Grim walked down the wide boulevard toward the market square. He could already see the raised wooden platform and the sight filled him with dread. His gaze was transfixed on the noose hanging from the gallows, waving in the wind. The market hushed as the Rillish soldiers led a procession of prisoners toward the high platform. They cut a path through the crowd, elbowing people to the side as they fought their way to the center of the plaza.

Silent stares followed Grim as he climbed the wooden steps of the platform alongside Harren. Some people in the crowd hurried away while others drew closer, knowing what was coming and ready for a show. Some looked eager. Grim thought he might throw up. Nervousness and fear welled up inside him in equal measure as he took the place of the Justicar. Harren stood a few feet from him in the position of lawspeaker. Around the scaffolding, his men formed a rough barrier while a pair kept an eye on the prisoners.

Harren held up a hand for silence as he unrolled the parchment. For a moment, the crowd quieted then a voice called out. “Fuck ye right in yer southern twat. ‘N shove that parchment up yer arse.”

Harren pursed his lips and scanned the crowd, looking for the man responsible. A female voice called out. “Take yer dandy arse back to the south.”

“Enough!” Harren roared as the insults continued unabated. Grim grinned. Harren scowled and snapped the parchment open, yelling to be heard over the crowd. “Vance Halper!”

Two of Grim’s men hauled one of the prisoners up the wooden stairs and forced him to his knees before Harren. The man spit at the nobleman’s feet. Harren backhanded him across the face. Then the man spat blood at Harren’s feet. Harren shot the man a disgusted look as Vance grinned up at him with a mouth full of rot.

Harren continued to read. “Convicted of one count of smuggling. We have two eyewitness testaments and hence find you guilty. As you refuse to share the names of your contacts, you have been condemned. Do you choose mercy or the trial?”

“Fuck yer mercy. Ye prick.”

Grim sighed as Harren shrugged and took a step back. The guardsmen let the prisoner rise to his feet and took the manacles off his hands before offering him an axe.

Vance wrapped his fingers around the haft and hefted the weapon before him. Grim pulled his own axe from his belt. He tossed his shield to the side. He wasn’t going to need it for this farce. Grim waited while Vance looked at the boards beneath his feet with a solemn expression. The least Grim could do was give him a few moments.

Without warning, Vance leapt forward in an overhead swing at Grim.

Grim sidestepped and slammed his axe into Vance’s back as the man stumbled past. The iron head split bone with an audible snap and Vance fell to the ground, mortally wounded. Grim stepped on his back, making the man scream in pain as he wrenched the axe out. Grim dove the spike of his axe into the back of Vance’s skull, cutting off the screams.

The crowd was now deathly silent as a guardsman dragged the body away. Grim returned to his place, forcing down the bile in his throat. He tried to rub the specks of blood from his clothes, but he only managed to get his gloves bloody.

Without further ado, Harren read the next name on the list. “Kira Evansdottir”. Poor Evan. Grim watched the guards haul a pretty young woman on the stage. Auburn curls ringed her face, partially concealing the tears running down it. She couldn’t have been much older than his little sister. Her feet scraped across the wooden floor as the men dragged her before Harren.

“Convicted of adultery and fornicating with the enemy. We have a confession from the man in question and hence find you guilty. As your husband refuses to vouch for you and pay the fine of six silver lions, you have been condemned. Do you choose mercy or the trial?”

Kira took one look at Grim, and her sobs doubled in volume. “Mercy,” she whispered.

Harren nodded and took a step back. Grim walked over to the kneeling girl and offered her his hand. She looked up at him with terrified eyes and shook her head. Grim knelt beside her and put a hand on her shoulder. He reached into his coat pocket, pulled out his flask and offered it to her.

She looked at it with confusion in her eyes. “Why?”

Grim didn’t answer.

Hesitantly she took the flask and took a drink from it. “I won’t waste too much,” she said, handing it back.

As Grim tucked it away Harren spoke up. “Hurry it up bastard. We don’t have all day.”

Grim ignored him but the girl’s eyes widened in recognition. “Are you the Earl’s son? Grim?” It felt like a knife in his chest when she said his name.

“No,” he whispered, offering her his hand. He didn’t want her to make a scene and there was nothing he could do in any case.

The spark of hope left her eyes as she took his hand and he pulled her to her feet. He led her to the stool below the Gallows and placed the noose around her throat. “I’m sorry dad. I’m sorry,” she repeated as Grim tightened the noose.

Grim stared at her, unsure he could take the next step when Harren walked over and kicked the stool out from under her. The rope failed to break her neck and she thrashed, arms straining against her manacles, causing rivulets of blood to start pouring down her wrists to the ground. The blood vessels in her eyes burst as her pupils flickered at the crowd.

Grim walked over to her and yanked hard at her feet.

A snap echoed across the plaza and Kira fell still.

Grim glared daggers at Harren as he returned to his place. The noble didn’t even notice. He was already reading the next name. “Dannil Carverson.”

The man walked up the stairs of his own volition, standing before Harren and waiting for him to read the sentence. His skin was weathered, but his eyes bored into Harren with fiery defiance. He stood tall until one of the guards shoved him to the ground.

Harren hardly noticed as he continued. “Convicted one count of harboring fugitives. We have confessions from those you aided. If you have any questions, they’re hanging out by the gate.” Harren smirked. “As there is no forgiveness for treason, you are condemned. Do you choose mercy or the trial?”

“Trial.”

Harren nodded and stepped back while the guards armed Dannil. Grim shuddered as he drew his axe. The prisoner took a step forward and lowered his axe. “I have a request Justicar.”

Grim paused, holding his axe at the ready. “Name it.”

Dannil shuffled and Grim could see tears forming in the rough man’s eyes. “Me daughter is after me and she’s insistin on the trial. Just make it quick for her eh?”

Grim nodded.

The man shifted on his feet and threw the axe to the ground. “Just let me die on me feet now aight? Don’t want to live without me little girl anyhow.” He looked over his shoulder to the gathered prisoners. “I’m sorry Anna,” he whispered, before turning back to face Grim and closing his eyes.

Grim swallowed the lump in his throat and swung with all his might into the nape of Dannil’s neck. The blade sank deep and Grim felt it snap the spine. Dannil dropped to the ground, dead within seconds.

“Anna Dannilsdottir.”

Grim watched a little girl who couldn’t be older than eleven walk onto the stage. Harren hesitated as he looked at her with wide eyes. Snot dripped from her nose, mingling with her tears, yet she still managed to stare hatefully at Grim. He understood her hatred all too well. Blood already stained her dress from where she had fought the manacles.

Harren mouthed words for several moments before he finally found his voice. At least something fazed the man. “Convicted of one count of harboring fugitives. We have confessions from those you aided. As there is no forgiveness for treason, you are condemned. Do you choose mercy or the trial?” Grim noticed he didn’t make a quip this time. Maybe the prick had a soul after all.

“Trial.”

Grim’s gut sank to new depths as he watched the girl reach for an axe. A hand touched his shoulder. Grim turned to see Billy. “Let me take this one Grim.” Tears shined in the man’s eyes.

Grim watched as Billy stepped forward. The girl held the axe in front of her like a spear, as if it would ward Billy off. The Captain stepped forward and reached out to the axe. The girl froze like a statue as he slowly pulled it from her hands and let it fall to the floor. When it thumped against the floorboards Anna seemed to melt. She fell to the ground and began to sob. Billy knelt down next to her and put a hand on her shoulder. She flinched from the touch but looked up at him and saw the sadness in his eyes.

“Us orphans gotta stick together lass,” he said. Anna edged closer to him and cried while he held her. The entire marketplace was enraptured with silence. Not even Harren had the stomach to speak. Billy embraced the girl as she cried into his chest. They sat that way for a long moment until she embraced him as well.

A sob emerged from Billy’s lips, followed by a crack. Grim watched the girl’s arms fall limp. Billy took her in his arms and carried her off the stage. Grim walked back to his place with leaden feet as Harren unrolled the parchment with shaky hands. Just twenty-six more to go.