“Thank you for joining me, Isten. I have thoroughly enjoyed our chance meeting today. It has been nice to indulge in these paintings with company, rather than by my lonesome. If you have time in the coming weeks, I implore you to visit Saint Hans Cathedral, you will be warmly welcomed.” Pontiff Innocent smiled at Isten.

“The pleasure has been mine, Holy Father. It has been a chance of a lifetime to be in your company, that many only hope to dream of. I am just lucky to have been available for any of your requests, after all I am God’s servant.” Isten humbly replied.

“You must head off now, your parents will be wondering where you have been! When you see them, can you give this letter to Lucien for me, please.” Pontiff Innocent requested.

“Of course, Holy Father.” Isten bowed and received the letter.

Pontiff Innocent strode away from Isten into the depths of the colossal hallway. His frame seemed fragile in comparison to the monolithic atrium walls.

Trulliad let out a sigh of relief then patted Isten down, smoothing his clothes. “What a bizarre chance meeting. Let alone on your first public excursion. You did well underneath his pressure, Isten.”

“Thank you, Trulliad. He is right, though. We must get to my parents or else we will be late for the trial.” Isten replied.

Trulliad nodded in response and led the way through the courthouse’s hallways to the Princesses Bench. Behind them, their shadows stretched and intermixed with the dancing light on the scarlet rug that lined the tiled floors.

Above them, ornate chandeliers hung reflecting rainbows from their cut crystals, teasing Isten’s eyes. Looking down below, Isten and Trulliad’s figures seemed insignificantly small compared to the enormity of the titanic building.

After weaving through corridors, they reached the Princesses Bench. A wooden-metal door closed off the courtroom from the hallway, guarded by two soldiers suited in ceremonial armour. When Isten drew closer, they bowed and opened the door for him.

“Good luck, master Isten. I cannot go any further than this for now. I will find you again once the trial has ended.” Trulliad said.

Isten turned around and nodded in response. “Okay, thank you. I’ll see you later, Trulliad.”

As he walked into the courtroom, he was first struck by how raucous it was. Groups of nobles young and old gathered among each other gossiping about information that they had received. It had an air of excitement, an electricity that shocked through everyone inside due to the rarity of a noble being placed on trial.

Isten had to weave past the groups to find his parents, yet he couldn’t find them within the crowd. He moved to the side of the room to get a better view.

Before him stood intricately carved wooden benches, tables, railings, and stands that orderly made up the room. High up on the walls, huge stained-glass windows let light into the court, but also figuratively let God witness justice be served. It shone onto the furniture and the crowd, where few shadows were left, they were illumined by the light.

There was a strangeness about the courtroom that Isten noticed. He felt that the arrangement of the courthouse opposed the nobles’ behaviour. It was austere and imposing, with a hint of authority, compared to the boisterous attitude of the gathered nobles.

As he began to mentally judge the crowd, a woman stood up from the prosecutor's section and walked in Isten’s direction. He recognised it to be his mother.

“The trial is soon to start, come take a seat over here.” Morrigan smiled at him, then waved him over to her. Isten nodded and sat down on the furthest chair at the prosecutor’s table.

“Where’s Father?” Isten asked.

“He is currently speaking to King Brenin before the start of the trial. He should be finished up soon.” She responded.

“I have a letter for him, from the Pontiff. He asked me to give it to Father.” Isten said.

“The Pontiff? Where did you get that from?” Morrigan asked.

“From the Holy Father himself. He asked me to join him to look at some paintings in the great hall earlier. Once we finished, he handed me a letter to give to Father, though he didn’t say much about it.” Isten replied.

“I see. It will probably be best to give me the letter for now. Lucien will be quite busy after this so it’s best to be on my person.” Morrigan put her hand out and received the letter from Isten.

The droning of the crowd behind them stalled for a moment as two lofty men entered the room one after the other. Their enormous presence caught Isten’s attention, and he felt them to both be equals. King Brenin and Lucien had returned from their private meeting at the King room.

Lucien joined the rest of the Blodyn family at the prosecutor’s table, taking a seat between Morrigan and Isten. He nodded at Isten, clapping his shoulder vigorously, then spoke to Morrigan.

“It went well, and the deal has succeeded. Fortunately, our position is still secure, and our influence should stay the same. The only noticeable difference is that some of Horyd’s allies will be more hostile towards us.”

“They won’t be able to do much, now that the snake’s head has been severed. Surely, with the information we possess, it shouldn’t be too difficult to destroy the remnants?” Morrigan asked.

“I’m not certain. It would be rather conniving of Horyd to keep fatal information on all his important allies. That doesn’t breed goodwill, nor would it be useful for his business ventures.” Lucien lied. Too many people would be listening into their conversation by now, and it was a perfect chance to misdirect them.

“I see… That’s too unfortunate. However, you imply that he does have information on some of his allies.” Morrigan smiled slyly.

“Yes, that is true. No more of this now. We will continue this later.” Lucien’s eyes reflected Morrigan’s guile.

Isten watched on in puzzlement. He couldn’t keep up with their conversation as many of the details eluded him. However, there was veneration within his eyes as he listened to their politicking.

‘They’re wily foxes after all! I guessed that Father was, I didn’t think that Mother would be as well!’ Isten inwardly laughed.

Time passed in the courtroom as the sun travelled in the winter sky to its zenith, noon. The clock hands struck twelve and a dissonant sound reverberated around the room. Sounds of feet clamoured as the aristocrats took their seats.

“Let go of me! I am a free man, an aristocrat, stop treating me like the rest!” Muffled screams echoed from outside the room.

A wooden door opened and the screams gained clarity. Four guards roughly marched their prisoner in. Horyd Coeden looked rough, his greying hair was dishevelled, and he was manacled around his hands, feet, and neck. A long, single chain linked each manacle together. It rattled, creating a metallic screech that mimicked his own.

He was forced into an isolated chair closely guarded by another four menacing royal guardsmen. They kept close watch over both Horyd and the public gallery to prevent an escape attempt aided by his close allies within the aristocracy.

The sound of a second door opening caught Isten’s attention. A woman dressed in a black formal gown and a white powdered wig sat down before the court at the judge’s bench. She gave the defendant a stern look.

Behind the judge’s bench, King Brenin took a solitary seat. He sat alone upon a raised platform to witness the trial, giving it royal assent. He stood abruptly, which drew the attention of the courtroom, and opened the trial with a succinct speech.

“Horyd Coeden, my former advisor, is on trial this afternoon for treason and heresy. He has been accused of committing crimes against the Church with the objective to seek its destruction.”

“This a case of national importance, for both maintaining the stability of our nation and its continuation for time immemorial. Therefore, I will be giving the verdict. I will seek council with a select group of advisors after hearing the evidence from the prosecutors, and the defence from the accused.”

Murmurs erupted within the crowd after the King’s speech. The severity of Horyd’s accused crimes had been officially confirmed, and speculation could cease.

“Eiddil Blodyn, of the prosecution, please rise to initiate the case.” The judge, Ceirw, ordered. Eiddil stood from the prosecutors bench and walked before the crowd.

“Your Majesty, your Honour, and ladies and gentlemen of the court: the accused has been charged by Cymorth’s Intelligence Service for treason and heresy against the state. The evidence will show that Horyd Coeden was apprehended while participating in a violent attack against Saint Hans Cathedral.”

“He was responsible for the deaths of twenty-five priests and three bishops in the attack on the Cathedral. During his incarceration, it was discovered that Horyd had been spreading slanderous propaganda against the Church for the previous four months.” Eiddil pointed at Horyd Coeden.

“This was an attempt to incite civil unrest and discord to potentially depose of the Church as one of our three Great Institutions. On that dreadful night, he made his conflict violent and malicious, choosing to take direct action rather than his previous subterfuge.”

“Finally, on the night of his imprisonment, Cardinal Peace had been found dead within one of his institutions, which we suspect to be of foul play. It is reasonable to assume that the Cardinal’s death is related to Horyd Coeden. This is because Cardinal was responsible for propagating Horyd’s convictions that the Church had become a malicious entity, something corrupted and evil.”

“In retaliation for being set up by the Cardinal, provoked into committing a heinous act, his allies on the outside lured the Cardinal into his establishment. This was on the basis of routing evil, and murdered him in cold blood.”

“From this evidence, we deem the defendant to be guilty in all of his charges.” Eiddil confidently summarised the prosecution’s case for the court.

“Ilyn Masarn, of the defendant, please rise to initiate the defence.” Ceirw demanded. Ilyn Masarn stood from his seat and proclaimed.

“Your Majesty, your Honour, and ladies and gentlemen of the court: under the law my client is presumed innocent until proven guilty. Through this admission, I implore you to keep an open mind, and that you promise to do so throughout this trial. We all seek justice, and we are currently embarking on doing so: the search for the truth, for facts, and a just resolution.” Ilyn Masarn faced the crowd, and gave a salute in deference to God.

“As an officer of this court, it is my duty to operate within proper evidence, to be a guide to explain what we think the evidence shows. However, what we lack is ‘proper evidence’ from the Intelligence Service and the prosecution. The prosecutor has labelled several offences against my defendant. Yet, the veracity of each offence should be tried prudently, as each one so far has been a coordinated manipulation of events that reflects unjustly on the accused.”

“The highest act of a court is to seek justice without discrimination. It is to rightfully convict criminals while acquitting the falsely accused. Ultimately, justice is blind to all but the truth. We have now commenced on this act, and it does not stop until a verdict is rendered. This verdict does not need to reflect the evidence within this case as, after all, justice is blind and it will come to a just conclusion.”

“We know that this promise will be lived up to in today’s session by the King who is a paragon of virtue as God’s chosen on Orbis.”