Closed Doors Behind Courts

Samuel saw at least eight High Masters enter the courtroom as well as six people wearing the uniform of General. Then came the five judges, Lord Eric Dundol one of the four highest senators, Lady Faleah Gillfall being one of the founding pillars and holding a high seat, Vazal Boo representing the mages as their Archon, General Kriega the commander in chief of the army & Admiral Carl Gustaph the Lord Admiral of the navy.

These were the real deal bigshots, the High Masters and Generals took seats as a jury with a few other senators. The room became quite silent as they all arrived, the only sounds became chairs and people moving slightly.

Lord Eric Dundol took the main seat as the head judge and took out a small hammer that he lay on top of the large desk, he overlooked the entire hall filled with people.

Samuel realized that whatever had happened it was of great concern. "Court is in session, would you please bring in the suspect and his attacker." Lord Eric said to some guards on the side.

The guards quickly exited the room before some shuffling and two people were brought in, one in chains and the other being escorted. Samuel was shocked to see it was Bregane being brought in with chains, he looked tired and rugged.

The other one brought in wore the outfit of admiral and his face was plastered all over, his lip was busted and his face had plenty of patches or stitches. They were both stood in front of separate smaller podiums.

But only Bregane had guards behind him at all times. "So this is going to take a while, I hope everyone will be prepared to speak when their names are called." Lord Eric said and officially started the session.

It was indeed a very extreme and long court session, Samuel learned that it was about the huge military miscalculation and badly planned mission they had been on, except a lot further into detail than he had thought.

The admiral stood under the charge of utter failure to utilize time and strategy and costing the nation lives, Bregane was the one that had brought the main charges forward, but he was also under scrutiny because of his personal assault on the admiral.

There was plenty of back and forth for several hours before a small break was held, the court wasn't really getting anywhere, both sides made several good points and held good arguments. Samuel took the time to write a note to the judges.

Samuel also failed to see any soldiers of lower rank in there, but the courtroom was well split between officers that had been a part of the failure and those that would benefit in rank and wealth from the success.

It made a clear split of those that preferred doing what was right and those that wanted to advance in higher standing and profit from the deaths of others. There was no way Samuel would ever use the deaths of others to advance.

When his name was called in the defence of the admiral as a witness many looked at him with interest. "Would the inheritor of the Gillfall house please step forward!" The head guard spoke and Samuel stood up.

Faleah looked at him with worry, but Samuel gave her a silent nod as he stepped forward, he handed the head guard his note. The man read it and he raised his eyebrows and handed the note to the judges.

"So the young lord wishes to not act as a witness for the defense? But for the other side hmm!" The judge loudly spoke before looking at the young man, he squinted his eyes at him and Samuel met his eyes for several seconds before the judge nodded.

"Very well! You may take your stand opposite of the defense."

Samuel gave him a small bow before going to stand at a podium close to Bregane, he avoided looking at him however and looked quickly through the room. He had not been the first witness, but he had been the first one to switch side.

"So how come you wanted to switch side suddenly?" Lord Eric asked him and Samuel nodded with a smile. "I was called in as a witness for the other side, without really understanding why, your honor!"

The judge raised his eyebrows and raised his hands. "Well that certainly sounds weird doesn't it!" He spoke and most of the room started laughing. Vazal leaned forward and looked at the young man with more interest without laughing.

"I don't know much about all the planning that went on the days prior or during the mission, I wasn't there to plan anything like I have heard about people being there." Samuel ignored all the voices and talked loudly and most people laughing grew quiet.

"But that does not change the fact that I saw my friend and one of my mentors blow up right in front of my eyes." Those words made everyone go quiet.

"Neither does it change the fact that I saw hundreds of good soldiers and sailors die, there was supposed to be a big decoy that drew the pirates to the flagship and airships, so I just want to know how the pirates suddenly countered our full force attack on the west side."

"What happened to the decoy? All those men and women that died on the beaches, the sands that were painted red. The ships lost because of someone miscalculating!" Samuel turned to the room.

"So you can laugh all you want at the memory of those who died, I know for sure I won't!" He turned his head back to the judge. "I won't tell you who is guilty of what, I came here to speak for all the soldiers who died for this nation when they didn't need too. Because I was the one that led them up the hill when it was finally settling down."

The judges looked at him with surprise, "You led them?" Lord Eric asked confused before looking at a man going through notes on the side. "Not everything has been organized yet sir!" The man replied and the judge looked out over the crowd of people.

"No one is denying it, but is there someone that can confirm it?" He asked and three people stood up, Captain Red and his Lieutenant and Captain Dere'haj whom all stepped forward to the main floor.

"Our numbers were reduced, but more than anything the mages were disorganized because of the anti magic zone." Captain Red started, "And almost all of the captains were dead or disorganized because of the sudden barrage that took out so many men." His lieutenant continued.

Dere'haj stepped forward and saluted the judges. "The pirates came charging down the hill in numbers, we were barely able to get into formation, the mages couldn't do anything except for this one."

Dere'haj smiled, "Never before have I seen a mage lose his magic and charge forward without hesitation, he cut swaths of pirates down by himself, and when the pirates finally retreated... all of us on that beach were about to retreat and take care of our wounded."

She turned to look at him, "But he took our flag and rallied us around it, he told us that if we were to retreat then and there, many more soldiers would lose their lives and the assault might fail entirely." She gave him a smile before turning around to everyone in the chamber.

"He inspired each and every man on that field to take up arms and follow him into hell, and I tell you all right now... that every man able took up their weapons and charged up that hill with him. He won us a straight path right into the heart of the fort."

Dere'haj looked straight at the Admiral and clenched her fists, "I only regret that I wasn't able to beat the shit out of this man who was full of himself and celebrating the victory, but in reality it can hardly be called a victory. BECAUSE OF ALL THE LIVES LOST!"

The judge held up a hand, "Alright enough... we understand!" The courtroom grew a bit intense as several people started talking among one another and the judges were talking among themselves.

After a few minutes the head judge knocked the gavel of the hammer into the bench. "Alright! After some discussion we will discuss further with the jury behind closed doors and come to a conclusion, this session is dismissed, the results will be publicized later!"

With those words most people started leaving the courtroom. Samuel finally looked at Bregane who gave him a sad smile, Samuel nodded back before leaving. He made sure to quickly find those that had supported him and give them his thanks.

Several people looked like they wanted to speak to him, but he made sure to look annoyed enough and essentially rushed out when he was done with his business. He wanted nothing more than to return to his house.

"Finally!" Night exclaimed, "I thought we were gonna be stuck there for days." Samuel couldn't help but chuckle. "Finally indeed!" Samuel proudly exclaimed, he had been very happy with his words and seeing that they seemed to have some effect.