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

that!” Ruban shouted out, “He could have just torn his clothes up and faked that we did it!”

“And how would you know about the scars on my body if you had not seem me naked? I didn’t come to your office yesterday wearing nothing,” Theissen replied with a grin.

The judges nodded, peering hard now at Ruban.

“He has a criminal record,” Forntbas said. “Look at his hands. We saw them when he came in. And his arm. He admits to brawling. None of us have a criminal record. For that matter, look at the way he stands in court. It is obvious that he has been to court several times! This is our first time in such a setting. Surely this is proof that his character leans towards thievery, brawling and lies.”

“Agreed!” a familiar and unwelcome voice said from the gallery near the door. “May I enter to submit a character witness?”

Theissen groaned. He turned, knowing he would see the old one-handed magician.

“Let him enter,” the chief elder said.

A bailiff marched back and opened the door to the gallery for him.

“Henren Mobis Gulland Magician formerly of Lumen Village, at your service.” The magician bowed low with the same old flair as ever. Theissen felt sick just watching him. The man smirked when their eyes met. The look in the magician’s eye appeared at last justified.

“I’ve known this boy since the day he was born. And he has been nothing but trouble for our entire village since that day,” the magician said.

“That’s a lie!” Milrina shouted.

Glancing over at her, the magician smirked. “Oh, I see your little fiancé is here. How touching. However, as your blood relation, she would be biased.

“May I, kind and wise elders, demonstrate his character by reciting the exact events of this boy’s criminal record?” The magician nodded to the elders with that broad smile Theissen always detested.

The chief of the elders watched Theissen’s face and nodded to the magician. “Proceed.”

“His first trial was for stealing, specifically something that belonged to me. A valuable magic device. The elders in our village punished him as well as his elder brother for the crime, a sad event to be sure. But the child used his magic and healed both he and his brother, leaving only the visage of scars. The second trial, he nearly killed a boy with his magic. Suffocation. Luckily others came in time and interfered. There were other occasions between that and the time when he was about to depart that he was on trial for vandalism—”

Theissen rolled his eyes.

“But in the last one he orchestrated the largest farce, turning his own thievery around our village with a demon he made—”

“That’s a lie!” Milrina shouted again, though her fiancé tried to keep her quiet.

“—and he pinned it on me.” Henren Magician then held up his stump of his arm. “I was punished for his crime. And he would do it again.”

The magician gazed over at Theissen with triumph, but all he got back was a dry and tired stare. The crowd behind Theissen glared at the magician.

“Is that the end of your statement?” the elder asked him.

The magician bowed low. “That is all. I said my piece.”

“Do you have a character witness on your behalf?” the chief elder asked Theissen.

Theissen glanced at his collection of friends. “I don’t suppose you would listen to the witness of former demons?”

The chief elder shook his head. “Registered Jatte citizens only. And I am afraid that your fiancé also cannot be a witness since she is closely connected to you and would be biased.”

“But she’s not my fiancé anymore,” Theissen said, turning with a sad look at Milrina.

“No, she is mine,” Rumi declared, and stepped forward from the box. “Can I speak for him?”

The elders all turned with looks of surprise. They recognizing the man upon sight.

The chief elder nodded. “You may speak Rumi Landownerson.”

Giving a formal bow, Milrina’s fiancé said, “I am Rumi Palon Regenebar Landownerson. You all know what kind of man I am and how I uphold the law. I am fiancé to Milrina Weaverdaughter. I met this wizard, Theissen Carpenterson, not long after he took my fiancé from her former place of employment and hired her to run his inn. I went to meet him mostly to assess his character and to see if he had come to claim her for himself.

“What I learned upon meeting this man was that he cared for the people around him. He kept his word, and he would never force his hand against anyone unjustly.” Rumi looked out at the Jewelers. “In the months that I have seen her work for him, he has been a fair employer, honest in his dealings, and forthright in his taxes. Furthermore, he spends more time on the needs of others than he does in his carpentry business, of which, I might add, he would be highly successful and rival the carpenter of Serjiev if he could only focus on that and not the troubles of demons and merchants.

“I have heard much of his past from his cousin. She had nothing ill to say of him, which was why I had also been jealous when I heard he had come into the city. For the one accusation against him, the brawling, he was doing it to save my fiancé from harm. She said they were merely children when it happened. She also told me about the magician and how he has been seeking the wizard’s death since the day of his birth, and therefore he is not a trustworthy witness against him. I do not know of the incident where the magician lost his hand. But I do know that in Lumen, justice and punishment are never given lightly. My hometown was not as strict as his home was. I believe that whatever punishments that were given in Lumen Village ought to stand as they are, and not be overthrown by the tantrums of a thwarted magician.”

Rumi stepped back.

“Are you finished with your statement?” the chief elder asked him.

“Yes, sir,” said Rumi, returning his look with a firm nod.

“Any other witnesses to the contrary?” the chief elder asked the open crowd.

One of the other magicians begged to be let in. He bowed, skipping the formalities as he addressed the judges. “Sorry sir. But I must submit visual evidence against this wizard. Look at the characters he chooses to surround himself with. Foreigners and demons. Respectable Rumi aside, unable to disassociate himself with that girl’s family without breaking off his engagement, the wizard has no other honorable person who can speak for him because he is not an honorable man.”

“Is this your statement?” the chief elder asked.

The magician bowed. “It is.”

“Are there any other witnesses to the contrary?” the elder asked, looking somewhat tired.

Someone waved for the door to be opened. Theissen looked back and saw a slightly familiar face. He couldn’t quite place it, but he knew it. The man was dressed as a constable.

Bowing low, the man lifted his head. “Pardon me, but I am constable Sudan Korregan Tepal Lawson. I can attest that this wizard here is honest and forthright. I met him when he registered all his land and for all the businesses he runs. He runs about five of them, two for friends and the rest under his own books. I even spoke with the taxman who collected his taxes and checked his books. Everything he has done has been according to Jatte law. Not only that, I saw his scars when he came into the law office—every single one, because he wore a backless shirt at the time and we made him take off his traveling cloak and all his tools. That scar on his back wasn’t there. I saw the one on his side. He showed us the ones on his hands and on his wrist. If you look at them, they’re very old. Too old to worry about.”

“And this is your witness?” the chief elder asked him.

“It is,” the constable said, bowing low again.

“Are there any witnesses to the contrary?” the chief elder asked once more.

Theissen raised his hand.

“You wish to speak against yourself?” the chief elder asked, looking somewhat amused.

Shaking his head, Theissen heaved out a sigh. “No, sir. I was just thinking I ought to clarify the magician’s story about my criminal record. Yes, I was punished for stealing as a child. But no, I didn’t heal my scars. The cuts weren’t that deep. Yes, I was punished for brawling and yes, I did nearly kill a boy.”

The crowd gasped.

“I didn’t know any better at the time. I was only trying to shut him up from saying foul things at me and my cousin.” He waved his arm towards Milrina. “However, I learned what I did was wrong, and the boy is now a man, and alive and well today. As for the trials on vandalism, they were dismissed almost instantly because first of all, that magician has been on my back about silly childish things such as turning his flowers blue and changing his robes to polka dots, and he was driving the village elders crazy with his complaints. Secondly, everyone else in the town thought it was funny. Thirdly, some of the people even requested that I do that sort of thing for them on purpose, and only the magician didn’t like it because he was jealous.”

“Objection! I was not jealous!” Henren Magician barked.

“You have always been jealous!” Theissen shouted back. “Since the day I was born you were afraid I would supplant you. Didn’t it ever occur to you that I would leave Lumen and travel as a carpenter? You could have supported my father in that, you know!”

Fuming, the magician looked likely to draw up a spell to strike him down, but the bailiff banged his stick shoving the magician back to his place.

“Is this all?” the chief elder asked.

“No, it isn’t.” Theissen still glared at the magician. “That last trial I called the magician to court because he had made the kirrel, not me. He was trying to frame me for thieving. Not the other way around. But when I proved in court that he also had made himself part demon—after he nearly scared us all half to death with his magic—the elders ruled in my favor against him. The fact is, that magician here should have lost his head. But I begged the village elders to spare his life and just chop off his hands for brawling, letting me reattach them. If you’ll notice, his other arm has a scar like mine. He refused to let me reattach the other one. But the fact is, he owes me his life, and he hates me for it.”

“How dare you!” The magician fumed, building himself up, though without any magic like the last time they faced each other in court.

The bailiff banged his stick hard, giving the magician another warning glare. However, the magician just fumed as he stared up at Theissen.

“It’s the truth! Something you can’t face!” Theissen heaved his shoulders up and squared them. He then turned towards the city elders. “The fact is, what are you willing to believe? Established men who have murdered to corner a market and build profit only because they have the image of goodness? Or a wizard who fraternizes with demons, enjoys conversations with foreign magisters, and is likely to stir up trouble simply by existing but is telling the truth no matter what others have said? It is your choice. Do you want to catch the murderers, or do you want to just save the face of traditional respectability? You decide.”

Theissen took a step back.

The elders whispered among themselves for a while, then the chief elder spoke up. “We will adjourn to discuss the issue. We will reconvene within the hour.”

Rising together, the city elders walked single file out of the room. The bailiffs remained. The chief one was the only one who departed with the elders.

Theissen’s bailiffs eyed him. Though, they also