Justice

Baga-Bars pulled Idugan Aigeran aside. "Meh got special job," he said, looking around to be sure no one was listening. "Meh see dem han Yew Guards spy on da tosgon," he explained. "Weh go spy on dem."

The Mongol bugu looked at Baga-Bars oddly. "How weh spy?" she asked. "Weh bish dress like dem. Dem know weh beh mongol. Dem han, but dem bish dat stupid."

"Meh figure dat," Baga-Bars started to explain his plan. "Weh leave agta..." he looked that the bugu's lama mount. "errr... temgee in da stable and weh walk. Meh got han hats and han clothes. Weh wear dem to look like han." he finished.

"Meh bish wear han clothes," said Idugan Aigeran, wrinkling her nose. "Dem smell bad!"

"Meh think 'bout dat too," said Baga-Bars, grinning. "Meh hang han clothes in stable. Now dem smell sain!"

"Har!" Idugan Aigeran laughed at the joke. "Meh see why da Khan make yuh Agha now."

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"All rise," intoned the bailiff. "Hear ye, here ye. The Court of Truth is now in session. The Honorable Judge Galliard presiding."

Galliard gathered his dark gray robes and took his seat behind a large desk, banging the gavel down once sharply. "This court is now in session," he announced. "Bring forth the accused."

Several Yew Guards dragged in a man, naked, beaten and bound in chains. Standing their prisoner before the bench, "We caught this out in the woods, yer honor," said the Sergeant of the Guards. "It's one of them savages. We figured that yea might want to take a look. But we cleaned it up a little for yea first," he winked.

Galliard sniffed and wrinkled his nose in distain. "You 'caught' it? Doing what, may I ask?"

"Errr.. It was skulking about, you see." supplied the sergeant. "Maybe planning some mischief. We thought we had better bring it in."

"Mischief? Like an attack?" asked Galliard.

"I suppose that could be it, sir," nodded the sergeant.

" So it was planning an attack. An invasion like the orcs at Cove or Skara Brae. I see..." Galliard paused in thought. "Do you think that it looks smart enough to plan this invasion sergeant?"

"Oh, no your lordship, not at all." mumbled the sergeant.

"So it must be a scout for an army in hiding," said Galliard. "And you just let it ambush and attack your men?"

"Well, no… It was just hiding and we…" started the sergeant.

He sputtered to a stop as he noticed the scowl on the Galliard's face. "So you are wasting time playing "hide and seek" when these vicious savages are planning an invasion of Yew? Would you like to be a private?" demanded Galliard pointedly.

"Errrr… Attack, did you say, sir? Yes sir! Jumped right out of the trees. It took three… Errrr… Six of my best men to subdue the creature. 'Twas a terrible, bloody fight, sir." The sergeant shook his head.

"Six men? It doesn't look that dangerous to me," observed Galliard.

"It's very dangerous. A terrible brute, sir." The sergeant poked the prisoner sharply in the ribs. "As a member of the Yew Guards it is my sworn duty to protect the good people of Yew from horrible creatures like orcs and these… these… savages," declared the sergeant haughtily.

"An invading army of dangerous savages hiding in the trees around Yew is a serious threat," observed Galliard. "You did the right thing bringing this to my attention sergeant." The guard stood a little straighter. Galliard smiled.

"Are there any witnesses?" he asked, looking about the courtroom. A heavy set woman hesitantly approached the bench.

"I think I saw it in the brush, eyeing one of me sheep, Your Grace."

"You think you saw it looking at a sheep?" repeated Galliard incredulous. "It's no crime to look at a sheep. Surely you meant that you saw it attack this sheep. Isn't that correct?"

The woman hesitated. "Yes, Your Grace. It attacked me sheep." She looked down at the floor.

Galliard nodded. "What kind of weapon did it use to attack your sheep?"

"It 'ad no weapon, m'lord. It errr… It just… It just used it's 'ands."

"Attacked the sheep bare handed, ripping them limb from limb," mused Galliard. "And then it ate them?"

"Errr… Yes m'lord! It gobbled 'em up alive, right on the spot, it did!" She nodded once sharply, glaring at the prisoner now.

"Ate the poor sheep alive?" Galliard shook his head. "Disgusting. And whom did it kill next," he prompted.

"Kill? Why… Errr… It killed me stable boy. Then it… It picked it's teeth with the poor lad's bones! Bloody 'orrible, it was." She kicked the prisoner in the knee.

A small boy, standing by her side, tugged on the woman's skirts. "Did not pick it's teeth with me bones," exclaimed the boy indignantly.

The woman cuffed the boy sharply. "Mind yer tongue boy." She stopped and smiled apologetically at Galliard. "Children now days," the woman shook her head sadly. "Got no manners."

"Such a loss and terrible experience," said Galliard sadly. "Why, I imagine that nightmares of this horrible creature must haunt your every dream."

"Aye, that it does," confirmed the woman. "Can 'ardly sleep a wink." She pointed at dark circles under her eyes, pouting slightly.

Galliard nodded and took a golden paper, from a stack on his desk. "As a duly appointed agent, the government has authorized me to compensate our fair citizens for looses incurred during these unfortunate attacks by the invading orcs and savages," he announced as he handed the paper to the bailiff who handed it to the woman. "Here is a check for one thousand golden coins," Galliard said. "As reimbursement... For the loss of your flock."

"M'lord is most gracious," the woman smiled as she curtsied and turned to leave.

"What about me?" whined the boy. "They was my bones!" The woman grabbed the child by the ear and dragged him yowling to the back of the courtroom.

A raggedy man approached the bench, bowing. "Your Eminence. I was chopping logs and I saw it too."

"These wouldn't be logs from the Yew trees on the Kings preserve?" asked Galliard mildly. The raggedy man tugged at his collar, looking very uncomfortable with the question. "So how did this creature attack you?" continued Galliard, abruptly changing the subject.

"Attack?" the raggedy man seemed both surprised and relived with this new line of questioning. "Why… Yes! It… It jumped out of the trees, Your Grandness. Just like that guard said," exclaimed the raggedy man pointing.

"Another cowardly ambush," Galliard shook his head. "What did it kill this time?"

The raggedy man eyed the lady's check. "It killed me packhorse, Your Excellence. Bit it's head clean off. Carried it away logs and all." The raggedy man whacked the prisoner with a stick.

"That must have been a terrible loss," said Galliard, not unkindly.

The raggedy man shook his head and wiped a tear from his eye. "Aye, it was, Your Eminence. I can't see how I'll ever feed me poor wife and children now," he glanced at the stack of checks on Galliard's desk. Galliard handed a check to the bailiff who handed it to a now grinning raggedy man.

From each witnesses Galliard elicited a tale of death and destruction at the hands of the prisoner. Soon the stack of golden checks was gone. Half of the witnesses were happily planning how they would spend their new wealth. The other half was planning how they would bilk the others out their share of the gold.

Galliard looked down at the prisoner, somewhat the worse for wear as several witnesses had taken the opportunity to kick, poke or otherwise wound the man. "These are very serious charges," intoned Galliard. "Attacking the guards. Planning an invasion. Rampant brutal murder and theft. My heart breaks to think of the suffering and terror that you savages have inflected upon these good people." Galliard addressed the prisoner formally. "How does the accused plead to these charges?"

The man squinted back at Galliard through puffed and blackened eyes. "These things I do not," he managed to whisper past his bloodied lips. "Your enslavement of my people I have seen. Savage be you, not I."

Galliard stood red faced. "Gag this creature," he shouted to the bailiff. The Yew Guards knocked the prisoner roughly to the floor and stuffed his broken mouth with rags. Tying one around the back of his head then they jerked the dazed prisoner to his feet.

"One must maintain order in the courtroom," Galliard straightened his robes and sat. "The accused is directed that, for the duration of these proceedings, silence means consent," he announced looking the prisoner in the eye. "You do understand?"

The accused stood mute. "Good," said Galliard, pleased. "Then we shall have no further unpleasantness." Galliard arranged his papers neatly on his bench. "Having reviewed the testimony I am, frankly, outraged and appalled. There is little doubt that you are guilty. Do you agree?" He looked at the prisoner with an air of expectation. The accused stood mute. "Good," Galliard smiled. "Now that we have that little formality of a confession out of the way, I can pass sentence."

Galliard stood. "No longer can these inhuman and unholy creatures invading our lands expect to work their evil deeds with impunity. No longer will we allow the bread of our toil to be snatched from our children's mouths and the very life to be stolen from our bones." He paused. "Let the word go forth that on this day, the good people of Britannia did not stand idle." Galliard pointed down at the prisoner.

"I sentence you to death," he pronounced. "You shall be held in the Yew prison until your execution at a time and place of my choosing. Take him away," he gestured at the bailiff. As went into his office, Galliard had no reason to notice two figures, hats pulled low over their faces, setting alone in the back of the courtroom.

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Late that night Galliard once again stood before his shadowy overlords. "I am pleased to report that the savage, who had somehow slipped the bonds of our compulsions, has been captured," he said.

"How did this one escape our control?" came a concerned whisper.

"That is not precisely known," replied Galliard. "The savages were created from the essence of a race long extinct. I suspect that the soul pulled from Darkness to possess this particular body, was of that race. This would have created a stronger bond to the physical form."

"Could this happen again?"

"I believe that this was an aberration," said Galliard. "A one in a million coincidence unlikely to be repeated during this phase of our program." Galliard smiled. "I have, however, turned this incident to our advantage."

"How so?"

"I held a trial for this unfortunate," explained Galliard. "I used that opportunity to sow the seeds of fear, mistrust and most of all greed. When the time is right, this will provide us with a bountiful harvest."

"Impressive," murmured the shadows…

© 2001 Todd Bailey