Hey folks! I am back! I am self isolating during these crazy times of global pandemics. Luckily I live on an island with a pretty small population, so it hasn't reached here yet. Very scary though, stay safe everyone, and please please social distance yourself!

And if you want jokes about the (non existent) correlation between global pandemic Corona, and Kingdom from Tangled Corona, well sorry but you'd have to follow my TikTok for that. Haha!

The casual chatter of conversation in the echoey throne room turned to whisper and mutters when the grand doors boomed opened, and Varian was led through. He followed the Captain's suggestion, and kept his head hung low, listening to his father's calming voice in his head, telling him to breathe. He remembered what his father had said once. "Children have no place in court." Varian nearly scoffed, that seemed like it was decades ago now.

The walk through the middle of the room held a similar feeling to that of walking across a mot on a tightrope. Slipping wasn't an option. Not with all eyes in Corona gawking and willing you to do just that, to slip.

The room which was normally a wide open space, had been filled with rows and rows of benches for the occasion, and all of them were packed. Save for the one nearest the thrones and the stand.

When Varian was finally brought to the bench and seated, a tiny bit of pressure lifted. Step one, check. The room slowly filled with dull noise once again, which Varian took to mean that some of the attention was off him, for a little while at least. The Captain detached Varian's shackled wrists from the chains around his torso, allowing his bound and shaky hands to fall into his lap, Varian mumbled a very low "Thank you" and the Captain moved to stand directly behind him, while the other guards in his escort dispersed to their stations around the room.

After just a few moments, Varian felt the pressure drop back down on him.

The Royal adviser, Nigel, entered the room from a side entrance near the front. He gained the public's attention surprisingly easily, not as easily as Varian had, but easily. "All Rise for the Honorable Judge Benson!" Nigel announced. The Captain gave Varian's shoulder a light push from behind, and Varian breathlessly pushed himself to his feet again. As he wobbled with the familiar wave of dizziness, a tall, white haired and robed man strutted to his place at the podium in the front of the room. Varian was careful not to look for long, wanting to avoid making eye contact. In the moment he did catch though, he noticed that the man had smile lines drawn into his face, and his eyes looked warm and kind.

Varian did not know how to feel about this. He had expected nothing more than a merciless, cold hearted individual. Varian nearly groaned out loud. He had no reason to assume that he wasn't any of those things. The man hasn't even said anything yet.

Once the Judge settled into his stand, Nigel cleared his throat before announcing, even louder than before, "All rise for their Majesties, King Fredric and Queen Ariana!"

Mentally, Varian raised his eyebrows. Could Nigel not see that everyone was already standing? His sassy imaginary commentary was cut off abruptly when the King and Queen entered, arm in arm. Nigel led them to their thrones, adjacent to the Judge's stand. Varian's heart jutted, and he looked down and around, his breath now catching in his chest. Varian felt himself losing his composure. The guilt and anxiety were enough to make his head spin. The sight of them brought him quickly back to that night in his lab. That night brought every emotion you could think of, but most of all… it scared him. At that moment, Varian longed for a hug, or any sort of loving gesture. Varian shook that idea from his mind quickly. No. There was nobody coming for him, not his father, not his friends, not even Ruddiger. Varian carried the weight of each of those missing pieces in his life. He could only blame himself for losing them. His stupid mistakes cost him his father, his fueled greif turned his friends against him, and his weakness allowed them to steal Ruddiger away.

Varian kept his head hung low, while he felt the monstrous pain right alongside the chilling numbness. He was not aware of when he began to tremble, was not aware when a quiet and shaky sob escaped him. Not until he felt a firm, but not harsh, hand on his bicep.

Varian gasped a little as he was pulled from his previous state, glancing just a little over his shoulder. The Captain's face remained stoic but his eyes said otherwise. "Sit down, kid." The man whispered shortly over Varian's shoulder. Varian felt heat creep into his cheeks as he glanced at some of the crowd for the first time and noticed that most of them had sat back down already. How did he manage to miss Nigel saying to do so? Varian sat, and felt appreciative of the Captain. His father's voice played in his mind. "Breath, Varian." it said. He did.

The judge cleared his throat and smiled out at the room filled with people. "Hello, everyone! It's lovely to be back here in Corona. A treat, as always." He said, kindly. "Now, to jump right in. We are here today to hear the case of Varian, Son of Quiran."

Varian flinched when he heard his own name, and flinched harder when he heard his fathers.

The judge looked now at Varian, who sat small on the first bench. His wrists, arms, and ankles were securely shackled, and his head hung low, with thick, inky hair concealing his face. He had of course known that the accused in this case was only 14, barely a teenager, but living it first hand was different. The boy was young, small and frightened. He didn't appear threatening in the slightest, but the chains and the tall Guard, who could be identified as the Captain by the difference on his helmet, all pointed to the fact that this boy was considered very dangerous.

"Varian." the judge said. The boy glanced upward, not meeting anyones eyes. With Varian's attention, the judge continued. "How are you?" he said.

Now, Varian, caught off guard by the causal question, cocked his head up a little more and finally met eyes with the judge, only just for a moment.

Judge Benson took in the boy's face while he could. He had soft, young features and big blue eyes. His face was drained of colour, making the dark circles under his eyes contrast even darker. His eyes and cheeks were irritated and damp, as though he'd been crying only moments before. One look at Varian, and the judge's question was answered. He was not well. The judge had seen many criminal's before, when one looked like this, it meant one of two things. They were remorseful of their crime and struggling with the guilt. In that case, it is unlikely that they will reoffend and a lighter sentence is appropriate. Or in another case, they are sorrowful from their failure and being caught. Making them very likely to reoffend.

It was the judge's job to figure out which of these Varian suited.

Varian replied to the judge's question in a shakey, quiet voice. "Um… I'm, uh… I'm fine. Sir. I'm fine sir." he finally managed, before hanging his head low again, from embarrassment at his faltering.

The Judge took that with a grain of salt, but accepted it. "Good to hear. Now, young man, you've got yourself quite the rap sheet here. I'm going to read it out, but keep in mind that these are all still just accusations." Judge Benson spoke directly to Varian. If he did happen to be the remorseful type, he worried that hearing a list of the horrible things he is being accused of could upset him. Criminal or not, it is unnecessary to cause someone strife when it is preventable. Varian nodded in acknowledgement, but pushed his hand between his knees to stop them shaking.

Judge Benson now addressed the entire room. "Varian, Son of Quiran, is hereby accused of the following:

Treason, on multiple accounts:

Stealing from the royal vaults and conspiracy thereof

Kidnapping, reckless endangerment, assault and attempted murder of Queen Arianna

Reckless endangerment and attempted murder of Princess Rapunzel

Also:

Attack on the royal guard and volunteers, and conspiracy thereof

Destruction of public property

Assault of Lady Cassandra

Constructive manslaughter of Quiran of Old Corona

Listening to what he'd done get rehashed in these legal terms made Varian's chest tighten. It all sounded… really bad. Still, Varian listened calmly, each accusation accompanied in Varian's mind with a flash of a memory. The flashes moved as quickly as Judge Benson's tongue while he spoke. Varian could sense the Captain tense behind him when Cassandra's name was mentioned, and Varian cringed thinking of her, how they could never be friends again after what he'd done to her. Suddenly that train of thought all came to a screeching halt.

When the judge vocalized the last thing on the list, the words hit Varian with all the force of a punch in the stomach, leaving him breathless. His head, which had been hanging forward, shot up. Varian moved his lips but no sound came out.

The judge returned Varian's stare, attempting to read the boy's expression. He looked as if he were in pain.

Murmurs broke out around the room. Varian couldn't stand the noises, he tried to bring his shoulders to his ears to muffle the sound, but it didn't work. Some of the murmurs from all around the room were audible. "He killed Quiran?" "His own father…" "After all Quiran did for him."

Varian felt sick. He turned his head to look up at the Captain behind him, who was already looking back at him. "Take a breath-" The Captain started to warn.

Finally Varian found his voice. "No…" he breathed, feeling light headed. "I… I didn't… not my Father, no, I never wanted to-" Varain tried to explain to the Captain. The man nodded his head knowingly, and dropped a hand on Varian's shoulder. Varian quieted, and the Captain turned him to face the judge again. He found that the judge was still watching him closely.

"Varian, is everything alright?" the judge asked slowly.

'No.' Varian thought. No, nothing about this was alright. Varian tried to turn to the Captain again, looking to him for what he should say, but the Captain's hand on his shoulder stopped him from turning and pushed him again to face forward.

Varian looked at the judge's soft eyes for a split second before looking quickly down at his bound hands.

"Varian?" the judge prompted.

Varian took a steadying breath, and said. "I never meant to hurt my father sir. It was an accident, and um, everything else I did, I- I, um, I did it to try to get him back." Varian stumbled over his words as he realized that by saying that, he is admitting to all of the other accusations. He said it anyway though, there's no point in trying to lie. They all knew what he did, so he may as well let everyone understand why.

Varian looked at the Judge again, to gage his reaction. The man nodded silently, his lips pressed together. "Okay." he said finally. Varian furrowed his brow. Okay? He just believed him?

That question was answered without it being asked. "That lines up with multiple witness testimonies. It's true that nobody witnessed your father's accident other than yourself, but that explanation fits. The court will hereby clear the defendant of the charge of constructive manslaughter. Quiran of Old Corona's demise was a case of accidental death." The Judge said loudly to the crowd, with a tap of his gavel to wood.

Now Varian really thought he might be sick. His father was dead. Really, actually, dead. Nobody had said anything until now. Varian had been pretty sure for a while now… he'd been trapped with no air for far too long… but nobody had given him any news, so it'd hadn't been real. Now it was. Varian dropped his head again when tears sprung to his eyes, and he bit down hard on his lip to stop from making a sound.

Varian barely heard it when the judge said "Let's continue."

Thank you for reading, you lovely and beautiful humans! Please leave me a review, I love so much to hear from you all!