Birth and Re-Death

Chapter 51: Halidom v. Belmont, Part 3: The Junior Khan's Stand

I am wearing my black suit today. The brown suit has been forcibly retired, so I guess I just have to risk looking a little like a villain today.

I take the stand per Maribelle's instructions and prepare to be questioned.

"Mr. Belmont," Maribelle says, "I realize that you may desire to keep parts of your past a secret. I respect that desire. But this court must determine the likelihood that your past may have informed your decision to join the Shepherds, for better or worse. Recall that you are under sworn oath. Before you joined the Shepherds, before you came to Ylisse, where were you from?"

I sigh. I was hoping that I would be able to tell everyone about this on my own terms someday, when I felt fully ready. But maybe this is okay. I've even managed to earn the trust of Frederick the Wary. Maybe it's time to rely on that trust.

"This is going to be hard to grasp immediately, but it is the truth. I come from a place called the United States of America. Don't bother asking where that is, because it's nowhere in this world. It's a country in another world entirely, a world that exists in a place that, to my knowledge, can't be reached from here."

A quick glance around the gallery shows pretty much what I expected: widespread confusion.

"It can't be reached from here?" Maribelle asks.

"Yes. Which, I know, makes it confusing how I got here. But the fact is, I have no idea how I ended up here. I just… woke up one day, sitting at a bar in Southtown. I had a staff, and my old robes, and a pack of supplies. But I had no recollection of getting those items, and in all the time I've been here, I've never met anyone who saw me before the day I met Chrom and the others. As far as I know, whatever force brought me from America to Ylisse also gave me that stuff."

Maribelle looks momentarily at Robin as she says, "Well, amnesia is certainly nothing new to the Shepherds, so that much isn't impossible to believe." She returns her gaze to me. "Still, the fact that you at least knew enough about this world to spin a yarn about being from Valm is telling. Can you explain that?"

"Sure. America, as well as the other countries from my world, collects knowledge not just from its own history, but from the stories of thousands of other lands. The history of this world was known to many thousands, probably millions, of people from my world. I was one of the people who found this world captivating, so I knew a fair amount about it."

Every time I finish a thought, it seems like it has to sink into the air, like a rock descending through molasses. I'm trying to keep some of the details out of my description to cut down on the possibility of giving someone an existential crisis, but I don't know how much it's helping.

"Your world… watches ours?" Maribelle asks.

"Well, we get some highlights. There was a lot about the Hero-King Marth, for example, or about the Saint-King Alm. Compared to those times in history, we got a good deal less about the modern era here, but I still had enough knowledge to cobble together a half-baked story." There. That's not a lie, but I don't want to get into my future knowledge in front of the court. For one thing, it's liable to cause a meltdown in the gallery somewhere. And two, more importantly, if Grima's got someone watching us, the last thing I want is for proof of my future knowledge to be on court record. "And I want to be clear: yes, I was deliberately dishonest about my origins when I joined the Shepherds. But I was motivated mostly by concern that I would fail to explain myself properly and come across as a lunatic. It was always my hope that eventually I'd be able to be open about this."

"So unlike your counsel, you retain your memories of your previous life?" Maribelle asks.

"For the most part, yes. But there's a big, really important gap right in the middle of it: how and why I left that world to come to this one."

"And you were familiar with the Shepherds before you came here?"

This is a question I have to be a little more careful about answering. The Shepherds are a young group. I don't want to say too much and give my future knowledge away. "I was aware of Chrom and the Exalted family," I say.

Maribelle thinks a moment before asking, "Were you familiar with the Patriots?"

I shake my head. "I was unaware of anything like the Patriots. Everything I have seen involving them has been utterly unfamiliar to me."

"I want to make sure I am clear on exactly when you first became acquainted with the group," Maribelle says with a frown. "As many questions as your… revelation has raised, the matter before this court is the question of whether you ever acted against the halidom. So, when did you first encounter the Patriots?"

"Well, that's kind of a tricky question. As a group, the first time I met them or was familiarized with their goals was when I was kidnapped and brought to the Osprey villa. But in retrospect, I had met several of their members much earlier, among them Commander Phila, Lord Aventine Ferreider, General Mustafa Issachar, and a former Plegian wyvern captain named Vasto."

"And these were the leaders of the group?"

"Yeah, pretty much. Mustafa's wife Octavia also had a lot of sway over the group after Mustafa was killed," but she rarely used it."

"Well, let's recenter ourselves," Maribelle says. "What happened when you were taken from the battlefield at the Anchorage estate?"

It seems like a lifetime ago now, but I still remember it well. "I found myself fastened to the back of Vasto, who was the one who lifted me off the battlefield. I assumed he was working with Gangrel and taking me to Plegia, but he told me he wasn't working with Gangrel. He said he was working to bring about General Mustafa's vision, but his group needed me to do it."

"Why did they need you?"

"Firstly, they needed a healer. I was taken to the Osprey villa, where I got reacquainted with Aventine. Aventine explained that the group was in dire straits without Mustafa and most of his men, so they needed someone who could keep what little forces they had in good health. On top of that, they knew I was a Shepherd. They wanted me to provide them with inside information on the group. Essentially, they hoped that I would turn traitor against the Shepherds. Either that, or I would starve."

"Well, clearly you didn't starve to death," Maribelle says. "Does that mean you cooperated with them?

"That's sort of a complicated question. Right from the beginning, it seemed like Aventine didn't just want me to cooperate. He wanted me to agree with him. He wanted to convince me to agree with their cause. But this desire to, I guess you could say, gain my approval meant that I had a certain degree of leverage with the group right away."

"Leverage? Can you elaborate?" Maribelle asks.

"I told him that any assistance I might provide their group was predicated on a few hard conditions. First and foremost, that no one in the Shepherds or their families would ever come to any harm because of the Patriots' actions. Second, that I would be informed of everything the Patriots were doing so I could make sure the first condition was being observed. And third, that I be allowed to contact the Shepherds."

Danica stands up for the first time in my questioning. "None of your conditions pertained to the Feroxi?" she asks.

I glare at her. "As far as I'm concerned, the Feroxi army are part of the Shepherds. We didn't discuss it explicitly, but if I had been asked something like 'what about the Feroxi?' my answer would have been that the entire Feroxi army was just as off-limits as the Ylisseans."

"How did Aventine react to these conditions?" Maribelle interjects.

"He agreed to the first two conditions, but not the third. I was forced to use Phila and go behind Aventine's back to get a message to the Shepherds."

"At the time you negotiated these terms of your cooperation, were you aware of the goals of this group?" Maribelle asks.

"Yeah. Aventine told me that the Patriots wanted to reformat the governments of both Ylisse and Plegia to be republics, governments where the rulers are elected by a vote of the citizens of each respective country. They wanted the Plegian royal family and the Ylissean Exalts taken out of power."

"Did you agree with these goals?" Maribelle asks.

I want to be careful about this. "I was… sympathetic, I guess. After the war that ended sixteen years ago, I could understand those who were still bitter about the concept of the Exalt. And wanting a republic is nobler than wanting to just take power for yourself. But I also got to know the Exalted family better than anyone in the Patriots. I know the halidom is in great hands with them. I think this country needs the Exalt, and I thought so then, too. So I played the part of a sympathetic ear. I wanted to make it seem like I was giving Aventine what he wanted."

"What would you gain by doing this?"

"Greater sway in the organization. I didn't know much about this group aside from what the group had told me about itself, which I obviously wasn't going to blindly trust. The only way to ensure that the group was keeping to its word and not making any moves against the alliance was to at least be on good enough terms with them that they'd keep me updated on what was going on."

"What was your end goal in doing all this? Were you hoping to escape?" Maribelle asks.

"If an opportunity presented itself, yes. But it took a long time for that to happen. As much as Aventine acted like my biggest fan, Vasto was much more skeptical. Which, considering I cut off his arm and leg back when we fought the Plegians at Breakneck Pass, I can understand. But he had a mage by the name of Henry under orders to kill me if I ever tried to bail. Between the two of them, I was pretty much always under watch. I was never sure whether other members of the Patriots had similar orders to kill me if I tried to escape, but I knew at least about those two," I say.

"What were you doing for the Patriots in the meantime?"

"Mostly I was healing their wounded in the early days of my captivity. I got acquainted with some of the Patriots, trying to gain a rapport with them. This was when I got on Phila's good side enough that she agreed to send a message to Robin on my behalf. In reality, the message was a coded signal to Robin where I was being held. I later learned that Phila really had delivered the message, and that Robin had been able to work out its hidden meaning. It was only the siege that prevented her from making any moves to rescue me." I glance at Robin and see her staring at the tabletop shamefully.

I go on. "After a while, I started joining them on missions to drive Plegian soldiers out of occupied towns and cities in the southwest. Our first mission that I went on was to a town called Etzelsfort. I agreed to go on this mission because Aventine told me it would be a critical reinforcement outpost for the Plegian forces occupying Ylisstol. In other words, Aventine ordered this mission specifically to help the alliance."

"Did you suspect that he was really motivated by gaining your trust?" Maribelle asks.

"Of course. That was the first thing I thought. The mission didn't actually make me trust Aventine any more than I had before. But when we went there, the town really was occupied by Plegian soldiers, and we really did kill them. It didn't get Aventine what he wanted, but I sure wasn't going to waste the opportunity to help the Shepherds even while in captivity, and if my cooperation meant we would keep going on appeasement missions like this, so much the better."

Robin rises from her chair. "I'd like to remind the court that despite General Campari's promise of incoming reinforcements, there was never any reinforcement aid for the Plegian soldiers throughout the entire siege."

Danica rises. "Objection! Is there a question in there for Mr. Belmont somewhere, Ms. Robin?"

Maribelle nods. "Sustained. Robin, please only interject to ask Mr. Belmont questions about his testimony."

Robin sits down, irritatedly grumbling to herself.

I shrug slightly. "I can't speak for what happened at the siege. But from that point forward, I was pretty much in with the leaders of the movement. That was when I was given that blue coat that I was wearing when I came back to the Shepherds. It was supposed to be like a symbol for the movement."

"I want to ask you about that coat," Maribelle says. "The Osprey family crest is on that coat, correct?"

"Yes."

"It seems as though the Patriots essentially had the run of the villa while you were held there. That much could be explained by them simply having taken over the place. But why was the crest sewn into the coat that was meant to serve as a symbol of the Patriots?"

I take a deep breath. I was pretty sure this was going to come up, but it doesn't make it any easier to tell her. Still, perhaps this is for the best, just getting the truth out there. "Because the primary financial backer of the Patriots is Lord Hadrian Osprey." Some murmurs spread through the gallery. "He allowed the Patriots to operate out of the villa reluctantly, as he mostly preferred to just send them money from a safe distance, but after Mustafa was captured, the group was in dire need, and his home got forcibly volunteered as the new headquarters."

Maribelle closes her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose and taking a slow breath. "How do you know this for sure?" she asks.

"Because Lord Hadrian greeted me the day I was brought to the villa by Vasto, and he attempted to persuade me to provide information about the Shepherds to Aventine. Later, he had that coat designed as, in my estimation, a sort of bribe to keep me cooperative." I pause for a moment. "In fairness, it is a really nice coat. But yeah. He all but confirmed when I asked about it that he wanted me out there doing valiant deeds for the Patriot cause while wearing the Osprey family crest, essentially acting as a walking advertisement for the family."

"Why was he working for the Patriots in the first place?" Maribelle asks, her lividity barely restrained.

"He was hoping that it would give the Osprey family a better place in the new system when the old nobility had been otherwise cast out of power. I think he believed that by funding this group while keeping them at arm's length, he could sort of hedge his bets and come out on top whether the Patriots won or lost. He didn't anticipate having to get so directly involved in their activities."

She's silent for many painful seconds. Finally she speaks. "So, you accepted this coat."

"Well, sure. It was obviously a bribe, but it was a good piece of equipment. Anyway, I kept wearing it into battle, and we kept clearing the Plegian occupiers out of the southwest provinces. We had a good thing going, and I was starting to feel pretty good about my situation. Obviously, I would have preferred being back with the Shepherds, but I was making the most of a bad situation. I was connecting with the sort of rank and file types in the Patriots, and I came to realize that most of them are good people who are just scared of tyranny. I was starting to grow in influence not just for Aventine, but for the others as well."

"Did these people know you were there against your will?" Danica asks.

"To be honest, it never came up. I think they must have known, because none of them ever asked what a Shepherd was doing in their organization. I think they knew."

"Did you ever ask them to help you escape?" Danica asks.

"No, I didn't."

"Why not?"

I don't have an answer right away. I don't want to say what came into my head first, but I feel like I have no choice but to say it. If I don't tell the truth, this is all for nothing.

"Because they were my friends. Some of them were, anyway. There was a group of about five of them that were always kind to me. Maybe if I had asked them to help me, I could have made an attempt at escaping. But then they might have been killed trying to get me to safety. My freedom was important, but not more important than the lives of the people I had come to think of as friends."

Danica asks one more question. "Why, if they knew you were being held against your will and did nothing to help you, did you consider them your friends?"

The question hurts to hear. But I have an answer. "Because I was desperate. I was alone, and afraid, and at least getting to pretend I had friends was better than facing every day surrounded by enemies I was forced to help. It was all a pale imitation of what I have with the Shepherds, but it was something. And because despite the cognitive dissonance required to break bread with your kidnapping victim, I do believe these were good people."

I turn back to Maribelle. "Anyway, the other reason I felt okay about my situation was because I had faith that Robin would work out my hidden message and come to save me. But that was going to change pretty quickly, because as soon as I got used to my situation, Aventine threw a wrench into it. He told us that we were going to be moving east and setting up shop in Southtown. He said that the Patriots have a habit of moving headquarters every few months to evade any potential pursuers.

"He said that Southtown was occupied by Plegians, and once we had expelled them, we would try to win over the townsfolk to the Patriots' cause. He told me that convincing the townsfolk was going to be my job. That neither he nor Vasto were qualified for such a public-facing job. I told him that I would placate the townsfolk on the condition that I be allowed to do so in disguise. I didn't want my face associated with the movement if I was going to be roped into this."

"Was this disguise the white mask the other witnesses saw at the negotiations at the Osprey villa?" Maribelle asks.

"I don't know. I never saw that guy. But it was a white mask, yeah. Pretty featureless, just covered my face. He gave the mask to me as we made our way east.

"The plan was to take a bunch of Plegian members of the Patriots, dress them in soldiers' clothes, and pretend to be a supply caravan passing through for the night. We would identify who the commanding officers were, then the next day, we would assassinate their leaders at the same time that a larger force emerged from the west to overwhelm the enemy. We figured a mix of a sudden attack coupled with losing their leadership suddenly would be enough to take over the town."

I look uneasily at the khans, sitting in the front row behind the prosecutor's table. "What we didn't realize was that we weren't the only ones who had thought of disguising ourselves as Plegian soldiers. When we entered the town, the six of us were immediately taken into custody. The man in charge, a soldier named Regulus, revealed that the town was already liberated from Plegia and had been taken by Feroxi forces.

"Obviously, I was elated. The Feroxi were my allies. I finally had a chance to get back to the Shepherds. All I had to do was convince the soldiers that I was on their side. I thought I was going to get the chance to do just that when Regulus started interrogating us one by one. I could tell him the truth without revealing to the other Patriots that it was my intention to escape. More importantly, now that I knew the Feroxi were the ones occupying the town, not the Plegians, I had to make sure the Feroxi were made aware of the danger that was coming for them when the main Patriot force arrived the next day. I had this one chance to avert the coming bloodshed.

"But Regulus was strange. He acted like he just didn't believe me when I told him who I was, and he just kept demanding more information about the coming Patriot attack. Now like I said, I was more than willing to give him that information, but then he'd just ignore everything I said about me being a Shepherd. I don't know if he really just didn't believe me, or if he was just cruel, or what. I tried to tell him to stop the battle by telling the Patriots that he and his men were Feroxi, not Plegian, but I couldn't even tell if he was listening at that point. I was just taken back to the holding cell with everyone else and could do nothing except wait for the next day."

"So this Captain Regulus was apprised not only of your status as a Shepherd, but also of the coming attack force?" Maribelle asks.

"Yes. I was absolutely clear on both points."

"Did any other Feroxi hear what you told him?" Maribelle asks.

"No, it was just him. I figured what would happen is that he would set up ambushes for the coming Patriots, then trounce them and see that I was right and that I had cooperated fully. But then, like I told Regulus it would, the Patriot fighting force came in. I don't know much of what happened on the surface, because we were being held underground, but what I do know is that it was a bloodbath on both sides. Almost all of the Feroxi were slaughtered, but so were several dozen Patriots. I wasn't sure what to expect until one of the Patriots came down and freed us from our prison. I went and got my weapons that had been taken from me, and I put on my white mask.

"I realized that I finally had an opportunity to escape. I couldn't join the battle. Obviously, I wasn't going to start attacking Feroxi soldiers. But if I had joined and started fighting Patriots, I worried that both sides would see me as an enemy and kill me for sure. So I decided to take the chance to try to get to Ylisstol and regroup with the Shepherds instead."

"So you tried to escape after all," Maribelle more says than asks.

"Yeah. I was ashamed to run, but the only Feroxi that I had managed to tell I was on his side seemed either not to believe me or not to care. I remembered the way from Southtown to Ylisstol, and I figured I could make that journey while staying hidden.

"I didn't account for the fact that Vasto had been watching. He caught up to me on his wyvern, disarmed me, and forced me to come back to Southtown and start healing the wounded. He also told me that if I didn't follow through on placating the townsfolk that he would cut me down himself. I appeared before the crowd in my mask, which I guess you could call the first public appearance of Thomas Paine, though I wouldn't think of the name until later."

"Hold on," Maribelle says. "You named Thomas Paine?"

"Yeah," I admit ashamedly. "I wasn't about to call myself by my own name. So that's how things pretty much went from that day forward. Vasto would never let me out of his sight and never let a weapon enter my hands, and I was forced to act in the role of peacemaker after we would take out the Plegian soldiers in a town. I'd do some speech to assure everyone that we meant them no harm, then we would leave a couple Patriots to oversee the town and leave with the rest of the group for the next town or to head back to Southtown. And that was how the name Thomas Paine got spread around like wildfire."

"So even as Thomas Paine, you never fought anyone?" Maribelle asks.

"I wasn't trusted with a weapon anymore. Well, my healing staff had a blade hidden inside of it, but Vasto didn't know that. Other than that, I was only allowed a weapon when the two of us would spar."

"He sparred with you?" Maribelle raises a brow.

"I didn't realize this until later, but I had gotten inside his head by then too. He considered me a friend, despite, you know, having kidnapped me twice. Unfortunately, sparring with him proved that even with one arm and one leg, the man is an absolute beast in combat, and for the longest time, I couldn't beat him ever. Plus, his wyvern Kinba and the dark mage Henry would watch our sessions, so even if I had overpowered Vasto, I would have been eaten, cursed to death, or both. But yes, during this time, I did grow stronger. And I almost always wore the mask. In the end, more people in the Patriots knew Thomas Paine than had ever known Randall Belmont.

"The next big change came when Marth, the mysterious girl in blue, came to my rescue. Or, well, she tried to. Henry spotted and captured her, but once she was in captivity, I revealed who was under Thomas Paine's mask to her. Together, she and I managed to convince Vasto to let me go."

"You just… convinced him?" Maribelle asks.

I shrug. "What can I say? I'm a charmer. But really, like I said before, I had gotten inside his head more than he let on. The guilt of keeping me in captivity was weighing on him, and I guess things just came to a head while we were arguing about what to do about Marth. I challenged him to a duel, and if I won, he would release us both. He accepted, and I won. So Marth and I left Southtown."

"Where did you go?"

"Well, the last we had heard, the Shepherds had succeeded in driving the Plegians out of Ylisstol, so we thought that was the best choice. When we got there, though, the gates were closed. The guard informed us that while the Shepherds were out of the city, the gates would remain closed. It took some convincing, but the west gate guard eventually told us where everyone had gone: to Themis, to negotiate peace terms with Gangrel.

"There's not much more to tell. We moved as fast as we could to get to the Osprey villa, but by the time we arrived, the negotiations had already been sabotaged. We moved on to the Border Pass, and we entered the battle to defeat Gangrel. The rest you already know."

"So you maintain that you were probably near Ylisstol when the negotiations were taking place?" Maribelle asks.

"Most likely. We weren't exactly checking our calendars as we went, but by the time we arrived at the villa, the Shepherds had already been gone for days."

"And you don't know anything about the person who assassinated Commander Phila and General Campari?"

"Nothing except that he apparently knew Thomas Paine's appearance well enough to imitate it." I decide to leave all the theorizing that Robin and I have been doing about that man's identity for when we're not in the middle of a trial for my life.

"What happened to the mask that you wore as Thomas Paine?"

"I left it in Southtown with Aventine. That's the last I ever saw it," I say.

It feels like the entire courtroom takes a very long, very slow breath after I finish my testimony.

Maribelle clears her throat. "Counselors, do you have anything further?"

Robin stands up. "Randall, was there ever a point during your time with the Patriots where you felt you could have gotten away from them unharmed with reasonable certainty?"

"Not until Vasto finally conceded and let me go, no," I reply.

"At any point, did you raise a blade to any person from Ylisse?" she asks.

"No, I didn't."

"Did you ever raise a blade to someone from Regna Ferox?"

"No, I didn't."

"Have you ever used dark magic that allows you to shoot a spike up through the floor to impale a target?"

"Never. I am not even aware of a tome that can do that."

"On the first of March, were you at the Osprey family villa?"

"No, I was still on the road at that time."

"I have nothing further." Robin sits back down.

Maribelle looks at Danica. "Ms. Miller?"

She stands. "Why did the Patriots treat you so favorably throughout your time with them? You were their prisoner, yet by the sounds of things, you had free rein about the villa."

Robin stands. "Objection! Calls for speculation as to the motives of his kidnappers, which he couldn't possibly know."

Maribelle looks at me. "Did anything Lord Aventine or anyone else did indicate why you were given so much leeway to move around within the organization?"

"Octavia Issachar, General Mustafa's wife, told me that it was because I was being groomed to be essentially the replacement Mustafa after his death." I remember with mixed feelings the context of what was happening when she told me that. "They had Aventine's tactics, Vasto's skill on the battlefield, Octavia's talent as a blacksmith, and Lord Hadrian's, well, money. But without Mustafa, they had lost the element of charisma to make people cooperate with them. That was the role they wanted me to fill for them. As for why I was given so much room to move around, I think they were going for a more carrot-over-stick approach. Maybe they figured that since I wasn't from Ylisse, that my loyalty to the Shepherds wouldn't be as strong as others'. I couldn't say."

Maribelle nods. "Very well. Anything further?"

Robin stands. "None, Your Honor."

Danica stands. "Same here, Your Honor."

"Very well. You may be seated, Mr. Belmont."

With shaking legs, I rise and return to the table. I try to focus on my breathing, as if I were meditating, to allow myself to calm down. That was it. Aside from the gate guards testifying about when they saw me, that was our whole case. Without the others here to testify, Maribelle will just have to hopefully take my word for it. And that'll in turn have to be good enough for the khans.

Maribelle takes some time to sort through everything she's been writing as I testified. "Well," she says as she compiles her notes, "you certainly gave us a great deal to consider, Mr. Belmont." A weak chuckle from the gallery.

Finally, she looks at us. "Defense, I believe you have witnesses to call?"

Robin nods. "Correct, Your Honor. Defense calls Ulrich Sar, member of the city guard, to the stand."

Without his armor, I don't really recognize the guy. It's fortunate that he remembered me, at least. He sits down at the witness stand. Maribelle swears him in.

When that's done, Robin asks him about his job and confirms that he was the guard of the south gate at the time that Lucina and I met him. He recounts that we tried to get into the city, he stopped us, and we went around the west side of the city to try to get in that way. He doesn't remember the exact date of this exchange, but he says it was "roundabout the end of February, beginning of March." He testifies that he told us that the Shepherds had been gone for days already, but that if we wanted more information, we'd need to ask the west gate guard. After that's done, he's excused.

The second witness to be called is Kirk Bartrand, the west gate guard. After he's sworn in and testified about his employment, the real questions begin.

"Tell me what happened on or about the first of March," Robin says.

"Well, I was just guarding the gate, as usual, when a pair of travelers approached from around the south side of the city. Looked like they'd walked all the way around from the south gate," he says.

"And they were walking? No mounts of any kind?" Robin asks.

"Nope. Didn't even have packs. Both of em looked like they'd been on the road awhile. They had that beaten down, haven't bathed in a while and haven't been eating right look to em. But they wanted to know where the Shepherds were going."

"Did you tell them?" Robin asks.

He nods. "Yup. Told them that the Shepherds had gone off to Themis to go negotiate for peace with Gangrel."

"What happened after that?"

"They left right afterward and started heading west. I didn't see either of them again until the Shepherds came back."

"Is either of those people here today?" Robin asks.

"Yeah. That guy next to you is definitely the guy that came to the gate." He glances around the gallery. "Don't see his companion here today, though."

Robin sits down again. "Your witness," she says to Danica.

Danica stands up and goes in front of the panel. "Mr. Bartrand, I want to ask why you volunteered this information to Mr. Belmont and this Marth woman. Were these not the confidential plans of the Shepherds you were telling them?"

"Well, they said they were Shepherds themselves. I thought it was smarter to just tell em," he replies defiantly.

"So when they told you they were Shepherds, what proof did they provide to back up their claim?" Danica asks.

Kirk glances at Robin. I don't know what look she's giving him behind me, but I watch fear enter his eyes. He looks back at Danica. "They were just convincing, alright? They said they were Shepherds, and I thought they looked familiar, so I believed em."

"They looked familiar? Where had you seen them before?"

"I don't know! I just had a feeling like they were Shepherds, that's all."

"You had a feeling?" Danica asks skeptically.

"Yes!" He looks stranded up there.

Danica sighs. "Nothing further, Your Honor."

Maribelle says, "You may step down, Mr. Bartrand."

Kirk returns to the gallery and, with Ulrich, leaves the courthouse. Even our own witnesses don't really care about the outcome of this case. Which, considering I just revealed my American origins to the court, is probably for the best.

Maribelle looks at Danica. "Ms. Miller, have you witnesses to call?"

Danica stands up. "I do, Your Honor. The prosecution calls Gloria Hemper to the stand." She looks behind her at one of the guards standing by the door to the courthouse and nods. He leaves silently.

The guard returns moments later, leading a woman in manacles up the aisle of the courthouse. She's dressed in the drab black clothes issued to prisoners in the palace dungeon. Gloria has long, jet black hair, and intense eyes. She glares at me as she passes, which is weird, because I'm pretty sure I've never met this person. No idea what she's pissed at me about.

When she takes the stand, the guard who led her there removes her manacles, and she stretches her arms out and above her head. Maribelle swears her in.

Danica steps toward the witness stand. "Ms. Hemper, can you tell the court who you are?"

Gloria's voice is as sharp as her eyes, carrying a naturally accusing tone even when speaking normally. "My name is Gloria Hemper, and I am a member of the Ylissean royal guard in the pegasus knight corps headed by, until recently, Commander Phila."

That explains a lot. Certainly explains why she isn't my biggest fan.

"You were a member of the Patriots, were you not?" Danica asks.

"That's right," Gloria says. "Commander Phila was part of that group, so all of us were as well. Though it wasn't called the Patriots when we last were with the group. That name was coined later."

"You were aware of Mr. Belmont's presence in the Patriots, though?"

"Yes. The royal guard was aware of him."

"Do you have any insight as to why they selected him specifically to be their target for kidnapping?" Danica asks.

"There was a rumor that Randall just knew more about things than he was supposed to. There were things that people thought were secret that he just happened to be aware of. He knew that Aventine was a Patriot from the moment they met, I heard. He also knew he had an arrangement with Vasto to take him safely into 'custody' to be delivered to Patriot headquarters."

Robin rises. "Objection! Do you have any substantiation for these rumors? This is worse than hearsay!"

"What I just told you was secondhand. But I also heard directly from Commander Phila that Randall knew that Exalt Emmeryn was going to be kidnapped when she returned to Ylisstol from Breakneck Pass. Commander Phila said Randall had given Exalt Emmeryn something before they left. Some sort of magic tool that was supposed to help save her."

Robin stands up again. "Objection! What does any of this have to do with whether Randall was involved in either of the tragedies in Southtown and at the Villa Osprey?"

Danica replies, "If Mr. Belmont had all this information, why was it not shared with the Shepherds? Furthermore, why was it shared with the Patriots?"

"By the time Randall met the Patriots, Exalt Emmeryn had already been kidnapped and subsequently saved! There was nothing of strategic value in that knowledge anymore, even if he did provide it to them."

"But there would have been strategic value to it if he had informed the Shepherds before Exalt Emmeryn left in the first place, no?" Danica counters.

Maribelle looks at me. "Mr. Belmont, I want your input. Did you know that Exalt Emmeryn was going to be kidnapped before she left the Shepherds at Breakneck Pass?"

I feel stuck. My mouth won't move. What can I possibly say? She's not even lying. But this isn't the right time or place to reveal my future knowledge. Maribelle's eyes bore into mine. Do I really have no choice but to perjure myself, or else reveal everything?

There's a commotion outside. Muffled shouting behind the closed doors. Everything stops to refocus on this new interruption. Please, for God's sake, tell me it isn't another Risen invasion.

The doors fling open. A guard stands there, looking at a loss for words. "Y-Your Honor, I don't, uh…"

"What is it, soldier?" Maribelle asks. "Speak!"

"It's Thomas Paine, ma'am. He's here."

"He's what?" Maribelle asks, flabbergasted.

The soldier gets out of the way, and sure enough, behind him stands a man in a white, unmarked mask, flanked on either side by city guards holding his upper arms tightly.

"He just flew in out of nowhere, ma'am. A man in black on a wyvern dropped him off and flew away before we could even try to bring the beast down."

Hold on. A man in black on a wyvern? Is that..?

"Good afternoon, all," the man behind the mask says, confirming my suspicions. I'd recognize that smug voice anywhere. "I hope I'm not interrupting." He walks in, the guards holding onto him but letting him advance down the aisle.

Aside from the mask, he seems to have put some effort into looking the part otherwise. Instead of his usual green garb, he's wearing a long blue coat, and as he passes me to approach Maribelle, I can see it's got her family crest stitched into the shoulders. I'd be surprised if the coat is lacquered on the interior, but it's hard to tell.

"I've come to turn myself in, Judge Osprey," he says simply.

"Who are you?" she demands. "Remove that mask at once."

"Of course, Your Honor," he says. He pulls off the mask, then turns around so everyone can see. A few gasps in the gallery behind me.

Aventine, what the hell are you doing?

"Lord Aventine, what are you turning yourself in for?" Maribelle asks.

"Well I should think it quite obvious," he says, turning back to face her, his fists clenched at his sides. "For inciting a rebellion against the Exalted family. For kidnapping Randall and forcing him at the point of a sword to work for my organization. For conspiring to assassinate numerous public officials, including all three of Exalt Gideon's children."

Maribelle looks at a loss for a long moment. Finally, she looks at Gloria. "Ms. Hemper, please step down. Guards, please escort her back to her cell for now." The guards rush to manacle her and usher her out of the room while Aventine takes her place on the stand.

"Lord Aventine, do you swear, in the sight of the divine dragon Naga, and on pain of penalty of perjury, to tell the truth in all matters while you are testifying?" Maribelle asks.

"Of course," he replies.

"Lord Aventine, there are going to be a great many questions to be asked when you are brought on charges for your own crimes. But the matter before this court is Mr. Belmont's alleged crimes. Your testimony today is to be kept limited to matters pertaining to that. Is that clear?" Maribelle asks sternly, clearly not feeling fully in control of the situation.

"As you wish, Your Honor."

"When was the first time you met Randall Belmont?"

"When the Shepherds were first escorting Exalt Emmeryn to the eastern palace, through Breakneck Pass," he says.

"You had no contact with him before that?"

He shakes his head. "None whatsoever."

"Why did you flee from the pass before we encountered enemy Plegians?"

"Because I wanted to make sure that I was safe from the fighting to come. You see, I had arranged with Captain Vasto, one of my fellow Patriots, to intercept the Shepherds, with the intention of taking Exalt Emmeryn into Patriot custody. But I also knew that Vasto was not at all fond of me. He saw me as a coward. I was concerned that in the midst of the fighting, he might take a chance to be rid of me and claim that it was an accident."

"What happened after that?"

"I met with other Patriot operatives in the area and was transported west to meet with General Mustafa Issachar, the other founder of the Patriots."

"You say you are a founder of the group?"

"Yes, we two were its founders. In the end, the Exalt was captured by Gangrel's forces, and the battle moved west. To stay ahead of the violence, I and most of the other Patriots relocated to the Villa Osprey in Themis. It was at this time that Gangrel took Mustafa into custody and executed him."

"Randall testified before that you kidnapped him in part to replace General Mustafa. Is this true?" Maribelle asks.

Aventine chuckles. "Well it's certainly not a flattering way of putting it, but yes, there is certainly truth to that. Randall possessed the natural charisma of leadership that Vasto and I lacked. We saw the potential for Randall to help us if we could only convince him."

"Did you feel like you did? Convince him, I mean," Maribelle asks.

"I will admit, I thought we had. He clearly at least understood our goals. He masterfully acted the part of someone who was slowly being won over by them. But in the end, we were all deceived. Randall had never intended to work with us. He was waiting for us to let our guard down the entire time. It took some time, but eventually, we nearly let it slip. When the battle for Southtown occurred, Randall took the chance to attempt to escape back to the Shepherds. Vasto managed to stop him, but from that point forward, we were forced to keep a very close watch on him."

"Why did you continue to use him as the face of your organization if you knew he was against you?"

"Because we were threatening him with death if he did not cooperate. Neither Vasto nor I could hope to don the mask, to become the figure of Thomas Paine. Vasto is a cripple, and I am a feeble old man."

"Why not use any of your voluntary members? Surely one of them could have filled the role."

Aventine hesitates, glancing at me for a moment. I know why. Because he didn't even know I had turned on them. This was just Vasto torturing himself. Why isn't Aventine telling them that he didn't know?

"Because I was arrogant, and I believed that, given time, he would learn to embrace his role. I fancy myself a master manipulator, you see. And overall, I think it would be fair to say I was correct. No one suspected I was the head of a conspiracy to overthrow the government, after all. But I hoped that I could eventually manipulate Randall into seeing our way of things. Instead, right under my nose, it was actually myself who was manipulated. I did not see that Randall had been undermining the organization from the very beginning."

"What do you mean by that?" Maribelle asks, leaning forward.

"As I mentioned, Randall possesses a charisma that I lack. He used that charisma to turn everyone in the organization, even Vasto, subtly against me. Vasto even made the unilateral decision to release Randall without my assent. After that, the organization began to decline. Now it is in ruins."

"What? It's in ruins?" Maribelle asks.

"Oh yes. We are already in the process of dissolving. On Vasto's orders, which alone I was powerless to oppose. Which, of course, are really Randall's orders."

What the fuck? This is definitely news to me.

"That is actually why I am here, telling you all of this," Aventine continues. "I am here to make a deal with you, Judge Maribelle."

"A deal?" she asks indignantly. "What sort of deal could a self-admitted criminal like you want to make?"

"I have turned myself in, of my own free will. I have consented, admittedly under protest, to the dissolution of the organization. But in exchange, I want all Ylissean members of the Patriots other than myself pardoned for all crimes against the halidom that they have hitherto committed on behalf of the Patriots."

Maribelle doesn't say anything for a while. "How am I meant to pardon a group of people I don't know for crimes that I am not even aware of?" She shakes her head. "We are getting off track regardless. The Patriots might have dissolved, but the matter before this court is Mr. Belmont specifically. Now, on the first of March, where were you?"

"I was in Southtown at the time. I have not left the town since we took it over, except of course to come here."

"Are you aware of any other person with a mask like that?" Maribelle asks, pointing at the mask on the witness stand in front of him.

"Ah, you are referring to the assassinations at the peace talks. Allow me to assure you, no member of the Patriots would have done something as foolish and evil as that," he replies calmly.

"Foolish? Why do you say that?"

"Because it did not benefit the Patriots in the least. All it did was stoke the ire of all three nations on this continent against us. Not to mention, one of the people killed was herself a Patriot, as you no doubt are aware by now. It was a mortal blow against the Patriots in the end. And to answer your earlier question, no, I am not aware of who might have this imitation mask you speak of. I am only certain that whoever he is, he is certainly no friend of the Patriots."

A silence falls over the courtroom as the implications of his sentence sink in.

"And you have no information that might help reveal who he is?" Maribelle asks.

He shakes his head solemnly. "None. I wish I knew more. But all of our operatives who were present at the Villa Osprey either fled before the negotiations began or were slain in the aftermath."

The whole courthouse tries really hard not to look at the khans.

Maribelle sighs, clearly exhausted. "In that case, I want to confirm something with you. Was anyone in the Patriots organization aware at the time of the battle at Southtown that the soldiers occupying the town were actually Feroxi?"

"No, none of us were aware. The Feroxi soldiers were well disguised, using the outfits they had stripped from slain Plegian soldiers. Our scouts did not see anything that indicated they were actually Feroxi. We were not aware of this until we were already in the middle of combat, and by then it was too late to stop the fighting."

"I see. Does either counselor have anything further?" Maribelle asks.

"No, Your Honor," Danica says, evidently taken well out of her depth.

Robin stands. "Looking back on Randall's time in captivity, do you think there was ever a time when you truly had him convinced to turn his back on the halidom?"

Aventine shakes his head. "In retrospect, I should have seen where his true loyalties always were. We thought we were using him as a tool to gain the public's approval. In truth, he was using us as a tool to expel the Plegians from southern Ylisse, and the moment we deviated from that course of action, even by mistake, he tried to leave. It is clear to me that he was never truly one of us. Everything was a calculation."

Robin looks at Maribelle. "Nothing further."

The court passes into an uneasy silence, waiting for Maribelle to say something. Finally, she speaks.

"Guards, take Lord Aventine into custody."

The guards who escorted Aventine into the courtroom manacle his hands together and lead him down off the witness stand.

"One more thing, Your Honor, if I may," Aventine says. "While I have the Exalt's ear."

"The Exalt? What is it?" Maribelle asks.

He turns to Chrom, who has stood up to watch him be removed from court. "There is a matter of vital importance I wish to discuss with you. Please see me in my cell when you have a chance."

Chrom doesn't answer, instead just watching with a disbelieving look on his face as Aventine is led out the doors.

Maribelle exhales loudly as the doors close.

"Shall I recall Ms. Hemper to the stand, Your Honor?" Danica asks.

"I think that won't be necessary," Maribelle replies. "Compared to what we just heard, her testimony was tangential to the matter at hand."

"Of course, Your Honor," Danica says dutifully, sitting down.

"Have both parties been heard to their satisfaction?" Maribelle asks.

Danica stands again, looking decidedly flustered. "Yes, Your Honor. The prosecution rests."

Robin stands. "The defense rests, Your Honor."

"Good. This entire trial has been a nightmare to try to get through," Maribelle groans. "I am going to take some time to deliberate. We will reconvene in, say, one hour. Until then, we are adjourned."

I stand up and stretch, feeling like I've been wound up for ages and can finally start to maybe get some relief. As odd as Aventine's testimony was, I feel like it helped me.

"I would ask that acting-Exalt Chrom and the khans please join me in my chambers," Maribelle says before disappearing out the back of the courtroom.

I turn to Robin. "Well, what now? We have some time to kill."

"I don't even know," she moans. "I just want this shit to be over. And I don't want to take a nap because I'm afraid of–" She stops herself. "Well, you know."

"Yeah, I do. Let's just… get some lunch or something," I say.

"That sound perfect," Robin replies. "I didn't eat this morning."

"Neither did I."

"Well, you know what I am going to say, don't you?" I ask the khans.

Flavia frowns. "Of course I do. That you think he didn't do anything wrong, and you want to let him go."

"Why shouldn't we?" I ask.

"Because we still have only his word on what happened between him and Regulus," Flavia replies. "By his own account, and by all accounts I've heard, the battle was a massacre, especially for the Feroxi forces. The more sensible explanation for that is that none of our soldiers knew an attack was coming. Randall's story requires us to believe that he did his very, very best to convince Regulus an attack was coming, and Regulus just ignored him. This in spite of the claim that Regulus questioned him thoroughly about the incoming forces. Why would Regulus have wanted to know at all if he was just going to ignore everything Randall told him? It doesn't make sense, Maribelle."

"I'll admit, it seems odd that Regulus wouldn't tell his soldiers what Randall told him. But that doesn't immediately condemn Randall," I say.

"And what was all that before? Aventine just waltzes into the middle of the city in the middle of the damned day and no one so much as stops his chauffeur?" Flavia paces around, visibly agitated. "What more proof could we need that the Patriots could very well have entered the city undetected, kidnapped Regulus to prevent him from testifying, and none of us being any the wiser until it was too late?"

"Now you're the one making claims without evidence, Khan," Chrom says sternly. "Have you once considered the possibility that your man might have just lied to you?"

"I don't make liars into officers, Chrom," Flavia fires back. "I don't promote incompetents, and I don't promote liars."

"So this is really about you then, isn't it?" Chrom says, fighting to keep himself from raising his voice. "You just don't want to think that you might have made a mistake in promoting an unqualified person to an officer position. Is that really what this is?"

Flavia bristles at the accusation. "I believe what my soldiers tell me, until they are proven wrong. Surely you do the same," she spits. "What would Regulus have had to gain by lying to me?"

"Well, he wouldn't have outed himself as a traitor," I say. "If Randall's testimony is true, then Regulus is a traitor, correct?"

Flavia glares at me. "Yes, that would be correct. Which is why, without more proof than Randall's word, I can't accept it."

"...I can."

Basilio has spoken for the first time since we started deliberating. His voice is soft but booming in this little room.

Flavia whirls around to face him. "What?"

"I said, I can believe Randall. You say we have only his word to go on. That isn't true. We have his actions, too. He and Aventine both testified that he tried to escape back to us during the battle. Why would he try to come back to us if he had just betrayed us? Why wouldn't he join in with the Patriots and slaughter our soldiers alongside them? It's because he was no friend to the Patriots, just like Aventine said."

"How could you doubt–"

"Because people lie, Flavia. People lie all the time. Even your soldiers. But actions don't lie. And you and I saw Randall take up arms to defend this city only yesterday. The number of times he nearly took a mortal blow to protect us speaks to his credit. Randall's story was strange, and there are still a lot of questions I have about it. But in the end, I don't think he ever made a move against us. He has more than his share of secrets. Hell, being from this 'America' place, I'm sure he's at least two-thirds secrets. But I don't believe that he betrayed us. I think he made the most of an awful situation in the best way he knew how." Basilio crosses his arms, apparently having said his piece.

Flavia stares at him. "You're my junior khan. Aren't you supposed to support me?"

"I am supporting you. I'm telling you that you're wrong, and you're letting stubborn pride get in the way when the truth is staring you in the face. That's why we have two khans. So that when one is acting the part of a fool, the other can save them from themselves." Basilio's face hardens, staring down at the woman before him.

Flavia is tall, as tall as Chrom, but I have never seen her look so small.

She turns back to me at last. "I won't condemn my officer. I won't concede that he is a liar, or a traitor, or incompetent." She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes. "But… I will concede that there is no firm proof that Randall ever betrayed us. Regulus is not guilty of anything until he's faced the khan's justice, but… Randall is also not guilty."

"Then it won't cause an international incident when I rule in his favor?" I ask.

Flavia sighs, defeated. "Regna Ferox remains a steadfast ally to Ylisse. That much will not change. But one of these days, the halidom needs to start pulling its weight in this relationship."

Chrom chuckles. "I think you'll be relieved to hear that I've put Robin in charge of rebuilding the Ylissean army. In the future, our soldiers will stand side by side on the battlefield as equals."

Basilio grins. "Though you'll never match ours for strength."

Chrom returns the competitive smile. "And you'll never match our tactics."

Both of the men laugh. What a strange alliance this is.

The hour crawls by at a miserable rate. Even with food in our bellies, I can almost hear the incessant ticking of an imaginary clock in my head. 3600 seconds can't pass quickly enough.

Finally, Maribelle emerges from her chamber. Chrom and the khans return wordlessly to their seats. I don't dare look at any of them as they pass. I just keep my eyes on Maribelle, whose expression is painfully non-communicative.

She looks at me. "All rise for the delivery of the verdict." Everyone stands up. My knees shake as she goes on. "Randall Belmont, you have suffered a great deal of hardship in the last year. As an apparent newcomer to our land, you have not seen the continent at its best. War, pain, and hardship have been your lot here. But we have been blessed to have a man such as you fighting for the halidom and its people. You are a man of many secrets, which to some makes you difficult to trust. But your actions have shown, time and again, that whatever might be going on inside your head, it is beyond doubt that you are loyal to the Shepherds.

"The charges before you were two counts of high treason against the halidom. One for the attack of the Feroxi soldiers in Southtown, and the other for the attack on the negotiations at the Villa Osprey. On both charges, this court finds you not guilty. That is the judgment of this court. We are adjourned." Finally, Maribelle allows herself to smile at me.

I feel like a large, leaden blanket that's been weighing me down has finally slipped off my shoulders. I feel myself stand taller, lighter. It's finally over.

I look beside me at Robin. I wasn't expecting to see tears. I turn to face her and open my arms. She takes no time at all to throw her arms around me, sobbing into my chest. I wrap one arm around her shoulders and use my other hand to hold her head close.

"Thank you, Robin," I say quietly. "Thank you for everything."

She laughs between sobs. "Anytime," she manages to say.

I glance into the gallery and can just make out, past the crowd, that Flavia and Basilio are leaving. The other Shepherds, on the other hand, quickly start filing into the parties area of the courtroom, looking to join the celebration.

It's a little strange to be told essentially "congratulations on not being a convicted traitor" by your closest friends, but it's better than the alternative.

After everyone has said their piece, obtained their hugs/shoulder pats/handshakes, and drifted out of the courtroom, and after Robin has calmed down enough to let go and wipe her face, I finally feel like I can breathe again.

"What are you going to do now?" Robin asks breathlessly, sniffling a little.

"I think I want to go see Maribelle. I haven't really had the chance since she took charge of my case," I reply. "I think I saw her go back into her chamber a bit ago."

Robin nods. "Alright. I'll be around, then." She starts heading for the door.

"Hey Robin," I call. She turns to look at me. "I'll make this up to you, I promise. I owe you."

She smiles. "You don't owe me a thing. You're back, and you're safe, and you're not guilty. That's all I want… for now, anyway."

"Well, whenever you need something, I'm there, got it?"

"I'll keep it in mind," she says, then closes the courthouse door behind her.

I turn and head behind the bench to the chambers door. I knock twice. "Are you accepting visitors?" I call.

A few seconds later, the door opens. Maribelle wordlessly snatches me into a tight hug. It's only now that I realize she and Robin are the same height.

"I'm sorry," she says, muffled by my suit in her face.

"Don't be. You saved me, Maribelle. Imagine what would have happened if I'd just been handed over to Flavia."

"I'm just sorry that after everything that's happened, all the terrible fighting and, gods, two kidnappings, you were forced to endure this as well." She lets go and steps back a bit.

"Trust me, after all the shit I've seen in the last year, this trial was far from the worst of it. You don't have to apologize. I'm thankful that you stuck out your neck for me in front of the khans." I step into her chambers and look around, admiring the dark-stained furniture. "So this is the judge's chambers, huh? Pretty snazzy in here. You could use better lighting though."

Maribelle chuckles. "I'll take it under advisement."

"So, you know I have to ask," I say.

"I know. Go ahead and ask."

"Do you really, truly believe that I'm not guilty?"

She looks me squarely in the face. "I believe you are not guilty. You found an interesting way of dealing with your capture. Perhaps a more traditional way of defying your captors would have been to simply deny them any cooperation at all and starve. But you're not a traditional sort of man. Everything you did, even while in confinement, was to forward the Shepherds' cause. Or at the very least, nothing you did hindered it. I truly believe that."

I sigh. "That'll have to do, won't it?"

"It will." She places her hands on her hips. "And if what Lord Aventine said is true, then you played a major role in destroying the Patriots without ever having to harm them."

"Are you going to do it? Pardon the Patriots?" I ask.

"Well, you know them better than anyone. Possibly even better than Aventine. What would you do?"

"Well, I'm biased, but if it were me, yeah. I'd pardon them. These aren't villains. They're people who are afraid of tyranny and want to feel like they have a say in how their lives are run. Those aren't sins. They just need to be shown that a violent revolution isn't the only way to make changes in the world, that's all."

She nods contemplatively. "I'll consider it. Lord Aventine is throwing himself on the blade for this, after all."

"I think the next thing to do is wait to see for sure if the group really does dissolve," I say. "Then you could know for sure that he was telling the truth and is worth listening to."

"You make a good point." She steps over and gives me another hug. "It's such a relief to really see you again, Randy. It wasn't the same without you."

"Oh yeah, congrats on getting engaged, by the way. Yeah, I got a glimpse of your ring the other day, so Chrom had to spill the beans. But lemme see the bad boy~"

She releases me to show me her hand. The ring is really something. The gold is thick and shines even in this dim light. And the sapphire Brand of the Exalt is cut perfectly and placed impeccably on the band.

"You deserve this, Maribelle. I can tell you two are going to be great together," I say as I admire the ring.

"You don't know what a relief it is to hear you say that," Maribelle says a little breathlessly. "To be honest, there was a part of me that was worried you wouldn't approve."

"Wouldn't approve? Come on, Mari. You and Chrom are some of my closest friends. For one thing, you don't really need my blessing in the first place, but more importantly, of course I'm happy for you! I promise not to be 'that ex' at your wedding, don't worry." I smile at her.

She rolls her eyes. "What a relief." But then she smiles too. "Thank you, Randy. I know it's silly, but it does mean a lot that you support this."

"Well, we've got a ton to catch up on, but for now, why don't you lose the judge's robes, and we'll join the others and just take an afternoon off?" I ask.

"That sounds like exactly what I need," she replies, starting to unpin her hair.

"Heeey! It's the American!" Vaike cheers as I enter the barracks with Maribelle. "Good to have all that shit behind us!"

"Oh boy. Is that the nickname I have to look forward to?" I ask.

"One of them, at least," Stahl says good-naturedly as I join the group. A lot of the Shepherds are milling about in the common area, no doubt exhausted.

"Where's Robin?" I ask.

"Asleep," Panne says. "She went directly to her room after she got back, and within moments, I could hear her sleeping."

"Good," I reply. "She needs and deserves it."

"Randy!" I hear, my only warning before Nowi dives onto my shoulders a second later. "You're not a criminal!"

"I'm aware," I say with a chuckle. "Alert the presses."

"What are presses?" Nowi asks in my ear.

"It's an American thing," I say. I just realized I have the best excuse for pretty much everything now.

"Okay!" She kicks her legs contentedly behind me.

"You realize you've gotta tell us all about this place, right?" Gaius asks. "I assume this is where you get all your music from?"

"Pretty much. Or from other countries from my world. I'll tell you about Ireland someday. We can get into that some other time. Honestly, there's so much to tell about my home, I'll have to sit down and think about how to even organize it all."

"Gotta teach a class about it?" Gaius asks with a snort of laughter.

"You know, I just might, actually. It seems like a good way to get some of the basics across," I reply. "Whaddaya think, Nowi? Would you go to that class?"

She 'hmm's really loudly in my ear for a few seconds. "Yeah, probably! But they have to be short classes. I get restless real easy."

I chuckle. "I think I can manage that."

It's nice to feel like I'm finally one of the group again, no holds barred. Like a second homecoming.

Grima sits atop one of the merlons along the castle wall, sighing disappointedly as he reflects on what happened today.

"We had a good thing going, Diana," he says with a wistful look at me. "They were at each other's throats, ready to make it all worse. That damned Aventine. Spineless coward. Unwilling to go to battle even to save his precious revolution."

"Well, wasn't it at least interesting in the moment?" I ask.

"Oh, yes, I suppose it's a pleasant shock to actually be surprised about something. But to be suddenly told that the war is cancelled? What a drag." He ruminates a while longer, then gets a more hopeful expression on his face again. "But when we went with the east gate? What a moment! That dark surprise in their hearts was so worth it. Do you think they got what we were trying to tell them?"

"I believe so, my lord," I reply. "The pair of them are smart."

"That ought to put a little fear in their souls," he says with a satisfied smile. "Can't let them get too complacent over the next couple years."

"Couple years?" I ask. "What's happening in a couple years?"

"That's when Walhart's forces are going to invade Regna Ferox," Grima replies. "When they'll be thrust into the fires of war once again. They may have evaded war with the Patriots, but a bigger and better event is coming for them, and I'll see to it that it stays interesting."

"How are you going to do that?" Regulus asks.

Grima grins and pulls a small, round, shining black stone from the pocket of his coat and shows it to us. Is that..? "You'll see," he says.

Everyone else slowly went their separate ways after dinner, but it was only as everyone else was leaving the mess hall that Robin half-stumbled in, her hair still a hard-slept mess. Everyone sort of gives her some space as they walk past her.

"Hey Robin," I say as she sits next to me and ladles herself a bowl of now-only-kinda-warm stew.

"Hey," she replies blankly before digging vigorously into her dinner. I let her wolf some food down before continuing the conversation.

"Feeling better?" I ask.

She nods. "Definitely. A long sleep and a good meal is exactly what I needed." She ladles herself a second bowl. It's a relief to see her like this. I haven't seen her truly relaxed without the help of alcohol in, well, maybe ever. Ever since she and I met, pretty much, we've been at war. Now, hopefully, I can finally get to know peacetime Robin.

The only thing I know about her so far is that she can put bowls of stew away like a madman, I think to myself as she goes for a third bowl.

"Is it really that good?" I ask.

She somehow manages to both scowl and take a large bite at once. "I haven't eaten properly in weeks because of this whole trial mess," she says defensively around a large mouthful of potato and broth.

"Alright, fair, my bad," I reply.

After her third bowl is finished, she leans back in her chair and moans in relief. "I feel like a human again."

"Happy for ya," I say with a chuckle. "Hey, do you want to go for a walk or something? I feel like enjoying the night air."

"After I just ate all that stew, you want me to go on a walk?" she asks.

"It'll get the digestive process running! Or something. I dunno, you don't have to. It was just a thought I had." It was stupid to think she'd want to spend another minute with me after being basically shackled to me for the last few weeks regardless.

"No, I'm kidding. That sounds great," she says. She notices her own hair hanging in front of her face. "Ugh, what a mess. Don't look at me," she says, and she starts combing her messy hair with her fingers.

"Don't worry about it. The bedhead's kinda cute," I say, then immediately kick myself mentally for saying something so dumb.

"O-oh, hehe... okay," she says, averting my eyes. Great. Now you've made it weird, Randy.

"Anyway, it's fine. It's dark out, and it's just us." That somehow sounded worse. Stop talking.

"Right. Um, then let's go," she says, standing up with me.

"Yeah." We head outside. It's a brisk night, so I'm thankful for the leather jacket Cordelia bought be being back in my life again.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me," I say as we head toward the training grounds. "Do you think it's okay for me to keep the bribe coat? I mean, sure, it's a symbol of rebellion against the halidom and everything, but for one thing, it's a genuinely useful defensive article, and for another, it's frankly pretty badass."

"I think you might be able to keep the coat, but you have to find a way to take that family crest off of it," Robin replies. "Because yeah. The pegasus knights might not be the biggest fans of you wearing a coat that resembles the one worn by Phila's assassin."

"What's up with that? I'm the one who wore that look first! He should have to change," I say with a pout.

"Sometimes that's just how it works," Robin says with a shrug. "But yes, I'll admit it looks pretty cool. When I saw you after the battle with Gangrel, you looked really… heroic. But you'd still look heroic even without the crest, you know."

"Well I'm glad you think so," I say, then I hear something familiar. Leathery wingbeats in the air. "Robin, cover, now!"

Instantly, Robin springs into action, pulling her Elthunder from her sleeve and jumping behind a hedge with me. I didn't bring a weapon. Whoops.

Wait. I recognize that armor. What the fuck is he doing here?

I stand up. "Vasto, what are you doing here?" I ask as Kinba touches down on the ground. "Shouldn't you be back in Southtown by now?"

He leaps unsteadily off Kinba's back and removes his helmet. "Hey there," he says.

Next to me, Robin is still holding Elthunder at the ready. "Tell me why I shouldn't kill you right now," she snarls.

"Alright, hold on now Robin, let's calm down a bit–" I start to say, but Robin interrupts me.

"Why should I be calm? This man is your kidnapper, or have you forgotten?" I smell ozone.

Vasto shrugs his good shoulder. "She's got a point, Randall."

"You're not helping!" I snap back at him. I turn back to Robin. "Look, let's just talk to him for a second, okay? I feel like I get to have the final say here."

She breathes heavily for a few more seconds, then relents and lowers her tome. "Fine. Explain yourself, Vasto," she says, spitting his name like it's a curse.

"Aventine has turned himself in to the Exalt, as you know. He thinks that's the right thing for him to do because his crimes are first and foremost against the halidom and the Exalted family. I've also done wrong, but not against your halidom. And not against Plegia, either. That country deserved everything I ever did to it." He looks intently at me. "My crimes were against you, Randall. What we did to you is the only thing I really regret about my time in the Patriots. From the moment I first thought of you as a friend, every day I continued to keep you in captivity was another wrong I did you." He unlatches the hand axe from his belt. I feel Robin tense up next to me, but he just holds it out and drops it to the ground in front of him.

"I will not accept the halidom's judgment. But I accept your right to judge me."

"Hold on," I say. "You want me to… do what, exactly?"

"That's for you to decide. This is how I make my amends. I prevented you from being here to help with the siege effort. I understand if you assign blame to me for that. But I want to be free of this. Free of the guilt. Whatever you decide, that's it. After this, you and I are square."

I remember Libra.

"You should know. I had a friend named Libra. He was the kindest man I had ever met. He was a criminal, and he had gone the long, long way round to turn his life over. When I met him, he was a priest. We became friends. After the war, we agreed to start an orphanage together," I say.

Vasto nods, understanding. "He died in the siege, didn't he?"

"That's right."

"Then I am responsible for Libra's death. If you had been here, perhaps he might have lived," Vasto says.

"No. No, he would have lived. Definitely." I pour all my bitterness over Libra's death into my words. "If I had been here, my friend would be alive. It's as simple as that."

"I understand. Then pass your judgment," he says, inclining his head toward me.

My eyes are drawn to the hand axe on the ground. I want to punish someone for Libra's death. I know it was my fault too, but I can't afford to die. The future, and Robin, are counting on me to survive. But Vasto? He was supposed to die anyway. He's only alive because of me. It would be setting the timeline right to kill him, even.

But if Libra were here, he wouldn't want me to impose execution for his sake. He wouldn't want to kill anyone. And he certainly wouldn't want me to kill anyone either. He'd forgive.

And in spite of everything that's happened, I can't help but think of Vasto as my friend.

"I'm not going to kill you," I say at last.

"I certainly would if you won't," Robin says, a spark of electricity dancing between her fingers.

I hold my arm out, blocking her from raising her arm. "It's not your choice, Robin."

After a tense few seconds, reluctantly, she puts her tome back in her sleeve. "Fine. It's your call."

I look back at Vasto. "Is it true? Are the Patriots being disbanded?"

He nods. "Yes. We examined the state of things and we determined that, whether you were convicted or not, the Patriots would be exterminated if we continued to act. That saboteur who assassinated Phila and Campari painted a massive target on our backs. There's no coming back from that when the Exalt is so overwhelmingly popular at the moment. Rather than going out in a bloody blaze of glory, we decided it was wiser to encourage our members to live to fight another day."

"Is that process already underway?" I ask.

"It should be. Octavia is overseeing correspondence to all our occupied towns. Our members stationed there should be receiving them in the coming days."

"What will you do now?"

Vasto looks at me like I'm an idiot. "I'm waiting for you to tell me that."

"Look," I say, exasperated, "I'm not going to do anything to you. It's true that if I had never been taken, Libra would probably still be alive. But when you took me off that battlefield at Anchorage, you believed you were saving me. Your actions had terrible consequences, but your intentions were never evil. I've seen time and again that you're a good person, when you allow yourself to be. You're just so busy being a dick most of the time that you don't see it."

"So that's it? Your judgment is just… nothing?" Vasto asks, almost angry.

"My judgment is that you need to get your shit together. I don't think joining the Shepherds is quite the right fit for you at the moment," I say, and I feel Robin bristle next to me at the mere suggestion, "but you need to find something to keep you in the right. Try to help Plegia rebuild. Make sure you don't get swept up in whatever shit the Grimleal are going to be pulling in the next couple years. Or do something else entirely. But I want your word that you'll do whatever you can to make your life better."

He glowers at me. "You haven't changed. You still piss me off."

"Oh, and one more thing." I step forward and punch him in the face, square in the nose. My hand erupts in pain as my knuckles smash into cartilage and bone. Kinba snorts in alarm as Vasto loses his balance and falls onto his back. Vasto makes some kind of 'tss' noise that keeps her at bay.

"That was for kidnapping me," I say through gritted teeth as my hand throbs. "And this one," I say, then lay another hit on him with my other hand, "is for Libra." I hope Libra can forgive me for avenging him at least to this extent.

Both of my hands are now in agony. Vasto's face is very pointy, I guess. Kinba growls like she wants to flay and roast me, but Vasto holds up his hand to keep her calm. He coughs around the blood flowing from his nose into his mouth. I get off him and help him to his foot. It's hard to tell in this low light, but I think I might have broken his nose.

"Hey, wait here, let me get my staff–"

"Bno," he says, his voice garbled with bloody cut lips and his own efforts to hold his nose blood back with his hand. "This is goodb. I beserve this."

"Oh for God's sake, Vasto, let me fix your fucking nose," I say, starting to walk back to the barracks to get my staff, but he swings his prosthetic arm to whap me in the shoulder and stop me.

"This is right. Now we're eben," he says firmly.

He's really stuck on punishing himself for what happened. I finally relent. "If you say so. Is that all you came here for?"

He nods. "That's it. I'll be seeing you," he says, climbing back onto Kinba and reading her reins. He looks at Robin. "You take care of him."

She scoffs. "That's rich coming from you."

Without another word, he has Kinba take off, and the pair ascend and disappear above the low clouds.

Robin and I stand in silence for a while, letting the weirdness of that whole interaction sink in. Finally she taps my shoulder.

"Come on. Let's get you some vulnerary for your hands." She starts heading back for the barracks.

"Yeah. Coming." I follow behind her. "Thanks for not, you know, killing him."

"Now that might be something you actually owe me for," she says over her shoulder, with the barest hint of a smile. "Sometimes I just don't get you, Randy."

"What can I say?" I ask with a shrug. "I'm a complicated man."

A/N: So concludes the trial mini-arc! And with that, the last vestiges of the Plegian War are resolved, and we finally face down the bane of every FE fan writer: the dreaded Timeskip. Completely unstructured time with only two canon stipulations: 1) Chrom gets married and 2) Chrom gets busy. Thankfully, I've had over four years to think over how I'd like to spend this massive block of time, so fear not, dear reader! I hope you've enjoyed the ride so far, because there's plenty more to come. As always, Mixed Valence gets his due credit for helping edit this mega three-part chapter from hell. If you haven't checked out Those Who Can't Teach, you'll be pleased to find that he too has just come out the other side of a trial mini-arc with a decidedly different tone. And here is your Mixed Valence out-of-context quote of the week: "I want a gowden woute I don't want the students to kiww each other."

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As always, comments and critiques are welcome. See you next time!