Josie looked at the people in the operating theater. She thought maybe she should

  have popped the villains’ heads before having to put up with this. Mister Warner was

  covering the other exit.

  Anyone trying to get through him would get a face full of whatever he had used to kill

  Boim’s captors up north. She could see it in the way he watched things.

  Fass, Strick, and two other men she didn’t know had a guard detail in place. It was

  overkill with her and Mister Warner on duty, but she wasn’t going to deny them.

  Jane, and her assistants were in the seats above the operating room. They had talked

  about how the men had tried to kill Caroline on their watch. They were not pleased

  with the attempt.

  Elaine brought the girls in to sit with Jane’s group. She frowned at the proceedings

  so far. Someone had thought it would be a good idea to try to use the Ducklings

  against their big sister.

  Jack and some adventurers brought in their manacled prisoners from where they had

  been kept.

  Emily, Case, and the guards for the royal family escorted Caroline and the Queen to

  seats with Jane and Elaine. Introductions were given between them.

  Case stepped behind Emily as the Ear Ripper’s gaze focused on him. He had better

  not let her down.

  The King, Duke Hent, Captain Griff, and a platoon from the Watch arrived. They

  spread out to layer over the adventurers already present. It formed two lines of

  fighters inside the walls of the room.

  Lord Brant was not present.

  “Shall we call this meeting to order?,” said the King. “I have talked to Duke Hent,

  and after this trial is over, you men will be locked away for a small amount of time.

  We only need a few of you to testify against any others in your conspiracy. Anyone

  we don’t need will be hanged at a time convenient for the job. Are there any questions

  about this proceeding?”

  “What’s in it for us if we name names?,” said one of the men who had been stabbed

  by Case.

  “You will not be hanged for one thing,” said the King. “I am willing to let the ones

  who cooperated go to the dungeon under the Capitol.”

  Josie stood back. She called on Zatanna. She called a book of knowledge into

  existence. She scanned it briefly before handing it to the King. He looked at the

  pages. He nodded at two of the names marked down. He knew that any attempt on

  Caroline needed a motive other than she was thinking about being courted by an

  adventurer.

  “I’m going to call a couple of people to watch this,” said Josie. “Then we can get

  really started.”

  Josie changed long enough to send out some transportation birds. After a few

  minutes, three people in Shemmarian uniforms appeared. They looked around at the

  crowd around them.

  “I’m glad I wasn’t doing anything important,” said Hax.

  “General Haslet, Captain Russ, and Mister Hax,” said Josie. “This is King Rickard

  Grecious. I need you to listen to what’s going on. Russ, if you would join your sister,

  she will explain things.”

  “You know I am a major?,” said Hax.

  “For how long?,” said Josie. “If you stick around long enough, you might make

  general eventually.”

  “Or you might wind up like the dead people back home,” said Haslet. “Thank you for

  the identification book.”

  “General Haslet,” said the king. “I have heard of you. This is partially about Fort

  Hern on the northern border. Everything will be clear in a few minutes.”

  The General nodded. He looked around. Russ grabbed his arm and indicated the

  raised seats around the central platform. Her sister waved at her. She blanched at the

  dragon breathing fire on Matilda’s head. He was smaller in the real world, but still

  looked angry.

  “Don’t worry about Aviras,” said Josie. “It will be fine.”

  Jack gestured for them to come around the group in chains. He said some words to

  Four before directing her trio where they needed to go.

  “We need two other people,” said the King. “Then we can really start.”

  Josie worked her magic again. Lord Brant and an unknown man appeared at the head

  of the crowd. The unknown man had the Makeover and dressed in the fine tunic and

  pants that the nobles liked. He had a small cloak over the ensemble.

  “Greetings, nephew,” said the King. “We are about to have a talk about your recent

  activities.”

  “I don’t understand,” said Rustam.

  “You,” said Brant. He reached for his sword. He could at least cut this witch down.

  He heard the sound of many swords being pulled all around him.

  “If I were you, I would unbuckle the belt and kick it away,” said Fass. “Madam Witch

  has hired us to protect this building and everyone in it. If you so much as clear

  leather, you will be chopped down before you take three steps.”

  The king pulled his own sword. He held it point down before him.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “If you want to attack, go ahead,” said the king. “I cut down some of your hirelings

  earlier. It would be nothing to cut you down too. I still have that much left in my

  arm.”

  Brant unbuckled his sword belt and threw it off the stage. He snarled at the king.

  “Your sword, Rustam,” said the king. He stared at his nephew.

  “I don’t have one, Uncle,” said the prince. He opened his cloak to show he was

  unarmed.

  “Then you won’t have to worry about being executed right here and now,” said the

  king. “You are stripped of your holdings, and everything you possess. That will go

  to Illheim. I will sign the papers for the transfer when I get home.”

  “You can’t,” said Rustam.

  “Nephew, when did you think it would be good to wage a secret war against

  Shemmaria, take part in crimes against commoners, and have your cousin attacked

  and tortured?,” said the King. His face took on a Josie placidity that everyone knew

  was bad for whomever it was aimed at. “I know that you went in with Exsua. I know

  that was the only way to get at Caroline, someone in the castle. You had a phantom

  government hurting the people you were supposed to protect. I think that is going to

  end.”

  Rustam started to cry, but remained silent. He wiped his eyes with the back of his

  hand.

  “Brant, you took part in this, trying to kill me and my family,” said the King. He

  turned his face on the lord. “Your properties will be stripped from you and put in a

  trust. Your staff will continue to work the land until someone else is put in charge of

  your land. I hope all of this was worth it.”

  The King surveyed the chained fighters, then his nephew and the former noble. He

  frowned at them all.

  “I should have you all executed for treason and the various crimes you are guilty of,”

  said the King. “I am not. Instead I will have you transported to the Pygchos Delve

  where you will work for the next thirty years.”

  A small uproar escaped the crowd. An axe was better than the Pygchos Delve. They

  started to tell him what they thought of him in loud voices.

  “That is worse than death,” called one man in the middle of the crowd.

  “Do you think I should be more merciful?,” said the King. “Do you think I should

  excuse your complicity in plunging countries into war, rape and murder, unknown

  thievery, the ruining of lives and the worsening of life in general? The only mercy I

  am giving you is none of you will have to walk back to the capitol.”

  “Don’t I have a right to defend myself?,” said Rustam.

  “What is your defense?,” asked Josie. She stared at him, eyes virtually glowing in

  the operating room lights. “I would like to hear it.”

  “Who are you?,” asked Rustam.

  “Go ahead and speak,” said Josie. She glanced at the people in chains before her.

  “His Majesty has a right to know if the crimes you have committed are true.”

  “What?,” said Rustam. “Who are you?”

  “Does it matter?,” said Josie. “You said you wanted to defend yourself so you can

  escape the mercy being handed to you. I would like to know what the defense is. You

  might be able to escape the royal decree if it is good enough.”

  Duke Hent took the king’s arm and gestured for him to step back. He had seen the

  signs and didn’t want to be covered in blood.

  “Let’s try something else, Mister Rustam,” said Josie. “I am the one who marked your

  face. I marked all of your organization’s faces. I have killed a great number of your

  members, and associates. My partner, and Master Fass’s group have helped me. I

  want to know if you really want to trade what the crown is giving you for what I

  will.”

  She turned her gaze on the other prisoners in the impromptu courtroom.

  “Do any of you want to trade the future you have been given for what I will do to you

  right now?,” asked Josie.

  The grumbling and dissent stopped at the question. A small group had been shot at

  with lightning. They knew the question was a trap just by the very nature of it.

  “I am willing to let you live as His Majesty has declared, but if I were you, I wouldn’t

  come back to Hawk Ridge when your sentence is over,” said Josie. “The second time

  will be less merciful to you.”

  She called on Zatanna and manacled Rustam and Brant. She let the persona go. She

  had wanted to do something else while calling on the chains. She had decided not to

  in face of her allies.

  “Captain Griff,” said Duke Hent. “Please take the prisoners away and get them loaded

  up to be sent to the Capitol.”

  “Yes, sir,” he exhaled a breath he had been holding. He knew that things had been

  close to becoming a blood bath in the operating theater.

  “Hent,” said the king. “I will push back your audit. That will give you time to recover

  some of the stolen tax money. Thank you for being honest about that. It’s obvious that

  the Chancellor sent people to fix the audit so he could split things with your uncle.

  I don’t know how to fix things at the moment. I am going to have to do an

  independent audit on my end.”

  “Thank you, Your Majesty,” said Hent. The loss of the money and having to replace

  it had weighed on his mind.

  “I think I will have to send out a notice to all my holdings for them to do audits on

  their books,” said the King. “Thank you for watching out for Caroline and for hosting

  us.”

  The chained prisoners jangled out of the room under the watchful eyes of Captain

  Griff and Fass. If they were going to try to make a break, now would be the time.

  “Eric,” said Josie. “I want a party of adventurers to travel with the prisoners until

  they get to the capitol. I will pay the time for it. I don’t want anything to happen to

  them, nor do I want them freed before their sentence is carried out.”

  “I understand,” said Fass. He started talking to the other adventurer leaders as they

  joined the escort out of the operating theater.

  General Haslet’s party came down to the operating theater. They watched the

  prisoners being pushed through the exit.

  “Why did you need us?,” he asked.

  “The last two men who joined us were responsible for the build up of forces to Fort

  Hern to attack your country,” said the King. “They have built a network of forces in

  the country to do things, and make money off of raiding other countries, or my

  people. It was best that you knew that before your intelligence people sent word back

  to you about what was going on.”

  “They are responsible for the men Josie killed?,” asked Russ.

  “And possible other things,” said the King. “I will send a copy of the book Mistress

  Fox put together by messenger when I get back to the capitol. There will be time for

  you to let someone know that I am sending you the intelligence gathered so you are

  not thought of as traitors.”

  “Why do this?,” asked Hax. “You didn’t have to.”

  “Because I want you to be ready in case there is trouble,” said Josie. “Some of the

  things the Montrose are doing directly affect you, Mister Hax, and your department.

  I want you to be ready when they try to take your efforts from you.”

  “And some of the people Rustam dealt with might still be there to harm things,” said

  Haslet. “We will have to verify whatever you send us, but I will ask for a meeting to

  see how much is actionable.”

  “Thank you,” said Josie. “I need to send you back so you can report this. What is

  going on with the women I sent to you?”

  “We have them billeted down just outside of the capitol,” said Russ. “We have

  arranged army healers for them. Some of them were barely alive.”

  “We’re holding them until they are healthy enough to travel home,” said Haslet. “I

  have dailies on my desk from the doctor in charge.”

  “Thank you,” said Josie. “I will be by at the end of the week to see if there is anything

  I can do.”

  “Would you have granted Rustam a lesser time if he had been able to defend

  himself?,” asked Hax.

  “I would have granted him the full extent of my mercy,” said Josie. She called on

  firebirds to send her three minions back to where they belonged.