Chapter 011: The Trial Of Murlas

 

"Stop!

I want to go home

Take off this uniform and leave the show

But I'm waiting in this cell because I have to know

Have I been guilty all this time?"

 

(Pink Floyd - Stop)

 

     "Excuse me sir."

     Smiling I stepped aside as yet another tailor passed by with yet another bundle of white cloth. He joined his colleagues in the chamber next to Diana's, who was keeping me waiting once again. No fault of hers, though, for I had neglected to inform her that I wanted to try and introduce her to Aunt Fiona as early as possible.

     Apparently my request of being woken at eight o'clock didn't make me the earliest bird in Castle Amber. Judging from all the noise next door those tailors had already been working at it while I was still peacefully asleep. Now and then I could make out a female voice, which I recognised as Boadice's, shouting over the din and generally complaining about the suggestions being made. Well, at least she sounded like she knew what she wanted, which is more than some others might say. No need to interrupt her, there would be plenty of opportunities to talk to her later.

     I let my gaze wander through the corridor. There were no other signs of life; everyone else must also be awake, or else they all had to be awfully sound sleepers to be able to ignore Boadice like that. I noticed that Algo's painting of Lush had disappeared from its spot opposite Adrian's chambers. Mixed feelings there: on the one hand I liked Algo's art, on the other hand it didn't seem quite fitting to hang it here. And then there was this ridiculous quarrel between the two of them. I didn't want to get caught between them, forced to choose one over the other. I liked them both and I felt that neither of them were right in this matter. But they were both so stubborn...

     It took Diana about fifteen minutes to get ready for breakfast. There were only three other relatives present: Bleys and Rinaldo sat eating what could be considered a Classical Breakfast (fresh bread, fried eggs, etc.), while Martin was slouched in a chair, muddy boots propped upon the table, munching his way through an asortiment of junk food. Bleys and Rinaldo were almost totally ignoring Martin, caught up as they were in the exchange of "pleasantries" between them. I recalled from some rumours I had heard that after he had shot Caine Rinaldo had tried to do Bleys in too. Although the vendetta had been laid to rest, this was something that was going to stand between them for a long, long time.

     I led Diana to a seat beside Rinaldo, wanting to keep her out of Bleys' reach for a while. It's not that I have any real reasons to doubt him, but he had acted just a little too damn eager with Diana yesterday and I still felt she needed some protection in this regard. I introduced Martin to her, mentioning the fact that he was Random's son.

     "Oh," she said, a little surprised, "so he's the crown prince, isn't he?"

     Bleys almost choked on a piece of bread as she said that. He quickly recovered, though. Martin had quite a smug expression.

     "Yeah," he said with a smile, "sort of..."

     I declined from making any comments on the subject, as did Rinaldo, although a slight smile graced his features for a moment, caused by Bleys' sudden loss of control. But then it seemed to me that smiles came easily to him.

     I felt that the matter of the Succession, aside from being a rather tricky one at best, was simply something that need not be such a big issue yet. I don't know whether I would vote for Martin as the possible next King of Amber, but I simply expected Random to continue living and reigning for quite some time to come. Let's worry about the throne when there's sufficient reason to do so. Until then the matter held no real interest to me. I mean, it's not as if I was planning on becoming King Dorian I or something...

     After breakfast Diana and I headed for Aunt Fiona's apartment. I hoped that she was awake, without already being involved in some other business. I just wanted a chance to talk with her about Diana's chances for walking the Pattern, about our encounter with Cerwen (although I guessed that Random would have briefed her on that as soon as possible), about my newly discovered abilities and, last but not least, about my troubles with Suzanne which seemed to have been caused by a relative. Quite a lot, I know, but that's why I went to see her in person; discussing all these things by Trump would probably leave me with a killer headache and tired as hell.

     As we approached Fiona's chambers, however, I saw a servant standing by her door. When I made ready to knock on the door, he stopped me saying that the lady had instructed him to let nobody disturb her. Damn! Nothing ever goes as planned, or so it seems.

     Alright, so we would have to wait. I had to leave a message, though, so Fiona would know that I wanted a word. Off to the library we went in search of paper and ink. I quickly composed a short and somewhat formal letter, with which we returned to Fiona's chambers. As it turned out we weren't the only ones eager to see her: Uncle Gerard was making some rather loud attempts to convince the servant that his business with Fiona was really very important and that it couldn't be delayed. The servant, who had already been somewhat nervous when we first saw him, clearly had a hard time, but he persevered in his duty to his mistress. Brave man. Uncle Gerard usually means well, but he's a very imposing figure and it's very difficult to deny him anything. 

     I walked up to the servant and handed him the letter. Then, to save him from further harassment, I introduced Gerard to Diana. He looked pleased to see her and carefully shook her hand, but as careful as he was, Diana's expression was still a bit painful. I sympathized with her; I too had known the power of that clasp.

     Gerard didn't have much time for us either. Muttering something about catching Fiona later, he walked off. I had a feeling that most of the elders would be occupied in one way or the other, for the upcoming Trial seemed to be very important to them. So I would have a better chance of catching any of them after that matter had been settled. That did leave Diana and me with a morning to fill, however. I asked her whether she would be interested in a small tour of the Castle, and she agreed, eager to learn anything of her new heritage.

     One morning really is too little time to see Castle Amber. One might wander around for a whole day without seeing the whole building, so I decided to show Diana only the more frequently used areas like the library, the dining rooms, etc., plus where all the apartments belonging to relatives were located. That should easily keep us occupied until lunchtime.

     Just as I was showing Diana some of the fine tapestries that hang in the corridors on the second floor, I saw Adrian coming towards us. He greeted me jovially and courteously bowed and kissed Diana's hand. Then he immediately turned to the matter at hand. Apparently he had been on the lookout for me since early this morning. He said that he wanted to talk with me, but he preferred it to be a private conversation. He said this with an apologetic glance at Diana, who took his cue to have another look at the library.

     "So," I said when we had found a sufficiently private spot in one of the sitting rooms, "tell me, what's on your mind that is so important."

     "Can't you guess? The Trial, of course. Since we're both of the so-called new generation and we both had to accompany and work with Murlas for a while, I was wondering what your opinion of the whole affair is."

     That was a hard one. I hadn't really taken the time yet to consider it all a little more carefully. So I tried to tell him as much. Honesty is certainly the best policy with Adrian.

     "To be honest, I don't know what my stance will be as yet. I've got the feeling that I don't know all there is to know about the case, so until I do I'll just reserve my judgement. What I will say about Murlas is that he's quite competent and also very cooperative when he needs to be. The encounter we had with that harpy comes to mind, and I believe he also aquitted himself on our trip through Shadow. However, I have to admit that I find it very hard to trust him. This murder he has committed more or less confirms that sinister appearance of his, which I have been trying to ignore when working with him. And to think none of us ever suspected him, not in the least bit! It makes you wonder what else he has done that we still know nothing about. I do have another reason to distrust him, but that's personal and it doesn't really have anything to do with this current business."

     "Yes, you've got a point," Adrian replied. "I don't trust him either and I'll even go as far as admitting that I fear him a little. If one thing, he has proven with this murder that he isn't to be taken lightly. And I agree with you about the possibility of him secretly being the cause of other things. That business with the atomic bomb in Angel City comes to mind; that seemed to me too much of a coincidence. But we'll probably never know the truth of that matter.

     "On to some other business: have you made your mind up about Algo's offer yet?"

     "You mean about the duel? Well, I've thought about it, but I feel that it would be better to stay out of it altogether. I like to consider both you and Algo as my friends, and I'm afraid that me taking a role in this duel would harm this friendship with one or the other."

     Adrian seemed pleased when he heard this. 

     "Well," he said, "that's about all I wanted to talk about. I think it's almost lunchtime, so let's go downstairs, shall we?"

     "Wait a minute, I've got something I want to ask you, although you might not be the right person to question about this. Do you know anything about that black panther which accompanies your brother? For instance, where he got it?"

     "No, I can't tell you anything about that. As you know Alexander and I aren't very cordial. Why do you want to know?"

     "I don't know whether you've heard about this or not, but yesterday evening when Alex and I met, his panther Thena immediately took off after my cat Wylde. Later I talked about it with Wylde, and she told me that Thena is in fact a Chaos creature."

     "I had no idea," Adrian said, the surprise in his expression plain and true. "Still, it doesn't really have to be a problem, does it? Now that Merlin rules in the Courts they're not really the enemy anymore, are they?"

     "I've got a feeling that it won't be that easy, but that isn't really my concern. I was wondering whether Alex is aware of the true nature of his companion. If not, I'd like to know why, and whether that beast has some ulterior motives for not telling him."

     "Knowing my brother, I'd say that he is aware that Thena hails from the other side. Still, I'll try and find out more, if you like."

     "That's okay. I still haven't figured a way to personally bring the subject to Alex. There are some other things I'd like to look into before doing so."

     "Alright, let's join the Family downstairs then."

     "You go on ahead and I'll join you in a minute. I need to do a little more thinking first."

     As Adrian left I considered the things we had talked about. The more I thought about it, the more I started wondering what would happen at the Trial. I tried to think as far back as I could, but I couldn't come up with a case in Amber's history that was similar to this one. Which meant that the final judgement would set something of a precedent for future cases. Scary, since I figured that in some way Murlas' case and my business with Suzanne and the Mystery Person might be regarded as being of the same ilk. With that I mean a relative purposely harming another relative. Granted, Murlas' murder of Algo's companion was a degree worse than Suzanne's kidnapping, but the reasoning behind it was in essence the same. Maybe this was in fact the reason that the Mystery Person had refrained from actually killing Suzanne: he or she was afraid of Family repercussions (there was no way that I could believe him/her actually being afraid of me). If this were true, then I had a greater stake in this Trial than I had figured up till now.

     My train of thought was halted by Wylde entering. I hadn't seen her earlier this morning, and she immediately turned my thoughts to he matter of her and Thena. One of the things that had been bothering me a little since last night was the fact that I really didn't know that much about Wylde. I have already relayed elsewhere how she came to join me and not knowing her origins had never really bothered me very much, up till now. Ah, to trust is a hard thing to do! I really wanted to trust Wylde, but in the back of my mind this small voice kept warning me not to trust too easily, betrayal would only be a word away, and more of those things.

     I sat staring at her for a few minutes, then I finally decided to get a little clarity. I concentrated on the Pattern and tried studying her through its lens, hoping to learn something about her true nature.

     Well, she certainly was no ordinary cat, but I already knew that. There was some power within her, but there didn't seem to be anything sinister about it. No traces of Pattern or Logrus or any other major forces.

     Suddenly Wylde looked up at me, an inquisitive look in her eyes. Oops! Apparently her sensitivity had alerted her to my efforts. Very embarrassing, for now I was the one who was betraying her trust.

     "Look, Wylde, I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have done that without your consent. It's just that with everything that's been happening lately I seem to have gotten a little too paranoid for my own good. Can you forgive me for this, please? I promise it won't happen again."

     She growled her assent; apparently I was forgiven. She did seem to be somewhat saddened by my rash act, though. I picked her up and started stroking her.

     "Ah, Wyldie, Wyldie. Somehow I've got this nagging feeling that it would be best for us to leave here as soon as possible. Head out into Shadow, away from the Family and all its problems."

     "But they've got great rats here," she protested.

     "Well, yes, but while some of the rats here are easy prey, others might come after us."

     I left her there to consider the wisdom of my words while I joined the others for lunch. I first stopped by at the library to pick up Diana, but it seemed that someone had beaten me to it. That someone appeared to be Uncle Corwin. Ah well, I figured that there was no real need for me to accompany Diana all of the time, and it could have been worse: it could have been Bleys. He seemed to be more interested in Boadice at the moment, but judging from what I had heard this morning I felt that she might be able to handle him.

     These things aside, the table at lunchtime was quite a sight. All the "regular" relatives, that is those whom I had seen before in Castle Amber (aside from Dworkin), were present. Even Coral was there, though she kept to herself mostly, looking weary and unwilling to talk to anyone. She was the only one in this respect; all my other relatives regarded this as an opportunity to do some extensive gossiping, a true Family pastime of sorts.

     I sat down on the seat Adrian had reserved for me, between him and Aunt Llewella. I was one of the last to join the party, the very last being a tired and irritated looking Aunt Fiona. Adrian stood and offered her the seat on his other side, which she accepted while at the same time totally ignoring him. As soon as she was seated and got involved in the gossip flying hither and yon across the table her tired mood was significantly lifted. 

     I tried to follow the conversations, but I found that it just wasn't possible. It was as if the elders had over the years developed some kind of very subtle secret language to be used at such occasions. Apparently they were able to put a whole lot of layers of meanings in just a few words, and also gather these meanings from the words of others. It might all be very clear to them, but I found that most of the time I couldn't tell what they were talking about. A glance beside me told me that Adrian was as much at a loss as I was.

     Although I couldn't fathom the true meaning of what was being said, I did detect a shift in the mood of most conversations after a while. Slowly an undercurrent of anger and frustration started growing leading to a few spontaneous outbursts. Most notably was Uncle Benedict banging the table with his fist and saying that he wouldn't tolerate such talk; all of that was long ago and the matter should be settled by now. This silenced a lot of the voices around the table and things returned to a more sociable level, but I couldn't shake the impression that there was still a lot of bad blood running in the Family.

     The only other truly noteworthy thing at lunch was Random officially introducing Boadice to the entire Family. He couldn't help but mention with a little sarcasm that she didn't know who her father was either. Maybe I should try to find some time to hear her story. On the other hand, I did already have too much on my plate as it was. Let's just save this until I really had some time for it.

     Finally everyone finished eating and the servants started clearing away the dishes. While they were busy most relatives continued their discussions in small groups. After a few minutes Random announced that the Trial was ready to begin. We were to be seated at the big dinner table, with Random as the Family judge at the head of the table. Next to him sat his wife Vialle, Algo in his role as Prosecutor and a man named Bill Roth, who had taken it upon himself to defend Murlas. I later heard that he hailed from Shadow Earth and was a personal friend of both Corwin and Merlin. He looked like an ordinary human of a little more than middle-age, with grey hair and he clearly had put on a little more weight than was good for him lately. He did speak Thari, the official language of Amber, but with an accent and he sometimes had to look for the right words.

     Uncle Julian sat next to Bill; I heard someone mention that he had arranged for Bill to be Counsel for the Defense. This made me wonder about the relationship between Murlas and Julian. As I seemed to recall, Julian was the one who had provided us with Murlas' Trump. Now, where do you think he had gotten that one from? And, if he was so close to our cousin Murlas, could he perhaps know the real identity of his father? Hmm, this required some further speculation, but later; first we had a trial to conduct.

     The other relatives were arranged around the table in order of status within the Family, with the eldest and most important members closest to Random, and the youngest (that is us, the new generation) at the other end. Benedict and Gerard were the last to join us, bringing Murlas, the accused himself, with them. There was no chair for him, so he had to stand at the end of the table facing the rest of us (which gives a whole new meaning to the expression "to stand accused").

     This was the first time I had seen Murlas since we had fled the atomic explosion in Angel City. His appearance was as impeccable and sinister as ever: black clothes, black hair, black goatee. There was a certain amount of arrogance and disdain in his expression, which seemed to say beforehand that while he might be guilty, he certainly didn't regret his acts.

     "Well," Random announced, "now that we're all here, we may as well get on with it. Over to you, Algo."

     There were some frowns and mumbles from a couple of the elders. It seemed that not all of them agreed with the informal manner in which Random had decided to hold this trial, something which Random himself also was aware of.

     "Alright, alright," he sighed, "I officially call upon Algoniet to speak as Prosecutor in this case."

     With an air of complacency Algo started reciting the charges, which aside from murder also included, according to him, an infringement of the right of hospitality, since the victim had been a guest in Amber invited by the King himself. He also considered the fact that the victim had been part of the revenue of a member of the Royal Family (namely himself) to be of the utmost importance, trying to look upon it as a sort of insult on the Family itself.

     I must say that I was very impressed by his speech; it was clear that he had put a lot of effort in it. However, after a few minutes Random cut him short, saying that the gist of his account was plain enough. He then called upon Bill to speak for the Defense.

     It immediately became obvious that Bill was an even better speaker than Algo, with a lot of courtroom experience. He began his argument by pointing out that his client had not been aware of how much the life of a Shadow dweller was valued here in Amber. His client just wasn't educated to feel like that and he had never before experienced any problems with resolving insults in this manner. Add to this the fact that his client had only just arrived in Amber and wasn't yet aware of the different rules and laws that applied here, and it was in fact arguable that he simply hadn't known that what he had done was wrong.

     I felt very uneasy while Bill was speaking. He was very good and it all sounded very logical, but that didn't make him right, did it? I glanced around the table to see what my relatives were thinking about all of this. I should have known better; most of them were carefully guarding their expressions, afraid to let anyone know their true feelings. Julian was the only one who was outright positive to Bill's line of thought, although Bleys also seemed to see some merit in it. Benedict, Gerard and Corwin showed a negative response, as did Adrian, Diana and I. All the others were neutrals.

     Bill continued by saying that his client had not known the personal value of said Shadow person to the Prosecutor. His client had certainly not meant to insult the Prosecutor in any way. This got a reaction from nearly the whole Family, something along the lines of: "Yeah, sure!"

     The next point of the Defense struck home, though. Bill said that his client sincerely regretted the way in which Random had attained the necessary evidence, that is by entering the client's mind without his consent. This was the cause of a lot of thoughtful expressions, including my own. This was one part of the case that I didn't know that much about, and gathering from the reactions around me it might be crucial in Random's final ruling.

     Bill concluded that, taking into account his client's ignorance, the relative insignificance of the matter and the way in which the evidence had been brought to light, his client ought to be forgiven for this minor transgression. After all, who of us here didn't make a few youthful mistakes? His client did, however, understand the fact that such behaviour could not be tolerated here and he was prepared to give his word that it wouldn't be repeated. Also, he was prepared to publicly offer his apologies to the Prosecutor/wronged party.

     After Bill finished Random announced a short recess, after which everyone would have a chance to react to the charges and to say what they thought the final judgement should be. I took the opportunity to ask Algo about the matter of the attainment of the evidence, something he had omitted from his earlier story. He didn't think that it was that important, but I convinced him that it was to me.

     "Well, you heard about all that business with Azrain and the body-switch, didn't you? Apparently Gerard finally recovered Murlas' body and they decided to try some ritual to switch their minds once again. I guess that it worked, but sometime during the ritual this evidence of Murlas having committed came to light. Precisely how they managed to uncover it, I don't know, but they did and that's all that matters."

     I wasn't really satisfied with Algo's explanation, but he wouldn't elaborate. I spent the remainder of the recess trying to compose my thoughts and figuring out what I was going to say. I felt Murlas needed to be punished for what he had done, but at the same time I found it quite difficult to determine the exact measure of punishment that was needed in this case. I was glad that I didn't have the final word in this; I guess that judging is just not my kind of work.

     After the recess Random explained that everyone would have a chance to say what was on his or her mind. Algo would begin, followed by the entire Family in order from the eldest to the youngest, then Bill Roth, Vialle and finally Random himself.

     Algo immediately started off by saying that the kind of psychotic behaviour that Murlas had displayed had to be nipped in the bud. He said he personally didn't carry any grudge, in spite of the harm that had been done to him. He proposed that Murlas should remain under the supervision of the whole Family for a certain trial period, so that it might be seen to that he wouldn't revert to his bad habits. For himself, he would be satisfied with a public apology and all Murlas' Trumps as a sort of compensation for his loss. The last part sounded just a little too greedy to me.

     Benedict agreed with Algo that Murlas' behaviour was inexcusable, but he also felt that the way in which the evidence had been acquired just wasn't right. He clearly wanted it to go on record that in this regard this case shouldn't in any way set a precedent for the future. The fact that Murlas had confessed to the murder didn't make Random's actions right.

     Again I felt at a loss: I still didn't know precisely what Random had done to bring the necessary evidence to light, but if Benedict didn't agree with it, it had to be questionable. Damn, I wished Algo's story had been a little clearer. Maybe I should have taken the time to talk to a few other relatives.

     Benedict continued with a remark that Murlas' education was partly to blame. He took the opportunity to express his opinions on the subject: he expected his relatives to raise their children properly. This caused a few embarrassed mumbles and some casual glances towards Random; apparently the subject was one not to be aired lightly. Random himself showed no reaction, though.

     Finally Benedict reached the matter of punishment. According to him there was only one thing that had really caused Murlas' behaviour: lack of discipline. He needed some regular duties towards Amber that he might perform. In this case drafting Murlas into the Armed Forces of Amber might be an option...

     I could barely stifle chuckle. To picture Murlas in the army, under Benedict's command (if he had his way). It might be good punishment, but I was afraid that it simply wouldn't work out.

     Next was Corwin. He said he found it a little ridiculous to focus this much on such a singular case. To him Murlas was just an example of some of the worst Family traits, and he simply needed to grow up, preferably somewhere off in Shadow. Corwin found the idea of placing Murlas under surveillance a little too unwieldy, besides who should be chosen as his overseers?

     His question was followed by a moment of awkward silence. I vaguely recalled some stories I had heard of the things the elders had done in their youth, and from the little I knew I could understand that they didn't want to be reminded of it. Which in a way Uncle Corwin had just done.

     All in all I didn't like they direction this trial was taking. I have to admit that I had expected some demands for more severe punishment, certainly from someone like Uncle Benedict. But it wasn't my time to speak yet. Actually I was one of the last due. But I too would have my chance.

     Fiona, still looking a bit tired, continued the case. In her opinion that all important artifacts in Murlas' possession should be confiscated; she was willing to study them a bit more closely, in the interest of the Family of course. She didn't think too much of the idea of Murlas in the army either; anyone could see that his talents were of an entirely different nature. However, she agreed that he should do something for the good of Amber: perform some task, or go on a quest, or something. As she said this she glanced at Random, and that glance made it quite clear that they had discussed this matter earlier, and that they already had selected a suitable task for Murlas. It made me wonder how much the opinions of the rest of us were worth, since it seemed that the punishment had already been decided.

     Uncle Bleys also seemed to question the use of this charade. He said that he agreed with the things Fiona had said (Ha! Big surprise! There isn't another pair of relatives more intimate than Bleys and Fiona), but he did admit to finding some merit in the idea of drafting Murlas. However, he thought that there were other, more important, things we should be concerning ourselves with. At least now we knew what kind of person Murlas really was, so we knew what to expect from him in the future. I sensed a certain degree of disdain in Bleys words; disdain not for Murlas' actions, but for the clumsy way in which he had allowed himself to be caught. Bleys' whole attitude said that in the same situation he would have acted a lot subtler.

     To Llewella this case was the perfect example of why she preferred not to live in Amber. Murlas was not much better or worse than the rest of us, and she thought it a bit hypocritical to condemn him because of that. He would just have to better himself, or in the case that this did not prove to be possible he would have to remove himself from Amber. Either way, he should not be a bother to the Family anymore.

     She finished by raising the interesting point of Murlas' descent. It seemed to her that this case also represented Caine's failure in raising his son properly. In fact, she felt that Caine should be here as well, to stand on trial beside his son. There were some agreeing as well as questioning noises from my relatives after Llewella's speech. I was very tempted to tell them all the truth about my stay with Uncle Caine, if only to defend his good name. For if Murlas were indeed not his son, then he was in no way to blame for any faults in Murlas' education. But I restrained myself. After all, it was supposed to be a secret, and the fact that Random knew about it was enough for me.

     Next was Uncle Julian. He was clearly on Murlas' side, but I had to admire the way in which he tried to avoid sounding too biased. The crime itself was of course wrong, but such things happen. What's done is done, and Julian was at least happy that the victim had not been a relative. Futhermore he expressed the opinion that there should be room to deal with such issues as insults and defending one's honour without inteference from the rest of the Family, as long as it didn't go against Amber's interests. This was really not to my liking: my problems with Suzanne came to mind. What if the Mystery Person were to say that he/she had kidnapped Suze because it was all a matter of honour to him/her? No, I didn't like this idea for even one bit.

     Julian found the idea of Murlas doing something for the good of Amber as punishment a good one; Murlas certainly had some talents that would prove useful. However, he stressed that the forcing Murlas to cooperate would not work as well as conferring with him to obtain his cooperation.

     Gerard was plainly shocked by the brutal way in which the victim had been murdered. He had some serious problems with Murlas' whole attitude, which he admitted was partly Caine's fault. However, Caine was dead and Murlas was old enough to be held responsible for his own actions. He agreed with Benedict that teaching Murlas a lesson or two in discipline would be the solution; some serious excercising might also do the trick.

     Flora said that she found Murlas' behaviour very undiplomatic, to say the least. Whatever he chose as his pastimes in Shadow was his own business, but to slaughter a Royal Guest in such a brutal way was simply not done. About the punishment she was also quite clear: banishment, plain and simple. 

     Next up was Coral, but she was very reluctant to speak. When we kept waiting for her to say at least something, she told us that she didn't feel qualified to judge Murlas in this way, since she didn't know enough about either the case or the Defendant. The only opinion she would voice was that she felt that murdering someone like that was wrong, but as for the matter of punishment, she left it to us to settle that. On the whole she gave an impression of not being very interested in the whole affair, like there were other things bothering her that were much more important.

     Martin did have a clear opinion to express. He said he wasn't surprised about what had happened. He had spent some time working with Murlas, and this had given him some idea of what kind of person Murlas was. However, he had to admit that Murlas was quite competent and that he was also able to cooperate. Personally he was inclined to attach some credit to the tales of Murlas' wretched childhood; he certainly must have grown up in some very violent Shadows. Considering this he thought it best to find some fitting task for Murlas to redeem himself with.

     Rinaldo also found the matter of Murlas' education to be quite important. He knew what it was like to have the "wrong" father, and what a tremendous influence this could have on one's life. He felt that it would be best to give Murlas a second chance, but Murlas had to realise that there would be no third or fourth chances forthcoming.

     His speech clearly touched a lot of people, but I couldn't help but feel that all of my relatives were neglecting one crucial part in this whole case.  I hoped that maybe Alexander would bring up the subject, but no such luck. He didn't want to comment on the murder itself, but he did feel that the matter of the evidence could become a problem for future jurisdiction; he would regret it if this were to become standard practice. As for punishment, a public apology was enough; the fact that Murlas had lost most people's confidence with his actions was a punishment in itself. He also said he liked Fiona's ideas, but I felt he added this just to make a good impression.

     Adrian more or less repeated Benedict's and Gerard's opinions. Yes, the murder was horrible and yes, the way in which the evidence had been attained was also wrong. Murlas education also couldn't be discarded and service in the armed forces might be fitting punishment.

     So it seemed it was up to me to breach the subject. All eyes were upon me as I said that I still hadn't heard Murlas' reasons for what he had done. I asked Murlas directly, but the only thing he would say was that his honour had been injured; he wouldn't say what it was specifically that had caused all this. I asked Algo whether he could remember anything that might have caused such an extreme reaction, but he said that he couldn't think of anything. Besides, he didn't really care about that.

     But I did. I put it to the entire Family that I felt this talk of honour just a bit too convenient. It seemed to me that some people's sense of honour was often a little too easily injurable.

     Ouch! The Family certainly took this ill of me. Apparently this was one of those subjects not to be breached, and I had just violated one of the unwritten Family laws. But damn it, I was right in this! This matter had to be discussed! Otherwise I felt I would lose all sense of security here in Amber. A relative might come up to me and plunge a knife straight into my chest, saying that I had somehow injured his honour, with no questions asked whatsoever.

     I wanted to continue my argument, but a glance round the table told me that it would be no use: almost all of them had determined, dissenting expressions. There was no way they would even consider my viewpoints, no matter what I would say to them. With an air of resignation and disappointment I sat down again and indicated that they should continue the trial without my opinions. Somehow it all didn't seem to matter anymore...

     Boadice proved at least wiser than me. A curtly spoken "No comment" was all we got from her. The same for Diana, although I could sense a bit of my disappointment echoing in her.

     Bill in short repeated his earlier argument, with a public apology and a duty to Amber as punishment.

     Vialle elaborated a bit on Rinaldo's line of thought. She regretted the course events had taken. There had been so much blood in the past, often for the wrong reasons. We should stop concerning ourselves with death, while there was still so much to rebuild. She addressed herself to Murlas momentarily: he should choose his own course in life, but she warned him that his current one was rapidly going downhill. If he continued on this course sooner or later he would have to face the consequences. Her words sent a shiver down my spine. She sounded just like a seer delivering a prophesy. I could see her words also had effect on Murlas, as on most of the others. Physically she may be blind, but mentally she was far from that.

     Finally it came to Random to pass the final judgement.

     "Well, it's all very nice," he sighed. "Why don't you start with that public apology? It seems that most of us agree about that."

     Murlas turned to Algo and said in the sincerest possible way: "Algoniet, I know that I have wronged you; at least, you feel that I have. For this I now offer you my sincerest apologies."

     Algo indicated his acceptance with a slight smile.

     "Alright," Random continued, "now about further punishment. I don't think the army would be the right place for you. Perhaps you yourself might have an idea of a fitting task?"

     "Actually I do," Murlas replied. "Before all of this we were engaged in an investigation of the problem of the Black Unicorn. I feel that my talents should best again be deployed in that area."

     Random nodded. "Yes, I too had been thinking of that. It would be best to give you a second chance. The Family has enough problems as it is to waste any time or effort on in-fighting."

     Saying this, he quickly glanced around the table. It was clear that this was a general statement, meant for more people than just Murlas. Random moved his eyes a little too quickly, though, so I couldn't make out which relatives were being warned here.

     "Banishment is no solution," he continued. "I think you should have a chance to prove to us that you're capable of other feats than slaughtering innocent girls. We'll judge you on your actions in the near future." 

     This was delivered with an air of "this is final, nobody's going to change it". As I had already feared, Murlas was getting away with only a very light punishment.

     "As for forfeiting your possessions: nonsense! However, I do feel you should give Fiona a chance to study that one object. For the good of Amber, of course."

     Hmm, I wondered whether they were talking about the Black Trump here, or maybe about something else.

     "Alright, the Trial is over. Murlas, please sit down, and the rest of you, remain seated. I have another thing I'd like to discuss, now that the entire Family is present. It's something that might become a problem in the future, namely the Succession."

     Some surprised reactions here and there, but also some people who seemed to have been expecting this.

     "As all of you are aware I'm not the eldest. I only got to be King because the Unicorn chose me; and all of you who were present then accepted Her choice, mostly I feel because you thought I was a good compromise. I wasn't really happy with Her choice, and I must say that I would wish this job for no one."

     He sounded real tired and I sympathised with him; from the things I had seen I didn't want the job either.

     "Anyway, the Succession has never come up yet, but I think now is the time to discuss it. I certainly don't want to start a dynasty; I would like my children to be granted to live.

     "Officially, my eldest legitimate child would be heir to the throne, but after due consideration I have decided to waive this right. I think it would be best, should I suddenly pass away, that you, the remaining relatives, "try" to choose a new king from your midst. I will have this made into a legal document, so there can be no doubt about it."

     Thoughtfully he gazed at his wife Vialle for a minute. Then he ended his speech, saying: "And I hope that this time our child is allowed to be born..."

     Double ouch! I couldn't believe it. The implications of what he had just said... That was just despicable! Once again I felt the terrible urge to run, to leave this Family that could harbour such low and despicable elements. But I couldn't. I knew that I couldn't. I could only stare helplessly at my relatives' shocked expressions, some of them faked, others real, with no way to tell the difference. Meanwhile Adrian alone had the nerve to congratulate Vialle on her pregnancy. I admired his bravery, but I couldn't match it. For the first time I really wished that I hadn't been born into this Family...

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