Chapter 12: Jet stands trial

"Put her in the keeps,"

After the last meeting, Efilian truly doubted that he might do the right thing.

As of the moment, she had to remain bounded.

"You've gotta believe me," She jerked her arms and they drove her to the ends of the packhouse to a cell by the end of the hill. beside a plantation.

Her hands were bound to the chains on the wall and she pulled. Te bars closed and they waited by both ends. She sat down to conserve her strength, on the cold dark floor, with moonlight streaming in from the cell doors and window. Her lips were chapped from thirst and she curled up, alone.

...

A guardian skipped the hill with a plate of food and he fell back when they hit him, the plate clattered. "Ugh. What the hell?"

"You don't feed the criminally insane,"

"I was ordered to," The guardian stood up.

"By whom?"

His face changed.

"Get out! Get outta here!" He kicked him on the rump and he picked himself up running.

Jet snivelled hating to see all that food go to waste, she was left in the cell to starve, and she grit her teeth to keep herself from sobbing. There was no point wasting her time trying.

She laid back with the rats scurrying around the corners, her breathing eased when she woke up, uneasy, she could barely pull herself up. She trembled and her eyes moved up to the moonbeams from the barred windows and laid still waiting for her end.

It was better if she passed her sentence, a tear streamed down her eye and she gave a strained cry and slipped away from consciousness.

She muffled at the fog seeping through the in the solitary and her hands twitched.

...

Ray went to the plantation himself where the dungeon stood, his pigtail bounced as he scaled down the hill and the sentinels backed down.

"Sir, you are not allowed to see the_" Ray sidestepped him and the sentinels blocked him again and he snatched the keys from the first one and unlocked it himself.

"How is she supposed to stand trial if she starves?" He questioned and Jet's head slumped when he entered and set her against the wall.

She smelled food immediately and reached for it eating ravenously and Ray shook his head at how pale she looked. She ate to the last bite and he tilted the bottle for her to drink and it spilt.

He poured some water on a rag and used it to brush off the dirt from her face and arms.

"W_why are you helping me?" She rasped.

"You sound like you don't want to be helped," He said casually and pulled up a neatly folded cloth. "This belonged to my daughter, I figured that you two are about the same size,"

Her eyes settled on the blue headband with a single eagle feather on top. Her hands clutched the sides. "What's her name?"

"Alice," He said liberally, he was certain that she was safe from the likes of her and yet, she was still wreathing with something he couldn't understand.

"Maybe if you find the strength to walk, I will personally come to pick you up, until the time comes, find a way to sort yourself out," He said and he started to walk to the gates to leave.

Jet flipped the dress open and sighed, she set the headband to keep her hair in place and straightened the buckskin sleeves. The bodice had been fitted to suit her and her skirt reached below her knees, her boots were just fine.

The chains rattled as she found a dent on the wall to step on, and look through the windows at the wavy green grass with specks of dirt, it was sunny on the horizon and the clouded skies were transitioning into brighter daylight as the sun came out.

The rosette sessile leaves of the plantains swayed in the eastern wind and she saw the men on the top of the hill.

They were here to receive her.

She stepped down when the gates rattled. Her head lowered as she was escorted in chains to the field.

The others laughed at her and she flinched. Ray helped her as promised but she was flustered, he looked unmoved, she lurched where the Elders were and she shrunk at Beta Jackson's glare when she entered the room.

There were whispers amongst them and she tried to keep a brave face and came forward in their midst, the wide area in between the tables arranged to have three corners which they all sat around and with Efilian and Leloo at the centre table.

"Bernard was found gutted on a chair a week ago. It's unmistakable that he was murdered. On the same eventful night, the Omega was retrieved from the entry trying to escape. The house was cleaned and she's the only known company of the late pair." Elder Janice, a former Luna said.

One of his friends named Beck said. "After we retrieved Lovota's body, Bernard came with me to rest awhile beforehand," He was emotional.

"I heard screaming that night, and then he asked her to leave, that was all I heard, nothing else," Another neighbour said.

She didn't know what to say, she was aggrieved by Beta Jackson's power-mongering. His dark eyes were fixated on her and she saw the claw necklace from his wrist.

"You have my necklace," She said.

"Omega, you're in an environment of conduct and order, let there be no more distractions, that has nothing to do with this case," An Elder reprimanded.

"Alpha, I appeal to you, the testimony was right, he did send me away. I left without it because Bernard asked me to. There's no way he'd get his hands on it unless he went there that night himself, he was going to kill me,"

Efilian sat up and Jackson scoffed. "This is a fallacy,"

"I need to see that necklace,"

....

The Ring in the southern ridge was buzzing with laughter for an awful lot of time, the rogues were working towards gearing up for battle.

Zev was wrapping his arm with a splint and suiting up when he heard Amy's bout outside and shook his head.

Jet's trail never faded, in fact he felt her growing weaker than usual.

Hopefully she recovered from that hunger, he felt her duress but he wasn't about to go beserk because of that, but he had to pick up the pace.

He marched outside to see the others at the campsite and Amy sulking by a corner. They were all ready to go, so he reckoned that their thrilling eagerness was evenly matched.

"Here's what we're going to do,"

...