Chapter 4: Chapter 4 Trial

Raul tossed the ball anxiously in his holding room over and over again to pass the time. It'd been three hours since he was brought here, and he hadn't received any news yet. He missed the catch when the door opened, and Tai came in with a tired face.

He scrambled to his feet and hastily said, "Listen Tai I can expla-."

"I know. It's not your fault." Tai cut him off with a wave

"It's not?" Raul jaw dropped in surprise.

Tai's face twitched and he closed his eyes for a moment before saying "it's not. There's no chance you could've seduced a cultivator, much less force yourself on one."

"Well, I wouldn't say there's NO chance with the seduction part." Raul nursed his wounded pride.

"Though the biggest giveaway," Tai ignored him, "is whatever they used to set off the formation to create that little scene."

Raul's eyes widened as he realized that. It came from their room and didn't cause any damage, only tripped the formation. "They're setting us up!" He cursed angrily. Everything about Marina's strange behavior finally clicked once he reached that conclusion.

Tai nodded gravely. "Yeah. They want something from us and are planning to use this case as leverage. We'll be discussing it in a couple hours while the advisors from the other families stand as witnesses."

"Oh, that's low! Are the other families pressuring us too?" He asked in worry.

"No, they seem to be undecided so far. Actually, I was the one who asked them to be witnesses. To be honest, the Norn family is much stronger than us, we need some insurance in case they try anything unruly."

"Damn, I really did it this time." Guilt tormented Raul as he got an image of how bad the situation actually was.

"It's really not your fault, they planned this." Tai assured.

"Yeah, but I was the one who walked into it headfirst. George was right, I shouldn't have been at that party." Every aspect of the day had been awful, he regretted ever asking for that invite.

Tai just shook his head. "No, they would've targeted you regardless. And against a cultivator, you never really stood a chance."

Raul's mouth dropped in shock. "Why would they target me?"

Tai hesitated for a moment before saying, "It doesn't matter. Point is, we need to prepare our next move." He took out three shrinking bags from his pocket and handed them to Raul. "Father and I can handle the negotiations, the problem is that they might ask for your head as part of the reparations."

Raul felt a chill around his neck and couldn't resist putting his hand to it. He'd attended one party and had almost died twice already, yet his head was still on the chopping block. If this is what the cultivation world is like then he'd gladly stay a mortal.

"Relax, we won't let that happen. We're already preparing a criminal to take your place, but just in case it'd be best to move you out of the city for a little while."

"Wouldn't that piss them off?" Raul couldn't help asking. While he certainly didn't want to die, the idea of putting the Household in a tight spot to save his own neck was revolting.

"You're thinking too much. Remember, their goal is something we have, they don't actually care about your life. It's simply a power move to demand your head. So long as we give them face, they won't look too deeply into it. The only reason we're having you leave the city is to not be too upfront about it."

Raul nodded in understanding. Tai told him the rest of the plan and taught him the knock the guard who'd come to fetch him would use and gave him some amulets to use in case anyone else tried to force him out the room.

Amulets were like talismans in that they could store a cultivator's attacks, but they didn't require qi to use and just needed to be broken to release the attack. Of course, this meant they were also one use only and uncontrollable by the user, but it was the best substitute. After giving him one more assuring pat, Tai left.

Raul sat back on the bed and sighed. "They would've targeted me regardless, huh." He muttered. Even though Tai didn't say it, it didn't exactly take a genius to figure out the why.

He was taken care of by the patriarch and best friends with the future patriarch, but he wasn't a cultivator and had no way to defend himself. He was practically a blaring weakness for the House.

'I'm really just a liability for them, aren't I?' He sighed again helplessly.

***

Tai's stomach was a pit of anxiety, though you wouldn't be able to tell from his face. The meeting room was all set up, he was sitting on the chair next to the chief chair with four other high-ranking members of the house while at the head chair a monitor was displaying the grim face of his father.

On the other side was the honey trap, the middle-aged man that he'd fought with, two other members of the Norn house's entourage, and a screen set up at their head position that showed a handsome man a bit older looking than him. To the sides were members of the other houses who were there to witness the proceedings.

Tai had already spoken on what went down in the room, now the middle-aged man was giving a bastardized version of the events. The Norn family was really making a good show of it, the crux of their argument being that Tai couldn't have reacted to the formation going off and get there before he could, so he must have been there to begin with. He was essentially claiming that Tai had incapacitated the girl while Raul raped her, but they'd messed up and she was able to trigger the alarm.

Tai's excuse that he'd received a note to head to that room and was nearby when the alarm went off sounded weak even to his own ears. That he still hadn't found the one who'd sent the note didn't help, though he suspected they were one of the people he was looking at. It was a bullish tactic that only worked because their target was Raul.

Tai knew he needed to sit and stay calm for this, but it was still irritating to hear him and his brother be slandered like this. He wasn't the only one as even his father and the elder's looked upset at the accusations.

The middle-aged man finally finished his piece and sat down while motioning to the 'victim' of this case. The expressionless girl then stood up to say her piece and Tai gripped his hands tightly to brace himself.

Technically Raul should've gotten the chance to speak first, but the Vault family had elected to skip there turn. It'd be difficult to fake it if the Norn family asked for his head while he was in the room, no doubt another ploy by the Norn family. Raul's testimony wouldn't have helped much anyway, this part was purely for show, the true trouble would start when they got into the motives and reparations.

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"This court is unnecessary." The girl said curtly. "I seduced him." She sat back down, completely unaffected by the shocked gazes. While some people might have figured that was the case, not one person in the room expected her to admit it!

The middle-aged man closed his gapping mouth and stood up to try and rectify the situation. As he tried to make excuses for the girl's trauma induced outburst, the handsome man on the monitor suddenly spoke, "Morton, Shut up." Morton immediately closed his mouth.

"Marina, why did you do this?" The handsome man questioned her in a simmering voice.

"I saw him at the party and wished to wed him, it was love at first sight." She answered in a deadpan voice that absolutely no one believed.

"Is that so." The man said through gritted teeth. "You realize that your selfish actions have damaged the face of the Norn household, how will you make up for this?" Tai trembled as he watched the man. Even through the screen the aura of power he put off was overwhelming. Yet the girl seemed unaffected.

"I will cede all inherited assets to the household as reparations. I will also abandon my cultivation as punishment." Everyone in the room gasped in shock at that declaration. Abandoning one's cultivation was one of the most serious punishments possible.

Even the man on the screen seemed taken aback. "There's no need to go tha-" before he could finish, Marina suddenly spat blood and her face turned pale. Her aura started dropping at a noticeable speed.

"Marina!" The man yelled in rage.

She wiped her mouth and said, "I trust that this is enough to show my sincerity."

Everyone inhaled sharply. Ruthless character! They were all certain that this was a person that should never be offended.

The man looked like he was about to explode in rage, then it all fell away and he suddenly looked a hundred years older. "Is this really the path you want to travel?" he asked sadly.

A flicker of emotion filtered through her dead eyes, but in the end she said nothing.

"So be it." His cold voice decreed. "Marina, since you have no regard for the family then the family will have no regard for you. Once you're married you won't be allowed to keep the Norn name nor use it. If you're found violating this rule then you will be dealt with lethally."

"I understand." She bowed her head to the screen.

"Arrange the marriage Morton, and make sure it's carried through." He ordered before the monitor went dark.

As silence reigned the room Marina suddenly raised her hand and stared at the George's monitor. "Vault patriarch, may I please be excused for medical treatment?" Her face had become very pale and no one could feel a spec of qi in her any longer.

George took a second to respond, still trying to grasp how a court case turned into a marriage arrangement. "Yes, of course. Arrange someone to take her." He ordered.

"I'll go!" Tai hastily stood up. George glanced at him for a second before nodding. He rushed over to her. "Would you prefer me to carry you or…"

"I can walk." She said while standing.

He nodded and showed her the way. They walked the way in silence. As they walked, she took some pills out of a shrinking bag and swallowed them. Tai narrowed his eyes at that.

"The medical room is right over there, take this badge and explain what happened." Tai pointed out the building and tossed her an identification badge. She nodded and made to walk past him, but he blocked the way with his hand.

A note appeared between his fingers. "You were the one who sent me this, right? At first, I thought it was part of the Norn family's ploy, but you actually did it yourself so That Raul wouldn't get killed. That's also why you defended him when the fight started." He said with certainty

She nodded expressionlessly before trying to pass him again, but he continued to block her.

"What do you want with Raul? If you do anything to him or involve him in something dangerous I won't let you off." Killing intent radiated from him.

Despite being reduced to a mortal she seemed completely unaffected by his intent. "Shouldn't you be asking your father that?" She asked.

"What?" Tai's aura faltered.

"Three years ago, the Vault family patriarch offered a lot to try and get a marriage with the Norn Family. Not for you, the next patriarch, but rather for an unimportant crippled boy." She stated.

Tai nodded. He knew this, it was why he thought the Norn family had targeted Raul. The past history would give the Vault family motive and make the Norn family's plea stronger.

"You might genuinely care for him, but have you ever wondered why your father would go so far for a crippled boy?"

Tai frowned. "Uncle Viren died saving father's life, he's doing everything he can to return the favor." Tai defended his father.

"Really?" The girl tilted her head emotionlessly. "Well, if your father is the kind of person to go so far to repay a debt, you would know better than me." She walked past him again, and this time he didn't stop her. Her words kept bouncing around his head, shedding light and shadows on many memories.

'What the hell is going on?' He questioned as his gaze turned unbiddenly in the direction of the safehouse Raul was at.

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