And again, I show off my amazing knowledge of how a court case happens! XD Again, I took some liberties with the plot, but it should be more or less kinda canon. Since it's unlikely that real prisoners would be able to carry weapons with them, I changed that part around too.
Chapter 3-
Alfred hated the Guardian court system.
As if the jury couldn't be more corrupt (they had even appointed his old fourth grade teacher that hated him as a juror), the judge had practically made up his mind on a verdict before Matthew and Alfred's lawyers had even arrived. Alfred's mother was either not informed of her son's trial or they didn't allow her to be present. The same could be said of Francis and Matthew's mother.
In fact, Alfred knew no one that was in the courtroom, aside from their lawyer.
Lars van Houten was perhaps the worst part of this whole ordeal. Alfred had known Lars since he was kid. Before his dad died, he had once been business partners with Lars, a "lowly" merchant who swore up and down he was absolutely not in the black market business. Almost two days after this declaration, he was indicted for selling fake Denadorite jewelry. How Lars was now a lawyer and fighting for justice was beyond Alfred's comprehension. Matthew didn't appear to understand how that happened either.
Their lawyer approached them with a toothpick in his mouth, compensating for the pipe he wasn't allowed to bring into court. As always, his blonde cowlick was slicked up for the occasion. "So," Lars began, speaking lowly, "you just couldn't stop at Alice, could you, Jones."
Alfred's face turned an interesting red color as Matthew faced him in confusion. "I was a kid, Lars."
"Whatever. Anyway, I'm helping you 'cause I owe your dad. Both you and your buddy are going to be heroes once I'm done here. Any other chick issues you get into are to be handled on your own."
"I swear, I didn't do anything to your sister!"
"Shut it before I ruin your lives."
He did as was told and furiously ignored Matthew's scandalized stare. Seriously, Alice was not his fault. And, technically, Alice broke up with him. Thus, not Alfred's fault. "While we're rotting in jail," Matthew hissed, "I better know why our lawyer hates your guts."
The judge pounded his gavel, echoing through the already solemn, silent court. Only sneered, accusing whispers could be heard and were instantly silenced when the chancellor stepped into the limelight. He was acting as the prosecutor, since the king and all of the princess's attendants were busy helping Natalya through her "trauma". Geez, they were acting like she had really been kidnapped!
Alfred bit the inside of his cheek. Well… she had disappeared about four hundred years into the past, so Alfred supposed he could see where they were coming from.
"Alfred F. Jones and Matthew Will-"
"Bonnefoy," he quietly said, adverting his eyes.
The Judge spared him a short glare. "And Matthew Williams, how do you plead?"
"Innocent," Alfred sighed, already knowing it was futile. Matthew merely nodded in agreement, already mentally preparing himself for whatever punishment they were going to throw at him.
The chancellor grinned. Obviously this was the highlight of his day: belittling Guardia's youth. He cleared his throat and began his sermon. "Your Honor, I have accumulated a line of witnesses that attended Mr. William's sideshow at the fair where Her Highness, Princess Natalya was abducted. We also have countless witnesses that claim to have seen Mr. Jones dragging the princess around, pretending to have no idea who she was."
"I didn't know who she was!" Alfred interrupted in his defense. Lars sent him a positively murderous look. Alfred quietly apologized.
The smile on the chancellor's face only grew. "As I was saying, Your Honor, there is plenty of evidence against these two deplorable threats to society."
That was a new one. Even Lars had to hide a chuckle at that. Alfred had been called a lot of things, but never a deplorable threat to society. Matthew looked like he had just been slapped. Of course, Matthew was practically a saint compared to Alfred, and definitely to Francis. This was going to absolutely kill him.
Still locked away in his glee, the chancellor gave a sickeningly bright grin to the boys before allowing Lars to speak his peace.
Matthew bowed his head and began to pray.
Alfred hadn't noticed it before, but Lars still seemed to be as tall and menacing as when he was a kid. Being a man who single-handedly ran Truce's black market, raised his little sister all on his own, and now managed to land a gig as a lawyer, Lars was obviously more than a little intimidating. But now, instead of glaring the jury into deciding them not guilty, Lars cleared his throat.
"These two are not deplorable threats to society, as our loving chancellor has made them out to be," the blonde began, face devoid of any previous hint of humor. I have my own witnesses that can vouch for their character and Alfred's dullness, proving they are clearly not criminal material. Beginning with Alfred- having known him for quite a while, I know for a fact he couldn't have plotted something as devious as the abduction of the princess. Seriously, this is the kind of kid you'd see running around, handing missing kitties to crying little girls."
No one's they're so guilty faces appeared to change. However, the judge had rested his chin on his palm. Lars continued anyway, calling for his first witness.
At first, Alfred didn't recognize the sandy-haired girl, dressed in an elegant dress and overcoat. Her hair was braided, but some strands had escaped and now framed her face. "May I introduce Ms. Monica Desrosiers. She was an eye witness who saw Alfred and the princess together at Antonio Carriedo's stall at the fair."
Ah, that was right! She was the bored assistant sitting in the shade reading a book. Alfred was surprised he hadn't noticed her before. Like Lars, Monica had an impressive legacy as one of Truce's most infamous. She was the country's best gambler, stinking rich from the hard earned money of anyone stupid enough to play a game with her. Helping Antonio was probably just a day job to occupy her time.
"Why is he bringing in criminals to help our case?" Matthew muttered under his breath.
"Monica has the best poker face ever. Let him work," Alfred replied, just as inconspicuously.
Sure enough, Monica described Alfred's visit and how he spent more time looking at Antonio's wares than paying attention to the princess. If she had wanted to, she could have run away. Thus, if he was stupid enough to allow her to run away, he was far too dense to plan a kidnapping.
Alfred would have liked to disagree with that, but he was frankly too afraid to open his mouth again with Lars in such close range. He could easily knock him out and continue the trial without any more interruptions. Alfred would have liked to be conscious for their sentencing.
The chancellor huffily called for an objection. Lars was severely annoyed, but kept his murderous glare down to an irritated scowl. "It is far too obvious Alfred didn't plan the kidnapping! However, that cannot be used as a viable statement because his accomplice is the most talented inventor Truce has seen in the past twenty years- obviously someone intelligent!"
"Matthew has better character than anyone I've met in a long time," Lars shot back. "Everyone knows how the kid is a saint. He donates most of the money he and his father earn to the lower class. He stays after school to read to the preschool children. Does that sound like someone that would plot to kidnap the princess?"
Finally, the jury erupted in low murmurs. Alfred swelled with pride as they began to have second thoughts about all of this- perhaps it was just another misadventure of the princess's, and they were unfortunately involved.
However, once again, the chancellor spoke up. Matthew couldn't help but shiver at the icy smile on his face. "True, his character is impressive. However, Your Honor and ladies and gentlemen of the jury, their outstanding performances in society merely mask what occurs behind their doors."
Matthew went pale.
"Let us take for instance Matthew's adoptive mother, who spends her days crippled because he-"
"STOP!" Matthew bellowed, slamming his hands down on the podium before him.
Every activity in the courtroom ceased. The toothpick Lars had been chewing fell out of his mouth. Even Alfred was stunned. Jeanne had been paralyzed from an accident, but Matthew hadn't had anything to do with it. He was no more than six-years-old, recently adopted, when it happened. But his clenched jaw and narrowed eyes seemed to tell a different story that agreed with the chancellor.
The smug look on the chancellor's face didn't fade when he nodded in mock politeness, sweetly apologizing for bringing up such an emotionally challenging subject. Murmuring between the jurors commenced once Matthew wilted, squeezing his eyes shut. "I'm sorry I blew it, Al," the blonde tightly sighed.
It took Alfred a moment to figure out how to shake his head again. "No big deal! Besides, Lars and Monica have them on our side now, right? We're totally-"
"The jury has reached a unanimous decision. The defendants are found guilty of treason, and are charged with the kidnapping of the princess. For their crimes they are sentenced to death by guillotine in three days' time."
They were totally not good.
((((()))))
There was a lovely basket waiting for Alfred when he was unceremoniously tossed into a cell. Moments after, Matthew was thrown into the one beside him. Alfred waited for the guards to leave before he finally released his pent up curse. He grabbed for the basket, filled with delicious loaves of bread- but upon finding the food, he decided not to throw it after all. "Hey, Mattie," he called. "Did you get food?"
"Alfred, shut up."
"No need to fussy, dude. Come on, I'm a hero, remember? I'm a knight too- both of us are! I'll devise a plan to break us out-"
"We're not going to get out of this!"
He fell silent, sullenly looking back to his bread. The loaves were small and still slightly warm. They were probably put here before the trial was over, further proving it was inevitable that they would be sentenced guilty. But who would do something like this? Who in Truce still liked him after this fiasco?
However, Alfred wasn't one to question food when it came free. He took a bite of the first loaf.
He bit something metal. Alfred drew back to see the end of a tiny knife baked into the bread.
This was good news. He quickly broke apart the others, but there was only one more dagger to be found. Both were quite unspectacular, just simple knives one would find in a kitchen. Kitchen knives….
"Mattie, Natalya's helping us!" Alfred burst, sticking his face on his cell bars in an attempt to see Matthew. It proved to be in vain, but his good mood wasn't hampered in the least. There was no doubt this was from Natalya. Maybe it was her way of repaying them for saving her in the past? Again, it didn't matter, though. He knew a thing or two about picking locks, and these knives could do just the trick. Alfred immediately set to work, promising to have them free in no time!
((((()))))
At least five hours had to have passed. Matthew had spent most his time in silence, staring out at the evening sky and straining to hear the sounds of venders packing up their wares for the night at the fair. Was his father there, still wondering when they would come back- if ever? Matthew had no doubt the guards hadn't told him. Francis would have already tried to break into the castle had that been the case. Virginia would have successfully broken in, but only because her desire to strangle Alfred could overpower even the most adamant soldiers.
Lastly, Matthew thought about his mother, and wondered if she knew her son wasn't going to be coming home to wheel her down to dinner.
Furious tears pricked at the corner of his eyes. How had the chancellor known what had really happened back then? Not even Jeanne was entirely sure of what had happened. Francis had been on a trip out of town. As far as Matthew was concerned, he was the only one present during the accident that took his mother's legs.
How did he know?
Alfred's furious cry jarred him from his thoughts. Matthew didn't get up from his seat on the rickety bed, but he did raise his head. "Alfred, enough is enough. You're not going to pick the lock."
"I will!" he stubbornly argued. "Natalya's probably waiting for us to escape so we can all run away together!"
Did he even listen to himself? Natalya was the one to get them into this mess in the first place! Matthew had liked her and all, don't get him wrong. Being his princess gave her brownie points. But this was starting to be ridiculous- both her idea and Alfred's. Say Alfred did pick the lock. What were odds of him single handedly fighting off the stream of guards that would chase after him? Alfred couldn't fight with a knife. He was a good shot, however, but Matthew's gun had been confiscated ages ago. Natalya had been good with a knife, and the guards would be less willing to kill the princess.
The problem that lay with that idea was the fact that she wasn't here right now.
Alfred kicked the bars in his frustration, sending loud vibrations through every cell in the room, seemingly connected somehow. Matthew could even hear a faint echo of the noise upstairs.
Matthew's eyes went wide as a thought occurred to him. He trailed the bars where they did indeed enter through the stone ceiling to form the next cell bars. Only the doors were disconnected from each other, but a short area above the door was a conjoining piece that helped support the barred sides around the door.
"Alfred, kick that again," he quietly ordered, finally getting up. Alfred did as he was told, and the frame shook again. The doors only slightly rattled, but that was a good sign. Matthew reached up as far as he could to examine the door hinges. Like the rest of the cell, they were awfully rusty. So rusty, in fact, they might be able to break if enough force was put upon them.
Matthew broke into a smile. Perhaps they had a chance of breaking out after all. He couldn't contain himself as he spewed out his plan to Alfred in the lonely silence of the room. "It's going to be almost like how the sounds reverberating from the organ opened the door in Manolia," Matthew explained. "I'm going to keep kicking the bars while you saw at the door hinges. Mine are extremely rusty, so yours should be in a similar state. When you break through the hinges, you should be able to push your way through the door. You'll give me a knife and I'll break out the same way. The beauty of this plan is that while we're shaking the bars, the bars on every other level will also shake, confusing the guards. We should have enough time while they're distracted to escape."
It was impossible to see Alfred's face, but he did stick out his arm to let him see the thumb's up he was receiving. "Mattie, dude, you're awesomer than Gilbert."
"So long as you never mention the two in same sentence again, we are in agreement."
They were quickly losing outside light as Alfred worked, long and tedious. Matthew's foot was past the hurting stage and was now uncomfortably numb. Finally, Matthew heard a loud creak, and Alfred's grinning face entered his line of vision. He handed off the knife and Matthew gratefully allowed him to take over shaking the bars. He had only the dim candlelight to work by, but Matthew too had sawed through the hinges and squeezed himself through the opening.
The two spared a moment to cheer- Alfred picked Matthew up and swung him around in a hug that honestly constricted his breath and made him feel sick to his stomach. But after Alfred finally released him and Matthew taught his lungs how to work again, they took off running the way they had came earlier that morning. The dark corridors worked to their advantage quite well, for they were able to sneak past the few severely annoyed and yawning guards they saw.
When they finally reached the last heavy door leading to the interior of the castle, Alfred crushed him once more and swung open the door.
To say they were disheartened to see a circle of guards sharing gossip was a bit of an understatement.
((((()))))
Natalya wandered the halls aimlessly with two of her handmaidens as escorts. Her father had denied her the right to even traverse her castle by herself. The young girls nervously echoing in her brisk steps were obviously apprehensive of the princess. They had been before, but now….
The princess paused, and they took a sharp inhale. "I don't mean to frighten you," Natalya sighed. "And I'm sorry my father is making you follow me. You're not bound to silence or anything, so can talk all you want."
They seemed to prefer silence. Ignoring her voluminous, lacy skirt, Natalya leaned against the wall, the flickering lights reflecting off of her dress to make it seem she was swathed in Guardia's maroon and gold colors. "I know you're dying to know what happened to me," she began, taking at look at her nails. Even with all of the forceful scrubbing they had received, there were still traces of dirt underneath- proof that her escapades in the past really had happened.
Alfred and Matthew popped into her head.
The girls visibly shuddered at her frown. "Why are you so frightened of me?" Natalya burst, causing them to yelp. "Do you think I'm some sort of monster for running away from this life? If you want it, I'll gladly trade with either of you. Marle."
The blonde in question snapped her head up, eyes wide.
"Say you were the princess instead of me. If you were cooped up in a palace, going though the same mundane occurrences day after day, would you want to see the outside world as well?"
Marle opened her mouth, then shut it, biting on her lip. Finally, much to her companion's surprise, she nodded. "I-I would want to leave too. Because… because outside is better than in here. I used to live in Truce before I came to work here. It's a wonderful place, Princess. One day… one day, perhaps, you can come with me to visit my family?"
Natalya was just as stunned as Marle's friend. Natalya didn't quite know her name yet, because she was a new girl. The princess shook her head incredulously. "Marle… I would honestly love to. But the last person that showed me around town- at least, around the fair- was in a trial this morning. He was finally found not guilty, but I couldn't allow that to happen to you as well."
"Princess… the two you were with were not found innocent," Marle slowly said. "They were sentenced to an execution in three days' time."
Her heart stopped beating for a moment as all of the color drained from her already pale face. Marle and the other girl caught her as her knees buckled. "They're going to die?" Natalya whispered. "My father had them sentenced to death?"
When she was sat on the floor to be fanned, Natalya felt her cold knife touch her leg. She always kept it with her, no matter the occasion, hidden under her dress. Today's battle with that mystic had only made her more willing to keep it with her.
That's right… she had defended Queen Leene from a mystic intent on killing her. Natalya had quite a while before Alfred, Matthew, and Gilbert appeared to save them. Natalya had done the impossible, so why couldn't do the same again? She looked down the hall. There was a staircase that led to the royal courtroom and, further on, to the prison wing. Natalya had snuck out of the castle, so it would be easy to sneak into prison. From what she had heard of Matthew's brilliance, he had probably already found a way to free them. Without Natalya's help, though, they couldn't hope to make it out of the winding castle.
"I know what I'm about to ask you may frighten you," Natalya hurriedly said, "but I need one of you to dress up as me."
Marle and the girl met each other's eyes. Natalya painstakingly waited as they silently thought this over. When Marle turned back to her and nodded, Natalya felt an unknown warmth wash over her. She absently realized Marle was one of her only friends- if not the only one she had. "The servants' quarters are right over here," Marle pointed.
Natalya rushed inside with Marle as the other girl remained outside on lookout.
When they emerged, it was almost difficult to discern who was princess and who was the lowly handmaiden, wearing a humble maid's uniform. Natalya gave the girls her thanks and a promise to come back one day to see them.
Marle made for a good princess, Natalya thought as she hurried to the prison wing. If the kingdom was ruled by someone as free-spirited and nice as her, Guardia would be a much better place.
Natalya wasted no time in throwing open the door to the prison wing. She almost didn't have to think before she swung out her fist to knock out the first guard, conveniently not looking in her direction. When he crumpled to the ground, the rest of the guards took notice of her, as well as two others donned in normal garb.
That was perfect timing on Alfred and Matthew's parts. Alfred flashed her a smile before knocking out the closest guard to him, hitting the man with the butt of a dagger. Between the two of them, with minimal help from Matthew who generally shied away from the violence, they had the entire room unconscious before anyone had any time to call for backup.
Alfred rushed forward to hug her, but Natalya easily punched him in the gut and turned to Matthew. "I'm curious as to how you got out. I expect a story once we're out of the castle."
Natalya led them through the twisting, grand hallways with expertise. Despite their efforts to knock out the guards, it didn't take very long for word to catch on that Guardia Castle's newest prisoners were leading a jailbreak. Thankfully, most of the soldiers were terribly out of shape from milling about a mostly uneventful castle, so it was easy for them to outrun them.
They had made it all the way to the palace foyer when they were surrounded. Natalya, Alfred, and Matthew stood back-to-back as they brandished their respective blades to the unflinching palace guards. The massive oak doors leading to the throne room opened wide, stealing everyone's attention.
"Natalya Inna Arlovskaya Guardia!"
Natalya didn't flinch like the others upon hearing her father's booming voice. She whirled around, locking onto his scowling face with a perfectly good glare of her own. A hush fell over everyone present as she took a defiant step forward. "Father, I can no longer remain here living as your marionette. You sentenced my friends to death because you knew nothing of their time alone with me? We were just at the fair, having fun!"
"That is the problem, young lady. You are a princess. You are not to-"
"Perhaps I don't wish to be a princess!" she interrupted. "It's not like I have any royal blood anyway!"
At the King's stunned gape, the crowded multitude erupted into murmurs and whisperings.
Natalya stood tall and proudly. "Before Mother died, she told me everything. I am not the daughter you had, because the real princess Natalya died. I'm merely a replacement for the daughter you were never meant to have."
She took the guard's shock as an opportunity to throw open the doors and run. Alfred and Matthew followed as soon as their astonishment also wore off.
"Turn left!" Natalya called. She came to a stop in the middle of a clearing. The sounds of dozens of soldiers running after them were growing louder by the second. "Matthew! Do you still have your time machine thing?"
"What?" he burst. "Na- er, Princess-"
"My name is Natalya."
Matthew gulped at her growl. He uncertainly pulled out the Gate Key, which had been sure to keep extra well-hidden. "We can't just go through time when we feel like it. We could seriously mess up the space-time continuum-"
"There they are!"
Natalya stole the key from him, furious typing in a date. Matthew scrambled to get it back, and Alfred worriedly yelped, "Just push the button!"
On complete accident, Matthew did push the button. A time portal fizzled into existence before them, instantly sucking them in.
By the time the Gaurdian soldiers reached the clearing, there was nothing to be found but a navy ribbon.
((((()))))
"Oh no, Monica, I think someone stole some blades from me!" Antonio anxiously twittered as he began packing up his things for the night. Two of his daggers were missing, and he was sure he hadn't sold them!
Monica Desrosiers shrugged, not completely paying attention to his nervous breakdown. Antonio would be back to normal in five, four, three…-
"Oh well," the swordsmith sighed, shaking his head. "I guess one or two little daggers can't cause a lot of problems. I mean, people get arrested for carrying weapons in Truce, right? But I won't get in trouble because I'm a Medinan ambassador. Sí, it's alright!"
He put all of his wares into several briefcases. Monica put down her book and helped him carry it all back to his inn room. Before the castle was completely out of sight, she turned to give it an appraising look. Francis had struck her quite the deal for her services, and Arthur had done well to allow Lars the opportunity to scope things out. Of course, they hadn't succeeded in proving Alfred and Matthew innocent, but the daggers she gave them should have proved to be useful.
Monica just hoped Francis and Arthur were right about all of this- about all of them knowing each other in another life. They claimed Antonio knew about it too, but he didn't want to get involved. Bad history, they said. Lars and Monica were the only ones they could trust because of this.
Antonio cheerfully said his goodbye, thanking her for all of her help. Monica took it with a small smile.
When she turned to leave, she couldn't stop thinking of the riches Francis had promised her.
