Reunion 21
Chapter 19 part 3
Last chapter before the Epilogue!!
Sorry if it's a little short and fast paced, but I've been really antsy to get this completed!!
I hope you like it!!!
The court room was a buzz of chatter and shocked gasps of excitement as Sir Owen hummed and said as he nodded his head in understanding, "So, would you care to explain to the court about your vendetta against my client?"
Habren rolled her eyes slightly and replied in a droll tone of voice, "My vendetta against Attila is not just my own. Every Sarmatian woman here and a few males too have a vendetta against him as well. I personally do not like him because he has become "Romanized" in his gender theologies."
Sir Owen blinked, shook his head in disbelief, and asked again, "Would you explain your last statement?"
Habren sighed and told the assembled Britons all about their proud race, "Our races, the Sarmatians, are descended from the prideful, warrior women and warrior men named Amazons. As Rome gained more and more power, Rome's theologies and beliefs slowly merged with our own unique livelihood."
She paused and continued on, well-aware of the harsh stares of her fellow Sarmatians that supported Attila even in the slightest, "So much so that Attila now thinks as a Roman male-that a female is good for nothing more than warming men's beds, breeding, and cooking. A few days ago, whilst we still stayed at the castle, Attila was, I think, conspiring about one of his diabolical plans when he spoke of these Roman theologies. He shocked and disgusted us all and my brother, Prince Tarkan, regent of First Prince Lancelot duLac of the Lion Tribe, publicly denounced him and his title and he is as you see him now."
Sir Owen nodded in understanding.
It was a sensible reason to have a vendetta against his client, but he had to push and plunder on, "Understandably your anger towards my client is justified, but I'll redirect…Miss Katheryne was found dead…how did you find out about this terrible tragedy?"
Habren shrugged and replied, "I found out when Lancelot's squire, Alec, told him and the other Knights and the King himself."
Sir Owen raised an eyebrow and asked briskly, "Do you think Attila killed her?"
Habren settled down into the over-sized chair and answered with a lackadaisical wave of her hand, "His dagger was found on her cold, dead body. If he did or did not, I'm not sure, but I have no doubt that if he had found an opportunity to kill her-he would."
Owen slammed his hands down on the table that was in between him and Habren and demanded, "Explain!"
Habren huffed and thought to herself after her body settled down from the shocked jolt of surprise why am I still on the stand? I have been sitting here longer than both Tor and Artur! Why isn't Lancelot helping me? Why won't Ioan help?!?!
She grumbled slightly to herself and answered back as she glared superiorly at Attila, "He and most of the other Horse Tribesman are bloodthirsty barbarians…the Bear Tribe too. It doesn't surprise me in the least that he's on trial for murder."
Sir Owen blinked at her words and let her go with a polite thank you.
He turned towards Ioan and said with a small gesturing wave towards the people in the center of the room, "Your witness Sir Ioan."
Sir Ioan stood tall, smartly straightened his suit, and summoned commandingly, "I summon Atilla to the stand!"
As the court room grew loud with excited whispers with the climax of the story, Lady Knight Chloe marched forward with her double bladed sword and placed a strong hand on his shoulder and shoved him towards the stand.
Atilla growled and resisted as much as possible.
As Duke Duncan placed his staff in between him and Attila he asked gravely, "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, by the Blood and Honor of Mithras, Son of Sarmatia?"
Attila was seaming mad. As he opened his mouth to lie his way through the mud that was his life right now, Ioan called for his first piece of evidence.
"By your leave, your Honor, I'd like to call forth Prosecuting evidence number one-exhibit A."
Lord Connor, nodded and said, "Bring it out."
Attila could only watch with reddening with rage cheeks as a knife with his initials engraved in gold was handed to Sir Ioan. The Prosecutor smirked smugly at him and asked in a coldly self-righteous voice, "Attila of the Horse Tribe, do you recognize this knife."
Attila growled out softly, "Yes."
Duke Duncan asked again more loudly, "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, by the Blood and Honor of Mithras, Son of Sarmatia?"
Attila jumped to his feet and screamed out savagely as Lady Knight Chloe pushed him harshly back into the witness chair, "YES!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Sir Ioan's eyes narrowed as he asked with a sweetly polite smile, "Your Honor, will you tell the witness to speak up. I don't believe the jury heard him correctly. Since this trial is very sensitive in nature due to the Foreign Officials involved, I would like to be sure that no corrupt variables can enter this trial and cause harm to the final decision."
Lord Connor nodded thoughtfully and said, "Attila, answer the question once again loudly enough for all to hear."
Attila growled louder and grumbled out loud enough for those in the back to the Trial Chambers could hear it easily, so the opposing sides could not claim that the other side had corrupt the answer, "Yes, I recognize the knife!"
Sir Ioan asked with a small smirk, "Which initials are blazed in gold along the edge."
Attila's eyes rolled along the gold and said grudgingly, "A, d, u, h, u, k."
Sir Ioan rolled his eyes and prodded along mockingly, "And that spells, what exactly?"
Attila slammed his hand on the table, shocking dozens of viewers, and yelled, "A. duHuk! It spells A. duHuk!"
He got into Sir Ioan's face and demanded hotly and in a slightly crazed tone, "Are you satisfied?!"
Sir Ioan simply leaned back and asked coolly, "And who is A. duHuk?"
Attila's eyes glinted eerily red in the low candlelight as he replied, "I am A. duHuk. The knife is mine."
Sir Ioan smirked, crossed his arms and asked lightly because he knew he had won the case, "And how did YOUR knife end up in Miss Katheryne's neck?"
Attila raised his head and answered with calmer, lazy eyes, "Don't know; don't really care."
At the older man's words, Sir Ioan frowned. He glanced to Arthur's Head of Intelligence, Marquis Tristran Sentinel Palðer (Panther) and nodded as Tristran tilted his head in acquiescence. Unfortunately for Attila and a later victim, Lord Tristran's palace guards are very skilled in the arts of perception and reading what lies in the grounds of the island. Plus, Tristran had shared all of Sir Morton's evidence with Sir Ioan too.
Sir Ioan said properly as decorum prevailed, "We have a molding from Miss Katheryne's body. The hand that crushed her throat has been measured by our best mathematicians."
Attila sat up straighter and glared as the Lady Knight, Chloe, brought forth a wooden sculpture of a hand very familiar to his own.
As it came to a rest by Sir Ioan, he demanded hotly and with vigor in his voice, "Your Honor! Please tell the Defendant to place his hand in the mold!"
"Do it!" demanded the Lord of the Courts, Marquis Connor Arbitrator Truth of the House of Truth.
Reluctantly and gravely Attila obeyed.
With another demand from the Honorable judge, Attila raised the wooden mold for all to see-it was a perfect fit.
Damn it! Now what can I do?! Blast those Romans!! Only they would make such a fuss over a servant bitch dying?!?!?!
Sir Ioan smirked and continued smoothly, "So, Attila, how did YOUR hand get on her neck when you were, as you explained to King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, 'sleeping in your chambers the night of the attack'?"
Lancelot was eyeballing Attila's purplish face in fascination as the man sputtered and drooled. It was clear that the aging Sarmatian was either going to faint as all his blood flooded his head or have a vein burst in his head.
Attila was mad!
He did not want to continue on this line of conversation. He didn't understand why he was there in the first place! All I did was crush one little servant! It's not like I killed one of Camelot's precious heirs like I had originally planned on doing!
It's not even my fault all things considered! If the Sons of Sarmatia, who were supposed to have returned six years ago, returned like they promised twenty years ago, I wouldn't even be here!
Then, because they did return home, that silly brat of a Princess, Habren, got this ridiculous idea to come here and find those who were still alive!
And to make it worse, when we got here, our sons stayed because they wanted to! They preferred Briton, the land of their slavery, to their homeland, the land of freedom!
And then, I lost my Elder's position because that stupid princess, Habren, got upset because I want our people strong!
And to make them strong, our women must be pregnant and birthing our men children year after year!
Then, adding insult to injury Habren, that meddling WOMAN, dishonored me because I'm the only person strong enough to do what needs to be done to bring our sons home in anyway possible!
Oh! Oh! And the best way to end my life…on trial for killing an insignificant woman servant whose death shouldn't warrant a trial!!!
If we were back in Sarmatian a woman's death wouldn't be so important AND I'd be able to do away with her body easily enough!!
These people are idiots!
Worrying about an insignificant woman is proof of their idiotic government!
I need to bring our sons home NOW before they are ruined anymore than they already are!
Perhaps, if I bring them home and torture them enough on the journey home, I can retrain them to be what TRUE Sarmatian warriors are known for!!!!
AND….I'M LOSING MY OWN TRIAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
All the Knights of the Round Table watched in satisfaction as Attila's eyes seemed to burst into flames and then darken to near deadly hues-he had finally snapped!
Attila roared, "Yes! I killed her! I HAD planned on kidnapping and killing Dagonet's brat of a daughter to make him and the other Knights return home! As I made my way, in the shadows, to their chambers, I ran into that bitch of a female servant. I can't have any witnesses, so I crushed her fragile neck and dragged her into the nearest closet I could find. Once inside, I dropped her there and returned to the chambers we had been given."
He calmed down some, smiled sweetly, and ended in a horrendous tone, "I didn't want to disturb the guards, you see?"
As his eyes roamed over the courtroom, he smirked at Agrimpasa, pointed her out, and confessed normally, "When I awoke the next morning, my knife was missing and Agrimpasa said that she had barrowed it!"
With a casual shrug he ended, "I didn't care anyways. I own three others exactly like it."
With those words, Agrimpasa screeched, "You lied to me!! BASTARD!!!!!!!!!"
Sir Ioan winced as the courtroom grew louder and louder.
Galahad jumped to his feet as his sister tried to lunge for the double doors and yelled, "Don't let her escape!!!!!!!!"
Lady Knight Chloe, Aldus, and Duke Duncan neatly grabbed her just before she reached the heavy doors and dragged her kicking and screaming back to the center of the trial chambers.
As Lord Connor slowly got the people under control, Sir Ioan eyed his superior. Tristran nodded for him to continue. Ioan could tell that Lord Tristran was quickly reaching the end of his nerves.
But, before he could open his mouth, Agrimpasa yelled angrily at the man she would have done anything for, "TRAITOR!!!!!!!!!"
Attila grinned evilly at her and replied tonelessly, "If I die, so do you, you whoring bitch!!!"
Even Galahad couldn't help but feel a twinge of pity for his sister as her face paled drastically and she sagged in defeat in Lady Chloe's grip.
Sir Ioan sighed and shook his head.
He didn't want to do this, but he had a job to do and justice waited for no man, "Your witness, Sir Owen."
His opponent was physically shaking. This was a terrible situation and what was worse, he was going to lose this case because Attila lost his temper and said sourly because, once again, he owed Ioan ANOTHER lunch, "No questions, your Honor."
And honestly, he really wanted the crazy Sarmatians gone like the others so…he wasn't all that mad.
Sir Ioan grinned and said, "I summon my last witness, Princess Agrimpasa of the Wolf Tribe, younger sister of Marquis Gawain Axelord Wolfe of the House of Wolfe, Lord of Manchestar and Ynys Wyth (Dragon Isle) and younger twin sister of Marquis Galahad Weaponsguild Wolfe of the House of Wolfe, Lord of Dummonia (Cornwall) and Lyonesse Isles to the stand!"
Duke Duncan groaned as he dragged himself to his feet, grabbed his staff, and shuffled over to the witness chair. When he reached the woman who was trying to seduce his son-n-law, he wanted nothing more than to gut her from stem to stern and leave her to bleed to death on the hilly moors of his Lordship-Powys, but he knew he couldn't-he was scared of his daughter.
Emmy can be scary when she's on a revenge trip. He thought with a sheepish look on his face.
Lord Connor purposely cleared his throat and looked at him pointedly.
He blushed slightly and said, "Oh, right, do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, by the Blood and Honor of Mithras, Daughter and Princess of Sarmatia?"
Agrimpasa stared into the eyes of the man before her. She couldn't believe that after all she had done for him-Attila had betrayed her.
I have done everything for him!! I trusted him! He's the only man I've ever trusted since that horrible day twenty years ago! He had saved me from that brute, and in return I gave him my body! I have stood by his side, in the shadows, for twenty years! I've even slowly yet surely started to sway the Wolf Tribe's views on purity of blood! I can't believe he did this to me!!! He is all I have left!! I mean, mother hates me, father doesn't need me to carry on the line threw marriage anymore since Athena and Areia are now of adult age to be wed, Gawain barely tolerates me, and…and…and my own twin brother…he HATES me! I won't even give me the time of day! Even now I can feel the scorn of his words and the disgust of his eyes. And when I found out about being a simply brood-wife he looked gleeful…he was GLAD I was to be sentenced to such a life.
She bit her lip and asked herself sadly what have I done to deserve this kind of life? It wasn't my fault mother had me practically raped for Lancelot's return home just so I could please him upon our wedding night! I didn't choose to be the brute's victim! Mother sold me out! All for the power of the Lion Tribe!
She sniffed and ended with resolve and a surprisingly calm soul, no! It was all because mother lost to Ama when Babai came home forty years ago! She had been Ama's competitor and one of Babai's choices for a wife, and she was vengeful when Ama won and mother had to settle for second best. So, she tried to gain the power of the Lion Tribe through me…therefore thoroughly ruining my life in her effort to become all powerful! Perhaps it'd just be easier to die? I mean…my own family hates me…what is there left in the world for me?? I certainly have no children to care for…yes, I think death is much more preferable.
Sir Ioan frowned and said, "Your Honor???"
Lord Connor crossed his arms over his well-muscled chest and insisted very loudly, "Answer the swear in, Princess Agrimpasa!"
Agrimpasa raised her head and Galahad felt like a sword had pierced him in the heart. His twin's eyes were bloodshot and dead. There was no life left in them at all. Her once pretty blue eyes were dead and dark blue. It was like staring into a corpse's eyes. He shivered and felt cold-pimples (goose bumps) rise all over his body.
She took and deep, soul-cleansing breath and replied calmly, "No."
Duncan's resolve wavered slightly as he stared deep into her eyes. She was serious. She truly wanted to die.
He steeled his steadfastness of a soul and continued on as procedure dictated that he do, "You are aware, Princess Agrimpasa, that answering 'No' waives your right to a trial by jury and equality. With your answer, your fate lies in Lord Miskoc's hands; meaning that you will be subjected to his Blood Oath, and I quote, "I vow on my blood to punish Atilla and any others for any dishonor they commit against you and yours." unquote. Do you understand?"
Agrimpasa honestly didn't care whether or not she understood or didn't understand. All she wanted was to die.
But, I might as well go out like the bitch they all seem to think that I am
"Yes, I understand. But, what you don't understand is that I AM Princess Agrimpasa Wolfhill of the Wolf Tribe, soon-to-be High Queen of ALL Sarmatia. You cannot harm me for fear of war." She ended pompously as she stared at them all down her nose.
Before she could get into a proper rant, Tristran cut in, "Princess Agrimpasa, you have waived your rights to a fair trial in the Court of Briton. As such, your punishment falls onto Lord Miskoc, or have you conveniently forgotten that?"
No, I have not you Panther idiot! Get on with it already! She swore in her head as she carefully kept her face blank of all emotion.
Tristran's eyebrow rose at her blank face, but he settled back into his throne-like chair as Judge Marquis Connor stood up and started with an odd look on his face, "Men and women of the jury, men and women of Briton, my fellow Knights of the Round Table, Lord Tristran and Duke Duncan and My Lord, King Arthur, here before you is an unusual case. You were brought in here, in this Chamber of Trials, to listen and fairly judge Attila duHuk of the Horse Tribe on the charge of First Degree murder. Unfortunately, during these trials proceedings, Attila's temper escaped his control and he confessed to his crime. Also, during the course of this trial, another, Princess Agrimpasa Wolfhill was implied to have added insult to injury when she took Attila's dagger and savagely dragged it across an already dead woman's neck. Regrettably, Princess Agrimpasa has waived her rights to a trial hearing and now, her punishment falls under Sarmatian Blood Oaths and Laws."
He took a deep breath and continued on in a passionate tone eager for justice, "Before you now, is a choice: is Attila duHuk, former Elder and Regent Lord of the Horse Tribe guilty or not guilty?"
He took a seat once more and ended with a regal nod of his head and an imperial wave of his hand, "You may be dismissed to discuss this in the adjourning chambers."
Lancelot leaned over to Arthur and whispered, "What are you thinking?"
Arthur leaned back tilted his head into Lancelot's and whispered back, "I think the Sarmatians are going to stay for a while."
Lancelot smiled and said, "Good, I can finally, really TALK to Habren. We definitely need to get a few things straightened out."
Arthur's emerald green eyes bored into his brown-black ones and asked, "Truly? I hope it goes well for you, Lance, I honestly do."
Lancelot patted him on the shoulder and said, "So do I Arthur, so do I."
To no ones surprise-the jury marched back out into the Trial Chambers a few minutes later.
As they stood in front of their seats, the First Juror handed a folded piece of parchment to Lady Knight Chloe, acting guard and Court Aid, and she then handed it over to Lord Connor. The Judge of the trial read it over with a droll face. After a moment he nodded.
As he handed it back to Chloe and as the First Juror took it back from Chloe, he said as he folded his hands calmly, "How do you find the Defendant?"
The First Juror, a woman with graying red hair and dull brown eyes, opened the parchment that held Attila's future and replied stoical, "We find the Defendant…guilty."
The Epilogue will be posted soon! It'll be kinda like All Because of One's Epilogue but more summarized. The Third Fic, The Return to Sarmatia, will be out…not really sure since I start school again soon, sooo be on the look out!