Chương 56: Chapter 55 - A Matter of Justice

The large man wound up a spartan kick and with a resounding crash he kicked in the front door. As the splintered door flew into the building, the waiting soldiers poured into the building sidearms at the ready, and Smith followed them menacingly with his hammer. Eli waited with the women, leaning on his spear as a series of bangs and shouts echoed out from the doorway.

As the sounds grew louder Eli drifted a little closer to the doorway, and as the patter of rushing feet pounded towards the exit, he stuck out the butt of his spear, tripping a barefoot half dressed man as he bolted out the door. One of the waiting soldiers pounced on the man and dragged him struggling off to the side, and as the sounds of struggle calmed and the indignant shouts rose, Eli sidled back over to Astra's side as she gave him a smirk.

The three soldiers emerged, each dragging a man, as Tom followed behind with two of his own, each hand clutched around a windpipe as he dragged the pair out by the throat. He approached the group and dropped the better dressed of the pair at the women's feet before taking his other hostage over to the soldiers to be secured.

The prisoner was a slim man, with thinning brown hair and watery brown eyes, barefoot, but wearing a well made pair of fine tan linen slacks and an unbuttoned top also finely woven in a forest green embroidered with tan scrollwork that matched his slacks. If the clothing didn't give away the man's identity his loud strident complaints did, although the demands to be released quickly died as he made eye contact with Astra, as he grew pale, and broke out in a nervous sweat as he stuttered with a shaky smile."

g-g-Good morning, Lady Emberholdt. What brings you h-h-here on this fine morning?" Astra wrinkled her brow and grimaced in disgust and disbelief at the man." What in the infinite Abyss do you think brings me here?" Mira held up a hand, " By your leave my Lady?" and at a nod from Astra Mira strode forward towards the man as he scrambled backwards, and a solid white dome snapped into place around them.

Eli was treated to an outsider's view of Mira's dome, and while the swirling patterns of frost were quite beautiful and delicate, the waves of power leaking through and emanating from the dome in palpable waves were not. Astra was indifferent, Adler and Smith backed away a step swallowing thickly at the well of subdued power in their midst, Eli found it interesting from a technical standpoint, but did not feel an ounce of pity for the trash that had sold out Astra and her patrol.

I know I'm supposed to believe the man innocent until proven guilty, but I've never seen someone break so quickly. The apprentices helped Tom and the soldiers strip and restrain Craston's men while they waited on Mira to finish her interrogation. They did not have to wait long, maybe a quarter hour, until the dome disappeared in a cloud of mist, exposing a sniveling wreck of a man, unharmed physically, but sitting in a puddle of his own waste.

The serene blank mask of Mira's face told Eli all he needed to know, as it was the same expression she wore when she thought he might have been a changeling. She waved for the soldiers to collect the man before rejoining their group and dropping the transparent version of the dome around Eli, Astra, the Headman, and herself. She produced a small bundle of papers and handed them to Astra.

"As we thought my Lady, the correspondence matches what we seized from the leader of the bandit camp. The letters contain means for coordinating capture as well as negotiating the price for," a momentary sneer of disgust crossed Mira's face" various pieces of 'Merchandise'. There was no cipher and the allusions are elementary." She drew herself up addressing Astra with a serious tone and a stony expression."

The evidence is thorough and the guilt is undeniable, the merchant and his men are accessories to a plot to capture, rob, and either enslave or murder a high noblelady, two dozen ducal soldiers, and an unknown number of citizens of the realm numbering no less than the 17 persons we recovered. This would be before we count them as accomplices to banditry, robbery, rape, and a number of other heinous crimes."

"The law is clear, and for this number of high crimes the punishment is summary execution."

"For their crimes the gallows await, either here or at the garrison in Emerald Grove. If my Lady wishes to show mercy, the only lesser sentence allowed in such a case would be a life sentence of servitude in the Empire's service with no commutation allowed until a span of 80 years have passed at which point the bond would be set at 1, 000 gold crowns per head." Mira gazed steadily at Astra, " As you are in command of this patrol the decision is yours my Lady. What is your will?

Astra maintained a stoic expression throughout, and paused for just a moment before turning to the Headman." Headman Adler, I will not stay my hand. I will execute these men for their crimes. Will a public execution be a boon or a bane for your community? Answer me true, I will not hold your words against you however you may answer." This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The Headman sighed, gazing across the village green as he watched a group of villagers, including several children, pick through a pile of clothing searching for sets that would fit the refugees before ushering them into the Inn to bathe and rest. He turned back, " We're a small community my Lady, and if they had hurt my people, I would say yes it would help them find closure, but we were not, and we've not had to execute any one here.

I won't ask you to haul them back to the garrison, but I would ask you that the sentence is carried out away from the children." Astra nodded graciously, " Very well Headman Adler." She waved at Mason to enter through the barrier." Mr Mason, these men have been found guilty of high crimes and will be executed. At Headman Adler's request the sentence will not take place in the village.

Round up a few of those blacksmith's apprentices and 4th Squad and instruct them to proceed to the treeline along the road to Emerald Grove and erect a gallows for five men." She turned to Mira, " Lady Blackhall, you will complete an interrogation of the remaining men I am sure, will sunset suffice to complete your work." She nodded, "Aye my Lady.""

Once the construction crew are on task, speak to the leader of the refugees and instruct them that anyone who will watch the sentence be carried out to gather at the village gate one hour before sunset. Dismissed." Astra turned back to Adler, " Any of your people who wish to attend are welcome Headman. Your assistance in quickly resolving this matter is greatly appreciated as well as your hospitality for both my men and the refugees."

Adler nodded with a sigh, " You're welcome my Lady, and as before you and Lady Blackhall are welcome to stay at my home for the duration of your visit, but if you wish to camp with your men again I do understand." A small smile crossed Astra's face, " I appreciate the courtesy Headman Adler, but I fear my men and the refugees will feel safer with our presence among them." Adler gave a grim laugh, " Aye my Lady, I would too." He sighed and ran a hand over his face nodding to Jonas and Tom outside the dome."

I need to speak with a few of my people, if you will excuse me my Lady?" Astra nodded to him, " Of course, Mr Adler, before you take your leave I do need to inform you that we encountered a goblin horde a day's journey south of the village. The creatures have been slain, but an increased vigilance would not go unwarranted, I'll send Mr Mason with a report on both encounters when the current situation is resolved." His eyes widened for a moment before he gave another sigh and drew up to salute Astra."

Aye my Lady, and thanks for your protection, Ash and Steel." Astra gave him a genuine smile as she returned the salute, " Born and Bound." Once the dome was empty but for the three of them, and Tia of course, Mira cleared her throat, " One more item my lady." Astra arched her brow and gestured for Mira to speak, " I will need to see what I can discover, but the merchant swears he acted on the orders of a noble house.

He didn't know which, and of course it does not excuse his crimes, but he babbled extensively about his meetings with a cloaked lord, and his desire to acquire slaves for some unknown purpose."" Supposedly the bandit slaver scheme was the plan of this unknown man. I'll keep you apprised, but it seems this may not be the end of the trail." She dropped the dome and strode off to continue her investigation and Astra remained behind with a worried grimace.

Eli gave her shoulder a pat, and when she looked up, she startled a bit as he dropped Tia in her arms, and leaned forward to whisper to her, " You're not alone, we're here if you need us." Astra smiled as she stroked a purring Tiamat as she turned to give instructions to the rest of the men.

Elias was surprised how few of the refugees wanted to see the execution, only half showed up, the Hostler sisters joined, taking grim satisfaction that their suspicions were correct. After Astra had a moment to breathe she had reassured Eli she was ok, that her only regret was not catching the men before they hurt more people.

The execution was carried out in a calm and professional manner, with a minimum of fuss, and Eli was beginning to suspect life was a little cheaper on this world, and surrounded by magic and monsters, death was considered a much more common part of life than on Earth. I guess it's easy when the ones being put down are slaving trash, Eli shrugged and made an effort to move on.

Astra declared that the patrol would stay for two nights, giving the refugees a chance to decompress in safety and find any small conveniences they might be missing. Dinner was a light-hearted if not quite joyous affair, the refugees were finally feeling safer now that they were surrounded by walls, the soldiers were happy for hot baths and ale, and Coop and the gang were happy to have fresh ingredients.

Unsurprisingly most of the patrol and the refugees partook of Cooper's meal, and following the delicious smells several curious villagers did too, Cooper was a man of the people after all and happy to feed anyone who was hungry. A couple of the refugees had found some musical instruments and played a few sets of simple folk music on the green, a three stringed guitar like an oddly shaped banjo, a flute, and a small set of drums played with hands instead of sticks.

Eli found that much like her other bird-brained tendencies, not that he would ever call them that around her, she loved music and cajoled him into joining the fun and twirling around with her for a bit. Eli was not much of a dancer, but he was a sucker for Tia's puppy eyes and was happy to indulge her. Tia was over the moon when she spotted Sasha asking Cooper for a dance, the big guy was a little shy but took her out for a few turns before begging off and heading back to the kitchen.

Eli was happy the couple seemed to be feeling things out, but he was ever so grateful that no one could understand Tia and he schemes to get them to 'mate' would fizzle out. Eli felt a little guilty that Astra and Mira missed out on the festivities, but they were busy digging through the merchants' effects and when he offered to help they waved him off and told him to enjoy himself.

When the evening grew late and they still had not resurfaced, he grabbed a couple meals and wandered over to the bunk house to check in on them.