The Obsidian Empire

Chapter 14: Corruption

The next morning was a bit disorienting. He woke up to aggressive hands grabbing his wrists to release his chains and cuff his hands in front of him, then to be pulled to his feet with his bound wrists attached to a chain being pulled by a rather irritable guard that practically drags him out of the dungeon.

He's left wearing nothing but a pair of tattered trousers and a shirt that he's pretty sure was made from a potato sack. No shoes, as he's aware is a custom in Tessiavar that elven slaves are made to walk around barefoot. He may not be a slave, but he guesses the people in charge want him to feel like he is to break down his pride more than they already have.

And perhaps more uncomfortable for him, he no longer has his long sleeves or gloves to hide just how bad the Siphon has gotten. Since waking up, he's had to force himself to not look at his arm too much, but he can't help but spare it a few painful glances every now and then. For now, he figures he'd best just focus on the trial.

It's more than a little worrisome that without himself and Dumaine, it will just be Rosanhi and Sillavanna defending the Restoration and the Hollow's innocence. But this isn't a battle of combat. Numbers don't always mean the advantage. Rosanhi is clever and knows how to choose her words wisely, and quickly. And while Sillavanna is brash, she comes from Clalleovion. She knows enough about politics to be careful with what she says and does, so long as the magisters don't get under her skin.

But Llwell admits his biggest fear for the trial today is that Dumaine will be sitting with the other magisters. He will be in his father's seat. It's still hard to believe that Dumaine is now a magister, despite the constant reminders and the fact that he's seen him wearing the robes. Everything still feels like it's happening too fast. It's overwhelming, but he needs to keep himself calm.

He grudgingly follows the knight pulling him along by his chained wrists towards the towering doors to the main hall, where Llwell can hear by Magister Galarius' voice that the trial is already starting. As they reach the door, Llwell has to force himself to take a deep breath and lower his head, shutting his eyes for just a moment to try to compose himself before going in. He hates that he has to be seen like this. Not only the way he's been forced to dress, but the state of his hand.

The knight pushes the doors in with a creak and as they slowly swing open, Magister Galarius clears his throat.

"And due to the nature of the Baptism of Fire, the Hollow will be here to stand trial and answer to the allegations made against him," the magister motions the knight and Llwell forward.

The elf keeps his head down as every set of eyes in the chamber turns to watch as he enters. He hears a few gasps from the crowd, which only adds to his already overwhelming anxiety so he tightens his right hand in a fist, trying to pull it closer to himself but the knight pulls back on the chain, making him slightly stumble forward as he walks.

It's humiliating. He guesses that's probably the point. They want to break him down so he has no self respect or pride left. Honestly he doubts he can fall much farther from grace at this point, so they got what they wanted.

The knight leads him down the center of the room and stops at a wooden stand positioned off to the side of the table where the Restoration – where Rosanhi and Sillavanna are seated. The man tugs on the chain, again making Llwell stumble a little and he slightly lifts his head to look at him, seeing him motion the elf forward to stand on the small platform.

His eyes fall to the floor again as he wordlessly steps forward and stands in the center of the makeshift stage, and the knight fastens the end of the chain to the floor, giving it a tug to make sure it's secure before he steps back, standing close behind the platform to ensure Llwell doesn't try anything. As if he had the option.