Chapter 94: Book 2 Chapter 37: Eirlathion’s detainment.

Due to life just piling up on me, as much as it pains me due to my mostly formal and regimented way of approaching things, I think I am going to have to completely abandon the concept of a formal schedule of any kind for this series. The chapter will simply be released when it's done. Hopefully I can return to a formal schedule once finals are over in December.

That being said, this chapter had a rather interesting story behind it. I actually wrote the entire thing once, then I immediately lost all my data and had to start the chapter over again from nothing. The second version (the one you are reading now) turned out completely different from the first, (and in my opinion a lot better.) I will briefly describe the previous version in a comment under  spoiler tag.

Eirlathon’s POV

“So, let’s review what you have told me so far.” The great fairy lord before him spoke, looking over a paper he had in front of him. “You approached your house when you saw a gathering of people around it. As you were approaching, you witnessed the tree spirit of your house beginning their ascension into a dryad. The very first thing they did upon becoming a dryad was to shout in anger at the sub-level fey dragon that had been sent to your village.”

“Once they caused some grave injuries, including the severing of a wing and ripping he dragon in two, they went to you and pleaded that you needed to tend to the child, Aerien. The child’s mother then came running from your home carrying Aerien, who was covered in blood. When you examined her, it turned out that while she had no physical wounds, her spirit seemed to have taken substantial damage due to her power.”

“From this point, you spent the rest of your time inside until the morning, at which point you left and saw the devastation that had been caused to the village. At this time, you say that the dryad said something strange to you. Do you mind telling me more about this?”

Eirlathion let out a weary sigh. This was the one aspect of the events of that night that haunted him the most. The one thing that really stuck with him. The thought that he could have done something to prevent this if only he had said the right thing to dryad. If he had not been so hesitant to confront them.

“Dryad said that they were disappointed with me for not calling them out while the riot outside was still going on. It seemed they wanted me to notice and call them out, as though it would have actually made them stop if I had. I… I knew that something was off, but I just didn’t want to think that the Nymph I knew could be doing something like that.”

“I see. I think I have heard enough.” The fairy lord said. He placed the paper down on the table and then stood up to cross the room. Eirlathion was not paying a lot of attention to what he was doing. He heard the groaning of some wood. There was a strange sound, one Eirlathion rarely heard and couldn’t quite place it. However, it gave him a very uncomfortable feeling. “Give me your wrist.” The fairy lord demanded. Eirlathion looked up and noticed a black worm-like dangling object that the fairy lord was holding in a cloth.

The fairy lord hit Eirlathion with an overpowering aura, stunning him. He did not wait for Eirlathion’s mind to catch up with what was going on, and grabbed the elf by the hand. Eirlathion felt a cold as though all the heat was being pulled from his wrist as the object was placed on him, and he felt his contact with his own mana being cut off in an instant. He could feel his strength failing as well as his wrist was wrenched around to expose the opposite side.

The fairy lord seemed to hesitate for a moment at this point, but then he directly touched the object with his bare hands in order to fasten it around Eirlathion’s wrist. Yes, fasten it. Eirlathion realized at this moment what this thing was. A chain made of iron. The places where the links of the chain are welded together are obvious, making it clear it is forged using human’s fire-wrought techniques, turning it into something harmful to the energy of the fey.

“What!? What’s going on!?” Eirlathion demanded, trying to pull his hand back. However, the fairy lord holds his hand firmly and finished fastening the chain to his wrist with a small metal lock. “You are being detained for inciting a dryad, resulting in the deaths of 300 individuals. You will be living in the iron heart until it comes time for your trial before the queen. Don’t worry, there is fairly little getting in the way of a speedy trial since all the weaker races have been made to walk in this move due to their intolerance of arcane energy, your sentence ought to be decided by tomorrow.”

“What!? I said nothing to encourage Dryad to do this!” Eirlathion yelled.

“Don’t tell me, that will be for the queen to decide once she has heard your case.” The fairy lord said and then turned and walked to the wall opposite the one they came in through. He placed his hand against it and had it open to reveal a large man with a goat head sitting in a chair. The man stood immediately as he saw the wall had opened.

The large man stood easily 2 heads taller than Eirlathion, and his shirtless torso reviealed him to be simply a mountain of muscle. His horizontally slitted eyes wandered over Eirlathion, and then looked attentively toward the fairy lord. Eirlathion recognized what this man was. A Khim, the non-magical counterpart to the Satyr. The man and goat hybrids among the fey were a curious bunch in that their development differed so greatly depending on their cultivation that it effectively turned them into separate races. The physical cultivators grew in size, while the mage cultivators grew more fur and resembled a genuine goat in far more ways than the Khim which looked nearly human except for their massive size and their goat heads.

“Gworon,” the fairy lord addressed the large Khim man. “This man is to await trial. His crime is quite serious, and he is an elf as well. I would like him placed at the core of the iron heart.”

Eirlathion’s face went pale as he realized just how serious this was being taken. The fairy lord had already made up his mind, so there was nothing he could do to persuade him any further. And now he was going to be placed inside of the iron heart, a lump of unnatural fire-forged iron that had been placed right in the center of the great tree for the sake of isolating prisoners of the northern fey kingdom of the blue-jade dragon clan. All he could do at this point is hope being cooperative and reasonable would spare him some rough treatment.

“What danger do you think I am going to be?” Eirlathion says. “I plan to prove my innocence before the queen, and I am already cut off from my magic thanks to this.” He says, holding out his wrist.

“Yes, but elves are far more resistant to the effects of iron than other fey races.” The fairy lord says. “We cannot risk anything. So, you will be placed in the most secure part of the iron heart. Well then Gworon, I will leave it to you.” At these words, the fairy lord left the interrogation room out the same wall they came in through. As soon as the fairy lord was gone, the large Khim man, Gworon, lumbered into the room.

“This way.” He said, placing his massive hand, the entire size of Eirlathion’s torso, on his back in order to urge him toward the iron door.

-

Viscount Gailben’s POV

Viscount Gailben strode down the hall after ordering the detainment of the elf he had been interviewing. Times have become very tense since the heaven’s fall of two years ago. All kinds of irregularities continued to show up. It would be one thing if it was just those new unruly great fairies who showed up. They were powerful, but young. And, due to their youth, they did not understand how things were done. It would normally be the duty of the older members of the fey court to guide them and bring them in line. However, they had come in a time where the path to the demon’s territory had been broken wide open and a full scale war between the surface and the underworld was on the horizon.

The new arrivals seemed rather eager to help in this, but they went about it in the most destructive ways. Moving the great tree was a ridiculous suggestion, but they had told the great tree about the abundant spirit energy that was at the site of the heaven’s fall and caused the spirit of the tree to begin actively arguing with the queen to go along with their plan to move the capital to the front lines. The queen could have likely suppressed the great tree, but for how long? It would take more energy than she could spare with the threat of the demons on the horizon.

It was decided then that order had to be kept. It did not matter what help these powerful new arrivals could bring, if they were going to create chaos in a tense time like this then they had to be punished harshly. And so, they were all sentenced to be cast in gnome iron and left in the territory of the old capital. Their chances in that land would be slim, but at the very least they ought to be able to absorb the energy of the forest and fend off anything short of a fairy-type demon if it was gnome iron instead of fire iron. If they could survive for a season in that state, they would be let free. In Gailben’s opinion, it was a light punishment compared to the chaos they had caused.

With this precedent set, it was clear what would be required to survive in these trying times. So, when one of the queen’s changelings came back reporting about this village that had been destroyed by a new and highly disruptive dryad, Viscount Gailben knew there was only one appropriate course of action. The man who was professed to have lived in the tree the dryad had inhabited was clearly suspicious, and so he sought to immediately question him and take him into custody. And, as it turned out, he had indeed had an interaction with that dryad related to the massacre that took place. His culpability in this case was as clear as day, and he had to be detained for the queen to sort out what was to be done. There was no other appropriate course of action.

Such a massive disturbance, someone needed to be held accountable.

He repeatedly rolled the situation and all this chaos over and over in his mind. This was surely the right thing, but why was it bothering him so much? Well, it was ultimately the queen’s role to decide. He was at no fault for simply taking a suspicious individual into custody.

As he arrived back in the lookout on one of the middle outside branches of the great tree, he was met by an Earl ranked fey dragon hovering right near the fairy circle at the edge of the terrace. This was… lord Boras if he was not mistaken. He bowed his head to the fey dragon as he passed, but the dragon’s eyes never left him. Normally, the fey dragons did not pay this much attention to those lower than them, so Gailben found this most disturbing.

“Is there something the matter lord Boras?” He asked. He had raised his head, but he knew better than to raise his eyes all the way up to meet the eyes of his superior.

“Hmm… I take it you are finished with the elf. So, what have you concluded about him in your interrogation?” The fey dragon asked. Of course, it would be that he was showing an interest in this matter.

“Yes, I have determined there is enough to show he could be considered responsible for the incident that took place in Cundo village. He has been placed in the iron heart until a trial can be set. I was going to inform her majesty after confirming the outcomes of the council after I had left.” Gailben reported.

“Hmm… well then, I will inform you. The girl who was able to summon spirit energy, the queen successfully healed her. After that, she adopted her. That elf girl is our new princess.”

“What!?” Gailben responded, jerking his head straight up. “An elf child is our princess!?”

The fey dragon glared down at him in response to his outburst. “Be careful Viscount Gailben. Your tone could be taken as doubting her majesty’s judgement. Although, I do understand your surprise. It is not as extreme a circumstance as you may suppose though. If you will recall the changeling’s report, she has retained her memories of her past life. But still, it seems she only had sixty years in her previous life.”

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“Y-yes, of course.” Gailben replied as his mind was still reeling. Sixty years was incredibly young, it did not even sound like a mage at all. However, he also recalled something else from the changeling’s report that he found more disturbing. That elf girl… the princess… was also from that world. The same world as those unruly new great fairies. Sixty years though, that was actually the oldest age he had heard for any of these new arrivals. It could be possible those few decades could make her a more reasonable person. It could also be that the queen saw this new princess as more malleable due to her young age. And, if her power was what the changeling reported it was, something the queen must have verified while healing her, then this move certainly made sense.

“There is something else you should know however.” Lord Boras told him. “When Her Majesty was informed of the reason you had taken that elf for questioning, she appointed the new princess to be the judge over the case.”

“Wait, what!? But…”

“Yes, she is connected to that man.” The fey dragon interrupted him. “That objection was raised in the court. Her majesty, however, was quite insistent. Even the new princess was quite aware she was not the most appropriate to judge this case. She did not voice it, but due to her poor control over her spirit her feelings on the matter may as well have been the strongest and most insistent objection raised. However, her majesty still allowed for no argument on the matter.

Gailben’s shoulders dropped in exasperation upon hearing this. Her Majesty had always proven herself to be a wise ruler. Why would she make such an absurd proclamation? No, there must be something behind this. Something he could not see had to be playing out in the background in all of this. She had been inside of the new princess’ spirit. Perhaps she saw something that told her this would be a favorable course of action. He just hoped she had considered every possible angle on this one, it seemed there would be more invisible X-factors to this play than any mind would be possible of keeping track of, and such X-factors had a way of producing a lot of unexpected fallout.

“Anyway, now that you are caught up on events, I can tell you something.” Lord Boras told him “Her Majesty has asked for another convening of the council, this time just those involved in the civic enforcement matters. It seems the new princess has started pushing for some concessions to, according to her, minimize the bias due to her position.”

“I see, well, I will report to the high branches immediately in that case. I must report that the trial will be moving forward anyway, and I certainly must meet the new princess who will be presiding over the case.”

-

“And so, that is why I want to have this trial proceed in accordance with the laws of my former world. The tolerance for any bias what so ever in the legal system of my world was low to an extreme. If mother insists that I must be the one to preside over this case, then at the very least I would like the final decision of guilt or innocence to be decided upon by a jury. That is, a group of 12 members of the community which the accused is from who can understand their circumstances and make a more informed decision as to the accused’s circumstances.”

Gailben was positively stunned at this new princess. Almost nothing about her was as he had imagined at first. She spoke her case very well, but more than that, she was using the spirit speech despite her unheard of young age for a member of the nobility. Well, unheard of before two years ago anyway. Indeed, it seemed as though those couple of decades must have worked wonders for her maturity. At any rate, she was speaking the words with her mouth as well as her spirit, which indicated she was still unused to it, but at the very least she was modulating the energy correctly and it was not coming out as a shout as it tended to with the sub-level fey dragons. This show of competence was rather encouraging in and of itself.

And her requests seemed rather reasonable as well. His mind was brought back to the new great fairies when they stood trial before her majesty. They had complained about wanting to be tried before a jury as well and that it was not right for just one person to make a decision like this. He had put it off as just the desperate please of the righteously judged at the time, but now that he had heard what this jury was described in more detail from a calm person, it really made sense why someone from that world would be attached to such a concept.

“There is one other thing that is rather important in a trial by my world’s rules” The princess continued. “The accused must have a representative to push forward their case on their behalf. In a criminal proceeding, it is the practice in my former world to allow the accused or someone related to them to select someone to represent them, or if they cannot then the state will appoint someone who can act as their representative. This is to be someone trained to follow the formalities of the court in the fashion that will represent their client in a manner far better than they can represent themselves, and who can approach the issue with a more level head due to not being personally implicated in the accusation. This is all for the sake of fairness in the proceedings and is very important.”

‘Your majesty,’ a large fey dragon, Duke Faranti, addressed the queen. ‘Do you approve of the princess’ propositions?’

‘I believe I have made myself clear on this issue already,’ the queen replied. ‘I intend for these entire proceedings to be a test of my new daughter’s ability. As such, I plan to neither approve or disapprove of anything she puts forward for this trial. Whether or not to accept Aerien’s proposition is a matter for you to discuss, and for her to prove her case on. I will make no ruling on this matter.’

‘I see…’ Faranti replied. ‘It sounds like an interesting proposition, but there are still several points I am unclear on. Your highness, have you in any way served in the enforcement of law in your previous life? Or is this just a matter you are peripherally familiar with?’

“I am afraid I did not play any role in law enforcement in my world aside from some of my students who came to me being prison guards and officers of the law. I did have to be very familiar with the laws of my world as a business owner and as a medical practitioner, but I was not an officer of the law or of the court myself.” The princess informed lord Faranti, the highest council of enforcement among the fey court.

‘Hmm… well, if that is the case, then I have a suggestion. That young fairy, Steven, he professed to have represented people in his world in the capacity her highness just mentioned. If her highness insists that she wishes to use the rules of her own world for the proceedings, I believe we should hear the actual rules from someone who has experience with them and who also has no connection to the accused. Does this stand well with you your highness?’

“Ah! Yes! Umm… but, do you mean to say that you have other people here who are also from my world?” The princess responded.

‘You were not informed then? Yes, indeed.’ Lord Faranti replied.

‘Wait, didn’t that Steven fellow create a disruption during the last trial!?’ Someone from the crowd objected. ‘He was placed into confinement for his disruption, why should we have him writing the regulations for a case such as this!?’

‘Who else would you have?’ Lord Faranti demanded. ‘I am not aware of anyone who is going to be more knowledgeable on the subject. Well then, as Her Majesty has already expressed her deference in this matter, with the princess’ approval I will appoint Viscount Gailben to speak with mister Steven in regards to the proceedings of court in her highness’ former world.’

What!? Gailben was shocked to hear his own name come up in this. Why!? Why was he the one to do this!?

“Yes, of course.” The princess granted her ascent.

‘Ah! Yes!’ Gailben spoke up, realizing his place in this. ‘I will do as my lord commands.’ At these words, he immediately summoned a fairy circle to take him to the core. Well, it did sort of make sense. He had already begun to prosecute this case by interviewing the elf. In this case, he was going to be the most likely person to prosecute the case anyway, so of course he was going to have to learn the rules of how this was supposed to be done directly from the source. With this mission in mind, he strode through the corridors as he made his way back toward the iron heart

Subscribers' comments of the chapter

"OBJECTION! ? My client shall be innocent until proven guilty! And according to Article 6 sub section c line 4 any main characters are innocent regardless of outcome!"

-meowingLexi

"Can't wait to see a fey dragon swoop down and kidnap 12 confused elves from their village with minimal explanation for jury duty."

-mareus

"Gailben doesn't seem right in the head. I'm guessing this is either a result of corruption by arcane energy, mind control by demons or unscrupulous fey, or reactionary tendencies of the old and stupid."

-Vorquel

"Bail out Phoenix wright to tell us the LAW!?, nah this prosecutor is just stuck in the old ways to the point everything is wrong until its 110% in the right."

-Roy (responding to Vorquel)

Due to an excess of good funny comments on this chapter, and for Roy cheating by responding to others in every comment he made, an extra comment will be allowed in this highlights section.

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