“Blessed by providence, touched by the stars. Protected from harm, imbued with courage. We shall be humanity’s guide to salvation. From the earth to the heavens.”


    - Imperial High Church Motto


    <hr><hr>


    Morus, Evening


    Sophie felt surprisingly calm in her holding cell. The guards were gracious enough to let her keep most of her things, only the weapons retrieved were confiscated. They were even generous enough to allow her to make certain requests which included reading material. Given that she had little chance of doing much else for the weekend until the coming Euthus. She had, to her bittersweet amusement, finally found time to catch up on the latest issues of ‘Gunmar and Aurelia’ amongst other things.


    Though she was disappointed by the turn of events. She wasn’t entirely surprised, Sir Taurox having warned her as much that their actions would attract the ire of Arteria. What she didn’t expect was a full contingent of city guards waiting to arrest her, Sir Taurox, and the rangers and militiamen that assisted them. Thankfully, the city guards also took into their care the hostages that the strike force had rescued without question. Between her and Taurox, the two had managed to free over five hundred slaves from the kolonia.


    The minotaur who, after his rampage on the outer walls, proceeded to brutally cut down most of the company troops arrayed against him, giving room for the slaves to escape. Sir Taurox had recounted his side of the story starting from when they separated. After causing more confusion, he had initially also tried to break into the mines. But by the time he arrived at the entrance, more orcs had come to reinforce it and he was forced to pull back. At least he did liberate most of the outer kolonia alongside the rangers, saving the majority of those there before being pushed back.


    For her part, the Ascaran adventurers and their outrider and military allies seemed in a far better position when it came to the legality of their operation. They wasted no time helping secure the prisoners she freed and pushing into the mines. Most of the womenfolk too, were cared for before being repatriated to Arteria in a ceremonial handover along the border, one that saw high ranking Arterian officials show up, evidently alerted by Taurox a day or two prior. The handover unfortunately meant that Sophie was also now being taken into custody, much to the prisoners dismay, particularly Keely.


    The girl was still frightened of her, but equally as thankful for being taken from the mines. Having bid her a soft farewell, Sophie was then promptly taken by a squadron of redcloaks back to Artiera alongside the rest of the rogues.


    Of all the things she had to worry about, there were two that stood out about her current predicament. First, being arrested likely meant a trial. Given that Taurox and the rangers were also in custody, it was reasonable for her to assume that there would likely be a trial of sorts before anything of significance happened. A small respite.


    Her other more serious problem was that whatever happened, she could only speculate as to what any of it would do to her academic career. That was perhaps what gave her the most anxiety. She enjoyed the Academy and its people, assassination attempts aside. She treasured the little memories she made day by day. With a heavy sigh, Sophie turned her attention back to her book, hoping to overwrite the doubts in her mind. It’s already been two days here, tomorrow’s Astra and then… she steeled herself, then the trial on Euthus. Feels almost unreal. Heh. I just hope I get to see the others if I get shipped off somewhere. Astralis forgive us. Now all we can do is wait.


    <hr><hr>


    Astra, Afternoon


    The morning came and went about as well as it could have. Sophie had devoured a novel while she nibbled on some breakfast. The accommodations within the holding cells were thankfully more luxurious than anything she could have expected, giving her ample room to rest. Relaxed, she had half expected her only other visitor for the day to be a guard delivering lunch.


    That was why when an older well dressed man wandered in, Sophie was both mildly confused and worried. Her emotions slowly morphed into a guarded demeanor when he was followed by what looked to be a spectacled assistant carrying a briefcase who looked no less intimidating. Immediately sensing something was amiss, Sophie scrambled to attention and tried to enter a state of alertness.


    “Miss Kastiane?” The man asked.


    Sophie narrowed her eyes at him, “That’s me. Who are you?”


    “I’m Leonardo Alexos, your duly appointed advocate for the Chamber of Stalwart Justice. I’m going to be the one representing you at the public trial tomorrow. Worry not, I have hundreds of cases under my belt and I have been informed of your… unusual circumstances of detention.” The man spoke devoid of emotion, “My colleague here is Alicia Saul, she will be responsible for any administrative work that the Chamber requires of you.”


    “Sophie Kastiane.” She politely introduced herself.


    “Good, good.” The man nodded absently, “Now, I must ask. Have you been informed of the proceedings at all?”


    “No sir.” Sophie replied, her more maid-like persona slowly surfacing.


    “Hmm. Have you at least been apprised of the charges being levied against you?””


    “No sir. But I have some notion of what they might be.”


    The man frowned, his first real emotion since entering. He stroked his chin thoughtfully before gesturing to his assistant, the spectacled girl quickly pulling out a few sheafs of paper out from the briefcase.


    “How unusual. Such charges and... that’s… and so close to the trial date.” He clicked his tongue distastefully, “Well, whatever the case. You’ve been accused of the crimes of: murder, arson, attempted murder, destruction of property, unlawful liberation of indentured servants, property damage, disruption of the economy, and breaking and entering, amongst other things. Do you understand what these charges mean?”


    Sophie was surprised by the bevy of accusations levied against her, though she tried to not let it show. Her heart stilled as she processed the information. A wisp of fright left her lips. All incorrect, yet all true.


    “Yes sir.”


    “And do you know that such charges would most likely result in life imprisonment if not immediate execution?”


    Sophie swallowed, “I suppose that makes sense, sir.”


    The advocate rubbed his forehead, a vein looking like it was about to pop “I will not lie to you madam, you seem far too young to have been responsible for such crimes. But I do not know how much I can lower the charges and sentences in this case, given that your accuser is both the Braveskull company and the state of Arteria itself. Our only consolation, in this case, is that this trial will happen in conjunction with the ongoing Braveskull civil case that is also ‘open to the public’.”


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    Sophie silently nodded along.


    “Now, let’s get some formalities out of the way. Alicia, papers please.” The man called out.


    His assistant set the briefcase down and opened it with a satisfying click. She pulled out a pen and two packets of paper, sliding them inbetween Sophie and the advocate. The man adjusted his posture and put his hands together, looking at her expectantly. Sophie met his gaze and he directed her attention at the documents. Inviting her to read them.


    Taking a glance at them, Sophie was inundated by a plethora of legalese and jargon that almost made her eyes glaze over as she tried to parse through them. A total of twelve pages of text that explained a little more about the charges laid against her. How the company was seeking recompense in the form of money or justice for the acts of terror inflicted upon them. Beyond that, it also detailed the expedited nature of the case due to the rising tensions within the city leading to increased public scrutiny, necessitating the call for her trial to become a public one. Something that would guarantee that the process was, at least outwardly, as transparent as possible given the ongoing unrest.


    The documents also highlighted something that caught Sophie’s eye. Any and all legal fees were covered by the Astralian church. Specifically from one Archbishop Kamoran Horton, I don’t recognize that name. But an archbishop taking an interest in legal fees? Is this part of Taurox’s doing? Or is this the church''s way of reaching out? Could''ve used them sooner if that''s the case, heh.


    “Anything I should know about these?” Sophie asked without looking up.


    “Nothing in particular madam. This part is only routine.” Advocate Alexos replied.


    Scanning the documents one more time, Sophie found nothing at fault. With a slight frown, she moved the pen and signed her name at the bottom. Her signature an awkward mockery of the times she’d seen Eva sign things. It was an inelegant copy of something fancy, but it would have to do for now.


    “Fantastic madam Kastiane.” Alexos shuffled the documents over to his assistant, “Now, onto more practical matters. Your case.”


    Sophie nodded.


    “You are obviously in a delicate situation given that I suspect you fulfill the conditions for most of these charges in one way or another. However, there are a few that I think could be subject to grounds for dismissal based on our arguments and what evidence or testimony you can provide. That is to say, though the sentence might still be severe, the process of rehabilitation might be… a little lessened.” He stroked his chin, “Still, the absolutely appalling amount of charges still all but guarantee an outcome that would be decidedly not in your favor, unless you had knowledge of something that the court is yet unaware of.”


    Sophie sighed heavily, understanding his warning but also finding nothing substantive that she could offer in the moment.


    “I suppose we must begin the process of hearing your side of the story properly, if you don’t mind.” Sensing her slight discomfort the man tried to explain in greater detail, “That is to say, perhaps through what you say and disclose, we might be able to craft a more effective case to argue on your behalf in order to avoid the worst of the sentences.”


    “That sounds fair enough.” Sophie replied, her voice low as the grim reality of her potential future now ran rampant in her mind, tempered only by the professional mask she currently had on.


    “Excellent. Then let’s start here.” He gestured at his assistant who pulled out another set of papers, “I have been informed that the… situation escalated because of an attempted assassination attempt.” He pointed down to one of the pages, “Do we have that correct?”


    “That is correct.” Sophie answered.


    “Good. Then I suppose you don’t mind recounting your tale in detail?”


    “I don’t mind.”


    “Alicia, please take a transcript if you can.”


    “Of course, Mr. Alexos.” His assistant pulled out a notebook.


    “Well then madam Kastiane, let’s hear this tale of yours.”


    Taking a deep breath, Sophie began narrating the tale that led to this sorry state of affairs.


    <hr><hr>


    Astra, Evening


    To the dismay of the guards outside, she finished her dinner unusually late. The man who collected the dishes grumbled the entire time about what he assumed was her smugness. When in fact, she was merely reflecting on the day’s events.


    Her discussion with her advocate painted a grim picture. Not only was her case being expedited at an unreasonable degree. But the court already seemed dead set against both her and Sir Taurox. With her guilt prescribed, she found little energy in thinking of plausible ways to refute their arguments. And despite the encouragement from Advocate Alexos, her recollection of events differed little from the established narrative that painted her a villain. Although she had plenty of substantiated justifications for almost everything that had happened in the kolonia.


    Though she felt defeated, having finally accepted that her unenviable situation had simply gotten worse. She was also filled with a sense of anguish and anger. From what the advocate had shared with her, the court seemed to have already made up their minds. Worse yet, that this was occurring in parallel to the public trial of the Braveskull company as a whole. She worried that not only were they going to condemn the attackers of the kolonia harshly for rescuing the hundreds of people. But that the company would likely be trying to manipulate their own trial however they could.


    Dissatisfied, her fatigued mind pushed itself further. She knew that whatever happened tomorrow, she needed to be wary of the company. Whatever evidence they gathered was more than likely enough to convict her. She would need someone at the other trial, she would need help.


    Sophie swallowed. The dread within building up for a conversation she did not wish to have. She could only hope Ary hadn’t said anything to the others, hope that her counterpart was in a good enough mood. Her chest tightened. Not only had she been the cause of all of Sophia’s suffering by setting her on her path to raid the company. Now, she had also snatched away one of the most prominent ways in which her sister could’ve let out her anger. Yet, she was once again the only one who could be reached. Goddess forgive me, and please protect her.


    Sophia, she called out mentally, her own voice in her mind naught but a fragile whisper. The sound itself was alien to her ears despite having heard it every day. Sophia.


    Silence.


    Sophia. Please. Can you hear me?


    Nothing.


    Sophia, please. I know. I’m… she paused, she remembered Sophia’s disdain,  I need help. She pleaded.


    Emptiness.


    Sophia?


    Sophie remained stiff for a minute, waiting. But no reply came.


    Dejected, she suddenly felt very cold. With what little energy she had left sapped out of her, she made another plea. Sophia, please. She listened intently to the echoes in her head. Nothing.


    She spent the next hour desperately searching for response, occasionally shooting another plea or two. To her dismay, her continued efforts did not change the silence from her counterpart. In her eyes, it felt deserved. For she was the one who had started this trail of disasters. But how could I not react? Someone would have died had I not acted. I fought the assassin because I needed to. It was my duty.


    Her justifications, though true, felt equally as hollow given the current situation. A small act in the grand scheme of things. An attack that would now see even the blademaster be trialled for serving the greater good. It was both disgusting yet strangely understandable. After all, they had only achieved what they could by causing chaos and breaking what agreements and legal codes that were present. On the other hand, the company was clearly breaking rules of their own, at least that much she was certain.


    Left with little else, she simply crawled onto her cot. Whatever aches and pains her body felt mattering little compared to the void in her mind. Sophie could hardly breath, there was nothing else she could do. As the moonlight cut in through the window of the cell, she had a strong suspicion that tonight’s sleep would be far from restful.


    So it was, that before her eyes finally closed. Sophie shot out one last plea into the void. On trial, tomorrow, Chamber of Stalwart Justice. I’m sorry. You’re my sister and I hurt you. And now I''ve done something and taken a chance from you, sorry.