Preserving Hope Page 21

As the Traders had dispersed, Elizabeth, who’d been hidden by all of them near her room, was suddenly visible to her neighbors. But it wasn’t the Elizabeth they were accustomed to seeing. This was an Elizabeth who’d cleaned and groomed herself, revealing her radiant inner beauty. It was an Elizabeth with the confidence built through her successful Trading efforts. It was Elizabeth infuriated at the way her friends were being treated. That confidence and anger were reflected in every step she took, and those steps took her straight to Arthur.

  “Hello, Father,” she snapped.

  Arthur stared at her. “You… you’re beautiful. How did that happen?”

  “It’s amazing what a girl can do when people care for her and believe in her, rather than try to kill her slowly, isn’t it?” She folded her arms across her chest and glared at him, clearly intending to say more.

  Rage covered Arthur’s face. “How dare you speak to me in that fashion, you worthless child!” And he slapped her across the face, knocking her to the ground.

  A blur flashed across Will’s vision, a blur his eyes finally recognized as Eva. The woman moved with incredible speed, fury on her face, and she crashed into Arthur, sending the two of them to the ground. “Don’t you dare hit her again!” she screamed, throwing fists and elbows at Arthur’s face. Arthur was in shock at the attack, but finally regained enough composure to defend himself.

  Maynard pulled Eva away, none too gently, and hurled her aside. When Eva scrambled to her feet to attack again, she found Maynard’s sword in the way. “Give me an excuse, and I will run you through,” the giant snarled.

  Eva didn’t move, but her glare never lessened in its intensity.

  Arthur crawled back to his feet, stood up, and dusted himself off, matching Eva’s glare. He ignored his daughter, who was crying on the ground nearby, and stalked toward Eva, a predator ready to finish off his prey.

  “Will said that you’d leave if I told you to leave. He never said that you wouldn’t come back if I told you to leave. But that is your fate, Eva. For an attack on one of your neighbors, for an attack on me, you are hereby banished from this community, and you may never return.”

  “Wait just a minute!” Will shouted, marching back into the crowd.

  “Stay out of this, Will!” Arthur growled.

  “I will not stay out of it, Arthur,” Will replied, his voice calm but firm. “If the penalty for attacking a neighbor is banishment, then you are banished as well. It was your attack on Elizabeth that provoked Eva!”

  “You’re wrong, Will,” Arthur hissed. “My disciplining of my child is not an attack. It is just discipline, and nothing more, and there is no penalty. As for Eva, she will be tried tomorrow morning, and when she is found guilty, she will be escorted away, never to return.”

  It was difficult to ignore Arthur’s sneer of triumph at the look of horror on Elizabeth’s face.

  XIX

  Trial

  “There is no defense. If attacking him is a crime, then I’m guilty, and proudly so. There’s no purpose in the rest of you dragging your images in this community down any further.”

  Eva, Elizabeth, and Will were crowded into Eva’s room the next morning, discussing what might unfold that day, and Will wanted to figure out what type of defense Eva should mount.

  “We can’t simply let him win, Eva. If you say nothing, you’ll be banished. And then what happens?”

  Eva snorted. “I’m a big girl, Will. I’ll go to Richland. Nobody there wanted us to leave, did they? And none of them was hitting Elizabeth, either.”

  “You can’t leave, Eva,” Elizabeth whispered, and her blue eyes filled with tears. “You can’t leave me here alone like that.”

  “You’re an adult now, Elizabeth,” Eva said, her tone firm. “You must make your own place in this world, wherever in the world you wish to make it. Do not change your mind because of me. You’ve stated that your place is here, and that you wish to help your neighbors — and especially your father — rediscover the good they possess. You can have an impact here that you can’t have anywhere else. These people…” Eva glanced out her window, then leaned in closer, and lowered her voice to a whisper. “These people are developing abilities now. Nothing dramatic yet, but at some point, they’ll get there, and they’ll need someone who knows what they’re going through. They’ll need you.”

  “Will can do it,” Elizabeth whispered. “He knows, more than me. I can’t lose you, Eva. You… you’re the only parent I’ve ever truly had, the only person who treated me like family. I need you, and my place is with you.”

  Eva shook her head. “No, Elizabeth. You’ve made your decision to stay, and it is the correct decision. Do not change your mind because of me. Do not follow me. Do you understand? Promise me that you won’t follow me. Promise me that you won’t walk out that gate and try to track me down.”

  Elizabeth looked at Eva’s expression, and realized arguing was futile. She lowered her head, eyes on the ground, and folded her arms across her chest, a stance Will recognized as one signifying defeat. “I promise.” Her voice was barely audible, and Eva moved to hug the young woman as a mother might embrace her daughter.

  Will watched the display with sadness. He’d seen how Arthur treated Elizabeth, and had never known Genevieve, her mother. Elizabeth was desperate for a parental figure in her life, one that she could count on, and Eva was the only one who fit that bill. Will, going off the statements of those in the village, had portrayed himself as the twenty-five year old man they all believed him to be, which made him far too young to fill the role… even discounting the other complicating factors. The other Traders saw their positive treatment of Elizabeth as simply something they needed to do, but with Eva it was personal, something maternal. Even Will hadn’t moved to defend Elizabeth when Arthur had attacked her at the speed Eva had demonstrated, though he told himself that was simply because Eva had moved faster. He wondered what that said about him.

  “Our best solution to this issue is to make sure Eva wins this trial and doesn’t need to leave, regardless of what she chooses to do afterward,” Will said. “If that happens, the rest of this conversation is moot.” He turned his attention to Eva. “How do these trials work?”

  Eva snorted. “They’re a sham, Will. Arthur announces the crime and his verdict, and invites any in the community without a stake in the outcome to step forward if they disagree with the verdict. If no one speaks, then the verdict is upheld. Arthur says the role is to make sure that only impartial witnesses speak. But the issue is that anyone who actually could speak in their defense is ruled to have a stake in the verdict, and is not allowed to testify. So if your friend is attacked by someone, and Arthur rules that the attacker did nothing wrong, even if you were there and saw everything, you’re ruled ineligible to testify because it’s your friend and you have a personal stake in the outcome of the trial. Anyone else who might want to speak is often reminded, privately, that going against Arthur means some type of negative impact. They’d probably lose that cursed zirple root now. Do you think anyone that meets the criteria would speak under those circumstances?”

  Elizabeth turned to him. “You could impact this, couldn’t you? You could make them side with Eva, make somebody allowed to speak do so.”

  He could hear the question in her tone, the faith she had in his abilities, the desperate need she had for him to say yes. And yet…

  “It would be wrong, Elizabeth,” he said, and the look of devastation on her face broke his heart. “I don’t believe in forcing people to my viewpoints. I’ll talk to whoever I can and try to persuade, but I won’t force anyone.”

  “Then what’s the point of having those skills, if you won’t use them?” Elizabeth snapped. “How can you sit back and do nothing when an innocent person like Eva is threatened?”

  Will sighed. “I’ve seen a lot in my life, Elizabeth. I’ve seen people who try to use various types of force to make others believe what they believe. And what I’ve found is that it never works. If I did that
, and Eva is cleared, what happens next? Arthur won’t quit; he wants Eva gone. What if he frames her for something worse, Elizabeth? What if, because we force his hand, he goes so far as to end her life? What have we gained then?” He sighed. “Even if we lose, Eva is still alive out there, and we know that one day we can go find her again. The next time something happens?” He shook is head, not liking his answer any more than she did.

  Elizabeth, who’d been sitting on Eva’s bed, pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, clearly conflicted. “I know I need to do the right thing. I just want the end result to be that I still have Eva with me. If she’s gone… it would kill me.”

  Will swallowed hard, for her words triggered a memory. He’d arrived here in the past nearly three years ago, and when his time machine had dissolved into nanos, he’d been left with a few items, including a computer that looked like a piece of parchment, rolled into a scroll. Visible on that scroll was a note from the three people who’d sent him here, who had manipulated him into willingly getting into that time machine and traveling to the past to save his wife’s life. Elizabeth wasn’t his wife yet, but she would be in the future. In that note, they’d mentioned that Elizabeth would be in danger, and that he’d need to save her.

  Had he reached that point now? Was this the event that would put her life directly at risk? Or were they referring to Maynard’s previous attack with the sword? He’d need to be on the alert at all times.

  The trio eventually moved to the courtyard area, where a crowd was gathered to watch the trial. Arthur, as was his custom, was at the head of the crowd, waiting to begin the trial, joking with Maynard, likely discussing how Eva’s banishment would further cement Arthur’s grip on the community.

  That sparked an idea.

  When the crowd finished gathering, Arthur moved to speak, but Will shouted out. “Point of order!”

  Arthur blinked at the interruption, puzzled that it had happened before he’d even spoken, and glared in Will’s direction. “You are not permitted to speak, Will. We are preparing to start the trial. Perhaps no one has bothered to explain to you how the trial system works here.”

  “They have, Arthur. And the rules tell me that you may not speak during this trial.”

  The crowd went silent, the tension palpable. Arthur was clearly stunned at this challenge, and rather than address it, he simply laughed. “Nice try, Will, but—”

  “No one with a stake in the verdict, in the outcome of the trial, is allowed to speak during the process, correct? How could the person alleged to be attacked be said not to have a stake in the outcome?”

  Arthur opened his mouth to respond, then stopped.

  Maynard jumped up. “I will run the trial in Arthur’s place, then. I’d like—”

  “Sorry, Maynard, you have a stake in this as well. You’ve clearly been acting as a guard for Arthur for quite some time, and if the alleged attack occurred, it would mean you’d failed. It would mean your status in this village would be damaged for failing to protect Arthur. You don’t qualify, either.”

  “Fine, then. Let’s pick you, or one of your people, Will.”

  “Our leader is on trial, Arthur. We don’t qualify, either.”

  Arthur, recognizing defeat, began scanning the crowd, looking for someone who would qualify to speak the charge in the format of a trial. “And Arthur? Remember, everyone, by your rules, has a stake in the outcome of this trial. Everyone here relies on receiving the zirple from you, and so if they speak, it could be said that they’d fear possible reprisals from you or from Eva depending upon the verdict they speak or testify to. Everyone has a stake in this.”

  Arthur realized his own rules had trapped him. He looked at Maynard, desperate for some guidance on this matter, and yet there was no such guidance forthcoming.

  “By the trial rules of this village, Arthur, this trial cannot take place, and therefore guilt cannot be established. If guilt cannot be established, then no sentence may be pronounced, and the accused is free.”

  Arthur’s face turned red, and his eyes burned with hatred at Will. The members of the crowd stood looking at each other, whispering, wondering what it all meant. Was Will correct? Was there no one who could legally speak to even start the trial?

  He could feel the triumph of the Traders. He could sense the joy and adulations from Elizabeth, and the feelings she had for him, verging on love, intensified. He had saved from banishment the woman she loved like a mother, given her the chance to try to talk Eva out of leaving. And from Eva…

  From Eva, he sensed sadness. Disappointment.

  He turned to her, to try to understand, when Eva stepped forward to face the crowd. “I agree to waive the rule.”

  Arthur and Will both stared at her, equally incredulous at these words. “What?”

  “I agree to waive the rule. I agree to let Arthur run the trial under the established rules of the community. For that to work, the rule about stakeholders must be waived. For everyone.”

  And there it was. Eva was letting Arthur get his trial of her, but she would get the chance to have people speak on her behalf.

  Arthur’s gaze focused and narrowed. “The accused has no say in how the trial is run, Eva.”

  “Perhaps. But in this case, the accused has everything to say in whether a trial will run. Take it or leave it, Arthur.”

  Will winced at the strong emotion from Arthur in response to these words, and he’d come to understand enough about the man to know why. She’d just challenged his authority as leader, offering him a deal that he hadn’t and couldn’t win in every possible fashion. Worse, she’d done so in front of everyone in the community.

  “Let me rephrase that, Eva. The accused have no rights. You cannot make motions to change our trial rules. You are simply subject to them. I run all trials, and that is my job. This trial is underway. The accused, Eva, is charged with attacking me, Arthur, with clear intent to do severe bodily harm. The penalty for said crime is banishment from this community. Is there anyone eligible to speak in her defense?”

  “You’re overriding the trial rules of this community?” Will asked.

  Arthur ignored him. “I repeat: is there anyone eligible to speak on behalf of the accused who is willing to do so?”

  “If you can change the rules whenever it suits your fancy, then the rules have no meaning, Arthur,” Will said, his voice rising in warning to the community.

  “It seems that there are no individuals willing to speak on behalf of the accused who are actually eligible to do so. In that case—”

  “If he can change the rules you’ve agreed to live by without your consent now, he can do so again to the potential detriment of each of you in the future.” Will’s voice was loud, but firm. “If you don’t speak, you have essentially made this man your king. Is that what you want? To live in fear of a monarch? After all you’ve done to live in freedom, after you’ve thrown off the shackles of actual slavery, you’d throw it away for this?”

  “The accused is hereby banished from this village,” Arthur continued, raising his voice a notch louder than Will’s. “She will be accompanied by me and one guard, Maynard, to the periphery of the lands we work, to ensure that she does indeed depart.” He fixed Will with a stern gaze. “No others may follow.” He turned his gaze back and forth over the crowd. “This trial is over. Depart, and return to your daily activities.”

  As the crowd began to leave, Will sprang in front of them. “Before you leave, be certain to bow to your king. You have all just given up any rights you have in this village, and have consented to live your lives at the whim and pleasure of one man. He’s told you to leave; I tell you to hang your heads in shame for your cowardice, and the eagerness with which you threw away your own personal freedom.” He went to the Schola and tore down the sign hanging on the building, and held it up. “This sign says that the building is a school for personal growth. It is clearly misnamed.” And he threw the wood against the well, where it shattered.

>   The villagers gaped at Will and the broken sign… and as if to prove Will’s assertions correct, looked at Arthur for guidance. “Go to your Shops and fields and resume your normal activities. The trial — and the theater surrounding it — are over.”

  The crowd, save for the Traders, dispersed, much to Will’s sadness. The only sounds from the courtyard were Elizabeth’s sobs. She raced to Eva and embraced her, and Eva returned the gesture, running her hand over the young woman’s head in a gesture meant to comfort. Arthur watched the exchange, a smug look on his face, and Will had to resist the urge to force his own trial for an attack on the man, though if he’d given in to his temptation, Arthur wouldn’t be able to officiate.

  Elizabeth finally composed herself, and turned to face Arthur, her hatred and anger blazing in her vibrant blue eyes. “I’m leaving, Father.”

  Arthur laughed. “You aren’t permitted to leave, Elizabeth. Your trip to the outside this time was a clear mistake, one that has encouraged far too many to question my authority.” His gaze flicked briefly to Eva, and then to Will, before returning to his daughter. “You’ll leave this village permanently in a box, and under no other circumstances.”

  “You’ve already killed her, Arthur,” Will said, his voice quiet. “The box is already around her. You just can’t see it. How long until you and the rest of those living here are able to do so?”

  Arthur glared at him, and then turned Maynard. “Escort Will to his room, and station someone there to ensure he does not leave.” He smirked. “Any man with a small knife should be able to guard him. Tell the guard that Will is not to leave until we return from our trip to remove Eva from our midst. And station another at the gate, in the event this girl elects to try to escape.” Maynard nodded, and seized Will by the arm. Will looked at Elizabeth, and watched as her face clouded into despair. Do something, Will. Please.

  I will not do anything to force people to behave against their will, Elizabeth. That would make me no better than Arthur, and he’s not a man whose example I want to follow.