The young shepherdess led her husband to the tavern in which she had enjoyed her first attempt at running away from the politician�s lifestyle. The owner of the tavern recognized her and was more than pleased to be introduced to Fionn. He provided them both with some bread, butter, and a sort of porridge, which was just perfect for the both of them. The two were starving, as they had not eaten at all the night before because of all the chaos ensuing because of the Proctor�s disappearance.
After eating, the two went in search of the orphanage. Having never actually been there, Akorsa did not know precisely where the building was. She knew what section of Ilyana it was located in, and with the assistance of many of the local people, she and Fionn found it. The building was large, like the many around it. It was made out of stone, and from the outside it still looked rather nice. Akorsa had not yet had time to see to the restoration project she had promised the elderly man, but she knew that once the new council and government were established, she could see the task done successfully.
Fionn went first, and knocked on the door. The elderly man was the one to answer the door, and seeing a strange man and the Lady Proctoress Akorsa, he greeted them with a smile and bid them enter into the building. The moment they entered, Akorsa recognized the damage that the man had been describing. The paint was peeling off the walls and the wooden floors desperately needed to be replaced.
�My lady, we are very glad to see you, indeed! We had a group of people, five to be exact, come to us the other night. They claimed that you had ordered them to spend the night in our home, so we welcomed them in. They are still here, and we have seen to their needs as best we could. My wife and I cannot help but wonder what it is that is going on inside the city,� said the elderly man as he led them through the house.
�I thank you, my good sir, for housing these people. I do fear there is a great deal of explanation that is due to you, and to everyone this day, as well. Those explanations shall need to wait for a bit longer,� said Akorsa. The man led her and Fionn into another room of the orphanage.
Akorsa and Fionn were forced then to stifle their laughter. The Proctors were sitting about a table in the room, with bowls of steaming porridge sitting before them. They were surrounded by a score or more of the orphanage�s small children. The children were sitting there giggling at the strangers in the servant�s garb, who were looking at the food before them as though it were poison.
Fionn moved forward then, and grabbed the wooden bowl and spoon from in front of a Proctor that was recognized to be Dersai. He perched himself on the corner of the table, beside a child, and began eating. Akorsa could not help but laugh; he had just eaten and yet he was still ready to eat more. Fionn was, and always had been, a bottomless pit when it came to the consumption of food. Likewise, he had only seen sixteen winters, much like herself, and was still a growing boy in need of sustenance.
�It really will not kill you,� he said with a smirk, making the children burst into fits of laughter. �It is quite good. What say you, little ones? You eat it day in and day out and yet you still thrive!�
�What took you so long?� snapped Fandil with a growing annoyance.
�I told you that I would not be here until the morning, and I meant exactly that. You need to learn patience, Fandil. Besides, Fionn and I took a lovely opportunity to discover the comforts of the Proctorial beds,� said Akorsa. The Proctors gaped at her in shock, their eyes wide. �Oh, do close your mouths before you let some bugs in, will you? We were married in Arimythia, if you really must know. There is no scandal to be found here.�
�Aye, that was right after I kidnapped her and the Captain-General,� said Fionn with just a pinch of sarcasm to his tone. He then tossed the empty wooden bowl, with the spoon, across the table at Fandil, who failed to catch it. The two eating utensils fell to the wooden floors with a clunk, and the children broke into fits of laughter once more.
�Now is not the time for this silliness, Fionn,� said Akorsa, bending forward and retrieving the bowl and spoon from the floor and setting them upon the table. �We shall find out exactly what you all were up to at a later time. As for now, we wish to present this situation truthfully before the people. At least the part where you are not actually missing, and that I put you into hiding to save you from rash and unjust actions.�
�The people shall see us hanged,� cried Liyra suddenly. Akorsa, noting that this was neither the place nor the time to discuss such matters, as the children were present and the elderly couple had since gone into another room. She reached forward and grabbed the panicked woman by the collar of her dress, dragging her up from her chair and into the other room, which was unoccupied.
�You need to be silent now, Liyra, or something dreadful may happen where I lose my temper with you. If you deserve a hanging, then you shall indeed hang,� said Akorsa, as the other Proctors and Fionn came into the room. �It shall be a judge and jury who makes that decision. I am not here to save your measly little lives, but to ensure justice; that is all.�
The frightened Proctoress looked into Akorsa�s eyes for but a moment, then diverting their gaze away towards the floor. Akorsa, disgusted, released the woman�s dress and pushed her away. She turned towards the others then, looking each one of them in the eye before she spoke.
�We are going back now. I will have it declared in both of the cities that the Proctors have been found, and that the Captain-General is to join me in the Hall of the Proctors. That is where you will be, as well, and where my actions will be explained. Thereafter, you will tell everything that you have done since the Captain-General and I disappeared. Do I make myself clear?� she asked.
�What if we refuse to speak?� asked Paegliy.
�Then we shall throw you into the prison and leave you there until you decide to tell us the truth,� said Fionn harshly. He turned to Akorsa and stared at her for a moment, as though recalling something. �Akorsa, what about Durward, that fellow, the one of who Werner spoke to us of prior to the battle? Werner told us that he had been thrown into the prison because he was accused of kidnapping you and the Captain-General.�
�We did not have him arrested for kidnapping. It was for aiding the enemy in the abduction of a government official,� said Fandil.
�Well then, I am glad that you do have your charges in order, however false they may be,� said Akorsa sarcastically. �We will have him released, Fionn, and have him brought to the Hall for our little meeting with the Captain-General. Hopefully he will have his wits about him this day.�
�Will Durward be needed there, do you think?� asked Fionn.
�Needed, not necessarily, but I would like to have another familiar face on my side if things take a turn for the worse. Besides, he deserves to know about Werner. I will speak to him afterward,� she said. �Let us go.�
- - - -
Some time later Akorsa and Fionn had the Proctors settled down in their great Hall. She had some of the guards about the building make announcements that the Proctors had been found and that no more searching would be necessary. She sent another soldier to the prison to fetch Durward, ordering that he was to be escorted to the hall without bonds. One more guard was sent to the house of the Captain-General to inform him that his presence was required within the Hall of the Proctors. Within a short period of time Captain-General Verican had stormed into the building and straight into the Hall, coming face to face with the your shepherdess.
�Captain-General, do sit down,� she said, pointing to a chair on the opposite side of the room from where the five Proctors were seated. With a great hesitance, the Captain-General did as he was bid, and sat on the other side of the room with an angry expression on his face.
�Where were they?� he asked.
�They were safely tucked away within a certain establishment within the city walls,� answered Fionn vaguely.
�Where were they?� asked the Captain-General again, becoming rather annoyed. �How were you able to find them?
�They were in the orphanage. I found them with a great ease because I was the one who sent them there,� answered Akorsa. The Captain-General rose from his chair angrily and started from his chair angrily, but Fionn and Durward, who were now both present in the room, pushed him back into his seat with a great force.
�You aided them? How did you do this?� he asked angrily. �You were searching in the building with me and my men, and we were upstairs looking for them the whole while. We even entered the building before you did!�
�The servant�s stairway, Verican, I used the servant�s stairway. I ran up before you, found them, sent them to the kitchens so that when you bombarded their quarters you found no one,� she explained.
�What of Josson, then? We found him unconscious in his quarters.�
�I tried to get him to come down to the kitchens with me, but he went into a fit of madness. He made to attack me and I was forced to strike him upside the head. At least if he could not struggle you would have no cause to kill him,� she said coldly.
�How did they escape? Surely they did not stay in the kitchens!� he exclaimed, his temper rising.
�After we left in search of them, just after my suggestion about the secret passage, I sent them back up to the top floor. I had them stay with some friends of mine who were as my maids. They clothed them and allowed them to stay. I then ordered the servants to leave, and the five Proctors, who are seated before you now, left for the orphanage,� she told him. The Captain-General was now gripping the arms of his chairs in anger and frustration, his knuckles now turning white.
�Why would you do such a thing? To protect those who conspired to kill you?� he growled.
�Because aiding them was the right thing to do, regardless of how angry or upset I am over the situation. You would have seen them murdered, Verican, and you and I, as well as all the others in this room, know it to be true. We fix nothing if we do not even give them the justice they deserve. They will be tried, sentenced, and dealt with accordingly,� she said with a reprimanding tone, earning herself a glare from the man across the room.
�I cannot believe you have done this! I thought you a woman of reason, Akorsa! And yet you go and do this!� he cried, trying to rise from his chair, only to be pushed back again by Durward and Fionn.
�I am a woman of reason, I do think. That is why I have done exactly as I have, because it is reasonable and right,� she said calmly. �You would do well, Captain-General, to accept my actions and to act appropriately and accordingly. If you are unable to control yourself and act in a civilized manner, than I shall see to it that you are detained until the end of this trial.�
The Captain-General glared at her menacingly for many moments, but Akorsa, determined not to be intimidated by this man, stared him down. Finally realizing that his anger and irrational behavior would accomplish nothing in his favor, the Captain-General calmed considerably. He nodded to her his defeat.
�I will allow you to do as you wish, Lady Akorsa. I do not require a prison cell, but I request that I be put under house arrest, until I am able to sort out my thoughts. If I may ask, how do you intend to run this trial?� he asked curiously. Such a thing as a trial was not unheard of within the Walled Cities, as the people conducted their own sorts to settle domestic disputes from time to time. However, it was unprecedented that such a thing be done on this scale, where government officials, the highest of society, were judged by those below them.
�I will allow the people to do as they will,� she answered. �The trial will be run by them and the verdict determined by them. I can have no say in this matter, as I am biased in my opinions towards the outcome of the trial. There is no other way for this to be done.�
The Captain-General nodded, and was allowed then to rise from his chair. Akorsa saw to it that he was escorted back to his home in Uljaya, and that he was kept under guard until the trials ended. The Proctors had been taken to a secure location within the Walled Cities where they would stay for a time. That left Akorsa, Fionn, and Durward alone, which was fortunate, as they had a many things to discuss.
