Two guards came to the cell and escorted them to a waiting car.
As they drove, Arthur and Francis whispered back and forth in French. Though he would never admit it, Arthur was fluent in French and would only speak it when he wanted something from Francis or if they needed to discuss something without being understood.
This was one of those times.
One of the guards heard them and rapped on the glass divider.
"Oi! None of that! We are almost at the courthouse and the moment we get there, there will be absolutely no noise from either of you unless you are told to speak! Understood?!"
They both nodded and said they agreed before Francis reached over and held Arthur's hand tightly, whispering, "Do not worry. I will figure this out and we will get nos enfants back."
Arthur leaned against Francis's shoulder, tears tickling his eyes.
"I sure hope so Francis," he whispered back. "I sure hope so."
Matthew followed the guard closely with Chelle in his arms; Peter in the back with Ange. Between them were the other three children. Alfred had never returned.
They all watched the ground, tears in their eyes. They didn't want to go through this. Not with all that had already happened to their family.
Entering the courtroom, they all visibly tensed at the sight of their fathers handcuffed to a table; possibly going to die from the outcome of the trial and definitely not going to be the same again after this whole ordeal was over.
"Papa!" Chelle cried, struggling to get out of Matthew's arms and run over to the Frenchman.
Hearing her, Francis turned around; Arthur turning too.
"What the fuck did you do to my kids?!" he demanded, taking in the bruises, cuts, and generally dirty appearance of his children.
The judge's assistant looked up at the shout and his eyes widened at the state of the seven kids.
"Nothing," the guard said in a monotone voice. "They were like this when we removed them."
The assistant nodded and went back to looking at his papers.
"They most certainly were not!" Francis yelled. "We take very good care of nos enfants! They've never even scraped their knees before! Not even Steven and he's always climbing a tree!"
"We have no reason to hurt these children," the guard pointed out. "So why would we injure them?"
"Who knows?! Just keep your fucking hands off our kids!" Suddenly Arthur's face went pale. "W-Wait…W-Where's my boy?" No one answered him. "Where's my boy?! Where's my Alfred!?" he demanded.
"The stolen boy named Alfred is currently in the hospital. With the state we found him in, we had to take him to the hospital for fear of losing him. The unspeakable horrors of that house still terrify the men that were sent in to save these poor children."
"Our kids didn't need saving from anything! There was nothing wrong! You all just burst down our door one day and stole our kids! We were just enjoying a lazy day when you turned up! We were going to go on a picnic the next day but you took that opportunity away! Now just give us our kids back and leave us the fuck alone!"
The guard ignored him and pointed to a row.
Silently the children shuffled down it and sat quietly; Ange on Peter's lap and Chelle on Matthew's. Emily hugged Steven's arm and kept close to him.
Eventually the courtroom filled up around the kids, though their row remained untouched due to the intimidating guard standing at the end of it.
A man stood up and announced the judge walking into the room.
Everyone stood, Matthew and Peter balancing the girls in their arms, and waited for him to tell them to sit again.
"Today we are studying case 22115; the kidnapping and abuse of eight young children." He looked at the row the kids were sitting in. "And trying to decide what form of punishment is needed for their captors."
Matthew's face paled.
It sounded like the judge's mind was already made up about his fathers' guilt and he was only here to decide how to ruin them.
"Now will the prosecutor come forth and give his opening statement?"
"With pleasure Your Honor."
A man with slick hair and a sly grin stood up and practically pranced over to the jury box.
"I am here in defense of eight poor children who were taken away from their proper parents and horribly abused. I am going to prove that to you and leave no doubt in your mind that these men have not treated the children they stole properly. By the end of this trial you will have no choice but to pronounce these two criminals 'Guilty' and sentence them fittingly."
AN: Oh noes! Are Arthur and Francis gonna be given a fair trial? The judge seems pretty biased. And if they ARE pronounced 'Guilty' what will happen to their kids?!
Muhahahaha! We shall see!