hated the suit. Trying to get him to sit still and not pull at it was like trying to give a cat a bath, but Rhys actually thought that might work out in our favor, since it made him look younger, and would establish the idea that I was some sort of paternal figure for people I interacted with for the jury. I wasn’t sure of that, but I was glad Rhys didn’t think it would be a detriment to the cause.

It took two automobiles to ferry the entire group to the courthouse, and when we met Aiden, he gave us a nod. 

“Good, good, you’re all here. Axel, stop looking so nervous.” 

“I… will try,” I said. I had already been trying, but snapping at my own lawyer seemed counterproductive. 

“Where is the initial room?” Rhys asked. 

“Courtroom C, on floor one.” 

“Initial room?” Hadiya asked. 

“Where they tell us what room the trial will be in,” Rhys said. “It also ensures that those who are out on bail have shown up, and aren’t on the run.” 

Our motley crew headed inside, through to one of the courtrooms, where Aiden took a seat with a group of other attorneys, and my group was led to row after row of benches, many of which were filled by people of all sorts. Some wore suits, like our group, but others seemed to have come in work clothes, and a few of them even seemed to have dressed intentionally poorly, as if to protest the very idea of needing to dress up. That seemed counterproductive to actually winning their case, but who was I to judge?

“All rise,” a constable at the front of the room barked out as an old white man entered the room. We rose, and the man barked for us to be seated.

“Attelast, Mercer?” the judge read out. One of the men in the benches stood up, alongside one of the lawyers, and the judge proceeded to read his charges, offered a plea bargain, and then moved onto the next one. I settled down to wait. At least with Font as my last name, I wasn’t going to have to wait too terribly long.

To my surprise, most of the people wound up taking the plea deal, and

“Font, Axel?” the judge called out. I stood, as did Aiden, and Kelly, who was quickly pulled back down by Rhys. A ghost of a smile seemed to pull across the judge’s face, but then he was back down to business.

“You have been charged with conspiracy, treason, murder, and obstruction of justice,” the judge said. “I’ve reviewed the case myself, and there is undeniable evidence that you’re the only possible culprit. The new evidence lodged by your attorney is not likely to change that. As such, I offer you six life sentences, with a chance at parole after twenty years in the mage prison if you admit your crimes now.”

I ground my teeth at the blatant attempt to turn me into a scapegoat.

“We would prefer to go to trial, your honor,” Aiden called out from where he stood among the lawyers.

“I strongly advise against that,” the judge said. “You won’t win.”

“The prosecuting attorney and I have already selected a jury by mutual accord,” Aiden said. “We would prefer to go to trial.”

“As you wish. Your court date is set for…”

He flipped through some papers, then looked up, directly at me.

“Three days from now at noon. Please understand that failure to show up will count as a full admission of guilt, as well as incurring a warrant for your arrest.”

“I understand, si—your honor,” I said, almost calling him sir instead. That was one of those utterly bizarre rules that Rhys had coached me on. Apparently, calling him ‘sir’ would have been an insult.

We left the courthouse and Kelly sighed dramatically.

“So we have to come back again?!”

“Yes,” Aiden said. “The court system is nothing if not slow. They’ll take as long as they need to.”

“Do you think that what the judge said was true?” I asked. “That we really have no chance?”

If it was, then I was fleeing. Maybe I could go south to Saxum – gunslingers were always in demand there. Airae was always an option for someone with solid flight spells, and despite using metal, my mass bond allowed me to fly far better than most people with the metal bond would expect.

“Probably not,” Aiden said. “There are never any guarantees, of course, but this is about as cut and dry as you can possibly get. I think it was just a threat that the judge had to make to appease Abraham.”

Though it felt incredibly frustrating, we were sent of for three more days, until we had to come back, check in again, and then were shuffled off to the courtroom. A different judge – this time, and old white woman, instead of an old white man – was presiding over this court room, and the jury was led in by Aiden and the prosecutor, then I was separated from the rest of the group, taking a seat in the same area as Aiden. As the proceedings slowly rattled on, with the full reading of rights, crimes, and the vows, I tried my best to pay attention but I couldn’t help but keep my eyes on the audience benches.

There was my entourage, of course, but there were also three new people sitting there, and I’d bet a fourth person that I couldn’t see.

One of them was Abraham. Behind him was a slight waif of a woman wearing a yellow evening dress, and sitting next to him was the Nexus member who Rhys and I had spoken to. I’d bet that Egress was there with him, somewhere, maybe under a veil, or maybe just outside with her portal magic ready to go at the slightest provocation.

When I looked at Abraham, I saw…

Annoyance. He looked annoyed at me, and even more annoyed at the Nexus man next to him. Presumably he and the rest of Nexus had cut some sort of deal in order to allow him to retain some of his power, because there was no fear, just utter annoyance.

The Nexus man who Egress worked for, on the other hand, looked unbearably smug. He winked at me when I looked at him, and I wasn’t sure how to interpret that. I didn’t think it was flirty. Maybe it was an attempt to be reassuring?

As the introductory speeches and vows wound down, the prosecutor took to the stage. He began by listing out witness testimonies from people who I had been involved with in EC-Six, explaining that I did indeed have the skill and ability needed to kill Senator Ermonte. He went on to explain that I had been noted as being the third most loyal of the children that the Arenamaster had raised, while completely ignoring the fact that only three children had actually lived through the final battle of the arena.

Aiden objected to both of those statements for various reasons, and the judge denied both objections. I didn’t completely understand why, but it seemed to deeply frustrate Aiden, and make Abraham slightly less annoyed and a bit more smug.

The prosecutor then started asking me questions.

“Could you have killed Senator Ermonte?” he asked.

“Objection your honor,” Aiden said. “Leading question.”

“Denied,” the judge said, her voice bored.

“I have the unique blend of magical skills that would have allowed me to kill Senator Ermonte, but—”

Before I could get anything else out, the prosecutor asked his next question.

“Did you kill Senator Ermonte?”

“No.”

“You are aware that perjury is a crime, correct? Would you be willing to submit to a grade four mental examinination spell in order to determine this?”

“Objection your honor,” Aiden said. “Grade four mental examinations were outlawed die to the risk of permanently altering or removing memories.”

“Except in cases of national import,” the judge said. “This is a matter of national import. Denied.”

“If I had no other option, I would,” I grated out. “But I would prefer to avoid the risk.”

“Doubtless because you know it would reveal the truth,” the prosecutor said dryly.

“Objection—” Aiden started.

“Denied,” the judge said, not even letting him speak this time.

Things continued in this vein, with the prosecutor attempting to paint me as a monster who had every reason to kill Senator Ermonte on the Arenamaster’s orders. He never actually explained why the Arenamaster would want the Senator dead, but apparently he never felt the need to.

The Nexus member that had spoken to Rhys and myself, and was sitting next to Abraham, rose after the examination was complete.

“Your honor,” he said, his tone sardonic on those words, making it clear he did not consider her worthy of the title. “I would like to request a brief recess.”

The judge looked to him, then to Abraham, then nodded.

“Sustained. You have fifteen minutes.”

As we were ushered out of the courtroom, Aiden began pacing.

“I expected some degree of rigging, but nothing this… overt. She’s not even fulfilling her basic duties – she could lose her entire career if this got out to the right people.”

There was the sound of a voice clearing, and I turned to see the man from Nexus, giving us a broad smile.

“I am afraid our conversation got cut short last time,” he said. “While Abraham has a short little chat with our dear little judge, I would like to speak to you.”