A Roll of the Die - 1. Inception
Copyright© 2026 by Michael Loucks
Chapter 80: Day 106
"Your Majesty, the High Priest is demanding to be freed from house arrest," the Bailiff reported to King Robert the following morning after breakfast.
"Have him brought here for an audience immediately, so I may hear his demand and give it due consideration."
"At once, Your Majesty!"
The Bailiff departed, and about fifteen minutes later, a squad of King's Guardsmen escorted the High Priest into Robert's receiving room.
"Say what you have come to say," King Robert said to the High Priest.
"I have duties and obligations requiring my presence. In the name of the gods, I demand you release me."
"You are in no position to demand anything," King Robert said. "I, on the other hand, am in a position to grant a request, if certain conditions are met. I will allow you to come and go freely if you cease harassing the Queen and acknowledge her right to remain a sorceress."
"I cannot agree to something that offends the Law and the gods!" the High Priest declared.
"Then I cannot offer you parole. Lieutenant, return the High Priest to the Temple and ensure he remains there."
"As you command, Your Majesty. Squad! Bring the High Priest!"
The Lieutenant and his men departed, taking with them the High Priest, who was protesting loudly.
"What do you think, Lady wife?" King Robert asked.
"No person has come to you to petition for his release, and there are no protests in the streets over his confinement. Other priests are performing the rituals outside the Temple, and the people are satisfied."
"You heard the Steward's report this morning about increased activity by the Black Crows."
"I did, and that is the true concern, not some mildly troublesome priest. Have you heard from Count Matthias?"
"No, but it is only a few days since his Company departed for Southham. If Black Crow activities continue, I will need to take decisive action. Hopefully, I will have a good report from Count Matthias soon."
"Hopefully," Miri agreed.
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"Three more of your men are dead," Matthias said to Alton. "All of mine are alive. You still have a chance to save yourself."
"The demons take you, you puffed-up child!"
"Perhaps you would talk to spare Laurel, if not to spare yourself?"
"She has done nothing wrong! Are you so cruel as to murder an innocent woman just as the tyrant and usurper Edward did?"
"You had late-night visitors, long after the bells for closing the city gate rang. If Laurel shared your bed, she would have known about those meetings. If, like you, she declines to talk, she determines her own fate."
"You bastard!" Alton growled.
"Do you wish to speak to me?"
"Drown in the black lake of the underworld, Matthias the Cruel!"
Matthias, who had been accompanied by Milos, Tristan, and Stefan to the jail, left without responding to Alton. They left the Keep and made their way to the Three Diamond Inn to speak with Laurel, whom they found in her room.
"Alton had late-night visitors," Matthias said. "What do you know of them?"
"Nothing, my Lord. He insisted I stay in the bedchamber each time he waited for them. He sent Penelope to her room as well, so nobody saw the men or women with whom he met."
"What did he say about those meetings?"
"Only that they pertained to the inn and other business he had in the city."
"What business?"
"He never said, and I never asked. I liked living in style and having money to spend, so I didn't pry."
"Do you know with whom he associated?"
"He usually had his meetings here at the inn. We did entertain — mostly merchants, innkeepers, or tavern owners, but always with their wives."
"What did they speak about at these meals?"
"Mostly city gossip and the latest goings-on in the Realm."
"Did they speak against the King?"
"Rarely. The most recent was when Edward murdered that poor girl. I don't think it was really out of line to object, given I do not know anyone who did not oppose Edward's cruelty."
"Will you provide the names of the couples you entertained?"
"Yes. I want to coöperate, my Lord. I do not wish to share Alton's fate."
She provided a list of ten men, along with the names of the businesses they operated. Matthias thanked her; then he, Milos, Tristan, and Stefan returned to the house to change their clothes for the trial.
At an hour past mid-day, the trial was held in the courtyard of the Southham Keep. Summer sun beat on white stone and mail; townsfolk packed the lower gallery behind a line of City Guard, and the smell of harbor tar drifted over the walls. Five Knights sat as a jury on a raised dais, their faces grim and giving nothing away — not Edward's tribunal, but not gentle, either.
They listened to the testimony from Matthias, Milos, Tristan, Laurel, and Penelope. Alton stood in shackles with his chin high, as if the city belonged to him, yet refused to speak in his own defense, saying only that he was falsely accused. As Matthias had predicted, the Knights unanimously voted to convict Alton.
"Alton," the senior member of the jury said, "we will hear a plea for mercy or any statement you wish to make before we pronounce your sentence."
"You have no legitimate authority," Alton declared. "You are merely tools of a corrupt monarchy."
"Hearing no plea for mercy, the prescribed sentence for your crimes is for you to be hanged by the neck until dead."
"You have the right of appeal," the Lord Mayor said. "Do you wish to exercise that right?"
Alton remained silent.
"Hearing no appeal, Captain of the Guard, take him to Pillory Square and carry out the sentence at once."
"Yes, Lord Mayor!" the Captain of the City Guard declared.
Alton was led away, and Matthias, Milos, Karla, Lisette, and Tristan returned to the house, where Stefan stood guard, and Tyra rested.
"Matthias," Lisette said, "do you think there was any chance he was innocent?"
"A very small one, but only if someone set him up during our first visit to Dal Valley. That would have been nearly impossible, given they would have had no idea what would happen in the future. Even if we assume Edward was using the Black Crows to become a despot, nobody could have foreseen his death and the events that followed. Well, the gods, I suppose, if you believe in them, which I do not.
"King Robert replaced the Royal Steward and named a trusted friend Commander of the King's Guard in his own stead. His Privy Council is exclusively composed entirely of Knights of the Realm. There was no one in position to carry out a conspiracy to frame Alton and have him executed. Even if there were, he admitted the coded ledger books were his and refused to explain them.
"Perhaps all the circumstantial evidence was misleading, but his attitude matched that of a Black Crow. Taking all of that into account, I have to conclude that the judgment of the Knights on the jury was correct, just, and fair. When you add in Alton's refusal to speak in his own defense, and his failure to ask for mercy, which I was inclined to offer, I have to say that justice was done."
"Mercy, even after all that?" Milos asked skeptically.
"Forfeiture, a short prison sentence, and banishment would have seen justice done, given we could not prove he ordered any murders. A death sentence, if one is ever to be given justly, must be based on eyewitness testimony or incontrovertible evidence of guilt. We had neither of those in this case, which is what concerns me.
"While I find it unlikely, what happens if a business partner comes forward, authenticates the journals, explains them, and they are actual business records? We certainly can't unhang Alton. Consider the possibility, remote as it is, that he was a smuggler and his partners would have killed him had he confessed? Smuggling, like refusing to pay taxes, is not a felony punishable by death. Usually, smuggling results in a fine, confiscation of some or all assets, and, if a repeat offense, a prison sentence."
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