Wizard of Jatte by Rowan Erlking (ereader ebook .TXT) 📖

He listed the dead ends to their investigation, which included no sign of blood, murder weapon, or body in either the city, the dumps, or the harbor.

Then he turned to look at Theissen while saying, “But then this man came to visit the guild just yesterday after we had observed the failed attempts of these uncommon metal merchants and jewel traders, bringing him back with them. After a brief visit indoors, though much longer than their other attempts, they came out of the guild. Only this wizard was holding a stone much like the one in the statue. I sent a few of my men to follow them back to their tower while we remained on watch outside the guild as usual. It was well into the afternoon when we noticed that the statue had begun to bleed. Since that time no one except the regular workers came in or out of the guild building. The masters remained inside. I sent my men to investigate the statue when the night fell. I wish for both squads of men to report to you.”

He stepped back. A lesser constable took a step forward, gesturing for a squad of men to enter in. This man bowed to the judges, not looking anywhere else as the squad carried in what looked like a huge wrapped bag. They set it on the ground then proceeded to open it up.

“Esteemed judges of Jattereen City,” the second constable said while gesturing toward Theissen. “Yesterday in the afternoon, when my men and myself were observing this man’s tower, we heard the most frightful scream. We would have gone in, but some kind of magic kept us from entering the building.”

Theissen attempted to keep his face straight. Apparently even the constables had fostered some hate towards him.

“We waited, looking for another way in, but we could only manage to enter the carpenter shop. The door from there into the tower also seemed to have a magic seal on it, making us unable to cross the threshold.”

It was really hard for Theissen not to smile then.

An elder lifted his hand. He called down. “This amuses you?”

Theissen looked up, realizing he was seen. He drew in a breath then nodded. “I’m sorry, sir. But yes. I was simply pleased that the hate ward on the tower worked. I had set it up for the protection of the people that live in there with me. It is good news.”

The elder glared down at him. “But it kept out members of the law.”

Still smiling, Theissen nodded. “I cannot help it if they chose to hate us while trying to seek justice.”

“May I continue?” the constable said with a nod to Theissen then the elder.

The chief elder nodded. “Continue. We will listen.”

The constable bowed without a look to Theissen after that. “Later in the evening we heard more screams, only these were calling out a name. This time we watched and waited at a distance. As we watched, we saw several of these people that are now standing in the galley run out in haste. Most went and found carriages, though several of them went on foot. I had some of my men trail the ones on foot. But those of us that remained at the tower observed throughout the night the same people returning, most emotionally distraught and many weeping. We overheard many things. But all summed up to the supposition that this man here, the wizard, was dead.”

He paused. Then he backed towards the bloody thing that the other men were still unwrapping in the center of the courtroom.

“The morning after, they continued their panicked search for this man. It continued like this until I was summoned here to court. This is my report.”

“Thank you.” The judge said. He then watched another constable step up and bow. “And your report?”

“We investigated the statue, and this is what we found.” This constable pulled the last of the bloody coverings off the body that had been a stone studded statue a day ago.

The crowd gasped and shrieked, echoing louder in the hall in a way that made Theissen’s ears hurt. He looked back at the gallery, wishing there weren’t so many people there. Unfortunately, like Lumen Village, the courts were part entertainment for the locals in the city.

“This body was all stone and jewels since the day it was erected over thirteen years ago in honor of the missing founder of the jewelry guild. As you can see, it is Kontis. He is bleeding from punctures caused by other stones mounted and drilled into his body. How did the statue become a human body? We don’t know.”

The constable bowed and stepped back.  

The head constable stepped forward, taking the lesser constable’s place at the front of the court hall.

“These are our observations. Now I give you my testimony of what I believe.” The constable turned and marched over to the masters of the Jeweler’s guild. He passed Theissen with barely a glance. He pointed to the trio. “I believe that Masters Leoner and Forntbas both conspired to murder Kontis Jeweler. Ruban is a co-conspirator. And I believe they hired the work of a witch.”

Theissen sighed, frowning. A witch. It always goes back to that. Witches and wizards. The hate for them was never going to end. However, that woman who had been there when he was conjured obviously had to have been an herbalist. And it was clear that she had used her magic for ill against him. He wondered briefly what would have happened if he had left with her instead of remaining stuck at the guild.

The head constable then pointed to Theissen as the bailiffs kept the jewel masters silent and in line. “He, I believe, somehow unearthed the body of Kontis during his visit to the guild. He associates with demons, most especially ones that dig things from under the earth. His intent beyond that, I do not know.”

Giving a bow, the constable stepped back from the judge’s stand.

“Is that your entire declaration?” the chief elder asked him.

The head constable nodded. “It is.”

With another nod, the chief elder then motioned to the head bailiff towards the Jeweler’s guild. “Proceed with the defendants’ statements.”

The bailiff banged his stick. He walked in between Theissen and the members of the Jeweler’s Guild, squared his chest and said: “All hear the statement of Leoner Yuld Scoran Jeweler!”

The older, foppish man cast Theissen a glare before stepping up to face the judges. With all the grace of a man of wealth, the man spoke with confidence. “Elegant and noble elders, I beseech you. That statue was nothing more than stone. It was the wizard who made it bleed with his magic. It is not Kontis at all, but a fraud. A fake. Our master, whom we loved, had gone missing those thirteen years ago not by our hands. It is still a mystery to us why he had vanished. That wizard transformed the statue into a corpse it to take revenge on us for denying his demon friends the high price they were demanding for their stones. They were trying to corner the market. They even led away jewel cutters from our guild yesterday. He is a cad and should be put down!”

Gasps echoed from the gallery.

Theissen sighed again, feeling tired.

“Is that all?” the chief elder asked him.

“It is, noble one,” Leoner said.

The bailiff banged his staff and announced, “All hear the statement of Forntbas Ludrik Lonse Jeweler.”

“That’s unfair,” Milrina murmured, bringing in her fiancé to the friend’s side of the court hall. The other side had the families of the three men. Everyone of them glared at Theissen and his mixed crowd of former demons, locals from the Serjiev highway, Emrit, Theobold, and locals from the tower neighborhood. Several birdmen also walked in to join Theobold, demanding space to stand with Theissen’s friends. Even the silver haired doctor stood among them, peering in with an expression that said the trial was scandalous. Most of Theissen’s friends could not even fit on the floor, and they had to remain in the gallery.

Their bailiff banged the railing to their cage barrier, glaring for Milrina to keep silent.

Forntbas stepped forward. He bowed nobly. “Great elders of our city, I cannot say more than my colleague. That wizard came over to our guild and threatened us. Then he concocted this scandal to ruin us. I believe justice on our behalf is in order. Especially since that wizard stormed in and harmed our assistant here.” He gestured to Ruban. “While Ruban tried to protect us from him.”

“Is that your entire statement?” the chief elder asked as the other judges jotted down notes.

“Yes, great elder.”

The bailiff banged his stick and called out: “All hear the statement of Ruban Mukumar Koin Jewelerson!”

Ruban was still being bandaged up on the table. The doctor just finished securing the last part of the splint to his left leg. He could barely even sit up. “He tried to kill me.”

“Is that all you have to say?” the chief elder asked.

“It is all that I can say. I hurt too much right now to…” Ruban heaved a pained breath as someone tried to help him sit up on the table. He then looked directly at Theissen. “He tried to kill Forntbas and Leoner as well, but they weren’t in the room for him to do it.”

They waited for more, but Ruban said nothing more.

The bailiff looked to the chief judge, waited for the signal to act, then banged his stick. “All hear the statement of Theissen Darol Mukumar Carpenterson!”

Theissen drew in a breath. It was his turn. Giving the elders due respect with a bow, he said, “Undoubtedly, good elders, you are puzzled at the evidence before you and at the statements of these three men. And I am sure once I speak, you will become even more puzzled since what I have to say will not go along with their statements at all. However, I will endeavor to be clear, brief, and most certainly honest.”

He looked to Tippany, Emrit, Theobold then the others, smiling at Milrina and her fiancé as they nodded back to him encouragingly.

“I came to Jattereen with one purpose in mind, to help out the Molemen and Birdmen in their business endeavors.” The gallery exploded with gasps, cutting off any more opportunity to speak. Listening to the gasps in the galley, he waited for the bailiff to bang his stick for silence. Then he continued. “I promised them this because when I was with them I learned they were being cheated—given pittance for jewels and metal ore, and demon feathers, while the merchants out here were charging enormous sums for the same merchandise.”

The jewelers of the guild murmured dissent but their bailiff banged his stick against their fence. Theissen took his cue to continue speaking after that.

“But when we came to Jattereen, we discovered that the jewelers they sold to were ruled by only one house and therefore had complete control of the market. Personally, I hate that kind of thing.” Theissen gave the guild masters a sharp glare. “So, as I was asked to do, I went with the head of the group of former-molemen I came with and—”

“Excuse me, but what do you mean by former-molemen?” an elder asked him.

Theissen nodded to him. “I mean these men that came with me are now human. To make it easier for them to trade among normal humans and also at their request, a number of molemen, and for that matter birdmen, were untangled by myself and turned back into humans.”

“What do you mean by untangled?” another elder asked him.

Nodding to him, Theissen explained, “I see the magic flow all around us. That’s what makes me a wizard. Inside every demonic thing is a knot of flow, which I am able to untie if I wish. In their case, I untied the knots of the molemen’s spell, taking them back to their natural flow.”

“Can you undo every spell?” one elder asked.

“As long as I