The Phoenix Court Ch 12
In a booming voice that filled the hall, the King called for silence once more and announced that the witnesses would be brought forth to give their testimony. This was the moment Draco had been waiting for. He held his breath and sent up a silent prayer to the gods to be merciful. Please, please, provide us with the evidence we need to clear our names, he thought. Draco met his father's eyes and the older Malfoy nodded to his son. Draco could see the hope in his father's eyes. Gods be good…
A young woman was lead into the great hall with a member of the royal guard flanked on either side of her. She was dressed in the simple clothes of a scullery maid, and her gown and face were dirty from the time she spent in the dungeon. She trembled with every step she took and kept her face down. As she drew closer to him, Draco could hear that her breathing was ragged and she was sniveling as she barely contained her tears. He was surprised to find that mixed with his anger, he felt pity for her, he knew so well what it felt like to be brought so low.
As she stood before the king, the girl fell to her knees. The council looked upon the girl with a mixture of derision and doubt. The King's face remained impassive and he bid the girl to stand. When she stood, King Albus gave the girl a reassuring smile, "You will drink the veritaserum and answer the questions. Do you understand, child?"
The girl nodded and reached her hands out to take the vial of truth serum from master Severus, which she quickly drank down. The effect was instantaneous, a serene look filled her face and her eyes took on a vacant and impassive look.
"State your name for the court."
"Juno Lyttlewood"
"You are in the employ of the Malfoy family as a scullery maid, is that correct?"
"Yes."
"How long have you worked for the Malfoy family?"
"I've worked for the Malfoy family for two years, since my twelfth name day."
"You are now fourteen?"
"Yes."
"You confessed of your own free will to Lord Nott that you stole the seal bearing the crest of the house of Malfoy."
"Yes."
"Tell the court what you told Lord Nott."
"I didn't know that I was doing wrong. I was tricked. The kitchen boy, Col, told me the Lord wanted the seal. Col said that Lord Malfoy lost his seal and needed a new one. I didn't think it sounded right…Why send a kitchen boy and scullery maid to do the master's bidding?… But Col insisted, said I would get dismissed. He said they would lock me in the dungeon. I did what I was told and they still locked me in the dungeon…"
The girl's voice quivered with sorrow but she continued, "Col was the one who was plotting. He's always doing something bad. Punish him! Please, your majesty, he made me do it!"
The King motioned to one of his guards who handed the girl a piece of cloth to dry her eyes. The girl took deep breaths and soon she returned to that serene state.
"How did you know where to find the seals?"
"Lord Malfoy has the old seals he doesn't use on display in the library. I see them every morning when I go to light the fires. They are so pretty, I just like to stare at them sometimes."
"You said that the seal you stole was old and was not used by Lord Lucius Malfoy."
"Yes, it is just like I said, Lord Malfoy said those seals are only for display. It's also my job to clean them daily from the dust since they haven't been moved from that room. The seal that Lord Malfoy uses currently is kept somewhere I don't know."
"So when you were asked to take the seal you took one of the seals from the library."
"Yes, those were the only seals I knew of."
"Thank you, miss Lyttlewood. Those are all the questions we have for you. Please stand to the side."
The King motioned to the guardsmen at the entrance of the hall, "Bring in the next witness"
Two more guardsmen brought in a wiry looking young man. He wore a plain shirt and breeches that were spotted with dirt, indicating this man has also spent time in the dungeons. His hair was mussed and the guardsmen held either of his arms to lead him forward as he struggled against them. "Let me go! I'm innocent!"
He dug his heels into the ground but that only caused him to stumble and fall. The guards lifted him to his feet and forced him to move on. When he saw the scullery maid standing to the side, his face grew red with anger and he screamed at her, "Curse you, you lying bitch! Curse you and your family."
The guards threw him to the ground and he quickly sprang up to try and run but was caught almost instantly. The guards held onto his arms as he looked defiantly up at the King. "You will drink the veritaserum and answer the questions. Do you understand?"
"I'm not drinking anything you give me!" The man kicked up his feet to try and break free of the guards.
The king sighed and motioned to master Severus who moved forward with the veritaserum. The man spat at him but the scholar moved to the side to avoid the spittle. "Hold him still. Open his mouth," master Severus said in a dispassionate voice.
One guard took hold of both of the young man's arms, while the other forced his mouth open. Master Severus poured the clear liquid into the man's mouth and made sure he swallowed all of it. In a heartbeat the man's face took on the same serene look like the girl, he no longer struggled but the guards still held him.
"State your name for the court," the King said.
"My name is Nicholas Culpepper."
"You are also called "Col" is that correct?"
"Yes, I prefer it."
"You are a kitchen boy in the employ of the Malfoy Family, is this correct?"
"Yes."
"How long have you worked for the Malfoy family?"
"Five years."
"Did you order miss Lyttlewood to steal the seal for you?"
"Yes, I did tell her to take the seal. She was to keep her big mouth quiet."
"Why did you choose miss Lyttlewood to help you take the seal?"
"I didn't care who helped me to steal the seal as long as I could have it. I needed someone who knew the inside of the castle and where to go."
"It seems like you put a lot of thought into this. What were you going to use the seal for?"
"I wasn't going to use it for myself. I met a man at the pub when I went out drinking. When he found out I worked at castle Malfoy he said he would pay me a bag of galleons to steal the Malfoy seal for him. He told me he needed someone who had access to the castle."
"Do you know who this man was?"
"No, I never saw his face. He kept it covered by a cloak."
"Did the man tell you what he wanted with the seal?"
"He never told me anything like that just that he needed the seal."
"Are you still in contact with this man?"
"No, he disappeared after I gave him the seal."
At the man's words, the King turned away, "that will be all for the questioning. Guards, you will escort the witnesses back to the dungeons to await their sentencing."
The young man no longer struggled but the guards kept their hold on him as he was lead out of the great hall. The girl followed after from a distance, with the guards still flanked at her side. As they were being taken away the girl turned to cry out, "Please your majesty, have mercy. I didn't know what I was doing!" She began crying anew and her sobs echoed in the hallways until they slowly faded away.
Draco couldn't help but feel for the girl. Stealing was punishable with the loss of a finger or an ear, but in a serious case like this death wouldn't be unusual. The girl had been a pawn, frightened, and foolish. The heavier sentence would fall to the young man. He wondered at the young man's words, a cloaked figure… someone was conspiring against the house of Malfoy, but the true master was still a mystery. Nott and master Severus were investigating into the matter and now surely after the trial, the King would too.
King Albus's booming voice once again filled the hall, "The council and I will deliberate on the evidence presented by the Prince, Lord Malfoy, and the witnesses. The court will adjourn for the day and reconvene for the verdict tomorrow. Escort the prince and Lord Malfoy back to their apartments."
Draco let out a deep breath, he raised his eyes to the King, staring intently at him as he and the council disappeared into a room adjacent to the great hall. Please, he thought, please. The courtier's eyes followed him as he and his father we being led out of the great hall. The courtiers buzzed like bees, whispering to each other. Draco tried his best to block out their noise. He didn't want to know what they thought, all he cared about was what the King and council thought.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hermione. Her expression regretful but purposeful, he could tell she wanted to speak to him. She tried to move toward him, to catch him before he left, but her mother grabbed her arm and pulled her back. He felt a spark of anger but he crushed it and pushed it deep down inside his heart. He told himself he didn't care.
His mother had been in attendance and walked back with her husband and son. She took Draco's hand in hers and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "All will be well, my dragon," she whispered to him.
Once they returned to their apartments Draco felt like he could breathe again. He told himself the worst was over but he wasn't prepared for the agony of waiting. His father and mother retired to their rooms. But he continued his pacing, back and forth. His mind played out all the possibilities, innocence, guilt, imprisonment, and death. He shuddered, please don't let it come to that.
As the day faded into evening, a servant announced that master Severus had come to speak to him. He met the scholar in his study. "Thank you for your help, master." Draco bowed his head to the older man, "I would be lost without your help and Nott's and Zabini's."
"You have been a fine prince. I would hate to see your head on a spike."
Draco tried to laugh but couldn't quite bring himself to find the humor in the situation. "Do you think we will be found innocent?"
"The testimony of the servants helped. Of course, certain members of the council will point out the fallibility of veritaserum."
Draco sighed and cradled his face in his hands. Of course, there would be opportunistic council members who saw this as the perfect opportunity to get rid of a powerful rival.
Master Severus continued, "although I am impressed. For someone as arrogant as you, your highness, your show of humility was perfect."
"It wasn't a show, not this time. I was in earnest. I will find out who did this to us and Prince Harry. They will pay with their life, you can rest assured."
"What a kind and devoted brother. I don't doubt your resolve. I hope that I will never be at the end of your wand, my prince."
"You have nothing to worry about, master. But tell me, have you made any headway into your investigation on that cloaked man?"
"Not yet. We don't have much information about him. We started by investigating the gold he gave to the kitchen boy. The coins are older and definitely Alban gold. The coins were minted when Armando Dippet was just crowned king, as we can tell by the images on the coins. The cloaked man is an agent working with our enemy. I believe the true master is someone from this country or connected to someone in this country. They have a lot of wealth, possibly they are of the nobility. We've been asking around the local pub that kitchen boy frequented and some people have seen that cloaked figure. He had been skulking around town for a few months."
"Did you speak to the innkeeper?"
"We did but the innkeeper doesn't know anything beyond the fact that the man was rich. The cloaked man kept to his rooms when he wasn't at the pub. He never saw his face. We will keep investigating, my prince."
"Thank you, master Severus. See if we can interrogate that kitchen boy too. Find out what else he knows about this cloaked figure, his voice, his manner of speaking, anything that might give us insight into who he is."
"Very well, my prince." Master Severus bowed and took his leave.
Draco was once again left with his thoughts. He wanted to go outside, go flying, nothing could ease his mind like racing around the sky on his broomstick. He realized he took the easy freedoms he once had for granted.
Close to the midnight hour, an owl tapped at his window. Curiosity ran through him, surely master Severus couldn't have found new information so quickly. He recognized the bird as the tawny owl that delivered Hermione's letter to him. A shock of anger hit him, what could she want to say to him now? He stared at the letter, torn between opening it and not. He thought about Hermione's laughter, her sweet kisses, and the deep brown eyes he lost himself in so many times. He thought of those eyes turning to hatred and his hand stilled. No, he didn't want to see that. This time he didn't bother burning her letter, he sent it back unopened.
Draco spent his night tossing and turning in bed. He had only managed to sleep for a few restless hours and once again woke up as the first rays of light started to shine over the horizon. Today was the day.
Draco didn't leave his chamber until the servant announced that the time to hear the verdict had arrived. The Malfoys left their apartments together to meet their future in the great hall. All eyes were on them, but Draco saw nothing. The world melted away and all he could see was the King, seated on his throne with the council members surrounding him.
He and his father bowed low before the King. When they rose, Draco saw a bright twinkle in the King's eye. "Esteemed members of the court. The council and I have given much thought to the testimony and evidence presented to us. We have reviewed the evidence presented to us and we have decided that Prince Draco Malfoy and his father Lord Lucius Malfoy are innocent of the crime of plotting the assassination of prince harry. The young girl, Juno Lyttlewood was also found to be a pawn in this scheme and is likewise innocent. Nicholas Culpepper will lose an ear for his part in the plot, although minor, he did conspire and succeed in stealing from his employer. That is all, this court is adjourned."
Draco felt weak with relief. He felt tired like he had just fought in a duel. His hands were shaking, but he was found innocent. He was free. He threw his arms around his father and embraced him. The two Malfoy men were joined by Lady Malfoy and their friends and supporters. The greens would celebrate tonight.