A/N: Shout outs to James Birdsong and my anonymous reviewer! Glad you liked it. :) Thanks so much!
Chapter 25
"Gentlemen, you have refused to give your real names as if that would stop us from remanding you into custody or charging you with the crimes that you have committed. You disguised yourself as construction workers, wandered through the Palace, assaulted Gale Force soldiers, had tools to attempt to break out a man on trial for treason, and had an old man shoot a Gale Force soldier while shooting at others. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't put you in jail and throw away the key?" Judge Mikhail demanded. He and Judges Griffin and Cenk were behind the bench in the courtroom – the defendants were standing in front of the bench. They didn't have lawyers yet, they still needed to be assigned, but that didn't matter at the moment.
"Silence? Nothing to say for yourselves?" Judge Cenk spoke up. The men just stood there. None of them would look the judges in the eye.
"Lieutenant Zetti, would you and your men make sure these men have somewhere to spend their time?" Judge Griffin asked.
"Yes, your Honor. The other prisoner is waiting to be brought in for the continuation of his trial," the Lieutenant said.
"Excellent. See that our new prisoners have access to their own legal representative and they get to meet," Judge Mikhail ordered.
"Yes, your Honor," Zetti nodded and quickly indicated to his men to get the men out of the courtroom. He stayed behind and made sure that Sergeant Duncan and Private Roth brought in the Wizard. Elphaba was right behind them.
"Ah Miss Elphaba, how is Private Schultz?" Judge Cenk asked.
"He's recovering your Honor. I expect in a few days he'll be right as rain," she said.
"Excellent to hear. Shall we get today's proceedings underway?" Cenk smiled.
"Of course, your Honor," Elphaba smiled while the Sergeant and the Private made the Wizard sit in his designated seat. She then enchanted his chains and they could begin. Well, they could almost begin…
"Where is Kahui?" Judge Mikhail wanted to know.
"This is becoming a bad habit for him," Zetti said.
"I hadn't seen him this morning. I thought it was odd, but I figured he was staying away from our office given everything that happened the other day," Prosecutor Doruk spoke up from his spot behind the prosecution's table.
"We cannot begin without him. Lieutenant Zetti, can you send men to find him?" Judge Griffin asked.
"I'll get some men on it, sir," the Lieutenant nodded and quickly headed out to the guards in front of the courthouse.
"Your Honors, you must know that I could certainly use my attorney's reluctance on an appeal. Inadequate representation," the Wizard spoke up.
"Reluctance should not be confused with incompetence," Judge Cenk gave him a look. They waited and waited and waited… Elphaba was growing very concerned that perhaps the defense attorney had done something stupid.
It had been twenty minutes by the time Lieutenant Zetti returned. By the look on his face, everyone in the room could tell that there was not good news to be had. Elphaba went up to him wanting to know what had happened.
"We found Kahui in his house. He'd been shot. The soldiers assigned to protect him had been shot too. One is dead, the other is barely hanging on in the medical tent. We need you Miss Elphaba," Zetti said. The stunned silence told everyone what they needed to know.
"I will go. Stay here and make sure that bastard doesn't move," she told him. He nodded and she quickly left the room, hoping to find that she could save the poor man who had only been doing his job.
To Be Continued…