The Return

Chapter 4

Liesbeth wanted to fight as the soldiers dragged her out of the wagon, but they had injected her with something that drained her of all energy. She tried her best to stand, but crumpled to the ground instead. "Get up," the man barked as he dragged her to a roughly constructed stage. There were others who were on their knees with their hands bound behind their backs. Liesbeth was thrown in line with the rest of them. She was being treated as if she were merely an item and it made her blood boil. She looked up from the ground and saw the large crowd that had gathered. Soldiers in their shining armor surrounded the villagers and forced them to watch all the suffering that lay ahead. In the crowd she managed to find Mama, Papa, and Griffin. They were both holding Mama up while she shook with sobs. She caught the man's eyes again and he seemed to give her an encouraging smile that brought back some of her strength. Suddenly, about five carriages began to approach the river bank. "Too fine for this hellhole," Lies thought. They stopped right in front of the stage and a man stepped out of the first carriage. Beth didn't know why she was still staring at him, his face was most likely burned into the memories of all of these poor souls. He was tall, with grey eyes, grey hair and a neatly clipped mustache. The girl knew his name well, Sir Barcus, judge of the Jess district. He judged every trial in the district, and every time, sent innocent people to their deaths. The people that were selected for trials were carefully chosen victims, handpicked by Judges, Governors, Lords and (very rarely) the king himself. The only thing that Beth didn't understand was why she had been chosen for this. Could it have been a mistake. This rolled over in her mind as the rest of the guests got out of the carriages. Sir Barcus slowly made his way up the stage and glared at the 3 victims he would be murdering this evening. One was Liesbeth, and the other two were boys she had never seen before. "They must be from a different village," she thought. The Judge stopped before her, looked at her with disgust, then turned to face the crowd with a fake smile. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to yet another Magic Trial. Tonight, our participators are Ziggy Vesh of the Shomen village, Milo Chang of the Cet village, and Liesbeth Baarle of the Rij village. We have brought these three traitors of the crown forward for their use of magic, which is strictly against the rules. Scot, could you please bring the two boys forward for judgement."
"Yes sir," replied the soldier. Scot motioned to three men standing next to him and they brought the boys to the front of the stage where they once again kneeled.
"Why didn't he call me forward? Something is very wrong here," the girl internally screamed.
"For use of magic, which is strictly against the rules, I find Ziggy Vesh and Milo Chang guilty. The punishment for this unspeakable crime is death." No one bothered to object or protest, not even the boys. They didn't shed a single tear or show a hint of emotion for that matter. In a normal trial, evidence would be brought forward and the outcome would be true, but not in a Magic Trial. Everyone knew that these trials were just a way to get rid of people that threatened the government and to get rid of magic once and for all. The King told lies and said that some managed to get out of taking their pills so they could use their magic as they pleased. Of corse, this was all lies.
"Do you boys have anything to say," asked Judge Barcus coldly. Milo just stared off into space, but Ziggy shook his head yes.
"I just want to say that I will miss my family very much, but that we will see each other again. I also want to say that I did nothing wrong, but I'm sure everyone knows that already," he said as he stared coldly at the Judge. Sir Barcus slowly lifted his hand. This signaled for the guns to be brought to the boy's heads. In one swift motion, the judge brought his hand down and the guns went off with a loud BANG! The boys hit the stage as blood dripped from their heads. Liesbeth looked out at the crowd and saw that no one had flinched, or even blinked. Not even the little children. The boy's bodies were then carted away to probably be placed in some mass grave. "I'll be joining them soon," the girl thought. "Please bring the girl forward," the judge called out. The soldiers gripped her arms and dragged her forward. "For use of magic, which in strictly against the rules, I find Liesbeth Baarle guilty. The punishment for this unspeakable crime is death. Now," called out Lord Barcus, " this is my som's first trial and I wanted to make it interesting for him. Would you step out Benny," called the man to his son. Benny stepped out from behind a women with a thick blue dress and a silver bonnet with black feathers. The boy was tall and thin with strawberry-blonde curls and the same grey eyes as his father. Lies expected the boy to have a bored or horrified expression on his face, but what she received was the complete opposite. He was smiling a cold smile as he watched all of the useless bloodshed. The boy looked to be about 15 years old. "Benny, as a late present honoring your 15th birthday, I will allow you to select Miss Baarle's ultimate death." Another cold smile spread across the boy's face and sent chills down Beth's spine.
"Can we burn her, father," he called out in a happy tone.
"Not tonight, it takes to much time to set up and the smell of burning flesh makes my clothes smelly."
"Can we dismember her, Father."
"Benny, that will make too much of a mess that I'm sure no one wants to clean up at this hour."
The boy let out a long, exasperated sigh as he said, "Well...can we drown her, father?"
"Alright, I think we can do that. Scot, please bring out the rowboat and bind up her hands and feet. Make sure that you attach rocks to the bonds so she sinks to the bottom."
The soldier named Scot now came to her and yanked her to her feet and began to use fresh rope to tie her up. "Wait," called out the judge. Scot froze mid task. "Before your are sent to your death Miss Baarle, do you have any last words," said the judge in a bored tone. Liesbeth cleared her throat sharply and began. "I would just like to say that I will always remember this village and these people. I love my family very much and I just want to let Griffin know that I...I love him. Please don't forget me as long as you live." She looked out into the crowd and found the face of her parents. Lies stared into their violet eyes that were just like hers. She looked at their tall, thin frames and messy blonde hair. They looked so much like her. She would miss them very much. Next, she looked at Griffin. Beth always knew that he had had feelings for her, but never admitted it. The first time she had met him was two years ago. He had been aloud to transfer villages for work and that was how he come to be at Rij. They had been very close friends, but now she had just placed her cards on the table. From the look in his eyes, she could tell he was doing the same. "You'll be fine," he mouthed to her.
"I know," she mouthed back. As the soldier tightened his grip on her arm, she spoke again. "Alright, that was all I wanted to say." And with that, he grabbed a few large rocks and dragged her to the boat.