"A trial?" Pietre repeated, frowning.
Jason found himself at the centre of attention, realising he had said it out loud.
He had lost any sense of time in the heavy discussion. The councillors had accused them of brainwashing Shersheba. Many other accusations had been thrown in each direction and the dialogue had been turned into an argument, constantly circling around the same things over and over again.
Jason hadn't been able to keep up with every word and offence that had been tossed in, but they were certainly going nowhere.
Now every pair of eyes in the room was on him and the sudden silence felt heavy.
"Yes," he replied hesitantly, "a due process. A lawsuit."
"We are familiar with the concept," Zheri snapped annoyed. "A lawsuit against whom?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
"Shalamorn already exiled Malakat," Sherkat responded. "Even if you get her to agree, what makes you think we consent?"
"On Earth, we act up to the principle 'innocent until proven guilty'," Jason explained.
Zheri snorted. "This is the Planet of Oceans. We handle things differently."
"Then how you intend to handle things?" Jason asked challengingly. "Do you seriously believe you can achieve anything with your rebellion? By going against the anointed Queen you're undermining the very foundations your society is built on. You're just ripping it apart."
Zheri's eyes flashed infuriated but Pietre cut her with a wink of his hand.
"Go on," he told Jason.
"You're trying to do what's best for the people," Jason ran on, "and that's what we do, as well. The only way, we can finally start rebuilding our home worlds is by pulling together, not apart. A fair trial to hear out both sides might be the first step to convincing each other of our good intentions."
"The outcome wouldn't change," Sherkat argued. "Shalamorn will still find him guilty, no matter what we say."
"Shalamorn won't be a judge."
Zheri and Sherkat stared at him open-mouthed. Neri and Mera exchanged a confused look.
"What?" Mera mouthed.
Only Pietre remained calm and nodded slowly as if he had already expected that.
"You can't be judge and witness in the same trial," Jason continued. "And when it comes to her own abduction, Shalamorn is clearly the primary witness."
"Who is going to be the judge then?" Sherkat asked warily after regaining his composure.
"Maybe you, Councillor," Jason responded, then gave the other councillors a glance. "Maybe you as well."
The expressions on their faces changed immediately, losing in defiance and gaining in curiosity.
"Is that how you do lawsuits on Earth?" Pietre wanted to know. "With several judges?"
"Sometimes, yes," Jason replied. "Sometimes we also have a jury of impartial men and woman."
"Impartial?" Sherkat tossed in frowningly. "In this case, no one is impartial."
"Are you trying to mess with us?" Zheri asked furiously. "This still sounds like a total set-up to me. How can we be sure this jury or this set of judges won't be consisting of the majority of your people?"
"Because the majority won't matter," Jason explained. "This is the key: the final vote, the final verdict has to be decided unanimously."
"Like this is going to happen," Mera murmured but fell silent on Jason's gaze.
"I don't say it's gonna be easy," he ran on, "but it's a chance at least. Both sides will hand in a list of suggestions for judges, and a list of witnesses who testify for or against Malakat. The decision will be made in a common discussion."
"Sounds reasonable to me," Pietre responded, and exchanged a look with his colleagues in silent communication. Jason found himself to like this man in his calm way.
"We will discuss your suggestion," Sherkat said hesitantly, obviously feeling uncomfortable with this concession. "You may return to your quarter."
"Are you out of your mind?" Mera asked him reproachfully the second the guard had left them alone. "How can you appeal against Mother's judgement? You put her authority into question, right in front of them!"
"Open your eyes, Mera," Jason threw back. "Things have changed. The people on the Oceanplanet start to make choices on their own and if we don't encourage them in this development, we will lose any ground we have left."
"Jason is right, sister," Neri said, touching Mera's arm. "People are angry because their voices were not heard in the past. We have to give them voice again."
Jason wrapped his arm around Neri's waist. "That's exactly where I was getting at," he told them. "We have enough evidence so there's no way, Malakat is found innocent. But they will remember we included them. So no matter the outcome, we will have won and finally get some conclusion."
Neri smiled affectionately at him but Mera chew her cheek, her face a grim mask.
"If we really gonna take this through," she said, locking eyes with Jason, "Malakat's verdict is not the only one which has to be reviewed. Shersheba has also to be held accountable for her crimes."
Jason felt Neri slightly flinching, her gaze on him. Certainly, she had felt his heart sank by Mera's words. Somehow, he had begun to develop a bond of affection towards Shersheba, even though it was a weak one.
"If she really changed, if she is really sorry for what she's done," Mera ran on firmly, "then she will agree to this, as well."
"Fine," he replied after a second of hesitation, "but I will tell her."