Chapter 28

"Mr. Silver. You have been charged with countless crimes over the past three decades, including, but not limited to, pirating, impersonation of an officer, thievery, resisting arrest, mutiny, hijacking, acts of rebellion, the smuggling of illegal goods, and murder. How do you plead?"

The room was painfully silent, all those present too afraid of being accused as well if they so much as even coughed. It wasn't their place to make even a whisper of a noise. The act of breaking the silence was Silver's job now.

"Yer honor, allow me ta set t'e record straight? Yes, I am guilty of t'ose t'ings, but it's been well on six years since I've hurt a flee-"

"Silence!"

Zarabeth flinched at the painfully loud fall of the judge's gavel against the wooden platform he sat atop, her hand gripping a little tighter to Jim's in near agony at how the proceedings had been playing out.

"You will answer a simple 'guilty' or 'not guilty', Mr. Silver. Nothing more. Do I make myself clear?"

"Y-Yes, yer honor."

"Well then?"

"Guilty, yes, but remorseful all the same."

"Remorse means nothing here. I'm sure you are very aware of your current situation, Mr. Silver. These charges more than sufficiently give me the right to let the noose have you."

The silence from before was now broken by low comments and whispered murmuring from around the room, the sounds unsettling what little nerve Zara had left as she dropped her eyes to concentrate on her hand holding fast to a fistful of her skirt. She only looked up toward Jim beside her as his gentle touch stopped her hand's fidgeting, making certain that his words were only loud enough to be heard by her.

"Zara, this is all we can do for him. Just like we talked about. Yes? I can get down on my own, so you just wait for my signal and the judge's ok."

Simply nodding, since she didn't trust herself to reply, Zarabeth gave his hand a reassuring squeeze with her attempt at a small smile. Unwillingly surrendering her grip on him as she watched the boy got to his feet, Jim's raised his voice to be heard above the idle chattering reverberating over the walls on all sides, hoping to draw all their attentions at once.

"Your honor, if you'd allow me to speak."

Puzzled though the judge's look was, it remained masked of any other emotion aside from that as the aged human man sat back tiredly in his seat. "Captain Hawkins. Nice to see you on your feet. I was surprised to receive your message, but this is neither the time nor the place."

"In that, I would have to respectfully disagree. This is the time and the only place. After all, this is a court of law."

"Captain, I must strongly advise that you keep you and your wife out of this foul business. This is a matter of the system's security. We are charging criminals perfectly guilty on all fronts, not pickpockets or jaywalkers."

"But he is a citizen of this system, a man under the rule of the Royal family. The law clearly speaks to the necessity of a fair trial involving witnesses and lawyers to represent both parties, no matter the crime. I have seen pirates more covered in blood than him led through a fairer trial than this, and even they only received life sentences. Not a hanging."

It was at this point that Jim began to make his way from the upper seats which he had been sitting in, leaving Zarabeth only able to watch as her husband limped his way down the narrow steps to the ground floor where Silver stood chained to the defendant's post.

"Lad, what're yeh doin?"

Ignoring Silver's whispered plea, Jim made his way to face the platform supporting the judge's seat, his head dipped a little in respect while still keeping his eyes trained on the man's hardening gaze. "Your honor, I mean no disrespect, but I am here to speak in defense of this man, John Silver."

"Captain, you are treading on thin ice. You are calling into question the very dignity of this court. My court."

"I can assure you, that is not my intention. Mr. Silver is a friend. I say that without shame. He has saved my life on more than one occasion, and frankly, I owe him everything. Even my right as an officer of the Royal Navy. So here I stand, ready to prove to you that everything this man did here in Rhitan was to ensure the safety of this system, not jeopardize it."

"I will not ask you again, Captain Hawkins. Return to your wife and keep silent or leave this court immediately. I will not humor this insurrection any longer."

"But I will."

Every head in the room instantly turned at the unfamiliar voice sounding over the crowd from the top of the stairs, the room's reaction nearly seamlessly unified as they all instantly bowed low in homage to the man who'd made his presence known.

The squat man residing as judge froze in stunned surprise, his words in reply uncharacteristically timid as he fumbled through them with his head now facing the platform at his feet. "You-You're Highness. Forgive me, I was not aware of your presence. To what do we owe this great honor?"

Zarabeth had done the same as everyone else, but curiosity drove her to slowly tilt her head to the side just enough to get a look at the young alien man standing only a few rows behind her. She'd never seen one of the royal family before.

There he stood, as youthfully confident yet steadfastly certain as he seemed in all of his portraits. Prince Delaford.

The pale gray of his skin shone against the white of his dress clothes, a hint of red and gold in the accents of his jacket assuring all those present of his rank. Though for all his regal splendor, the young prince was clearly casual in demeanor as he let one of his hands push back the pure white hair falling over his eyes so that they might stay secured behind the ends of his pointed ears.

"Forgive me my interruption, your honor. I can assure you it is not done lightly."

Zarabeth's eyes continued to follow him as the alien prince made his way down to join Jim at the floor, the entire room relaxing back into its previous state as he signaled for them to be at ease.

It was clear to see how in awe Jim was of the royalty standing opposite him, the military salute he'd been holding all this time met with the prince's mirrored response, followed by the young man's gesture toward the judge's seat, his rich tone easily filling the room to break the uneasy silence.

"Just as this captain has petitioned for your aid, so too has my help been requested in the matter of John Silver's trial. Now now, don't look at him like that. Captain Hawkins did not write or speak to me. I was addressed by someone else entirely. So since I am the prince, future king around here, and this court resides under my rule now and future, I'm fairly certain I have the right to do things in whatever fashion I choose as long as it corresponds fairly with the law and my own good conscience. Yes?"

"W-Well, your Highness, i-it's just that-"

"Good. I'm glad we're in agreement. Captain Hawkins is right. Not all criminals have been treated equally, some even receiving less sentence than they fully deserve. But not this time. Your honor, this man here shall receive a full trial, witnesses and all to determine the outcome of his fate."

"Your Highness, I understand your good intentions for justice, but you don't quite understand. Witnesses need to be prepared, found, dug up from every corner. This man's crimes go back to before your Highness was even born. How am I to find witnesses now?"

The prince's smile never left, the look in his eyes as carefree as it had been the moment he'd stood up.

"Mr. Silver claims that he's changed. I believe we should see. We don't need witnesses of his crimes. He's already pleaded guilty to those. No, I'm talking about witnesses for his lifestyle now. And I fully believe we have more than enough. so, would you like to start this now or wait until after you've had your lunch?"