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.
"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...