The Final Redemption by Michael Manning (little red riding hood ebook free .txt) 📕

but it should not be swept aside on atechnicality that relied upon removing the rights of thousands. Itwas wrong.

I leaned close to Rose’s ear,“Withdraw that motion.”

She glared at me. “No! That’s yourbest chance…”

“It isn’t right,” I argued softly. “Idon’t want to win by setting a precedent that will endanger futuregenerations.”

“You’re asking me to abandon your bestdefense,” she informed me.

“Just do it,” I ground out.

The High-Justicer was still digestingRose’s motion when she raised her hand again.

He recognized her with a nod. “Youhave something to add, Lady Hightower?”

Giving me a disappointed glance, sheresponded, “Yes, Your Lordship. Against my advice, Lord Cameronwishes to withdraw the request for dismissal.” That garnered a fewgasps from those in the room.

The High-Justicer gave me an odd lookand then addressed me directly, “I was considering granting thedismissal, Lord Cameron. Are you certain you wish to withdraw therequest?”

Lifting my chin I answered, “Yes, YourLordship.” I could feel Penny’s eyes burning into the side of myhead. If I survived the trial, I had further consequences awaitingme later. “I would rather face the inquiry than leave the peoplewith no response for the insult done to them.”

The Earl of Winfield accepted mywithdrawal with some softly muttered words. I couldn’t be sure butit sounded as though he had said, ‘Most of them are deadalready.’

Things went steadily downhill fromthere.

Lord Grumley questioned me regardingthe events and presented the known facts regarding what happened atCastle Tremont. I hadn’t heard the full story, so I listened withinterest. The shiggreth had overrun the castle itself, hunting downand killing everyone within. Afterward, they had dispersed throughthe region and begun hunting villagers and farmers in theirhomes.

Very little of the population that hadonce resided in the Duchy of Tremont still survived, and most ofthose left had deserted the region. The land was abandoned now, andwhen the shiggreth had died the next day, there had been no oneleft to dispose of the bodies. The first people to venture there insearch of answers had found a cursed place littered with decayinghuman remains.

Hearing it all made mesick.

Penny nudged my elbow. “Stop it. Youdidn’t do that. You weren’t even there.”

“Brexus was part of me, I gave birthto him,” I told her quietly. “I was there when he made thedecision, and while I tried to stop him, I didn’t try very hard.”Part of me had secretly wanted him to destroy, not just Tremont buteverything associated with the man. I had been able to stop Brexuson a few occasions when I had been desperate. All I had done whenhe ordered the shiggreth to murder Tremont’s people was ‘counsel’him otherwise.

I had been a passive accomplice totheir deaths.

“Mort, look at them,” she said, hereyes darting around the room. “That story has set even those whowere mildly in favor of you back on their heels. They could verywell order you to hang. Is that what you want? What aboutus?”

By us, she meant not just her, but ourchildren as well. “Don’t worry. They don’t dare push for executionor the whole thing will fall apart. If they are so foolish, thenI’ll have no recourse but to abandon the country. We’ll take thechildren and run.”

“And that’s better than letting themdismiss the case?” she said pointedly.

“It avoids a bad precedent, and itputs the Queen firmly on the side of the people,” I replied.“Besides, I feel sure that Winfield won’t go so far. He’ll imposesome harsh penalties, which will go even farther to reinforce therule of law.”

The next half hour was spentquestioning me regarding my role in what happened. Rose began withthe assertion that I wasn’t even in the region where the attacksoccurred, and I ruined it by admitting that my alter-ego had giventhe order.

Rose questioned me about my dualnature at the time, revealing to the court that I had, according tomy testimony, not been in actual control of my actions. She askedfor leniency based on the grounds that I wasn’t capable of makingmy own decisions at the time. It was essentially a defense based onmental incapacity.

Duke Grumley had one simple retort tothat line of reasoning. Gazing around the room, he summed it upquickly, “My lords and ladies, we cannot know the truth of whatlies in a man’s mind, but what we can see, here and now, is thatLord Cameron is quite clearly in control of his own actions. Hisassertion that he was not, in fact, himself, is nothing more than athinly veiled attempt to avoid culpability. He should be judgedaccordingly.”

I could see Penny’s hands gripping therail in front of us. They were white-knuckled, and she wasn’t theonly one who was nervous. Rose’s normally unflappable exterior wasshowing signs of strain as well.

He won’t go thatfar, I told myself. Banishment, loss of title, those I can live with.

Rose and Grumley both made closingremarks, and then it was time. The High-Justicer withdrew todeliberate. It wasn’t long before he returned though, a matter ofminutes only. “If the defendant will rise, I am ready to read theverdict,” he announced.

Taking my feet again, I scannedWinfield’s face, hoping to garner some clue as to what he was aboutto say. As I did, I felt a shift in the room, a new presence.Gareth Gaelyn entered from one side. He had been hidden behind oneof the new privacy shields in a side room. One look at his facetold me all I needed to know.

They had him here allalong, as an officer of the court. He wasthere to make sure I didn’t run.

“Son of a bitch!” I muttered under mybreath. Penny followed my gaze. Her eyes went wide when she sawhim, and I felt more than saw her body tense.

Harold was standing by Ariadne, andhis eyes were a warning to me. More guards positioned themselves atthe edges of the room, and these felt enhanced to my senses.Possibly by Doron, since I was sure they weren’t any of theremaining Knights of Stone.

“Mordecai Illeniel, Count di’ Cameronand Protector of the Northern Reach, I find you guilty of theunlawful deaths of the citizenry of the Duchy of Tremont. While thecourt understands that there may be some mitigating circumstancesinvolved in this case, we find that the magnitude of