ONE POINT FIVE (1.5 in the Amnesia Archives)

Chapter 16

Aknon's POV

"So, is this a jury? Or is the crowd just here to spectate?" I asked, tilting my head a little as I looked around the space. Everyone was watching us so intently, I almost believed that this was like some kind of sport to them. I could imagine them all in a separate area, having drinks and taking bets over whether or not those on trial would be declared as guilty or not guilty. I wondered how much money they had on which, even if it wasn't an actual system. I would've surely had some kind of interest in it if I wasn't one of those on trial.

"It is a collective decision," the judge answered, almost a little too bitterly. "However, the power of the final decision lies on my shoulders." It felt like we were in some kind of novel, as he spoke immensely dramatically. I had understood before that he knew his own importance, but now I knew that he adored it. He loved being able to make decisions over people's lives, he revelled in it.

"Must be heavy," Mesh commented. I knew that his words were genuine and not snarky, but it still caused some whispers to rise around us.

The judge was silent for a few moments before shifting in his seat. "Very," he said before changing the subject. "The appearance of you both has caused quite the uproar in Kourjit. There are people talking about curses and witches. They believe that your appearance is a sign that Kourjit is destined to fall."

I found that humorous, given what Dwi was the deity of. "We are no such omens, but it's rather flattering to hear." I gave a small smile, letting the slightest bit of amusement show. "We never intended to cause such a stir; we are here for our own personal pursuits."

"And that would be?" The judge's voice was almost childish and song-like. He had already made up his mind that we were going to be sentenced to some kind of horrible punishment, but I could've figured that out from the moment we stepped in here.

"Find family," Mesh answered in a very simple way once more. It was very simple, but it was very efficient to describe what we were both after. He shifted from foot to foot anxiously, glancing around just the same as I was. He'd told me countless times about his experiences whilst travelling and about how you should always have a second plan if things didn't go your way. I knew this, of course, but it was nice hearing it from Mesh. It probably looked a little suspicious at the moment due to the situation we were in. It wasn't the smartest idea to look around a courtroom like you had a plan up your sleeve, but this really wasn't much of a courtroom.

"Find family?" the judge repeated, almost laughing. "And what do you mean by that? You want to recruit people into your cult? You want to kidnap children and take them back to your home?"

Mesh looked absolutely horrified.

"He's referring to family who are already related," I clarified for him. "We're each looking for family members, my sibling and most of his family. Kourjit is the biggest city, so we figured that someone here might know something about their whereabouts."

"He has family?" the judge asked quickly, before clearing his throat. "In Kourjit. He has family in Kourjit? You have family in Kourjit?" It looked as though he was trying to understand it all. "How come I've not seen or heard of them? Surely, they must be troublemakers like the two of you."

"Acer is," I agreed. "But I don't think that they're in Kourjit. I was thinking more along the lines of asking people if they've seen them."

"Mesh's family is by Kourjit," Mesh answered after me. "I accompanied Aknon this far on journey because we were going to the same place."

The judge leaned forward, probably trying to figure out Mesh's speech patterns. "Your family is by Kourjit?" he asked once more. "I don't think that's possible, there are no orc strongholds here, nor will there ever be."