Malid seethed with anger and smashed his fist down on the table. Karaza shook his head and placed his hand on Malid’s shoulder to calm him.
“I do not have any problem with waiting in the adjoining room,” announced Karaza. “Let the rules of the Council be adhered to. I am sure that your deliberations will be swift. There is only one verdict that you can bring in a situation such as this.”
Karaza turned and left the room. Malid glared at Volox, but Volox appeared not to notice as his eyes scanned the other members of the Council to gauge their reactions.
“Very well,” sighed Malid as he stared at Volox, “let this Council session begin. Are there any objections?”
Volox shook his head and smiled at Malid.
“Earlier today,” Malid began, “the queen asked to speak to two prisoners. The foreign girls, named Mistake and MistyTrail, were escorted to the throne room to meet Queen Alycia. They were searched for weapons, as any prisoner would be before meeting with the queen. After a short while, the royal guards heard the queen screaming. They rushed into the room to find Queen Alycia on the floor writhing in pain. Mistake and MistyTrail were standing and making no attempt to aid the queen in her time of distress. Mistake was heard to tell MistyTrail to release the spell. Evidently she did and the queen recovered enough to state that the girls attacked her magically. The prisoners were immediately taken from the throne room and incarcerated. We now must hold a trial to determine the fate of the accused. Are there any questions?”
“Did anyone witness this attack?” asked Volox.
“I just stated the sequence of events in their entirety,” replied Malid. “This is a rather simple matter, Volox. I do not know what your agenda is here, but we could all do without your foolishness. The queen would like to see a speedy execution of the assassins. It is up to this body to provide that for her.”
“I see several problems here,” declared Volox, “and I do not think well of your characterization of my objections as foolish. This august body is the highest court in the land. We should never make life and death rulings in a hurry without knowing all of the facts. Are there any elders here who would disagree with that statement?”
Volox made a point of making eye contact with each of the other elders. All of the elders shook their heads except Amber and Malid.
“All of the facts have been presented,” countered Malid. “There is no mystery here. The foreigners tried to kill the queen and were stopped by the guards. It is that simple. There is really nothing to discuss.”
“Why did the girls try to kill the queen?” asked Volox.
“I have no idea,” scowled Malid.
“What spell was used to harm the queen?” inquired Volox.
“I don’t know,” grumbled Malid.
“If the magical spell used had the capability of killing the queen,” questioned Volox, “how were the guards, who have no magical skills, able to stop the attack before the queen was killed?”
“What is your point here, Volox?” demanded Malid.
“My point is that this body must have all of the facts of this case before we condemn two young women to death,” declared Volox. “So far, we have no motive. We have no witness to the attack. We do not actually know if a magical spell was used at all, other than some guard’s second hand testimony that the queen in a moment of pain said she was being attacked. There are many questions here that must be answered before we kill two innocent people.”
“You are trying to drag this out for some reason,” Malid said suspiciously. “What are you up to?”
“I am after justice,” stated Volox. “We are being ask to condemn two girls to death. Is it too much to ask that we actually have the case presented to us properly? I am not talking about making a big production of this, but all of the witnesses are right outside this chamber. The girls are in a prison not far from here. The royal guards are at the palace not far away. The queen is also in the palace. Why can’t we hear exactly what happened? Why are we being rushed into this? Can not our prison hold the accused a few hours longer?”
“Volox is right,” interjected another elder. “I find it highly irregular that we are being rushed in this serious matter. Even if all of the facts presented so far are correct, it is not a clear-cut case of assassination. Certainly for one of the girls in any event. One of them asked the other to stop. Do we kill both of them?”
“A good point,” added another elder. “The queen said the girls were attacking her magically. She didn’t say the girls were trying to kill her. Why not? I think we need to have questions answered before I can vote to kill these two girls.”
“I propose that we gather all of the witnesses that have pertinent information on this event,” stated Volox. “I would like the queen to be included in that list.”
“The queen is in shock,” Malid shook his head. “She is in no condition to testify. She is not even accepting visitors or well wishers.”
“Perhaps we can leave her off the list for now,” conceded Volox, “but we can certainly start with the others.”
Murmurs of approval rippled around the table and Malid conceded that he would have to produce witnesses to get his conviction.
“Very well,” sighed Malid. “We will break for one hour while I gather the witnesses. We will start promptly in an hour, whether all of the members are here or not. I give you fair warning.”
Malid rose signaling the end of the session. He stormed out of the room and shook his head at Karaza. The Head Elder waved for Karaza to follow him and then walked along a corridor to his office.
“That was quick,” remarked Karaza, “but you do not seem thrilled by the outcome.”
“We haven’t started yet,” complained Malid. “Volox got the other elders to agree to the need for witnesses.”
“Witnesses?” scowled Karaza. “What witnesses? There was no one in the room except the accused and the victim. Are these elders such fools that they will let assassins go free?”
“No, no, no,” Malid shook his head. “Volox just likes to act as if he is important some times. I will bring the royal guards in and let them answer questions. Then Volox will have nothing to complain about. It is only a short delay. What can it matter?”
“I wonder,” pondered Karaza. “I think Volox is up to something. Can you restart the meeting without him? Does he even need to be involved?”
“I said that we would restart promptly in an hour,” answered Malid. “Any member who is not there will not be missed by me. What are you planning? Or don’t I want to know?”
“I was merely wondering if Volox didn’t show if your meeting would go easier,” shrugged Karaza. “I do not know how meetings of the elders are run. If you will excuse me, I think I will go for a stroll. I will be back in an hour to wait for the verdict.”
Karaza left the office and proceeded out of the building. He looked around and saw a group of elders walking through the plaza. He hurried to catch up to see if Volox was one of them. When he got close enough to identify the individual elders, he saw that Volox was not among them. He turned and scanned the area in all directions. Finally, he saw another smaller group of men leaving the building that he had just come from. He backtracked casually and smiled inwardly when he saw Volox walking with three other elders. He started to follow them at a distance.
The small group went into a bakery. Karaza stayed in the park across the street, leaning against a tree. He waited patiently for the elders to buy whatever it was that they had entered the bakery for. He waited almost fifteen minutes for the elders to reappear. The four men crossed the street and headed for the park. Karaza moved slowly around the tree so that he could observe them without being seen.
Volox and the other three elders entered the park and sat on the rim of a large fountain in the center of the park. The men ate bread and talked casually. Volox tried to turn the conversation to the current matter before the Council, but the other elders did not want to discuss it. Some of them tossed small pieces of fresh bread to the birds, while they talked about their families.