Of Gods, Trees, and a Sapling: Dragonlinked Chronicles Volume 4

by Adolfo Garza Jr.

  Tobin nodded. “Yes, your Honor.”

  “Proceed.” The judge leaned back into the chair.

  The prosecutor said, “Tobin, who rescued your wife and niece?”

  “Objection!” Again the defense lawyer jumped to his feet. “Your Honor, they’re presuming facts not in evidence. Unless the prosecution shows otherwise, Elke and Preeti were merely guests who did not need rescuing.”

  The prosecutor raised his hand. “I’ll rephrase, your Honor.” He turned to Tobin. “Who picked up your wife and niece from Koen’s manor?”

  Tobin glanced at the judge before looking back at the prosecutor. “Apprentice Dragonlinked Fillion and Coatl.”

  The prosecutor tilted his head. “Who is Coatl?”

  “Fillion’s bond-mate.”

  The prosecutor shook his head. “I’m sorry, what is a bond-mate?”

  Tobin turned to the judge. “The answer will need a bit of explanation, if that’s alright, your Honor?”

  “I’ll allow it. I’m curious, too.” She leaned forward a bit, brows dawn together.

  Tobin nodded and turned to the prosecutor. “You see, Coatl is a dragon. He and Fillion are bonded, linked, as it were. They’re bond-mates. I didn’t know or understand those words until the two paid my niece a visit a few days ago to see how she was doing. When I asked about it, Coatl explained a little and Fillion filled in some more.”

  The prosecutor’s brows rose. “Coatl explained? Are you saying dragons can talk?”

  Tobin smiled. “Yes. And believe me, I was just as surprised. Preeti told me to think of them as dragon-shaped people.”

  A chorus of whispers started all around.

  Chanté blinked. Dragon-shaped people. That was an interesting way of putting it.

  “Order.” The judge banged her small wooden hammer again and the whispers subsided.

  “Out of the mouths of babes.”

  He glanced at Elizabeth, but aside from the murmured words, she said nothing more, busy as she was scribbling more notes.

  “We’ve gotten a little off the track here.” The judge turned to the prosecutor. “Does the prosecution have further questions that relate to the case?”

  The prosecutor spun to face the judge. “Your Honor, my apologies. I do have another question.”

  “Proceed.”

  He turned to Tobin. “Once you were certain your wife and Preeti were away from Lord Koen’s manor, that’s when you spoke to the special investigators about the entire plan?”

  “Yes.”

  The prosecutor nodded. “Thank you.” He headed for the table with his assistants. “No further questions at this time.”

  “Does the defense wish to cross-examine?”

  “We do, your Honor.” The defense lawyer stood.

  “Proceed,” the judge said.

  The man approached Tobin slowly, eyes on the floor. He stopped a few feet before the stand and looked up. “Earlier, you gave a few reasons for your decision to help the special investigators, but none of that was true, was it? This is all a ruse, a farce—sheer, monstrous villainy instigated by your petty need for revenge.”

  Tobin drew his brows together. “Revenge? For what? Him kidnapping my family?”

  “We dispute that was what occurred. No, you want revenge for being fired.”

  Tobin blinked. “I was fired?”

  “Of course! You were let go for failing at several tasks because you cannot follow directions. You must do things your way, even if they are not the best way.”

  “Objection, your Honor.” The prosecutor stood. “If there is no document or witness to substantiate that Tobin was fired, then saying so is hearsay.”

  “Sustained.” The judge stared at the lawyer. “Unless you wish to add such evidence in, right now?”

  Master Verrill cleared his throat. “All such documents were destroyed in an accident, your Honor.”

  “Lord Koen could confirm he fired Tobin, could he not?” Eyes narrowed, the prosecutor stared at the defense attorney. “Put him on the stand.”

  Master Verrill stared at the prosecutor for a moment. “I withdraw the question.”

  “Jurors,” the judge turned to the section of seats where six people sat, “as far as we know, Tobin was not fired. Proceed accordingly.”

  Master Verrill turned to Tobin. “You say all these plans are Lord Koen’s, but what proof do you have, other than your word?”

  “None.”

  “Hmm. So it is your word against his?”

  “I suppose so.”

  “Your word against the word of a highly respected citizen of Stronghold.”

  “My word against the word of a man who’s kept hidden since ten years ago when he was stripped of his lands and holdings.”

  The defense lawyer opened his mouth, then shut it and turned away. “No further questions.”

  When Master Verrill sat down, Koen spoke with him animatedly. Their discussion got so loud, their words could almost be heard.

  “If I could call my next witness?” The prosecutor, brows raised, stared at the defense table.

  “Master Verrill?” The judge tilted her head. “Do you need a recess?”

  “No, your Honor. My apologies. Please continue.”

  Quillan was called up next, and Chanté smiled as he listened to the young man’s testimony.

  “Once we were inside,” Quillan said, “Tobin led us up to the mechanical room where he showed us the incendiary device.”

  “An incendiary device is a device to start a fire?”

  “Oh, sorry.” Quillan nodded. “Yes, a device to start a fire.”

  “And this device you speak of is the same as what a previous witness called a fire machine?”

  “Yes.”

  “Could you describe the incendiary device you found?”

  “There were four large containers disguised as clothing trunks. They contained accelerant, fuel for the fire. A chute was placed to guide that fuel into the theater’s air circulator and from there it would flow down air ducts to various parts of the building. There was also a control device used to start the fire from a remote location.”

  “I see. And what, if anything, did you do to it?”

  “I disabled the control device and was examining it when a man—Cadoc, I learned his name was later—attacked me from behind.”

  “What, if anything, did he speak of while he attacked you?”

  “As we fought, he said dragonlinked had interfered with his employer’s plans. He also knew that Koen intended to kill his niece, and later, he told me that because I’d seen his face, because I knew about Koen, I had to die.”

  “Could you describe the attack and how you survived?”

  “It was a near thing.” Quillan briefly raised his arm and rotated it back and forth, showing off the brace. “Cadoc had a sword while I had only a dagger. He was good, too. Better than I could defend long against, so I used sorcery to rip the air circulator from the floor and toss it at him. Though he avoided most of the mechanism, part of it struck his leg. Fumes had built up during our fight and with the tossing of the circulator, fuel spread everywhere. With the injury to Cadoc’s leg, I felt we were more evenly matched. Perhaps he felt so too, because shortly after, he lit the spilled fuel and escaped, leaving me trapped in there. I knew that an explosion was likely, so I ran out a balcony door. An explosion shattered the glass panes of the door, spraying my arm and a bit of my head, but I survived thanks to help from a fellow dragonlinked and the staff of one of your great hospitals.”

  “Your Honor.” The prosecutor turned to the judge. “We’d like to offer this item as People’s Exhibit number 12.” He lifted a control device and walked over to another table, one that sat a few feet in front of the judge.

  “Proceed.”

  As he had with evidence before, he set the device down and then did something at the side of the tabletop. “This is the device the witness refers to, recovered from his pack after he fell from the balcony.”

 
Looking back at the judge, Chanté saw that an image, slightly wavering, had appeared before her. It reminded him of those used to examine internal organs but this one was of the device and was only slightly transparent.

  As before, she examined the piece of evidence carefully, rotating the image this way and that, then turned to a man sitting to the side. “A magi-mechanical device has been accepted as People’s Exhibit number 12.”

  Chanté forgot that the older man was sitting to the side at the small booth, so silent and unobtrusive was he unless addressed.

  Constantly writing, the man nodded at the judge, and continued his scribbling.

  The prosecutor did something else at the table and turned to Quillan. “This is the device that you were examining, the control device, is it not?”

  Quillan looked over an image before him. “It is. It’s a wonderful piece of work.”

  The prosecutor once again did something at the edge of the table—pressed another button?—and turned to the people seated to the side. “The jury may examine the device via the projections before them.”

  Images of the device floated in front of each juror and they spent a few moments looking them over.

  “Adept Machinist Quillan,” the prosecutor turned to the witness stand, “this device, had you seen its like before?”

  Quillan nodded. “Yes. They’ve been found in various states of damage at several suspicious fires throughout the city the past few years. A particularly well-preserved one was brought to me for examination by Special Investigator Gella. I was able to glean its purpose through a great deal of study and investigation. In fact, Special Investigator Gella found one at a warehouse the evening of the fires. She summoned me to examine it, but as I was about to begin, it was activated remotely, starting the first fire of the night.”

  “And you are certain all the fires that evening were started using those devices?”

  “I am. While examining the device she brought me, I learned exactly how they are activated remotely. Another device I developed for the guild is able to sense such an activation. It reacted moments before every single fire began that night, and only at those times.”

  “I see.” The prosecutor smiled and turned to the judge. “I have no further questions, your Honor.” He bowed and headed for his chair.

  The judge glanced at the other table. “Cross?”

  The defense lawyer looked troubled. “Ah, yes, your Honor.”

  He stood and paced back and forth in front of the defense table a few times. Finally, he approached Quillan. “You said Cadoc knew that Lord Koen intended to kill his niece.”

  Quillan nodded. “Yes.”

  “Did Cadoc tell you this?”

  “No.”

  “Did he present you with a signed confession that stated such?”

  “Of course not.”

  “Can you read minds, then?”

  Quillan looked frustrated. “No.”

  “So have you any actual proof that you can present here to support your statement?”

  “The way he—”

  “Yes, or no! Do you have any proof, his words or his confession to you, that he, as you say, ‘knew Koen intended to kill his niece.’”

  Quillan’s jaws worked. “No.”

  “If I could redirect, your Honor?” The prosecutor stood.

  The judge nodded. “Proceed.”

  “Adept Machinist Quillan, why do you think Cadoc knew?”

  “When I mentioned Koen had gone through all that effort in order to assassinate his niece, Cadoc’s eyes narrowed. He did not deny the statement. He did not tell me such a proposition was ludicrous. He looked as if he now had even more reason to kill me.”

  “Thank you.” The prosecutor sat down.

  “So now looks are proof?” The defense lawyer shook his head and pointed to the evidence table and the device upon it. “Quillan, you said that devices identical to that one, ‘in various states of damage,’ were found at many fires.”

  “Yes.”

  “If they were damaged, then could it not be that the devices were in fact different in the damaged parts?”

  “Of course, but every other part was identic—”

  “Yes, or no?”

  Quillan let out a frustrated sigh. “Yes.”

  Chanté frowned. Perhaps justice would not be as easy to attain as he had first thought.

  The prosecutor stood. “Redirect.”

  The judge nodded. “Proceed.”

  “Adept Machinist Quillan, you seem certain that all those devices are identical. Why is that?”

  “One, they were all found at buildings that had burned. Two, they were all found in similar locations within the burned buildings. Three, in its undamaged portions, each device is identical down to the spells scribed in its circuits. And four, the devices are highly specific in what they do.” He spun the image before him. “As the judge and jury can plainly see, this is not a simple item like a wooden peg that could be used for different things. Saying these devices are not the same is like finding damaged elevators in several buildings and trying to argue that they were not all designed to get people to the different floors.”

  Chanté grunted. Quillan’s explanation was perfect.

  “He’s great, isn’t he?” Elizabeth had a smile on her lips as she scribbled notes.

  Chanté turned back to the people up front. “Yes, he is.”

  The prosecutor nodded and sat. “Thank you.”

  The defense lawyer stared at Quillan, foot tapping on the floor. “In all of this,” he finally said, “did you see or meet Lord Koen?”

  Quillan shook his head. “No.”

  “Have you ever spoken to Lord Koen to determine his intentions?”

  “No.”

  “That’s all I have, your Honor.” The defense lawyer, lips pressed together, returned to his seat.

  “Thank you, Adept Machinist Quillan.” The judge nodded to him. “You are excused.”

  Quillan stood and left by the same small door he’d entered. A clerk of some kind removed the device from the table and took it off somewhere.

  At the defense table, Koen and his lawyer were in some kind of heated discussion.

  Chanté sat deeper in the chair. As hard as Koen and his lawyer fought against the evidence, the prosecution didn’t seem like it would relent.

  “And for our final witness,” the prosecutor said, standing, “we call Master Archivist Linden, Lord Koen’s former accountant.”

  Chanté raised his brows and glanced at Koen. The man was frowning. Master Verrill also looked troubled.

  Master Linden entered from the witness door and made his way behind the stand.

  “If the court would indulge us?” The prosecutor waved and two people brought in a table through the same door. They stood, carrying it, waiting.

  “We have a number of documents to add into evidence. Memos, deeds, contracts, purchase orders, documents of formation, and more. All were confiscated from the defendant’s home by special investigators before they could be destroyed.”

  The judge nodded. “Proceed.”

  The new table was brought over and set down in front of the prosecution’s table.

  “With Master Linden’s assistance, this evidence will tie all previous testimony together, proving our case that Lord Koen was not only directly involved in this plan, but mastermind of it all.” The prosecutor smiled at the defense table.

  Chanté glanced at the two seated there. They were not smiling. In fact, Koen’s face turned gray as he looked from the witness to all the documents being laid out on the new table.

  + + + + +

  Terry couldn’t believe it. A growth spurt? Now, of all times? “I haven’t worn the dress gear since I got them, and I’m telling you, the pants don’t fit anymore!”

  “Stop panicking. Let me see.” Korrie stepped over and leaned down for a better look.

  He stared at the mirror and the horribly short pants reflected there. “See?”

  She let ou
t a loud breath and stood up. “They’re short by only an inch, if that much. You had me worried, you oaf.”

  He couldn’t believe her! “I can’t wear them like this. It’ll make the guild look bad!”

  She laughed at him. Laughed!

  “Terry. You are beyond adorable. It will be impossible to notice once the boots are on and you strap the bottoms of the pants. Believe me, no one is going to be able to tell.”

  “Hmm.” He glanced back at his reflection. He’d forgotten about all the straps and the boots. “Maybe.”

  “Now, hurry, or we’ll be late, and I’m not entirely certain that they’ll wait for us.”

  She was right. Polandra was not one for shenanigans of any kind. He hurried.

  After a parting hug for Tenoch, he stood. We’ll be back soon, little one. Nelli will keep you company.

  We will be waiting.

  Terry glanced at the other young dragon. Korrie had brought her over for the purpose. “Be good, you two.”

  Double barks made him smile.

  Korrie gave Nelli a pat on the head and they left.

  Terry glanced at Korrie as they hurried to Polandra’s room. Jogging along beside him, she looked great in the dress gear. He chuckled.

  She glanced at him. “What?”

  His cheeks got warm. “The, ah, dress gear suits you.”

  “What do you mean?” Her brows drew together.

  He turned his gaze forward and cleared his throat. “You look . . . beautiful.”

  When she didn’t say anything, he hazarded a glance at her.

  Cheeks pink and with a smile on her face, she stared ahead. “It suits you well, too. You look handsome.”

  With a half giggle, half chuckle, he looked back to the hallway ahead.

  Polandra opened her door and eyed them. “Why are your faces red? Did you spend too much time in the sun?”

  “N–No,” Korrie said, “but we were late, so we had to run. Perhaps that’s why?”

  “Hmm.” Polandra looked from her to him. “Well, come on in. We need to head off.”

  “Thanks, again, for giving us rides,” Terry said, closing the door behind.

  Polandra led them out to the ledge where four dragons waited. “You two will ride with Liara and Mia. I’m taking Sharrah and Cheddar, and Renny and Hunter are coming, too, with Uchu and Karu.”