Lanius kept a straight face during the whole time. The people in the street gave him sharp anxious looks. Some of them even took a step back as he and the guards passed by them.
Perhaps it was due to the ice patch. Maybe due to the shackles. Regardless, they avoided him like the plague.
"So, Commander...your sister is kind of cute." Lanius tried to make small talk.
"You're lucky I allowed her to speak to you in the first place, ice mage." Garen didn't even look at him.
"Quite lucky indeed, because you decided to execute the last one she met with, and he now tries to overthrow your King. I guess you do learn from your mistakes." Lanius chuckled.
Garen stopped and clenched his fists. Lanius looked at him with a devious smile. "Although you do care about her a lot."
After a few minutes of walking in silence, they finally made it in the castle. Lanius stopped in front of a big white double door.
Garen stood next to him in silence.
"I do care about her, because I don't want to see her suffer." he said.
"Don't worry about it, she'll be all right." Lanius told him. "Today's going to be a day that will go down in Demacian history."
Garen turned towards him and looked at him in confusion. "What do you me-"
The door then opened, and Lanius stepped forward.
.
.
.
The throne room was as big as the house they had in Kulhua. At the wall on the Northern side was a podium and a big throne out of petricite. On said throne sat a tall and bulky dressed in a golden armour. Next to him was another man in white robes, who carried a big spear.
Lanius looked around the room. It was filled with nobles and soldiers alike, as well as Mageseekers. He even saw Lux at one corner.
He then walked and stopped in front of the podium.
"Lanius Varholl, Son of Zefarin. Today, you stand in front of this court, for the crimes of cryonic arcane, public use of arcane arts..." A man in a golden armor and a white half mask, perhaps the Grand Mageseeker, spoke. "But over all of them, you are here because of one thing, the possession and public exposure of a runic stone."
Gasps of shock and murmurs sounded from within the audience. The King raised his hand to silence them all.
"His Majesty, King Jarvan Lightshield the Fourt, will judge you for your crimes today." Adept Cornelia then spoke.
Lanius remained silent, and just stared at the King.
"Is there anything that you'd like to say before we begin, ice mage?" The King asked.
The young man smiled and just shook his head negatively. "I shall speak when it is time, your Majesty."
The Grand Mageseeker gave him a stern, yet confused look, before he began. "A week ago, during the evening hours of the day, this man was seen chasing after what seemed to be a demi-human woman. Witnesses then said that two other demi-humans came to his aid. The woman then attacked this man, and wounded him, also causing him to reveal the rune. He then casted his ice magic to evade the law."
"And what was the reason behind you chasing the woman?" Jarvan demanded to know.
"Said woman...is nothing more than a shape-shifting demon that tried to seduce me. I simply defended myself against her." Lanius explained.
Jarvan then began chuckling. The chuckle turned into laughter. After a brief period, he calmed down. "I've not heard a worst excuse." he said with a serious tone.
"I can find many. They all come from a Kingdom next to Freljord, that thinks that by suppressing magic, they'll create a safe paradise."
The whole court room went silent as Jarvan glared daggers at him. "I'd say you watch your tongue, ice mage."
Adept Cornelia cleared her throat and faced the young man. "Long ago, the wild magicks of the Rune Wars brought all Runeterra to its knees." she raised the rune in her hand. The crowd gasped again. "This...and many more of these almost wiped out the world. After that era ended, Demacia was created as a safe zone."
"But let me guess, Adept Cornelia..." Lanius cut her off. "...those that were magicborn within this city couldn't handle the constant oppression, and thus they joined Sylas of Dregbourne."
Lanius saw the king slightly shake at the remark of that name.
"This reminds me of a tale from Ionia, where I come from. I'm sure that some of you might know this." the Winter's eyes landed upon the man next to Jarvan.
"Explain." the Grand Mageseeker prompted him.
The young man took a look around the room and began. "There was once a man that had a murkwolf. He mistreated it daily. This went on for years and years. One day, the man fell from a tree and broke his leg. The murkwolf then tore him apart."
The young man faced the man with the spear again. "Would you like to explain to them the meaning?" he asked in Ionian.
"Xin, what did he mean by that?" the King asked.
The man named Xin cleared his throat and responded in Demacian. "Does it need an explanation?"
Lanius smiled at him. "Demacia is the only kingdom that treats magic as if its demonic. And I pretty much understand why. You fear magic. You fear that we'll face another rune war, more chaotic than the previous one. Yet...you never faced the horrors of them."
"It's irrelevant to the case, Ice mage!" the Grand Mageseeker cut him off. "You did not respect our country's laws, therefore you must be punished!" he turned towards the nobles. "Should we allow this vile ice mage to brainwash us against our beliefs?"
The crowd began to murmur again. Jarvan yeled for order.
The young man tried to control his laughter, but to no avail. Ge began to chuckle, drawing the attention of both Jarvan and the crowd.
"What do you find amusing in this situation, ice mage?" the King asked.
Lanius straightened his pose and looked at the Demacian King. "I find amusing...the fact that you keep on calling me an ice mage."
The whole crowd seemed confused. Cornelia looked at him. "But...you use arcanic arts, you draw your power from this rune...you even confessed!"
"Confessed?" Lanius looked straight at her. "I simply confessed that I utilise the runic powers to enhance my cryogenic powers. I'm far more that an ice mage."
Lanius raised his left hand and snapped his fingers. A small ice butterfly suddenly materialised in front of Cornelia. It flew all the way to Jarvan, who moved his head away in surprise. It then flapped through the whole court room, before it finally landed onto the petricite cuff that was around the Winter's left wrist. "Would I be able to do such thing, if I was an ice mage?"
"Then, what are you?" the man named Xin Zhao demanded to know in Ionian.
"Riddle me this. From Shon-Xan I come, my lineage is pretty long. Ice we bring on our way, the lands in snow we cover. Mild or harsh, that's who we are...and for fourteen years, I disappeared." Lanius gave him another smile.
Xin Zhao immediately understood and stepped in front of the King with his spear raised. The crowd began to be visibly distraught.
"Enough! Give us an explanation instead of trying to win time!" the Grand Mageseeker yelled and pointed at him.
"Who am I? I'm the one that has not been witnessed for fourteen years. I'm the one who brings the frost, the Messenger of the Cryophoenix." the ice butterfly moved from the cuff on the young man's open palm. "By the way, Adept Cornelia...your way to fuel the rebellion isn't here."
Cornelia's eyes widened, as the rune in her hand melted into a puddle of water. The butter in the mean time transformed into something that caused those within the court to gasp or scream in surprise, as the rune reappeared on the young man's palm.
"What am I? It's pretty simple, your Majesty." the ice patch on the young man's face began to suddenly glow bright teal,same with his visible eye.
"I am, the Winter."