19 - The Second Day
They came for her before dawn.
Fordola heard the sound of footsteps, the clinking of armour and tensed, twisting uncomfortably on the hard bench to see, not the expected city guards, but a familiar face.
Arenvald Lentinus was tall, even by highlander standards, with light blond hair and proud green eyes. His broad earnest face half covered by a thick slash of bold white warpaint that crossed his nose.
Despite his size, the full plate silver armour, and the polished sword at his side - the man radiated a soft, earnest energy. It was matched by the powerful swirls of gold and ruby aether that swirled around him; energy far more potent than most people - even if it paled next to the Warrior of Light.
She could see he was holding a tray and fumbling to open the cell door with his free hand. When it finally clicked open, he stooped slightly to move in, the door shutting noisily behind. He noticed for the first time, Fordola's eyes watching him like a hawk and offered an abashed smile. Saying nothing, he presented the tray towards her on which a large beaker of water rested, alongside a tray of flatbread with two fried puk eggs on the side.
She slowly sat up, taking the tray offered as he backed up a step away. "I've got to be quick Fordola." His deep-toned, mellow voice curiously soft for a man of his size. "The guard will be moving you to the courthouse early, hoping to avoid the scenes of yesterday I suspect."
She grunted an affirmation, wolfing down the flatbread - still warm and fresh, before picking the fried eggs whole with her hands and cramming them down. Arenvald watched, a slight smile on his face which she ignored, focussing on eating.
The man had an...interest in her, she knew that. If he was hoping she would reward this attention by pouring out her heart then he would be most disappointed.
"I'm sorry I couldn't be there yesterday." He continued, shifting from foot to foot awkwardly. "We're still excavating the treasures from the Drowned City of Skalla, and the Scions are running guard duty of the efforts. Between that and the late night guard duty of the city duma last night - I've not had a spare moment."
She grunted a second time, finishing off the last of the bread before washing it down with the crisp, clean water.
"You're not planning on doing anything stupid today, are you?" He asked, giving the cell door another quick glance to check they remained alone.
Fordola favoured him with a piercing stare before carefully placing the tray down on the floor and stretching her back. "Such as?" She asked finally, hoping the right amount of dry irony was in her voice.
"You said to me, before the trial - that your death would unite Ala Mhigo." He broke the eye contact, looking up at the dank cell ceiling above awkwardly. "Do you still believe that?"
"Yes." She said flatly. "It's also what I deserve."
"Because of the things you've done?" He looked back down at her now, face neutral but voice slightly challenging.
"That and more." She stood up and stretched slightly, her head coming up to Arenvalds chest, before pointing at his sword buckled to his belt. "Ala Mhigo needs to purge itself of the past if it is to have a fresh start. I am held responsible, I should be condemned and punished to the letter of the law."
Arenvald frowned, causing the warpaint that covered his face to crinkle in an odd shape, revealing the puckered scar that hid beneath it. "You know Fordola - I have some of the Echo abilities you and the Warrior of Light have. I know, better than most, the good you could do with it to redeem yourself - to give back more to the city in life, then you ever could in death!"
"Have you been conspiring with your hero?" Fordola angrily asked him, she would not be pitied, not after yesterday. "Did she come to you? Did she put you up to this?"
"No!" Arenvald looked startled at the suggestion, eyes wide. "Not at all! Why do you not see the path to redemption? Your path would be long and hard, but so much better than a quick, senseless death!"
"My death is just!" Fordola shouted at the man, surprised at the heat in voice. "I deserve it for the things I did and the blood on my hands, the blood of my fellow Ala Mhigans!" For Ansfrid and the others, she thought, but did not speak the thoughts aloud.
Arenvald surprised her by raising his own voice, matching her tone. "I'm Ala Mhigan as well in case you forgot! Born after my mother was raped by a Garlean man during the invasion! On my tenth nameday my mother thought I was growing a Garlean third eye and took a knife to me!" He indicated the scar across his head beneath the white paint.
"What does wishing more violence on her for wronging me, or for the Garlean that raped her give me?" He continued, pacing in a circle around the small cell. "I could have spent my life wishing vengeance on those that wronged me - but I joined the Scions, I was trained by people that gave their lives to defend me and I will forever spend my life helping and supporting people. Rather than just seeking violence and death on those that wronged me!"
"So what?" Fordola asked without thinking, not really following his tangent and Arenvald paused as if she had struck him. For a moment she felt a bizarre need to follow up with an apology, but she held off as he pondered for a moment.
Then a strange little smile twitched at his lips, that was unexpected. "Well what argument, eloquence or rhetoric can stand a chance against those simple words? 'So what' indeed." He mused thoughtfully.
She exhaled loudly in exasperation, almost wishing the guards would appear to take her to the courtroom. "Arenvald I…"
"No, it's okay." He held up a hand to stop her, the annoying smile was back - it rankled to her as one of smug superiority. "You think only death can pay for your actions? I say, 'so what?' Does the thought of death give you peace? Does it help undo the crimes of the Crani Lupi – and let's be clear, there are crimes to pay for – so what? Here I am, saying you could use your abilities, your power to make a real difference, but as you say – so what?"
He put a slight bitter sting into the last few words and Fordola felt the anger deflate within her and she sighed, shrugging broadly. "It is too late for me Arenvald."
"It's never too late Fordola." He held her eyes a second longer than was necessary and she felt the weight of his emotion there. A fleeting image of his hopes and dreams flickered before her and she ignored them. What he wanted, she would not, and could not return.
The sound of footsteps outside thankfully broke the moment and she looked up as the cell door opened and two city guardsmen walked in – short spears at the ready.
She sighed, holding out her hands as Arenvald stepped aside to allow her hands to be bound by one of the guards. It looked like another dozen or so guardsmen stood waiting outside the cell.
"Move." The guard who had applied the metal bindings gestured to the cell door and Fordola walked towards it. As she walked past Arenvald she looked up at him and offered him a thin smile.
"Liberty or death, right?" The guard whisked her away before Arenvald could reply.
The trip to the courthouse was quietly uneventful. The streets were quiet and the sun's hazy light only just creeping over Abalathia's Spine in the far horizon.
A further dozen or so guards had been waiting outside the cell block as a whole and the large group marched quickly towards the royal quarter of the city near the palace.
A few Ala Mhigans were up and about, but other than startled looks and muttered curses, the procession managed to avoid unwanted attention. Fordola walked evenly, enjoying the fresh air and peace while it lasted.
After a short while they entered the royal quarter and the palace steps loomed before them, the ornate courthouse building near the base of them.
Through the great double doors into the interior they walked. The building was empty and cool as the morning sun had not yet penetrated the high windows. The courthouse echoed to the footsteps of the group. The judges table set at the end of the room, the proud flag of Ala Mhigo still fluttering above. The five, straight backed chairs looked strange and alien without the judges occupying them.
"This way scum." The guard gestured to the left wall, the same door she had exited through the other night. She allowed herself to be led through it and back to her familiar holding room. She was shoved in, and the door shut before a key turned.
How much time passed then, she didn't really know. But as it did, she could start to faintly pick up the sounds of the people coming into the courthouse. The scrape of chairs being pulled back, voices raised in discussion, the double doors opening and shutting.
Eventually the sound of the key scraping in the lock alerted her and the guard entered again, gesturing for her to follow. She followed him back to the door to the courtroom, bracing herself as the door opened and she re-entered the grand chamber.
Compared to earlier, the chambers were now well lit and full of people seated in the rows of observation pews. The timbre of the room changed as the people saw her be led to the dais at the centre of the room before the vacant judges table.
A few cries of "Murderer!" and "Garlean Scum!" filled the air but it was no worse than she expected or deserved. She stood with her back to the people, head held high as the guard walked back to take his position along the wall with the other city guardsman that flanked the walls.
As the noise of the pews gradually dropped away in anticipation, Fordola felt a premonition and looked right, towards the opposite door to the one she had entered from which moments later opened. The Seedseer led the judges out. Kan-E-Senna wore her traditional long white dress of office and walked, calm and composed, across the floor towards the judges table. Admiral Merlwyb entered next, her black coat and boots a striking contrast to the smaller Seedseer. The admiral's eyes scrutinised Fordola as she walked past, betraying nothing of her thoughts. Raubahn and Lyse followed close behind, the one tall and burly, the other slender and lithe. Raubahn seemed to nod his head slightly at Fordola in greeting as he walked by, Lyse just offered her a silent, pitying look and Fordola managed to keep her face stoic in response.
Finally, as the judges noisily slid into the hardwood chairs at the front of the court, the door opened one last time and Alphinaud Leveilleur entered. His smart blue cloak and confident walk belayed his young appearance. For a moment Fordola imagined a scene in which the pews broke out into rapturous applause on the entrance of him as a conductor and she smirked at the thought, earning a sharp look from Lyse.
A moment later, Alphinaud settled into his seat at the centre of the group of judges and rifled through the various sheets of paper in front of him. Fordola watched stoically as he shuffled them again, the noise in the courtroom dropping away. Where was Sara? Her chair off to the side of the judges table was there, but vacant. Was Arenvald somewhere in the crowd behind or outside?
She decided to risk turning to look back at the pews, a sea of hostile, angry faces looked back at her. No sign of her or Arenvald there. Before she turned back a scruffily dressed man on the third row caught her eye, he had a raised fist in the unmistakable gesture of a hangman's noose.
Alphinaud coughed primly once, twice, thrice, which served to draw back her attention. "Court is back in session." Despite his small frame, his mature voice perfectly carried and echoed across the courtroom. "We are here to complete the testimony of one Fordola rem Lupis before proceeding to consider suitable penalties and passing judgement. Before we begin I would…" He faltered, as the massive double doors of the courthouse suddenly opened letting in a blast of hot, fresh air.
Fordola turned back around again, squinting in the light at the ornately armoured figures making their way down the central aisle past the murmuring crowd.
She recognised them; they were dressed in the old Ala Mhigan royal guard outfit she had once read about in her history classes. The chivalric armour trimmed with dyed purple fur, tall golden griffin helms and large, glinting poleaxes held at the ready. At least a score in total marched smartly forwards, making the outnumbered city guardsman clustered by the walls look quite shabby by contrast.
The first of the royal guard reached the front of the pews, just before the dais where she stood and fanned out in a line across the court from left to right.
"What is the meaning of this!?" Raubahn thundered loudly, on his feet looking over the line of soldiers.
There was the sound of a dry cough, and Fordola craned her neck to try and see the new figure advancing down the central pews, the double doors smoothly shutting behind, the burning morning light being sealed out.
She didn't recognise the figure, but the murmurs of the crowd were one of recognition and acceptance. He was tall, handsome even, with thick, wiry dark hair, a trimmed beard and tiny silver spectacles balanced over his pointed noise. He was dressed in ornate, flowing Ala Mhigan robes in a purple trim that matched those of the royal guard. Clearly one of the new gentry of the city.
He walked through the royal guard and straight past Fordola without a second look, coming to a halt just before the judges table, offering a short, curt bow with hand on heart.
"Senator Beckmann." Lyse now stood up alongside Raubahn, who was still on his feet and glowering at the interruption. "This is most unexpected." She said, her tone one of dramatic understatement.
"And most irregular." Alphinaud was eyeing the newcomer warily, his tone clipped and controlled. "Court is in session and procedure dictates that it remain sealed until an adjournment. I would ask that the gentleman withdraw himself from these premises."
"Forgive me for the intrusion." The man bowed again, his voice smooth and modulated. Fordola grimaced at the man's backside before he straightened up again, speaking loudly enough that his voice carried across the whole courthouse. "I had no idea that the court was due to start early today, otherwise my arrival would not have been quite so tardy."
"And who are you exactly?" Merlwyb waved a hand at the man, her voice deeply unimpressed.
"I am Dr Allric Beckmann." Beckmann amplified his voice loudly over the continuing murmur of voices from the crowd. "I have the pleasure of sitting on the Ala Mhigan state duma representing the people of my district." He turned to face the seated members of the public, scrupulously avoiding looking at Fordola directly. "Many of you here will know me, even if those outside our glorious city may not."
"And what does a representative of the new republic want here?" Raubahn asked, but before Beckmann could answer Alphanaud had stood up himself.
"It matters not what the senator wishes to discuss." Fordola was sure now she could detect the irritation in the voice behind that pretty face. "Court is in session and it will have to wait until after the hearing. I must ask the court bailiff to escort you from the building, sir."
Alphanaud gestured to one of the nearby columns where a city guardsmen stood waiting. Fordola vaguely suspected this was the man who had come for her this morning and led the escort. The guardsman half-heartedly started walking towards the senator, until two of the royal guardsmen moved to block his path warningly. A second later the poleaxes clashed together, forming a barrier of steel before the hapless man.
"Please forgive my intrusion." Beckmann spoke again, directing his words to Alphanaud respectfully. "I came following an emergency sitting of the state duma late yesterday. I bring a missive for the court signed by eleven of the fourteen Ala Mhigan senators."
"What emergency sitting?" Lyse sounded deeply indignant, her eyes flashing as she spoke. "As a senator myself, I should have been there."
"Forgive me, but as has already been pointed out, you were in court and unreachable." At this Beckmann favoured Alphinaud with another nod of the head, Fordola could almost imagine the gleaming teeth smiling at the judges. "As per our newly written constitution, partly drafted by yourself, Senator Lyse – an emergency sitting can be held by at least four senators, a binding statement can be issued by a majority vote of at least ten."
Fordola distinctly saw the admiral roll her eyes and mouth the word, 'politics'. Lyse still looked deeply unimpressed and Raubahn tapped the court table impatiently. "Speak your place senator or be gone, you are delaying these hearings."
"Very well then." Beckmann smoothed down his robes before pulling forth a sealed letter from within. "This missive concerns the trial for the traitor of Ala Mhigo, the Garlean collaborator, one Fordola rem Lupis. It has come to our attention - that for the crimes of high treason, war crimes, extortion and exploitation of the Ala Mhigan people among many other crimes. By our legal code, the ultimate penalty of death should be called for and yet, the council of Ala Mhigo has learnt that it is not the intention of the court to consider the penalty of death in this case?" His voice rose as the noise from the pews intensified, Fordola could hear the angry voices murmuring, she felt the pitch of the room change – the court guards shuffled uneasily while the royal guard stood impassive.
"Order, order!" Alphanuad stood, his voice raised in controlled anger himself. "This is a court of law and we will have order!"
The noise abated, but two or three cries of 'Murderer!' rang out behind Fordola which she ignored. The Warrior had said many times that Alphanuad had no plans to call for the death penalty, had he been foolish enough to voice this to others?
"It is the duty of this council to hear the defendants account and match and consider the sentence after this final account." The seedseer spoke up, her words soft yet perfectly carried around the courtroom. "We have had testimony for many days from the people of Ala Mhigo and now we hear the final account from the accused herself. How is it that you, Senator Beckmann, already know what will, and will not be considered as punishment for these crimes?"
"Then I ask the chairman of the court, will the ultimate penalty be considered?" Beckmann spread his arms wide, a gesture of supreme control and confidence. "Fordola's crimes are legion, for just conspiring with the Garleans and oppressing the common people she deserves death. Do you deny this Mr chairman?"
Alphanaud looked composed but Fordola could see the youth seeming to squirm in place as he prevaricated in response. "The accused has yet to complete her account, we will then discuss her sentencing."
"Have you not yet heard enough?" Beckmann thundered suddenly, voice raising dramatically - pointing a finger that swept over the admiral, the seedseer and Alphinaud himself. "You - who are foreigners to our city, you - who left Ala Mhigo unaided under Garlean oppression for some twenty years, you - who now seek a bloodless justice!? Years which saw collaborators sell out their brothers and sisters to the Garleans for an extra crumb of bread, or the perverse honour of being called a citizen, like this bitches father?" He sneered actively, now pacing left to right in front of Fordola like a caged animal. "Of all the criminals this court has judged, the one before you – the so called 'wolf' of Garlamald deserves the ultimate penalty for the numerous crimes she aided."
He turned to the crowd, past the ranks of royal guardsman and raised his fist to the air. "What say you sons and daughters of Ala Mhigo? Do you want to see this harlot showed mercy? Or should she pay the retribution for all the wives without husbands, the children without parents, those who saw loved ones spirited away in the night by her skulls and the Garlean army?"
He raised his voice to fever pitch and a loud cry of 'hang her!' was suddenly heard. The chant was taken up and the hostile atmosphere rose as the crowd stamped the ground, a mob whipped up into a frenzy. Fordola could feel the hostility rising in the hall, a thought flashed through her mind - that of hand-picked agitators firing up the crowd.
"Order, order!" Alphanaud shouted, as Raubahn pounded the table with his fist but to no avail, the courthouse was out of control and the few city guard powerless.
Fordola stared at Senator Beckmann as he smiled confidently at the scene of frenzied anger and,
Flicker,
He gestured, and the nearest royal guardsman reached out to grab her by the hair, twisting painful. She fought back, clawing at his armoured helmet, but he pulled, dragging her down the aisle as the guard fell in and the crowd roared its approval. Outside, a mob waited, forewarned of the coming event, a wooden platform being prepared while bribed or impassive city guards watched on, somewhere she could hear Arenvald shouting her name...
She felt the nausea reach out to her and resisted, holding her head high as she saw Beckmann make a tiny gesture at the nearest guardsman behind her. She braced herself for the hand that would close around her hair, she would not flinch…
Suddenly, the courthouse rang to the sound of a piercing roar of furry that drowned everything out. A split moment later a dazzling, piercing bolt of pure light erupted between the senator and the judges table. Fordola felt the raw heat and energy sear over her as the senator fell backwards to the ground, gaping at the pillar of light that blazed up before him.
The light dissipated, a burning black score left on the ground and dust filled the air. As it slowly cleared a fearsome spectral blue dragon hung in the air. Its wingtips reached from one side of the chamber to the other, floating in mid-air obscuring the judges table. The dragon's fearsome face was familiar to any adult familiar with the battle of Carteneau.
"Bahamut…it…it can't be!" Beckmann gasped from the floor, holding up a hand to ward off the mighty beast as it inched closer to him. Fordola was aware of the royal guardsman backing away, the people sitting in the pews stunned into silence, awe, maybe paralysed by fear.
The summon (Fordola saw it for what it was) howled one last time over the cringing Beckmann before drifting back, a figure walking out of the swirling dust and aether that blocked sight of the judges. The figure, partly shrouded by her blinding golden aether, reached up with a free hand, as if to stroke the mighty dragon's lower talon. Bahamut made a low, deep rumbling sound and then with a blur of motion unfolded its wings and soared up towards the courthouse rafters, vanished in a blizzard of blue tinged aether.
There was a sudden, deathly silence as the Warrior of Light swept her eyes over the scene. Beckmann stood paralyzed on the ground, Fordola knew her own mouth was wide open and her fists were clenched in the moment. Meanwhile, around her the royal guardsmen were in disarray and the crowd of people started murmuring again.
"The tragedy of our age." Sara Alexander, the Warrior of Light looked at Fordola briefly, before speaking firmly to the crowd cutting out the murmurs. "The tragedy of our age is the fear in which we all live. Fear of primals, fear of Garlemald, fear of calamities and umbral ages."
She looked down at Senator Beckmann who remained staring up at her, the dust clearing to reveal the judges behind all standing on their feet looking deeply perturbed as the Warrior continued. "Fear breeds repression, it breeds hatred of other people. Hatred that can be welded by those who conceal themselves under the patriotic cloak of justice."
Beckmann had slowly pulled himself up, his proud purple robes now dull with dust. "This is not your place champion." He spoke horsely, massaging his throat with one hand.
"No it's not." Sara agreed with a nod of her head. "Imagine my surprise to be waylanded on the way to court by people desperately reporting assassins roving the district furthest from this courthouse. Only as I started searching the area and asked my guide a full account did I see the truth of the matter - he was hired by you, Senator Beckmann. If it wasn't for a back route through the royal gardens and a ride from my egi friend you just met, I could have missed a travesty - as I suspect I was meant to."
She leaned closer to Beckmann, but her voice was loud enough for the hall to hear. "It's the place of judges to pass sentence; not politicians, nor mob justice." She gestured at Fordola as whispers from the crowd rippled around the room. "Fordola rem Lupis is many things, but she now stands before the court to continue her account and for the judges to consider and pass judgement. I support this because the process is just, the judges are fair - and the sentence will bring dignity to Ala Mhigo, not shame."
Beckmann flinched away from the bite in the Warrior's tone but he stood his ground defiantly as he spoke back. "You may be a hero to our city, but you are not one of us, you are not Ala Mhigan - nor are you one of the Twelve."
Sara snorted at that and waved a hand dismissively. "Whatever one believes in the Twelve or any other God. I know we can all agree that some lives are taken far too needlessly." She leaned closer to Beckmann and only Fordola on the dais was close enough to hear her whisper to the senator. "You're done here."
"You are making a mistake, you'll regret this." Beckmann responded quietly, but he looked left and right to the royal guardsman who were staying well back from Sara and Fordola could see the cogs in his brain turning.
"I've mistakes aplenty, aye." Sara chuckled, taking another step closer to the senator, her tone dropping as she stepped back. "But regrets? Not so much."
Flicker,
The shadowy figure stood beside her, the white dead eyes staring from behind the iron mask. "If she wouldn't listen to me, the embodiment of good sense and pragmatism, then what hope could you possibly have?"
Fordola recognised that person, and that voice - a shiver ran down her spine.
"Will the senator withdraw?" Alphanaud had regained his voice as the other judges watched Sara Alexander now turn away, and walk back to the high table. Leaving a senator who seemed seized by indecision.
"Aye, but the orders of the duma still hold." Beckmann tried one last time, brandishing the letter like a shield. "We expect and request the death penalty for this traitor, I will stay to see justice carried out." He turned, and gestured at the royal guardsman who began moving to the back of the hall. After a moment to sweep his eyes over the crowd he made his way to the front row of the pews. A hyur, who was either keen to make the senators good graces, or had already seen enough, leapt out of his seat for the senator to take.
Fordola turned away, watching Sara who was now deep in conversation with the other judges, minus the seedseer who had calmly resumed her seat and was serenely staring off into the distance.
Fordola concentrated on the wisps of aether around the high table, the Admiral seemed...proud - she was a woman that valued action. Raubahn felt similarly, but it was tinged by a shame of the moment - and underneath an anger. Lyse was harder to read, she was speaking animatedly to the Warrior and gesturing at Beckmann and then looking to Alphinaud. Fordola suspected that Lyse wanted the senator and any agitators removed from the crowd but the white haired youth seemed unmoved by her demands.
Finally, Sara moved away from the judges table, with one last look at Fordola. 'Sorry I was late' her mind pushed gently against Fordola's before she moved to take the sparse, isolated chair off to one side marked for her use.
The noise of the crowd was building again and Alphinaud rapped the table smartly with his fist. "Let us resume afresh. Fordola rem Lupis, will you continue your account honestly, openly and omit no detail of the final siege of Ala Mhigo?"
"I will."
"We are particularly interested to hear any final discussions you had with Zenos on the day of the siege." Alphinaud continued. "If he took you into his confidence about his plans to use the captive primal, Shinryu to overcome the Warrior of Light and the alliance forces."
"To be honest." Fordola began, hearing a loud snort from Beckmann in the pews behind her. "I think Zenos was consumed by the thought of meeting your champion again." She indicated Sara unnecessarily. "He was consumed by a...a lust I suppose for battle, any interest he had in me by this point seemed dimmed by the fervour, the single-minded desire for battle, for carnage."
"And what was your part in the city's defence?" The Admiral asked bluntly.
"I was to break the alliance on the walls of Ala Mhigo." Fordola spoke the harsh, but true words. "I was to drag your Warrior of Light before Zenos, so that he could unleash the twisted science of Aulus mal Asina on her. I thought I could, but looking back now...I think the prince had already discarded me as a tool, along with every man, woman and child in the city of Ala Mhigo at that point."
"So tell us." Alphinaud spoke up. "Tell us of the final days of the Garlean occupation, your encounters, decisions and activities on the day. We will match the testimonies we have heard from many others to yours."
Fordola nodded, setting her heart. She had been a maelstrom of emotions on the day, full of regret and rage for her Crani Lupi, self-hatred and loathing - but also a desperate desire to prove herself, to Lord Zenos, and the Eorzean champion.
She stole a look at Sara who met her eyes firmly.
Flicker,
A massive, coiling dragon filled the sky, 'The heavens are too small a field for our dance!' The voice of Zenos yae Galvus filled the Warriors head as shades of other Warriors of Light stood alongside her. 'Let us transcend this mortal coil!'
Fordola broke the connection, ignoring the buzz in the head. She had to keep her head clear, what happened afterwards didn't matter. She had to tell herself that to go on.
She had to finish this and be done, perhaps then she would finally find something, anything to quench the ache in her heart. Even if it was in death at the hands of her own kinsmen.