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I was very nervous as I walked to the chair and sat down. Not that I had anything to be afraid of. But listening to the questions and answers made me wonder if I was indeed unstable. Thinking of all of my actions in the past few years, I began to think that perhaps they were correct. Whenever I was upset about something, I would fall apart. I would run away. I was constantly tempted to kill myself. Even with the counselling that I had received, I was still no better than before. I didn’t want to be this way. I had to improve. But I had no idea, no clue how to change.

“Lady Patra! Are you all right?” Justice Zenovas asked. “You were asked a question. Would you please answer it?”

“Oh. I am sorry. I am very upset and nervous at the moment. I didn’t hear the question.”

“It was a very sinple one,” said Tazor. “Please state your full name and your occupation.”

I felt myself blushing. “My name is Lady Patra conAgri, née vanDraco. I have no occupation other than wife and mother.”

“Is it correct that you are the heir apparent to the throne of Freedonia? If so, would you tell us your lineage?”

“Yes, since Queen Lynnaria’s death, and with no nearer heirs known to still be alive, I am. My father was Baron Hernan vanDraco, youngest son of King Theofan, King of Freedonia. Do you wish me to continue further back?”

“No, that is sufficient.” Tazor smiled at me. “It has been mentioned that you possess a crown. Is this a crown that you inherited after the death of Queen Lynnaria?”

“Yes. I inherited the crown.” I decided to omit the true story of how and when I obtained the crown.

“Do you possess magical abilities? Or does the crown possess magical abilities?”

“Both.” I heard a murmur behind coming from the audience.

Justice Zenovas rapped his gavel on the bench. “I will have silence in this court!”

“Both?” Tazor looked startled.

“Yes. I have inherited magical powers from my mother’s family. But I am still being trained how to use and control them. I am not very good at this yet. But the crown has powers that I can access as heir. It is a tool to help whoever is on the throne to know who is an enemy or a friend. Who is lying or telling the truth. It can bring out to the open any deceptions being done. Actions like that. It can wield no power on its own. It only gives its wearer these powers on command. It is a thing. It is not sentient.”

“I see. You were not wearing the crown when the funeral began, were you?”

“No I was not wearing it.”

“How did you come to have it later?”

“When I was trying to calm myself down, in the viewing room, I had the overwhelming need to know who had killed my husband. I called the crown to me to see if it could help me do so.”

“You called the crown to you? Is this a function of the crown?”

“No. It is one of the few things I am able to do with my own powers.”

“Really? Can you demonstrate this for us?”

“I don’t know. I am very tired and nervous right now. I am not sure if I can do so right now.”

“Would you be willing to try?”

“I will try.” I tried to calm myself down. I thought of my lessons from what seemed a lifetime ago. I concentrated and repeated everything that I had done previously. I saw Zenovas’ gavel on the bench. I willed it to me. A second later it disappeared from the bench and appeared in my hand. There was a stir in the audience. Justice Zenovas went to reach for his gavel and could not find it. He looked startled, but he managed to control himself and said, “Silence in the court! If Lady Patra would return my gavel, I would be most appreciative.”

I concentrated again and it disappeared from my hand and returned to the bench in front of him.

Tazar smiled and went on. “Thank you. Would it be possible for you do call your crown to you now?”

I called the crown and it appeared in my hands seconds later.

“This is the crown?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“So when you received your crown that day, what did you then do?”

“I put it on and I asked it to show me my husband’s murderer.”

“You had no idea of who that was beforehand? You didn’t have a suspicion that might have influenced the outcome?”

“No. I had no idea who had killed Donal. It had never occurred to me that it could have been his own father.”

“Tell us, please, what you saw?”

I hesitated for a moment. I did not want to remember what I saw, but I had to for Donal’s sake. As tears started to fall down my cheeks, I recounted the vision that I had seen.

“You are positive that this was a true vision and not a fantasy of some sort?”

“Yes. I am.”

Justice Siegval leaned forward and looked very intense. He asked, “Could you demonstrate for this court how this happened?”

“I am not sure how I can. I am not sure that the crown will allow me to share the vision with others. It usually only does things for my benefit.”

“In that case,” Siegval replied, “Perhaps if I asked you to see something that you have no knowledge of, but that I know of, it would demonstrate the validity of your vision.”

“I can try. What would you like me to see?”

“How my daughter Sahlæ died,” was his reply.

I put on the crown and, out loud, I asked the crown to show me how his daughter had died.

***Acceptance***

The vision came to me. It was horrible. As it played out before my eyes, I began to sob. When it had finished, I found Tru kneeling beside the chair, holding me in his arms and supporting me so that I wouldn’t fall. When I was able to compose myself, the bailiff came and ordered Tru back to his seat.

Justice Siegval looked pale, but determined. “Please, Lady Patra, tell me what you saw?”

“I saw a little girl about seven years old. She was so pretty, with curly red hair. She was sleeping in her bedroom, which was decorated like the sky, with blue sky and fluffy white clouds. There were cherubin and colorful birds painted flying in that sky. There was a candle stick by her bed, as if she was afraid of the dark. A man came into her room and woke her up. He was tall, slender, and thirtyish. He looked a lot like you, Justice Siegval, but younger. When the little girl woke up, she smiled and hugged the man. She called him ‘Uncle Hrofus’. Then the man did something horrible. He undid his clothes and exposed himself to her. Even though she didn’t want to, he made her perform a sex act on him. Before she finished, he pushed her down and he raped her. When she started to scream, he covered her face with his hand. It wasn’t until he was finished that he noticed that she wasn’t moving; that he had smothered her to death. The vision ended there.” I buried my face in my hands, trying to make that vision go away.

I heard a cry of anguish coming from Siegval. I looked up to see him looking ashen and shocked. “My brother? My brother did that to my baby? Oh, ghod, no!”

Justice Zenovas immediately called for a fifteen minute recess and he and Justice Rensor led their colleague back to their chambers.

Tru was immediately by my side and comforted me once more. Uncle Eoin came a minute or so later, with a glass of water and a clean handkerchief for me to use. The people in the audience stood up to stretch their legs. Quenson looked very disturbed and was shuffling his papers. Dashal glared at me as he had continuously throughout the proceedings.

When the justices returned, Siegval was looking composed, but very pale. I felt for him. As much as I wanted to, I could not wipe that horrid sight from my memory. As a mother, I hoped and prayed that nothing like that would ever happen to my babies.

When the court finally started again, Siegval said, “Thank you, Lady Patra. I know that you have never been to my house. Because of your description of my daughter’s bedroom, I know that your vision has to be true. I have taken steps to bring my daughter’s murderer to justice. I know that that was not an easy thing for you to do. But it has convinced me that your visions are true and not some fantasy.”

Justice Zenovaz turned to Tazor and asked, “Do you have any further questions for Lady Patra?”

“Yes, your Honor, I have a few more.”

“Then continue.”

“Lady Patra, after you had the vision of your husband’s murderer, what did you do?”

“I decided that I had to confront Dashal and get him to tell the truth. I was afraid that if I waited for a more private time, he would leave and head back to Rawn-Devu. So I went back to the funeral and I approached him, asking him why he had killed Donal. He lied and called me crazy. I then asked my crown to help get him to tell the truth. It did and that is when he made his confession.”

“You did not put a spell on him to say whatever it was you wanted him to say?”

“No. Why would I want him to lie? I wanted the truth from him. I needed to know why he killed Donal.”

“Would you be able to demonstrate this truth spell to the court?”

“I don’t know. I can try. Who do you want to help me with this?”

“I am not afraid of the truth. Demonstrate on me.”

Justice Rensor interupted Tazor. “I am sure that you are not afraid, but if you are the subject, someone could accuse you of collusion with the witness. Rather, I think that I should be the subject. I have no involvement with the witness prior to this proceeding and I have no vested interest in seeing the defendant punished. I, too, am not afraid of the truth, nor am I afraid of anything that Lady Patra can do.” He scribbled several things on a piece of paper. He handed the paper to the bailiff who handed the paper to me. “Do you need me to come down to you? Or can you do your truth spell from where we are?’

“From where we are is fine.” I looked at the questions he had written and the answers he had given to them.

I took a deep breath and, out loud, asked the crown, “Please help Justice Rensor tell the truth.”

***Acceptance***

I pointed my finger at him and watched him being surrounded by the golden light that emerged from my finger. When he was totally surrounded. I said, “Justice Rensor, tell the truth.”

I then read from the list of questions he gave me.

“What is your full name?”

He hesitated for a bit. He tried to say something, but he seemingly couldn’t. Eventually, he said, “Rensor denTanca.” This matched his written answer.

“How old are you?”

Again he hesitated, trying to say something. “Sixty-two years old.” This matched his answer.

“Have you ever done something bad for which you were never punished?”

“Yes.” This time with no hesitation.

“Tell me what that was?”

“I stole an apple from the greengrocer when I was nine.”

“Why did you do that?”

“Because my friends dared me to.”

I decided to add to this question. “Did you ever do this again?”

Rensor looked startled. “No.”

“Why?”

“Because it was wrong and I felt really bad about myself doing it. I went back the next day and left money in its place for the grocer to find. But until now, I never confessed my sin.”

I decided to change the next question. “Justice Rensor, do you love your wife?”

Rensor looked completely surprised. I could see him struggling with something. With his face strained and his teeth gritted, he said, “I … refuse … to… answer.”

I then stopped pointing because I was starting to feel very drained and I ended the demonstration. Justice Rensor smiled and said, “Thank you, Lady Patra. Your demonstration was enlightening. For those of you who know my wife, the answer is ‘yes’. I just needed to see if I could resist answering a question while under the spell. I could, but it took a lot of determination. I also tried to lie in answering the first two questions. I was unable to do so.”

Justice Zenovas looked thoughtful and then turned to Tazor. “Any further questions or demonstrations?”

“No, your Honor.” Tazor looked at Quenson and said, “Your witness.”

Quenson didn’t respond for a few minutes, while all eyes were on him. “The defense has no questions for this witness.”

Zenovas looked at me. “Very well. The Court wishes to thank Lady Patra for her demonstrations. You may step down.”

I took off my crown, and as I did so, I realized that that was a mistake. I felt totally devoid of power and I found that I did not even have enough energy to get up from the chair I was sitting in. I tried to rise, but I fell back again. It became difficult to even sit up straight and I began to sway. But before I fell, I felt Tru’s strong arms around me, helping me up and back to my seat in the audience. He continued to hold me and support me through the rest of the proceedings.

Justice Zenovas then turned to Tazor, and said, “You may call your next witness.”

“Thank you, your Honor. Lady Patra was our last witness. The Crown rests its case.”

“Very well.” He turned to Quenson and said, “It is now the defense’s turn. You may call your first witness.”

Quenson stared blankly as his papers. He seemed lost in thought.

“Quenson … You may call your first witness.” Zenovas reiterated.

The defense lawyer finally came back to this world and stated quietly, “The defense has no creditable witnesses. The defense rests.”

Dashal went berserk. If he had not been chained to the chair he was sitting on, it seemed as if he would have jumped out of the dock and accosted his lawyer. As is, he was rocking a chair that had already been bolted to the floor. “You incompetent bastard! You were supposed to get me off! You were supposed to show that bitch was crazy! You were supposed to show that she was unfaithful; that he was unfaithful.” He began to scream epithets at everyone in the court room.

Justice Zenovas kept banging his gavel and ordering Dashal to be quiet. When it became clear that Dashal was not listening, Zenovas ordered the guards to gag him. They brought out a leather strap with a large leather ball attached to it. The guards forced the ball into his mouth and tightly tied the gag behind his head. He continued to struggle, strain and scream, but at least the sound was muffled considerably.

While this was happening, the three justices had put their heads together and were talking softly with each other. When they seemed to have finished, Justice Zinovas rapped his gavel several times.

“Dashal conAgri, based on the witnesses and on your own confessions, we, the High Court for the Kingdom of Alfaria, do find you guilty of three murders. The murders of Donal conAgri, Helene conAgri, née conDylar, and Ercil conMoros. We further find that these crimes are so heinous that the only fit punishment for you is death. We hereby order that tomorrow at noon, you be taken to Execution Square and be put to death for your crimes.” Justice Zinovas then banged his gavel three times.