Life had returned back to the boring drawl that it was before the events at the palace, except this time things were even a bit more boring. Alek was once again quarantined to his room. The wound from the hummingbird had reopened during the attempted escape and had to be stitched back together. This time however, it wasn't Dr. Barlow who was tending to his wounds, but the ship's doctor, Dr. Russel.
Apparently no one was allowed to visit Alek. That not only included his own men, but Dr. Barlow and Deryn as well. Even Bovril had been taken away from him. His only company now was Dr. Russel or the occasional visit from Newkirk.
Currently, Newkirk was snoring from a rocking chair on the other side of Alek's cabin. The midshipman had been once again put on guard duty for Alek while the Leviathan made it's homeward voyage to London.
"Hey, Newkirk!" Alek whispered. The other boy started suddenly and almost fell out of the chair.
"AHH NO, MOMMY! I mean….yes your highness?" He positioned himself back in the chair and rubbed his eyes. Alek sighed.
"You fell asleep again."
"Oh yes, I'm sorry." He stood and walked over to Alek's side where he sat on the floor beside the cot. "How long was I out?"
Alek shrugged. "Maybe an hour? It's almost 0700 hours, the Doctor will be back soon and you don't want him to catch you sleeping again."
Newkirk's eyes widened in fright. "You're right. Man was he a terrifying sight last time."
Newkirk was supposed to be keeping watch on Alek and making sure his vital signs stayed stable. Although they both knew that the real reason was to make sure that Alek didn't try to escape again. He could walk perfectly well by himself, even if the Doctor insisted he stay in bed constantly.
"Right then, let me check your temperature." Grudgingly Alek let Newkirk stick the Darwinist thermometer in his mouth. "Ninety eight point six, normal again" He pulled out a notebook and scribbled the temperature down. "Now for your blood pressure." He made to reach for Alek's wrist when the door opened and the Doctor himself walked in.
"How are we this morning, Aleksander?" The man greeted him with a smile and removed his bowler hat. He reached for Newkirk's notebook and checked the scribbled data with a knowledgeable nod.
"He's fine." Newkirk said. "Normal temperature and blood pressure all night."
"I can see that," the Doctor replied, "However I am a bit confused as to why Alek would be writing down his own vitals when you were supposed to be keeping up with him during the night." Newkirk gave a confused expression as the Doctor pointed out the chart. "Unless you suddenly developed a new handwriting two minutes ago?"
Alek rolled his eyes and groaned. The rest of the chart had been filled out by the prince throughout the night as Newkirk slept. Only the last entry was in Newkirk's messy hand which was completely opposite of Alek's tidy script.
"You really should be sleeping yourself Alek. Don't let this fool slumber away the entire night. You're the one who needs the rest." Alek could see concern in the older man's eyes but the truth of the matter was that Alek couldn't sleep. He was too worried. The events of the night at the Emperor's Palace were nearly three weeks ago, but they were still fresh in his mind. He remembered the dance perfectly and replayed every moment of it over and over. He couldn't shake the idea of almost being shot or running/limping across the Japanese gardens to escape from an army of armed soldiers. He especially couldn't stop thinking about Deryn. The last time he had seen her was when they dragged her up the ramp of the Leviathan and out of sight. If he had known he wouldn't be allowed to talk to her again, he would have made a point to say goodbye.
Occasionally he would let his mind slip into words and ask Newkirk if he had heard from her. The midshipman would only shrug and shake his head. No one had told him anything about the cross-dressing Scottish girl, and if they had he wasn't allowed to tell Alek anyways. In fact, any questions that Alek posed at Newkirk about life outside his room were answered with stiff shrugs. Newkirk was forbidden to talk about Volger, Dr. Barlow or Klopp, even though Alek could tell he had seen these people. Every time Alek brought them up Newkirk looked guilty, like he wanted to tell Alek something. But whenever he brought up Deryn, Newkirk looked honestly baffled. The whereabouts of the girl were obviously being kept secret, which worried Alek even more.
"Aleksander?" The Doctor suddenly interrupted his thoughts, "Did you hear me?"
"Um, no. I apologize Doctor, what were you saying?"
"I said that we will be landing shortly. The Leviathan is due to dock in London within the next two hours. I beg of you to take better care of yourself, seeing as that I will no longer be watching over you." He looked very concerned now, almost like he wanted to cry. "I have a son not much older than you boy, and it grieves me to think of what will come next."
Alek gazed into the man's eyes. "I…I assure you sir, I will be fine." It didn't make sense that the Doctor was so suddenly afraid. Alek had healed splendidly from his wound and it no longer hurt at all. He knew that his blood pressure and temperature were normal; he had been recording them the entire night. "What is wrong sir?" He asked, wondering what had made the man so scared.
"I'm not supposed to be telling you this," the Doctor's eyes flicked to the open door, making sure no one was nearby. "but the Captain has given word that you will be escorted to Westminster Palace for a hearing. And I don't think that it bodes well."
"What…what does that mean?" Alek stammered.
"It means you are being judged by the House of Parliament for treason." The Doctor looked at him sadly.
Alek scrunched up his eyebrows and made eye contact with Newkirk, who also looked very frightened.
"The entire ship has been talking about it." Newkirk suddenly blurted. "The Lady Boffin is furious and has been trying to talk sense into Lord Churchill, but rumor says she hasn't had any luck." His eyes also darted towards the door and he quickly dropped his voice to a whisper. "Don't tell anyone I said so, but I think she's even tried threatening him with blackmail!" Alek wasn't too shocked to hear that. It didn't surprise him that Dr. Barlow would do anything to get her way. However, he knew that if she didn't win this time, things could end miserably.
"Do you think…they wouldn't execute me… would they?" Neither Newkirk nor the Doctor answered. Their silence was answer enough. Treason was a federal offense and usually terminated in a hanging. Alek gulped. "But I didn't do anything wrong!"
"You destroyed the Goliath, Alek." The Doctor answered. He didn't sound angry, just disappointed.
Alek wished they would leave him alone then, but the Doctor said he had been ordered to take him to the bridge where the Captain was waiting. They were flying over London right now, and he expected that they would be descending any minute.
He was helped back into the accursed wheelchair and pushed into the hallway for the first time in days. They passed other men on their way to the bridge and Alek couldn't help but notice the immense amount of pity in everyone's eyes. When he was finally face to face with the Captain, Alek thought he even saw Hobbes looking at him with empathy.
"It has been a privilege to have you aboard, sire." He said, then gave Alek a strong salute before turning and ordering the airmen to open the hatch.
Alek had never felt the airship descend, but outside the beast's door was an airfield covered in numerous soldiers and fabrications. They wheeled him outside and onto some sort of car that was pulled by what looked like a saber tooth tiger. A half a dozen soldiers whom Alek didn't recognize joined him on the car. A tall light haired man with a rifle on his back tied Alek's wheelchair down to the wall of the vehicle.
"I can stand!" Alek yelled at the man. A sudden wave of anger had washed over him. The rest of the soldiers were all standing since there were no chairs in the bus like car.
"Aye sir, I'm sure you can." The tall man grinned at him. Was he mocking him?
"I'm serious!"
"I know sir, but this is just to be safe." He stood next to Alek, his expression suddenly gloomy. Alek saw that the rest of the men were looking at him with gray, pained faces. Did they all know he was being driven to his execution? None of them looked older than eighteen and Alek could sense that they didn't want to be doing this.
They arrived at their destination in a few minutes. Alek hadn't looked out the window of the bus the entire trip, so when they wheeled him onto the street he glimpsed his first view of London. The large building they were leading him to must have been the Westminster Palace. It was adorned with a tall clock tower and imperial fences and guards. Out on the street hundreds of people were screaming and shouting angry remarks. When Alek was wheeled past the crowd the shouting got louder.
"What's going on?" Alek asked as he was pushed through the iron gate and away from the yelling people.
"Well, not many people are that thrilled with the killing of young innocents." Said the man with the rifle who was pushing his chair. When Alek looked at him confused he continued. "Word has spread around about your actions, you're highness, and the public isn't too happy with Lord Churchill's response."
Alek didn't know how to respond to that. The people of London were apparently supporting him. That wasn't something Alek had expected.
They made their way inside the large palace and through a wide elegant hallway. At the end was a set of tall wooden doors that were opened so Alek could be wheeled into a spacious wood trimmed room. Rows of seats were set up and as he entered Alek saw hundreds of people sitting in the rows turn to face him. Whatever conversations were being held before by this crowd immediately stopped. He was suddenly being pushed into a thick, staggering silence.
They reached the front of the room and Alek looked up to see a judge's podium directly in front of him. The man sitting at the podium wore a long white powdered wig with false curls. On both sides of the podium were shorter benches where about a dozen other wigged men were staring over their desks at Alek.
"You're late." Said the judge.
"I apologize, your honor." Said the man with the rifle. His voice was suddenly shaky. "But the Leviathan landed a few minutes later than we expected." The judge looked like he wanted to scold the other man more, but he only pointed to a table on Alek's left and said,
"Please escort the Prince to his seat." Without another word Alek was helped out of his wheelchair and sat down at a chair behind the wooden table. He was expecting the soldier to sit down beside him, but the young man only removed the wheelchair and joined a crowd of standing people who were further down the room. Suddenly very alone, Alek looked up at the judge and the group of men sitting in front of him.
"The House of Parliament welcomes his Royal Highness, Prince Aleksander Ferdinand Hapsburg von Hohenberg to the stand." Came a stiff voice from above. Alek looked up and saw a balcony above him filled with people. The judge cleared his throat.
"I call to the stand Lord Winston Churchill." He said. There was a murmur passing through the courtroom and Alek turned to see a stout bald man walk up beside him. He nodded at Alek and then walked toward the judge who had stood up from his podium and was now exiting the room. The bald man had a curly haired wig in his hand as well and placed it on his own head before ascending the podium and taking the first judge's place. He looked down at Alek with watery blue eyes.
"The House finds you guilty of treason, Prince Hapsburg, of which the penalty is death. How do you plea?" Alek only glared at the man, suddenly unable to speak. The room once again had returned to silence, waiting for him to answer.
"NOT GUILTY!" Came a piercing yell from the crowd of standing people. "HE PLEAS NOT GUILTY!" It was a woman's voice and Alek turned to see a dark haired woman in a bowler hat push her way toward the front of the crowd.
"Barlow." Churchill gritted his teeth in a snarl. "I don't believe I asked you to come forward."
"That's Dr. Nora Darwin Barlow!" She tried to push her way forward, but a few men had risen to stop her. "Alek is NOT guilty!"
"I'm quite certain that the boy can speak for himself, Doctor." She tried to fight against the other men some more, but to Alek's surprise Count Volger came forward and put a hand on her shoulder. She instantly stopped and with a large huff she turned away from him and returned to her spot among the crowd. Volger made eye contact with Alek. He looked as if he was going to say something but only nodded and followed the Boffin.
Alek felt a surge of relief come to him. There were people here he knew that were looking out for him.
"I plea not guilty, your honor." He said to Lord Churchill. Surprisingly Winston Churchill smiled.
"I had a feeling you would." He replied. "Very well then, I ask the court to bring forward the first witness. I call Miss Deryn Louise Sharp to come to the stand."
Alek felt his jaw drop.