Friday came, and Pi’ve had been in the office of the B. P. S. S. since the early morning. They were going through different scenarios which could occur in the courtroom, and what to do when the claims were laid out, and what defence was the best. Barna knew Murgun from the past, and he had a hunch that they could use some foul tactics when presenting their case, and that Pi’ve should keep a calm mind regardless of what they said.

  He had been assured that in the end, the judge’s rule was final, but the crowd could also influence— it was a people’s vote also. Pi’ve was afraid that this could affect him in ways he deeply wished it not to. He was afraid of imprisonment, or to be banned from Thergiam, his childhood home which he loved, or worse…. banned from using magic, if that was even a possibility.

  Barna had reassured Pi’ve ever since the day he got the letter that it would be all right, and as long as they followed their plan, he would come out of this with less punishment than he feared.

  ’Are you ready?’ Barna said as he grabbed his coat and hat. It was a fashionable brown hat, with smooth, even curves and sharp lines.

  Four doors separated Pi’ve from courtroom 3 where the hearing would hold place, and as they went through the first, they entered were Pi’ve did most of his work. He was now in the room where his desk sat, and they were walking towards doom. It was as if time had become thick like honey, and they had to struggle through it. Slowly, it felt like, they walked towards the door exiting the building and to the square outside. Pi’ve heard Barna talk, but it registered as rumbles and noise. Pi’ve had not taken one full, vitalising breath of air for several days. His lungs had shrunk and stiffened, and his head felt like it would fall off. He nodded at the red-haired wizard, and they both went out the door of the B. P. S. S.

  Door two was behind them, and they were now outside in the square. On the way over the small square, Pi’ve could see a couple of wizards he had never seen before enter the WCC building. Maybe, they were there to watch Pi’ve get humiliated. Oh, what a fool I have been; accepting a pin for ostracism! They came to the small fountain in the middle of the square, and the falling water hitting the pool made it hard to hear. Barna leaned close to Pi’ve and said something. He must have misheard. Pi’ve looked at the ground, and asked ’I’m sorry, I didn’t hear that.’

  ’I want you to take that job.’

  ’What job.’

  ’The one, you know… the Murgun one.’ He whispered the last part.

  Pi’ve’s brows furrowed, and he stopped in his tracks for a couple of seconds before he was grabbed by Barna by the arm to keep walking. ’I am biased.’ Pi’ve said stumbling forward, making it easy for Barna to retract the proposition. He was, and that should probably make him the last one to—

  ’We are all as biased as you, Pi’ve.’ Barna said. ’He is a strong wizard, maybe even important, and for the most part he does what is asked and stays out of people’s way— but he is a darn idiot, I say.’ Barna said and shook his head. ’Up to no good, some say. We’ve heard it for a long time.’

  ’Well…’ Pi’ve said. It was so easy to just say no. How would he even go about it? It was also easy to say yes. He wanted vengeance, in a way. It was impossible to say either. It was Barna who asked him if he wanted it, and if Barna wanted him to, then Barna thought he was capable. Pi’ve did not know if he had it in him yet, for he barely knew any notable magic. Either way, would Murgun not notice if Pi’ve was following him around all the time?

  ’You think about it. We have the whole day. I have put this off for long enough.’ Barna said, and they walked on over the square. They were greeted by two wizards standing by the front door, marking down names entering the Wizard Court Council building. They were admitted, and they entered the building. ’If you do not take the job, I don’t know if I have any other good candidate.’

  ’Do you have other candidates?’ Pi’ve asked. He thought he was the only other working in the B. P. S. S.

  ’Yes. But they do not come into our building, so that people is oblivious to who is out and about on our… missions.’ Barna whispered. ’But as I said, they are not suitable for the job— oh, here comes Varodan— great man. My friend!’ Barna said breaking from their conversation and grabbing the wizard named Varodan for a handshake. Pi’ve was then left alone.

  Pi’ve had been here last week, speaking to Kerlina. He had called for Dandrian to help with the wraiths, but he had seen little of the inside of the building, owing to his panic at the time. There was a front desk directly to the left, and a door beside it on the leftmost wall. It seemed like it was a stall. Pi’ve was quite nervous, but he had no need. He saw wizards go in and out of the stall.

  In the middle of the room, there was circles within circles on the floor. The tiles forming some kind of illusion of falling, or rising when they walked across it. There was two sets of stairs going both direction, turning and joining up top on the second floor. Over the walkway and through the balustrades he could see a set of double doors, and over it was a gold plate on a wooden backdrop with the number 3 on the gold sign. His heart sank. He would be up there soon.

  Under the stairs were two doors, each on opposite sides of the back wall, sporting the number 1 and 2 above on golden plates. In the middle, between the doors, was a bar serving various assortment of tea and tobac. Pi’ve went over to the bar. His hands were shaking with pent up nervousness.

  ’Could I get the… Uh, Mist of Aur.’ Pi’ve said to the bartender, scanning the menu on the wall.

  The bartender bent down and seemed to be unlocking a wooden box under the bar, and laid a small bag made of fine hemp on the counter. It smelled like heaven, the odour adding some calmness to the air.

  ’Aur has come with some fine smoke the past decades.’ The bartender said conversationally. ’That will be 49 Alons.’ That was when Pi’ve realised that wizards had their own currency, in addition to the common coin. He also remembered that Aur was a large town far away, directly East for Thergiam.

  ’Do you take common coin?’ Pi’ve said hopefully.

  ’Not in this establishment, no.’ The bartender said.

  Pi’ve heard rustling of coin behind him. Barna had been standing behind him apparently, and as he turned, he held out 49 Alons and gave to Pi’ve. ’What is the conversion?’ Pi’ve asked, and was about to take out some of the coins he had taken from his home.

  ’Don’t think about it. Get the tobac so we can go inside. It is starting soon.’

  Pi’ve picked up the bag of tobac, and together with Barna they walked up the stairs. It seemed like the other wizards in the building was waiting for him to go first, because right after he had began climbing the stairs, the others followed. Barna opened the doors to the courtroom, and all the way in the back sat nine wizards, all on different elevated chairs. On the highest one, in the middle, sat a stern looking woman with her glasses barely on her nose, thumbing through some parchments.

  There was no need to guess where Pi’ve would be seated. Walking past several rows of benches, Pi’ve arrived at a short gate, and to the left and right of that gate where large desks, with two chairs each behind them.

  ’You take the left chair, Pi’ve. As I will be speaking.’ Barna said. They sat down at the table to the left.

  Within a few minutes, the tumult and stomps died down as the majority of people had seated themselves. As Pi’ve looked behind and saw more clearly the room he was situated in, he saw that there were six rows split in the middle, and each row could seat up to five people on either side of the corridor. It was not nearly enough people to fill the courtroom, but there had to be at least thirty people seated by now.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  The table to the right was still empty, but Pi’ve knew who would be seated there. After another couple of minutes of silence, the courtroom doors opened, and footsteps on the carpeted floor could be heard coming closer and closer. Pi’ve turned, and saw two wizards, one clad in black robes, one in red robes and a bag hanging from his shoulder.

  Pi’ve was watching the wizard on the tallest chair, presumably the judge. As Murgun and the wizard in red seated themselves, the judge lifted her staff and hit it to the ground, making a loud sound that reverberated throughout the room.

  ’Welcome to today’s hearing. I believe we are all. My name is Gilania, and I am the judge in today’s hearing. We are welcoming those of you in the back who are here as potential witnesses, advisers or general audience. We welcome my colleagues who sit beside me, aiding me in my ruling. We welcome, not least, the defendant, and the claimant, and their representatives.’ The judge said looking solemn. She then grabbed a stack of parchment, and passed it to the wizard to her right, and the paper was passed down another level, to a wizard Pi’ve knew: Janareus. Pi’ve smiled suddenly, for he had not noticed the man sitting there until now. He nodded to Pi’ve, and took out a pen.

  ’Now, before we proceed with today’s agenda, that being Pi’ve of Thergiam being accused of doing irreparable damage to the reputation of wizards, in regards to our standing—,’ she read, with some difficulty, ’to the— common people, their ministers and noble factions… This, along with blatant disregard, knowingly or without, to the law of wizards, is being tried for appropriate sanctions in proportion to his transgressions.’ Gilania said taking a brief pause, spectating the room. ’Over to our roles in this court. I am the judge, and the final word. To my left is—,’ She said, and for half an hour she talked about the different roles of the people in the courtroom, including Pi’ve’s and Murgun’s. Both Pi’ve and Murgun was to speak only when spoken to, and when their allotted time at the end for their final words.

  Janareus was the scribe. Kerlina was a historian of law, and had vast knowledge of prior court hearings and their outcomes. To the left and right sat two interesting wizards. To the judge’s left sat a wizard named Linda, and she was a wizard specialised in a strain of magic called Verity, which focused on revealing what is real and not. A truth-teller, in essence, Barna told him. This reminded Pi’ve of his skill Manifest the Obscured in some way. To the right of the judge sat a man with long, white hair and a thin face. He was named Nolon, and was tasked with appointing the right to speak, and they were warned that speaking out of turn would result in being silenced. And that was not meant in a figurative way.

  ’Now, we will move on to the claimant and his claim. I would invite him to speak his case.’ Judge Gilania said, and gave the word firstly to the lady to her left, who’s name was Linda.

  Linda rose from her seat, and Pi’ve was surprised by her stature. She was tall. ’The word is given to the claimant, and his representative. May you speak your case clear and to the point, omitting untruths and exaggerations.’ And she sat again. It felt like a warning.

  Murgun and his representative rose in unison, and nodded to each other. The knot in Pi’ve’s stomach twisted even harder, and feared that this was the start of his end. Murgun sat again. ’Greetings all.’ Murgun’s representative said, looking at everyone in the hall. ’I am Teligion, and I hail from the beautiful city of Fram in Vesen County. I will be laying out the awful truth about the happenings in the West Fishers-Market last Tuesday.’ He then thumbed through some of his parchments, and took out three of them, and entered the middle of the floor. He was now addressing the crowd behind them, rather than the judge and the other officials in the stand.

  ’Have you not noticed, as I and Murgun have, the terrible reality of new wizards as of late? Their lack of decorum and finesse upon their sole as they enter into our midst? Is it not prudent to assume, or to rather, ask that upon entering the society in which they have striven long to join, that they read up, or is informed by their mentor, the rules of that society? Are we to blame the elf in charge?’ Teligion begun his speech. He obviously assumed that Pi’ve’s mentor was an elf, and from what Pi’ve had learned, that was expected. He saw Barna scribbling down this.

  ’We wizards are obliged to follow the code which we have set upon ourselves, not only for the good of the common folk, but for the well-being and function of the wizarding community. I ask you this; was this an omittance from the elf’s teaching, or was this an omittance of the wizard, for his own gain?

  ’I venture, and so does Murgun, which is why, with heavy heart, he filed a complaint to the WCC regarding this matter, to combat this kind of obvious over-confidence.’ Teligion said, and Pi’ve could see Murgun looking his way. Pi’ve felt a surge of heat inside him. They were saying that he broke the law with purpose. There was some murmuring in the crowd behind Pi’ve. The heat rose further. It was unfair that he was being accused of doing this for his own gain. Of course, it was in some sense true, but he had not omitted rules or broken them by purpose for gain.

  Barna turned the parchment over to Pi’ve. It said Should I reveal who your mentor is?, and Pi’ve understood why that would make his case stronger. They were only here to plead his ignorance of the law, but that needed to be proven.

  ’For the last 250 years or so, we have had six wizards join our society; two of them in Thergiam. Do you remember the last to join in your vast, beautiful city? I do, because it sent shock waves all the way to Fram, where I reside. In Vesen, two wizards joined us too, and one of them did the unthinkable. The act of murder on a common woman— accident, yes, I give, but nevertheless, I think we can see a pattern.

  ’If we do not give stricter rulings to those who join us— who commit crimes, knowingly or not— we will not see any improvement at all. I know all of you see your mentor from time to time, and therefore some of them know what is happening within our society. If they are provided with some heeds to teach their apprentices how to act, these things would not happen.’

  Pi’ve was getting sick, for even if he thought that it was all exaggerated, and painted wrongly, he could not see the fault in Teligion’s speech. It seemed like the murmuring behind Pi’ve indicated that several of the audience were on their side, and not his. But even so, he should not be held accountable for what every other wizard before him had done. They should stick to his case, and not the 250 year old history of newcomers.

  ’What a dangerous and foul outcome it had. Last week, as I know you know by now, six wraiths—’ Knock, Knock. Linda had knocked her staff on the floor, and judge Gilania looked at her.

  ’Omittance of truth.’ She said plainly. Teligion looked at Murgun, and Pi’ve could see that Murgun showed four fingers under the table.

  ’Apologies. Four wraiths were spotted in Thergiam.’ He said. Disregarding the attempted lie, this was the most compelling of their argument, Pi’ve felt that in the silence which followed. ’Quickly dealt with, I concede.’ Teligion added very fast. ’Imagine the pain and suffering it could have brought if more people were captured by them?’

  Captured!? Had anyone been captured? Quickly Barna wrote on his parchment Be still. One was captured. Young boy. It is dealt with. No lasting harm. Lasting harm?

  ’Had it not been for Pi’ve here, not one would have been taken by these vile creatures, which I can add has not been seen in Thergiam for many, many years—’ Knock, Knock.

  ’Exaggeration of the matter.’ Linda said.

  Barna rose suddenly. He looked angry. ’For the sake of the integrity of thi—’ Womp. A gust of thick, heavy air had washed over Pi’ve and Barna. Barna sat down, but inside Pi’ve, a form of panic rose suddenly. It felt like he had completely lost the ability of speech. Not that he was going to speak, but he knew that he could not.

  [Locked-jaw (Epic)] has been applied on you. Note that this skill is not of high enough rank to hinder you from telepathic speech, or written text, but the spell-caster will know what is conveyed, and to whom.

  ’Well… for years, then. This is a direct consequence of his actions, and this is our word to you: He should be punished. No, not just because of the young boy who was touched by the wraith, and felt the cold pain that lingers for years and years after— and the trauma— but because it should be set as an example. An example not for us or him necessarily, but for future mentors, and those taught by them; to give our rules and laws legitimacy also to them.’

  For the first time, Pi’ve could hear people in the back audibly giving their consent and agreeing. Pi’ve was shaking again. He looked up and saw the Wizard Court Council wizards, and expected them to agree too. Some did. Almost half did it seemed. It was all lost. He had lost before he had even given his side of the story. Pi’ve glanced at the parchment of Barna again, and saw the words No ill thoughts. How could he not.

  ’Ending our, and the majority’s, it seems, opinion on this case, we ask this: give this man, Pi’ve, a punishment appropriate, whatever that is, light or hard, as a wagging finger to mentors of our future colleagues. Give this man, Pi’ve, a punishment appropriate for breaking the law, namely the Wizard Exclusion Act point one and four which states: Wizards are not to meddle in the affairs of the common people’s government on any stage or level, and, not least, Wizards are not to influence the people of influence of the common people, with any gain in mind, either for the wizard, wizards as a whole or any group, or the common people.

  ’Be this a lesson. Not merely a punishment, for whether we wish to punish or not, he will be among us, and should therefore be taught how to be among us. A didactic act perhaps.’ Teligion said, clapping once as a finishing touch. ’Thank you for your time.’

  It was over. It was over, and Pi’ve would be punished, banished and brandished as an example of bad conduct. He would be hated forever.