Hello! I'm going to say this now, and I'll say it again later. I AM SO SORRY!

(Enjoy!)

Varian was led into the courtroom by his escort, who all but the Captain dispersed once Varian was seated, and Identical to the previous day, the room rose to their feet for Judge Benson and for the King and Queen. The only difference was that today, Varian held a sack of dripping ice to his progressively bruising face. The Captain had undone the chain binding Varian's hands to his chest, so now he clutched the ice between both hands and kept it pressed against his nose. Luckily, the bleeding had stopped, and with help from Pete, almost all evidence from the bleed had been wiped away.

The Judge and the King and Queen all had a similar reaction to Varian's bruises. Queen Arianna was the first to address it.

When she entered the courtroom, she looked at Varian. He hung his head low, as he had for most of the previous day as well. But when Varian glanced up curiously, to look at the people entering the room, Arianna noticed. She had been about to seat herself in her throne when she saw him. His swollen nose was concealed behind the ice, but the inky bruising peeked out from behind his hands, and he had the beginnings of two black eyes from the impact. Not to mention the leftover smears of blood on his hands and a little bit on his face.

Arianna let go of her husband's hand and made a Bee-line to where Varain stood before his bench. The whole room stopped, and watched the scene tensely. Several guards made a move toward them, nervous of their Queen being too close to the boy. The Captain strongly grasped Varian's shoulders and pushed him back to a seated position on the bench. Varian made a small, involuntary noise because of the unexpected force. The Captain's hands remained firmly pushing on Varian's shoulder, as if to keep him down.

The Queen ignored all the unnecessary commotion and crouched down to be eye level with Varian. When he visibly stiffend, Arianna slowed down her movements, and softened her own body language to combat his. Varian slowly took his hands and the ice pack away from his face to rest on his lap. He was face to face with the Queen, but he averted his eyes in every direction other than into hers.

"Varian… what happened?" she asked softly, her eyes shining with concern.

Varian opened his mouth, but said nothing. How could he tell the Queen he had tried to run away while chained up in the middle of four guards? Luckily, he wouldn't have to, as the Captain spoke instead.

"Your Highness, Varian had a moment of hesitation and showed some resistance. Officer Phillip detained him by the ankle shackles and he tripped forward, his face hitting the floor, hard. His resistance was not violent or threatening, and the injury was accidental, and I'll take him to the infirmary once he's done here. I am prepared to write an incident report at the soonest opportunity." he explained, his posture straight as a rod. His hands remained gripping Varian's shoulders, even though the Captain knew Varian was no security risk at the moment.

The Queen nodded slowly, processing his words, and then responded to the Captain. "Okay. Thank you, Captain." She then looked back at Varian, who continued to avoid meeting the womens eyes. "Do you need to go to the infirmary now, Varian? This can wait a while longer, if you're in too much pain…" the Queen said with sincerity.

Varian considered her offer, but it took him almost no time to decide against delaying this anymore. He didn't know if his mind could survive walking through those doors another time. No, he'd get it over with now. "Um- n-no thank you. I'm ok." he said, voice cracking. "Your majesty! ...Y- your majesty." he added quickly.

She gave him a tiny smile and a curt nod before standing back up.

Before heading to her throne she approached Judge Benson's stand, and the two exchanged quiet words. Varian and the Captain assumed that she was informing him of the situation. The Captain released the pressure he was holding on the boy and Varian began to ice his nose again. Then the Judge began.

"Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you all for joining us again. Today we will be hearing the verdict on the case of Varian, son of Quiran. Their majesties and myself sat together until well into the evening yesterday, and we have come up with a fitting sentence." said Judge Benson.

Varian stiffened and his heart raced. He removed the ice from his face again and put it, and his hands, in his lap. Staring down at his hands with wide eyes, he awaited his fate.

"Varian." the Judge addressed. Varian looked up quickly, feeling very on edge.

"If you need me to slow down, or repeat anything, just say so. I can see you aren't feeling the best today." the man continued.

Varian just nodded in response.

"Okay. Let's proceed. Varian, you are hereby charged with the following crimes:

Treason, on multiple accounts

Attack on the royal guard and volunteers, and conspiracy thereof

Destruction of public property

The assault charges against one Lady Cassandra have been dropped, due to a letter arriving this morning from the alleged victim. Lady Cassandra has stated that she does not wish to press charges." The Judge said.

Varian's mouth fell agape. Cass didn't want to press charges? ...Why? No. Don't question it. Be thankful. He closed his mouth.

Varian was shocked by this. The Captain however, was not shocked at all.

Judge Benson carried on. "Now, I require everyone's full attention for the sentencing, because there is a lot that I need you all to understand."

Varian's heart raced in his chest.

Judge Benson removed his glasses and took a deep breath before he spoke again.

Varian swallowed.

"Corona law states that anyone who has committed more than one act of treason in the span of three years will face execution by hanging. Varian has commited many more than one in a much shorter time span, therefore this will be a part of his sentence."

Varian's breath caught in his chest, and his head spun. No tears came, no fueled anger, no desperate thoughts. Varian felt as if the world and his brain all came to a screeching halt. The only sign that he was still alive was how fast his heart was beating in his chest. That, and the muffled explosion of noise from behind him. Soon Varian's fingers and toes felt cold and numb, and the ice pack in his lap that had been steadily melting cold water onto his pants, turned hot? How could that be?… oh. Oh, no…

The Captain reacted much the same as the rest of the people in the room. Shocked, and not quite sure what to do. He composed his shock quickly, when he thought of Varian… His very fear… The Captain came to Varian's side, he expected to see tears. Or anger, or something. But he saw nothing. Varian looked straight ahead, frozen in terror.

That was when he noticed the growing dark spot on Varian's khaki colour palace issued trousers. Oh. Ugh! Oh!

Varian seemed to notice at that moment as well, as he broke out of his shocked state to look down at himself, and then toward the Captain, who was crouched to Varian's eye level at his side. His eyes were wide, and the dark bruises underneath them made his eyes pop to look even bigger.

The Captain again had to compose his shock. This was no big deal, he reminded himself. Cassandra wet the bed for years after he'd taken her in, he could handle a little accident. Could he really blame the kid? He's just been sentenced to death. Death by hanging. The Captain himself felt his stomach flip around and tie itself into knots.

While the room was still in havoc, and Judge Benson tapped away with his gavel, calling for silence, the Captain slid off the coat of his uniform and moved to drape it over Varian's lap.

The boy jumped a little and whimpered at the surprise touch. The Captain calmly shushed him and he relaxed a little bit.

"I'm sorry…" Varian whispered to the Captain, his voice shaking more than it ever has before.

The Captain just shook his head, communicating to Varian that an apology was unnecessary. He moved back to his spot behind Varian, and laid a gentle hand on Varian's shoulder. Varian tensed, but then the Captain started moving his thumb, rubbing the boy's shoulder soothingly, and Varian soon relaxed into his touch.

"Breath, kid." The Captain said, over Varian's shoulder.

He did.

I AM SO SORRY!

I know what you're all thinking: "Cate, how dare you." Well just wait, don't get your knickers in a twist, just wait and see.

(I am SO sorry)