Eros

Hail to the King - 6

"He..." The maid at the accuser's stand opened her mouth to speak, but her voice broke in a cry. Her whole body shuddered as she sobbed. She didn't seem any older than sixteen, and her naïve sort of beauty was evident even with red cheeks and teary eyes.

"He-he..." She gasped, battling the violent sobbing she failed to restrain. "He grabbed me at the corridor, pulled me into the bedroom and-and-.." She sniffled, and with distinct effort straightened her gaze to Roxwell.

"I still have the remains of the blouse he tore off me... And I-..." With shaking hands, she loosened the collars of her garment and pulled them down to reveal dark purple markings across the softness of her neck. "I still carry the bruises he left when he forced himself onto me-..."

"Cease your whining," The defendant cut her speech with a curt command. "You are embarrassing me, yourself, and every witness to this contempt."

The defendant was the kind of warrior soldiers fled from in the battlefield. A giant amongst men, with muscles like a bull's, and gaze like a hound's. His face was gaunt and ghastly, ripped all over by grey scars. But more ominous than all, was the Ebonknight's armor. Plates and chains of steel blacker than coal and fringing of bronze consumed him from neck to toe.

"An audience of Ebon Knights and nobles, and the judge, King Unitor himself, had forsaken all else to attend this trial?" He asked, ired. "I fought the wars that established this kingdom, achieved the highest rank granted by sword, yet my king will still judge me for bedding a common wench?"

"You've said enough, Sir Garus."

All eyes turned to the source of the deep voice – Roxwell, the King Unitor of Anerock. He sat at a great chair of mahogany wood, towering before the audience. Although thin, and half a head shorter than the average man, Roxwell was never looked down on. The mane of his brown hair was swept back, and his mustache was full and thick. There was wisdom in his weathered features and deep eyes.

He looked at the towering Ebonknight with disappointment. "Perhaps you had forgotten your oath, Sir Garus. But let me remind you, that the Ebonknights of Anerock are the servants of its citizens, not the other way around. Your duty isn't only on the battlefield. You are meant to be an elite in honor as well as strength, the protectors of the United Anerock, an example to the soldiers, and the mighty columns our citizens may lean upon in their time of need."

Not even the faintest murmur sounded when Roxwell surveyed the Ebonknight, the crowd, and the quietly tearing Mila at the accuser's stand. She rushed to wipe her cheeks with her sleeve when she noticed his gaze upon her. The look in his eyes was both warm and firm. She couldn't help feeling like a child of Roxwell's upon meeting that fatherly gaze.

"I hereby proclaim the accused guilty of rape." Roxwell said, his voice echoing throughout the courtroom's complete silence.

"Having violated both this woman, and an oath made to his king under the One True God. Garus shall be stripped of his rank as Ebonknight of the realm, and serve the rest of his life in prison."

The metallic swish of a drawn blade drew all eyes to Garus. The Ebonknight hefted his greatsword of black, tempered steel, and pointed it at Roxwell.

"A king who favors weaklings over his knights, is no king of mine." Garus uttered each word as if he was etching it in stone.

The royal guard, and a couple of Ebonknights from the audience, unsheathed their swords and moved towards the defendant's stand, but halted at Roxwell's gesture.

"Very well Garus," The King Unitor's regal composure did not falter in the slightest. "I accept your challenge."