Chapter 24
The first day of Princess Lillian’s trial finally arrived. It had been weeks since Saw Yatha returned with her in tow, and since then, she’d been out of public view. All the public knew that she was secure, she was being questioned, and she would face justice soon. So, on this very auspicious day, Saw Yatha awoke ready for the next phase of his mission. Truth be told, he hadn’t slept well that night. Saw’s mind would not stop its churn of playing out potential futures from the trial. He enjoyed the ones where he was either hailed as a national hero or was the one who flipped the switch to end Lillian’s life, ensuring Merlain dominance for generations.
If he had learned one thing since Lillian’s initial escape from prison, was to never assume the future would play out as he hoped. Saw forced himself to play out other possibilities, possibilities where Lillian, somehow, escaped again. How would he re-capture her? Would he need to go into hiding since it could blow back on him? Saw had realized what drove his worry was that he wasn’t going to control the trial, and he discovered that all his chasing of Lillian through time and space had changed him. Now, he knew that if he couldn’t control something, he had almost no trust that it would go right.
This was Amnon Saxe’s moment of truth, though Saw still resented that he was not tasked with the successful transfer of the prisoner to the trial. Zungher Dol had said they should work together, that Saw would be in charge of further interrogations of Lillian. As far as Saw could tell, Amnon was doing his job as ordered but doing it at the last minute so that Saw could almost never get in to see the Princess. He’d asked Amnon about the plans of the transfer and the plans looked adequate, Saw couldn’t detect any obvious flaws in the route, the timeline, or the personnel involved. Still, there was something he couldn’t identify that gave him questions. He sighed as he rubbed his face awake. This was Amnon’s show now, and if things fell apart, he would face Dol’s wrath and Saw was happy about that.
So, despite all kinds of reasons for him to lay low and watch the trial from the comfort of his dwelling, Saw Yatha got up, dressed with the intent to intimidate, put an extra polish on his eye patch, and left for the courthouse. He knew, as the re-capturer of the Princess, he would attract unwanted attention – unwanted by him, and unwanted by his Chieftain – but if Amnon was to prove incompetent, he wanted both witness it to gloat and be available to minimize the damage to Merlain security.
Saw looked out of the window facing the courthouse and saw a growing throng of people. Some held signs that read “Merlain Forever,” “You Can’t Escape Merlain Justice,” and “Justice Starts with Dol.” Saw Yatha decided to walk. ” The courthouse wasn’t that far, and there was no way he’d be able to get a vehicle into that mob.
It did not take long for Saw to get recognized since he had made sure he wore all of his most famous attire. As he moved his way through the thickening crowd of people, whenever he was noticed, he was cheered, patted on the back, and was allowed passage. He didn’t enjoy how free the people felt with him and he resisted the urge to take ever pat on the shoulder, every grab of his gloved hand as a reason to get into a brawl. This was why he never went into the public side of government, he couldn’t stand people. Processing prisoners was the perfect fit for him. Still, with all of the positive feelings toward him in that moment, he realized that the new position of “National Hero,” would involve a lot of this kind of thing. He knew that part of securing his legacy would involve enduring moments like this.
On and on he moved to the center of the jumble of people. And the closer he got to his destination, the more he realized that Chieftan Dol had never, even at the height of his power, never attracted crowds or attention like this. Increasingly Saw saw that this crowd had gathered, not necessarily for him, but because of him. He had done the hard work of hunting Lillian down. He had slogged through damp caves and worked with greedy urchins to secure his prize. What had Dol done? Nothing. He sent no army to track her down; he didn’t even commission Saw to engage in the manhunt. If it hadn’t been for his determined and quick action, Saw concluded, Lillian would still be on the lose, Merlain dominance would still be unresolved, and this amount of excitement from the people that Dol supposedly led and loved would not exist.
So it was that as he made his way through the innermost layers of the mob, Saw Yatha was confronted by the army of Communications officials with transmitters and recorders. These birds of prey, and Saw thought of them, could not help themselves but flock to any piece of meat that came thier way. Yes, they served a purpose in keeping the right messages in front of the people and blocking the problematic ones, but if all the touching and bumping he’d endured on his way to the courthouse hadn’t set his nerves on edge already, having ten devices shoved in his face would have done the trick in a moment.
He found himself blocked by a wall of these scavengers. They were the only thing keeping him from getting a descent viewing location for the start of the trial. Saw was peppered with an avalanche of questions. “What are your feelings about this moment?” “What do you think the Princess will say?” “Have you spoken to the Princess?” The same tired pool of questions he heard tossed out to so many political figures in his day. There was no creativity left in the Communications Department. Just the same questions, updated to fit the moment. Then, his ears caught a new question off to his left, “Do you think your presence here today takes away any of the attention that is due to Cheftain Dol?”
Saw turned his head to find the question’s asker. “What?” he grunted.
He located the mouth which repeated the question, “Do you think your presence here today takes away any of the attention that is due to Cheftain Dol?” The official was brimming with idealism, probably just out of training school, Saw thought. He was about to give the right answer to the question, that his presence was in support of the Chieftain and that there was no way that a common citizen such as himself could ever take even a speck of glory away from the great Supreme Leader. But just has he was about to voice this, Saw’s mind decided to say what he really felt.
“No, I don’t,” he said loud enough to be heard over the continuing din of other questions. “No, I don’t, because if the Chieftan, may he live forever, wanted attention in this moment, then he would be here to get it. The reality is that he didn’t capture the Princess, I did. The truth is, this trial is happening because of me, not because of him who should ever reign. I agree with you that the great and awesome Chieftain’s absence is a glaring indication of the true value his places on this historical moment.”
By the time Saw finished his answer there were no more questions coming his way. All he saw were looks of stunned silence. Saw Yatha smirked. It felt good to get that off his chest, shut these carrion birds up, put his stake in the ground. If Dol was going to lead Merlain, then he should get out of his executive suite and put some actual visible effort into it. Saw pushed his way through the questioners, popped up the steps alone and into the courthouse.
It was not his first time inside the building and even though it had been many cycles since he’d been there, he quickly remembered the layout of corridors and levels as if he’d never been away. In mere moments Saw Yatha was being admitted into the trial room.
At the far end of the room was a long bench where the tribunal would sit. To either side of him were high-ranking officials and wealthy citizens who had manipulated their way into gaining access passes to see the event in person. Saw chose not to sit but walked to a corner in the back of the room and wedged himself in it.
He didn’t need to wait long before he watched the Princess escorted in. She was in restraints and flanked by two guards, still, Lillian held her head with determination and regal strength. Saw shook his head in disdain. As she stood before the empty bench, the guards connected her restraints to the table before exiting the room. Through the diminishing crack in the door, Saw caught a glimpse of Amnon Saxe, and he was impressed that Amnon had not delegated everything down line. This raised Saw’s opinion of his replacement ever so slightly.
The tribunal judges filed in, quickly read the basis of the trial, and asked Lillian how what was her plea.
Without changing her pose, Lillian spoke, “This trial is an illusion of justice. If there is anyone who should be standing here it is your Supreme Leader. It is he who has subjugated the other five realms under his thumb. It is he who has stripped away the rights from the peace-loving and free people of Merlain and made it a fearful tyrannical regime. He is the one…”
The judges began clamoring for silence almost as soon as she started speaking, but it wasn’t until the lead justice pressed a button in front of him that sent a shockwave through her restraints that the Princess stopped talking.
Saw’s smirk returned. She was a fool, he thought, and a dangerous one at that. But she was courageous. Evil though she was, Saw admired her tenacity. He looked forward to crushing it. Now the question was what would the justices do? Would they let themselves be intimidated by the Princess’s show of power, or would they do their jobs? Saw crossed his arms and trained his eye on them.
The lead justice glared at Lillian. “We will not tolerate outbursts like that in a Merlain court. Maybe there are different rules in Colellum, but you will be subject to our laws at this time, and you will answer only the questions you are asked and take no further liberties. Now, I will ask for a second and last time what her plea is.
“Not guilty,” Lillian emphasized each word as if the justices might be deaf.
“Please seat the prisoner,” the justice said to the attending guard.
Saw, satisfied that justice would do the right thing, pressed himself into a more comfortable position and watched the proceedings until they bored him. He snuck out of the courtroom and slunk down this corridor and that one to evade the Communications Officers at the front of the building.
