The seven Lords sat in their seats, reading documents which I believe where the reports of my alleged crimes that the royal guards had prepared. The guardsmen began to excuse themselves from the throne room, all but Vladimir and another. Like clockwork as four of the guardsmen who had escorted me here excused themselves from the throne room, King Andreas IV appeared from behind.
All the Lords arose from their seats and bowed their heads as he made his procession through the throne room, dressed in Royal regalia of red and golden colours and a radiating aura of power and respect he was the living embodiment of my wildest dreams.
In his hands, he held a scroll. "Read the proceedings" he said as he passed the roundtable tossing the scroll to Lord Caspian who caught it quite easily. As King Andreas took his seat on his throne, the remaining Lords took their seats while Lord Caspian remained standing.
"Thank you, your majesty for this great honour" he said before taking a short bow before the king. He turned towards me and the smile which he might have had when he addressed the King quickly turned into a scowl as he looked down on me.
I hadn't taken a shower in weeks, my fairly tanned skin was covered with soot and dust, the lice in my red coloured hair was probably visible from the throne room's ceiling. My hands were covered in bruises and cuts and let me not even begin to talk about the sackcloth I was being forced to wear while kneeling down and bound in chains. I would have scowled at myself.
He rolled down the scroll vertically and began to read its contents.
"By the power invested in me by King Andreas IV, this tribunal has commenced, the accused may state his name"
"My name is Alaric, my Lord"
"Alaric?" he asked quite confused "Do you have no last name?"
"No my Lord, I am an orphan and as such no family name was passed down to me"
"If you fear that your family will be dragged into the aftermath of your sins, I assure you lying to the noble court will have the opposite effect"
"Lord Caspian, aren't you giving the commoner a bit too much credit?" asked Lord Vishmir with a condescending smile plastered across his face.
"Lord Vishmir, with all due respect this trial has been handed to me by the King himself and I will continue this trial the way I see fit until the King says otherwise" he replied sternly.
"My apologies Lord Caspian" he began before turning towards me "So what is your answer commoner, Do you dare to keep the Lords of Valencia and the King himself waiting"
"My apologies, my King and Lords of Valencia that was never my intention but my answer remains the same, I have no relatives and no name to add to my own"
"Which Province do you hail from?" he asked
"I was originally in St Angelica's orphanage in the north-west provinces until I turned 18 and moved to the east provinces where I lived until I was arrested"
"You say that you moved to the east provinces but you originally resided in the north-east provinces, was there a reason why you could not remain there, in the north-east provinces I mean"
"None in particular, my Lord, I had only wished to see beyond my province"
"You seem rather collected for a normal commoner, are you perhaps a commoner with some level of education?"
Shit. In Valencia, the common folk aren't supposed to receive any form of education. The only thing we are supposed to know is how to do menial jobs although I've heard that once in a while, a commoner can be chosen to be educated under the supervision of a Lord. Unfortunately I was not one of those cases.
I remained silent, but my silence was more than enough
"Alaric, I asked you a question. Do you have any form of education?"
"Yes, Lord Caspian I have received some level of education" I replied, I had no intention of lying in court cause it was of no consequence.
"Under who's supervision?"
"I'm sorry my Lord but I do not understand the question". I lied hoping to divert the topic
"My King, If I may speak?" Lord Caspian said after he turned back to face the King who had been sitting quietly on his throne watching the tribunal, he waved his hand ever so slightly to acknowledge Lord Caspian's request
"It is common knowledge among the royals and us nobles as well as written Law that commoners be only educated once they have achieved certain feats and under the strict supervision of the nobles in charge of the regions where they reside"
"My question to you Alaric is, under which noble's supervision were you educated. Was it Lord Talon? During the time you stayed at St Angelica's Orphanage or was it under Lady Moorde's supervision that you were educated?"
"What is the meaning of this, Lord Caspian?" shouted Lord Talon slamming both his hands unto the Table.
"This is a tribunal, Lord Talon. Questions must be asked to arrive at a verdict" he replied swiftly.
"Your majesty it is this commoner that is on trial for his crimes, why is my name as well as Lady Moorde's name being besmirched?"
"I agree with Lord Talon" replied Lady Moorde without standing up from her seat or as much as raising her voice "The question of his education is irrelevant to the crimes presented before us today and as such is irrelevant to this tribunal"
"Ah but Lady Moorde, you must admit that the crimes committed by this commoner is rather grave and could not have been carried out without any form of education whatsoever, commoners are supposed to have earned a certain amount of merit before being educated but this man has clearly achieved none of those merit, meaning …"
"Lord Caspian" began Lord Azure "Be very careful with your next words, whatever your reasons maybe, do you really think that it's worth it to butt heads directly with another noble family over a commoner's tribunal?"
"I assure you Lord Azure that is not my intent, This man before us here was either educated under the supervision of a noble without achieving any of the required merits or he stole the information he needed, either way the fault lies with the noble who would let such a thing happen, if it's not addressed now what's to stop it from happening again" , "I can speak on every one's behalf that we are all very busy people running our individual provinces especially the King who has to run a country, do you really think you could afford to be called to noble court to dispense judgment every other week on a matter such as this?"
An eerie silence filled the throne room. "I will allow the question" said the king after a few moments of silence.
"Thank you, your majesty"
"So I shall ask again, Alaric under which noble's supervision did you acquire your education?"
All eyes were on me now, my next words would not only affect myself but an entire noble family. I have no love nor respect for the noble families however even now as I laid on my knees bound at hand and feet in chains I would never stoop so low as to let myself be used as a pawn in a noble's agenda.
"Lord Caspian, I am already a condemned man, is there really a need to drag another to condemnation?" Lord Caspian was obviously after something, while his motives and true goal were unclear to me at the time, such details were irrelevant to me.
"Loyalty to your noble even at your own detriment, an admirable quality I might add", "Commoner I believe that the fault does not lie with you but rather with the misguided doctrines you were fed"
"However what I believe is irrelevant, the proceedings of this tribunal depends on your next answer. Choose wisely and you might be able to walk away a free man", "Alaric you stand here before the royal Court housing the seven Lords of Valencia and King Andreas himself being accused of Treason against Valencia how do you plea?"
The words of Lord Caspian wrung in my head like a reverberating echo "Walk away a free man". I took in a deep breath and exhaled. Lord Caspian's intent became clear as the morning sky, I could feel my stomach churn with disgust.
This was what was wrong with Valencia, the self interest of the nobles and royals coming before its people, the squabbling politics of the royal Court had never piqued my interest and just as expected, it had ran its course.
"Now before you answer you..."
"Guilty, I plead Guilty Lord Caspian" I said cutting him off
Lord Arthur let out a stifled laugh while the other nobles showed their disappointment in various ways from head shaking to palming their faces and whispering to one another.
Lord Caspian slammed his fist unto the roundtable causing a large thud that sent everyone else "Did you hear nothing I said or are you too incompetent to understand!"
"It was never my intention to offend you Lord Caspian, while the offer was most generous and attractive. I've already lost interest in the proceedings of this noble court"
"How dare you, you filthy…" said Lord Vishmir as he rose from his seat.
"My king" I shouted as I turned my gaze from the roundtable to the throne upon which he sat "King Andreas IV as a resident of Valencia I plead that the case be taken to the Royal court"