The two Glorious Ones came behind them and took their seats of honor, a step above the Reverenced Ones, dressed in white tunics, also embroidered with the symbol of the Kyrios.
Vincent had been one of the Glorious Ones for the past ten years. Upon his mother’s mysterious death, he fell into his position as if it were a comfortable sofa. This whole trial business almost always appeared to strike him as a nuisance that interrupted the true duty of any male Glorious One: fathering other men’s children.
"What is the first of the two charges, and against whom are they directed?” Vincent’s deep voice, rich and clear, carried an undercurrent of boredom.
First? There were two? Cole glanced at his brother with a questioning look.
David frowned, confused.
What did Jade do? Did she attack someone? Jade would never . . . Cole raised his hand. "Glorious Ones, I wasn’t notified of any other pending charges against the accused. I request the second charge, and all alleged evidence pertaining to the same, be withdrawn from today’s proceeding until a later date.”
Well, this was stupid beyond belief. As if they would delay the trial for him.
Vincent quirked an eyebrow.
"Glorious One, I’ve chosen to defend Jade because she is a woman of virtue.” Cole pushed up his glasses. “I intend to do whatever I can, even if it means making a fool of myself with requests such as this.”
Vincent’s equal in authority, Ariana, responded with her high, lilting voice. "We are glad to hear of your Gentle sentiments. We will have to remember.”
Gentle sentiments. Please! A pathetic jab Ariana threw his way now and then to make him mad. "I have human sentiments, Glorious One.”
Ariana sniffed. "We are not inclined to delay this trial or any part of it, for your lack of information or preparation. The Kyrios are not at fault for counsel’s deficiency. We will proceed.”
Evelyn stepped forward. "The first charge is second offense concealed pregnancy of a Gentle, Glorious One. Directed against Jade Chandler.”
"And the second charge?”
"Witchcraft.” Evelyn passed a large envelope to Ariana who opened it and pulled out a thick green rope of braided silk with a single knot in the middle.
Cole blew out a long, quiet breath. Witchcraft didn’t get mercy. Never. Not ever. No one dared defend a witch. Their reputation would be destroyed. Jade, why?
"What is the witchcraft involved with this?” asked Vincent.
Evelyn explained, "She held it to her heart and repeated a spell in hopes that it would prevent a forced miscarriage. We have an anonymous witness.”
"You called on the forces of evil to protect the mongrel in your womb, Jade?” Reverenced One Minh asked.
Such a Minh way of wording it. Newly appointed as a Reverenced One on the council of the Kyrios, she was possibly the most sincere and religious of the bunch. That would change before long.
Jade lifted her face to them. "No, I call on no forces of evil, I called on—I don’t know what.”
Vincent leaned back in his chair. "Does the defense have anything he could possibly say?”
"Firstly, reconsider the terminology,” Cole said. "These practices are no longer associated with a living entity, evil or otherwise. Mere superstition. Tradition even. We don’t need to make this into witchcraft, Glorious Ones.”
"Semantics, Cole.” Vincent chuckled and scratched at his head, shaking his graying black curls. "You’re too professional to reduce us to an argument over semantics.”
"Not Cole. Senior Officer Chandler,” Cole corrected. "As an expert in the customs and laws of the Gentles, regarding the ‘who’ she invokes, I’m sure she doesn’t know. I’ve been to her community in Section Twenty-Five, and this is a common custom to prevent miscarriage. I believe it has origins in the nature worship of her ancestors, which has since been eradicated from the community, though some of its traditions remain.”
"Unsatisfactory. Witchery is in the roots, and witchcraft it remains.” Ariana gave a flippant wave of her hand. "Anything she does to take control of her own body is witchcraft, Cole. A means by which God’s will may be bypassed. More so if she participates in an activity with direct connections to witchcraft, no matter how ancient the custom’s origins may seem.”
Ignorant, stupid, closed-minded—Cole bit his tongue. "I propose we find out if she actually called on any forces of evil as Her Reverence”—he gestured to Reverenced One Minh—"suggested she had.”
Vincent rubbed his face and sighed as he shifted to lean on the arm of his chair. "Jade, what is the spell you repeated?”
Was he ever not bored? Maybe when he had Trinity in his bed.
Almost cowering, Jade looked to the floor as she answered. "Held fast in this womb, planted by love, child, grow into a beautiful flower.” She swallowed hard. Her voice shook as she continued, "Nature will bring you to us safely with good health, sound in body and mind.”
"Are there any further arguments to delay justice, Senior Officer Chandler?” Ariana asked.
"No, Glorious One,” he said, "I don’t impede justice. It is evident Jade never called on forces of evil. She called on her baby!” He took a moment to look at each Kyrios member. Not a single softened face among them. "She may have broken the law, and ignorance of the law is, of course, rarely an excuse, but she wasn’t ignorant of this law, and clearly didn’t realize her action would be considered a violation. Consider it mere positive thinking or a form of self-hypnosis. This activity has never been seen as witchcraft by anyone else.”
Vincent stood. "Are you quite finished, Cole?”
Cole faked a smile and collected himself to speak with restraint. "Senior Officer Chandler. It’s Senior Officer Chandler. You speak of my professionalism, Glorious One, but where is yours?”
Vincent raised his hands in surrender. "Nevertheless, nothing you have said will sway us, honored Senior Officer. Not concerning witchcraft.”
"So, you’ve reduced justice to something worse than semantics. You’ve reduced it to mere opinion, Glorious One?”
Vincent laughed and exchanged an obnoxious delighted glance with Ariana. "Oh, dear, dear, Senior Officer Chandler. Interpretation, not opinion.”
"Semantics,” Cole snapped. "What’s the point of this trial? You knew about the charge of witchcraft. Why not kill her and have it over with? What’s the point of allowing her to have a trial if your unchecked opinion is the only thing you need?”
"Unchecked opinion?” Ariana cried. "Are you insulting us, Cole?”
"Chandler!” he barked. "Do you feel insulted, Glorious One?”
Ariana threw a concerned glance at Vincent, who raised his hand and pressed it down a few times as if that would tamp down the tension.
"Senior Officer Chandler,” he said. "You know the law as well as—if not better than—most of us here. Give us a solid, legal reason to declare a proven witch to be innocent.”
"I’ve said what I’ve said, and it’s worth consideration.”
They claimed to have a great book of wisdom, yet no one brought it out. No one ever proved they had an informed opinion.
Vincent laughed. "I assure you, we have heard—”
No, no, no, no, no! David was going to be livid after this.
Tough.
Cole crunched down on what little remained of his licorice candy.
"I appeal to the Book of Light.”
"The Book—Cole,” Trinity leaned forward as if to stand, then caught herself. "You’ve lost your mind.”
"No, I haven’t. It’s a logical step for a lawyer who’s dealing with a trial before the Kyrios. It’s the most sensible thing I’ve done in a long time.”
"We built our society on the principles of God's Book of Light. It is the skeleton of Meros Law. You’ll ruin your reputation with this move,” Trinity cautioned him. “It demonstrates a lack of faith and trust in the words of God, and I suggest you let go of it. It’s a direct affront to the Glorious Ones.”
"Was that supposed to be an a
rgument? Sounded like a desperate regurgitation of freshman law classes . . . Skeleton? We have it wrong. It’s the heart and flesh, the blood. It ought to be taught in law school. It’s a big book, I suspect, considering the laws we have. Do you believe our ancestor’s hard-line interpretation of principles covers the nuances of achieving true justice? Jade’s pure heart may stand as justification before God. I insist.”
"You may not appeal,” Ariana spat. "We know what it contains. It declares that no witch is pure of heart.”
Cole folded his arms. “How oddly specific. I want to see it. My professional integrity demands it, and my conscience will not rest if I’ve not seen it in black and white.”
Ariana addressed Vincent. “Let’s bring this to a close. We’re wasting our time.”
Pathetic. Instead of taking a legitimate, legal request seriously, they were brushing him off and painting him as the fool. Not today, Kyrios.
"Very well. I appeal to God. I request a week of daily prayer, seeking God’s will concerning access to the Book of Li—doesn’t this sound stupid?” He tapped his forehead. “I must request a week of prayer concerning access to the book our laws are built on? During a trial? This should be standard practice.”
He’d seen many injustices and horrors in his time as a lawyer, but nothing before this had pushed him over the edge into the unknown of appealing to the Book of Light. Sure, it was insulting. Maybe they needed to be insulted. As a matter of fact, they did need it, and it was about time.
Quick and sharp as lightning, a dark mood descended and sat in their midst. The haughty, sanctimonious forms in their gold chairs remained still, except for the slightest shift of arrogance.
Cole planted his feet and straightened up. "Since God is the Creator of all, and no Meros or man of any nation, including Theocracia, has played a part in Its creation, only God Itself may refuse the appeal. I have Meros Law in my personal library if anyone wishes to verify my claims concerning the authority of God. Though, I’m sure we might find it in the Bastion library as well.”
David whispered, "Cole, this is going too far. You need to stop.”
"I appeal to God,” Cole repeated. "I have a point to prove.”
Vincent broke off a quiet conversation with Ariana to address him. "We cannot allow this behavior in the Judgment Room, Senior Officer Chandler. If we give in to this, it would not speak well of us or the god we serve. Conduct yourself in a reverential manner, or we will be forced to apply disciplinary action.”
Disciplinary action could be anything from a fine to execution.
He would earn their contempt no matter what he did. At least one way was honorable.
"I . . . I appeal to God.” Now his fate rested in God’s hands.
Ariana’s delicate face broke with a scowl. "We must consult with one another in private. Excuse us.” The Kyrios made their regal exit to the right.
Expecting David to charge, Cole whirled around to face it. David stormed over to him and spat a harsh whisper, "Cole, what are you doing? No one appeals to God. That’s ludicrous. They’re going to think I was privy to this, it’s going to reflect poorly on all of us!”
Cole anticipated this response, but not with quite so much anger. "How can our system be safe for the Meros people, seeing the Kyrios aren’t willing to appeal to anything beyond their own opinions, David?”
"It doesn’t matter!” David cried, eyes wide and voice much higher in tone than it had been in a long time. "The system’s flaws can’t be remedied in a single trial! You screw around with them too much”—a sharp stab of the finger toward the golden chairs—"and you’re going to lose any standing that might allow you to make a positive change!”
Cole scoffed. "My standing is based on my bloodline. They can’t do anything about that.”
"Are you kidding?! It’d serve you better to think of the blood in your veins that keeps you standing and breathing, genius!”
Okay. The coward had a point. It wasn’t the only point to make, however.
"You’re afraid. You run on fear instead of hope. You’ll save someone if it gets you off, but won’t risk your own blood, water, and spirit to save anyone!”
That was harsh. He’d take it back if he could, but he meant it too much.
David shook his head slowly. "It’s too late now, I suppose. Even if you retract your demand, the damage is done.”
Jade’s firm touch calmed Cole’s agitated spirit. For the first time in a long time he was free from Hesper’s love, so he gave Jade a gentle hug. There were no honest words to comfort her.
Hesper stepped away from the family and stood before Jade to take her into her arms. It required all of Cole’s sense and self-control to refrain from asking David why he didn’t comfort his own wife. Sometimes, David was the bravest of men. When dealing with the Kyrios, he was little more than a castrated cream puff.
After a shamefully long thirty-minute recess, the Kyrios returned with composure regained and egos repaired.
Hesper kissed Jade and hurried to her former place beside Dulce as the trial continued.
Vincent approached the family to speak with them. "Senior Officer and Successor Chandler, we are willing to compromise on a prayer for God’s will in this matter. However, we have an unconverted Gentle among us. We expect that she will be converted soon, so we’re willing to allow her to take her vow and receive the mark now so that she may be present. We understand that newly acquired Gentles require supervision, and it would be imprudent to send her away.”
David joined Hesper and whispered in her ear, she asked him something, he responded, and she nodded.
"Yes, Glorious One,” David said. “We’ll take your offer.”
Cole’s insides sank. Oh, Hesper.
An officer brought the tray of accouterments required for the black X. Reverenced One Minh rose from her seat and led the officer to Hesper. Minh raised her right hand and said, "Press your palm to mine.”
Hesper obeyed as Minh’s whisper-soft voice recited the vow in a well-rehearsed manner. "Do you declare your future belief in the Creator and bind yourself to righteousness and honesty before It and these witnesses?”
"Yes?”
Had she ever lied before? It was unlikely.
Minh picked up the wireless tattoo machine from the tray and tilted Hesper’s head to the side with her free hand. Hesper jerked away to look at and smell the machine, then glanced at Cole just before he leaned forward to offer her cheek to Minh.
Minh’s fingers dug into Hesper’s cheek and under her chin, cranking her neck too far as she dragged the machine across her face. It was clearly her inexperience, not cruelty, but lack of intent did not make it acceptable.
Minh stopped and cursed. "Girl, stop crying or you’ll ruin the machine!”
Ruin the machine with a few tears? Okay, now that was cruel. Cole whispered, "Stop.” He cleared his throat and said more loudly, "Stop!”
The Reverenced One scowled and switched off the machine.
"Give me that thing.” He swiped the contraption from her hand. "I can do it better than you anyway.”
Minh shot a worried look at the Kyrios, which Vincent quickly alleviated with a few lifted fingers of consent. With an air of hurt pride, Minh retreated and sat in her golden chair.
Cole stepped into Minh’s place, frowning. "Hesper,” he said softly. "I don’t want you to have this any more than you do, but if you’re going to have it, you’d best receive it from someone who loves you, so it won’t hurt as much.”
David tipped his head, his eyes inquiring after things he shouldn’t know.
David could wait.
Cole slipped the white cloth from his sleeve and put it over the palm of his left hand. Touching her with his skin would only add to the violation. She rested her head in his palm and relaxed as much as could be expected.
He finished the dreaded black X with care and without tears.
The Unified would see her as handled and impure, even though she was the purest person he knew. So
many Unified her age didn’t take the rules seriously and sneaked off to have their fill of rebellion and forbidden delights. He’d seen it with his own eyes. Yet this woman held her convictions fast and would be treated like a criminal because of some ink in her face. Ink put there by people who did not want the Unified to be unified. This was one aspect of the Unified culture he could never respect.
Vincent stood. "The intention of this prayer is to seek God’s will. Let us kneel.”
They all knelt, including Vincent, as he uttered eloquent words to God, requesting God’s ear, God’s will, and God’s power with such a clear, clean, robust voice, it had to be a prayer.
Maybe to everyone except Cole.
Cole knew a few things about prayer. His father prayed. He himself prayed. Vincent only orated. Prayers such as this were common on the base, but answers from God? Not so much. Vincent’s words complete, they waited.
The fragile voice of Reverenced One Pierce unraveled the silence. "I testify to the guilt of this woman! She is not worthy. The Book of Light contains nothing that will save her.”
"The voice of God through a man,” Ariana cried.
That was it. That was truly it?
Cole stood. "Let me see the Book.”
Vincent’s amusement finally bubbled up into a belly laugh. "Dear Cole, you allow your heart to eat up your professionalism and sense. We access God daily, and you need never fear whether we are doing Its will.”
Cole clenched his teeth to tighten up his temper. "Don’t insult me, Glorious One. You knew that claim would mean nothing to me before you said it.”
"We did, but we haven’t the time to find new ways of wording things to please you, Senior Officer Chandler. Turning his attention to Jade, he said, "Jade Chandler, you are guilty before God. You have the right to choose the method of execution. Water, blood, or spirit?”
Cole raised a hand. "Glorious One, this is—”
Tree of Life Page 16
