Desolation of Erimos
Copyright© 2026 by Rycliff
Chapter 12: The Charges
The Senate message waiting on Alliyanna’s desk was not the indictment.
It was worse in a quieter way.
The message informed her that the Senate had completed its preliminary procedural review and that any further action involving her would proceed under the rules governing members of the hereditary peerage and sitting senators.
Alliyanna read it twice.
Then she leaned back in the chair that had belonged to her father until that morning.
They had conceded the point.
Not publicly.
Not graciously.
But they had conceded it.
She was a senator.
She was entitled to counsel.
Any accusation serious enough to affect her title, liberty or Senate seat would have to be brought formally.
Evidence would have to be entered into the record.
Witnesses could be questioned.
She could call witnesses of her own.
The Senate had spent several hours determining exactly how much trouble she had caused them.
Apparently the answer was considerable.
Alliyanna closed the message.
For a few seconds she allowed herself to enjoy that.
Then another indicator appeared.
FORMAL DELIVERY PENDING.
Her smile disappeared.
A knock sounded at the study door.
Edren stood outside.
“Baroness?”
“Yes?”
“There are three gentlemen at the front entrance. Two are from the Senate Marshal’s office.”
Alliyanna looked at the message again.
“And the third?”
“He says he is a clerk.”
“Do they have an appointment?”
“No, Baroness.”
Of course they didn’t.
Alliyanna stood.
“I’ll come down.”
She found them waiting in the front hall.
The two Senate officers wore formal uniforms rather than armor. Neither carried a visible weapon. The clerk stood between them holding a rigid document case.
The senior officer bowed.
“Baroness Kar’Jan.”
“Yes.”
“We have formal service from the Imperial Senate.”
Alliyanna looked at the case.
“I assumed as much.”
The clerk opened it.
Inside was a thick packet bound with a red seal.
The Senate officer continued.
“You are being served notice of formal charges and a summons to appear before the Senate for trial.”
Trial.
The word landed differently than inquiry.
Alliyanna held out her hand.
The clerk placed the packet into it.
She nearly underestimated the weight.
There were dozens of pages.
Perhaps hundreds.
“Receipt is required.”
Alliyanna signed the acknowledgment.
The officer checked it.
“You are ordered to appear eight days from today at nine hundred.”
“Am I under arrest?”
“No.”
“Is my movement restricted?”
“No formal restriction has been imposed.”
“Am I permitted counsel?”
“Yes.”
“Visitors?”
“Yes, subject to ordinary Senate security requirements.”
“Am I permitted to contact witnesses?”
The officer hesitated.
“You are permitted to prepare your defense.”
Alliyanna nodded.
“That answers the question.”
The officer gave a small bow.
“We are finished.”
They left.
Edren closed the door behind them.
Alliyanna remained in the entrance hall with the packet in her hands.
Edren looked at it.
“Would you like breakfast brought to the study?”
Alliyanna looked at him.
She had forgotten she had not eaten.
“Yes.”
“Very good.”
He started away.
“Edren.”
He stopped.
“Do we have a family attorney?”
He almost smiled.
“We have several.”
That should not have surprised her.
“Call them.”
“All of them?”
Alliyanna looked down at the red seal.
“Yes.”
The first charge was treason.
Alliyanna sat behind the desk and read the paragraph slowly.
The Senate alleged that she had knowingly participated in acts intended to destabilize the Imperial government and interfere with the lawful authority of the Emperor.
The second charge was conspiracy to participate in the assassination or removal of the Emperor.
The third concerned Duke Birsha.
Conspiracy to commit murder.
Participation in a scheme intended to cause or facilitate his death.
The fourth alleged fraudulent acquisition of noble rank and title through manipulation of the Birsha succession.
The fifth alleged evasion and obstruction of lawful Imperial authority after the original Senate Notice had been issued.
There were several lesser counts underneath those.
Failure to comply.
Concealment of movements.
Improper use of House credentials.
Unauthorized possession and movement of restricted xenotechnology.
Alliyanna stopped reading.
That one was new.
The Fragment.
Of course.
They had found a way to put the Fragment into the indictment too.
She returned to the beginning.
The language was careful.
Very careful.
The Senate was not claiming that she had personally fired a weapon at Birsha.
It was not claiming that she had personally attempted to kill the Emperor.
It alleged that she had participated in a larger conspiracy.
That she had benefited from Birsha’s death.
That she had taken steps before his death to ensure the title would pass to her.
That she had fled after being ordered to appear before the Senate.
That she had continued traveling under circumstances suggesting concealment.
That she had sought an alien artifact whose capabilities remained unknown.
That she had resisted surrendering that artifact to Imperial authority.
Everything was connected.
Everything looked terrible.
Almost all of it had actually happened.
Alliyanna read the charge concerning Birsha again.
She had inserted the codicil.
She had known what it meant.
She had understood that if Birsha died before the ceremony while their betrothal remained in force, the succession would pass to her.
She had planned for that possibility.
The Chamber of Reflection had already forced her to admit it.
She had been relieved when he died.
Not because she wanted him dead.
Because she was free.
That distinction had seemed clear inside the Chamber.
On paper, written by people determined to make her look guilty, it looked considerably less clear.
Alliyanna reached out instinctively.
Talak?
Nothing.
She concentrated harder.
Talak.
A faint presence answered.
Here.
Relief.
The bond had been unreliable since they reached the Capitol, distance weakening it unless they were relatively close.
Where are you?
Government quarters. Maybe two kilometers from the Senate.
Kahlan?
A moment later the third presence appeared.
Also here.
Alliyanna looked down at the indictment.
They charged me.
The response from both men changed immediately.
Talak:
With what?
Alliyanna swallowed.
Treason.
Silence.
Conspiracy to kill the Emperor.
Kahlan’s presence sharpened.
What?
Conspiracy involving Birsha’s death. Fraudulent acquisition of the title. Obstruction. Evasion. The Fragment. Everything they could put together.
Talak’s anger hit the connection hard enough that Alliyanna almost flinched.
When?
Trial in eight days.
Kahlan:
We’re coming over.
You may still need authorization.
Then I’ll ask.
Talak was already moving.
She could feel it.
Don’t do anything stupid.
Kahlan’s reply came almost immediately.
You really need a new phrase.
Alliyanna closed her eyes.
For the first time since she had claimed the Kar’Jan seat, she was genuinely afraid.
The Kar’Jan legal office arrived before Talak and Kahlan did.
There were four of them.
The senior attorney introduced himself as Advocate Merin Sol, chief counsel to House Kar’Jan. He was in his late sixties, thin, silver-haired and carried himself with the quiet confidence of a man who had spent most of his adult life telling powerful people things they did not want to hear.
With him came an inheritance specialist, a Senate procedure attorney and a younger criminal advocate carrying two cases of files.
Alliyanna met them in the study.
Sol looked around once.
Then at the chair.
“Your father usually sat there.”
“I know.”
“I heard what happened.”
Alliyanna could not tell whether he approved.
“Does everyone know?”
“By now?”
He sat.
“Yes.”
The others took places around the conference table.
Alliyanna handed him the indictment.
“I was told House Kar’Jan had several attorneys.”
“You have considerably more than several.”
“I’m beginning to understand that.”
Sol opened the packet.
He did not speak for nearly fifteen minutes.
The inheritance attorney read over his shoulder.
The criminal advocate made notes.
The Senate procedure specialist began marking individual pages.
Alliyanna waited.
Eventually Sol closed the packet.
“How much of this is true?”
The question irritated her.
She controlled the reaction.
“Define true.”
Sol’s expression did not change.
“Good answer. Now answer the question.”
Alliyanna sat back.
“I fled after the Notice.”
“Yes.”
“I continued traveling.”
“Yes.”
“I knew the Senate was looking for me.”
“Yes.”
“I refused to surrender the Fragment directly to Commander Rell.”
“Yes.”
“I insisted it go to Ran Academy.”
“Yes.”
“I inserted the succession codicil into my betrothal agreement with Duke Birsha.”
The inheritance attorney looked up.
“You inserted it?”
“I required it.”
That produced a glance between the lawyers.
Alliyanna saw it.
“I knew what it meant.”
Sol folded his hands.
“What did it mean?”
“That if Birsha died before the ceremony while the betrothal remained in force, his title and estates passed to me.”
“Did you expect him to die?”
“No.”
“Did you want him dead?”
Alliyanna paused.
The Chamber returned to her.
The image of Birsha.
Her relief.
Her guilt.
“No.”
Sol watched her carefully.
“I was relieved when he died.”
Nobody moved.
Alliyanna continued before she lost the nerve.
“I didn’t want him murdered. I didn’t want him killed. But I was trapped in that betrothal, headed toward a marriage I did not want, and when he died, I was no longer trapped. I was relieved.”
The criminal advocate wrote something.
Alliyanna looked at him.
“Is that bad?”
“Yes.”
At least he was honest.
Sol nodded.
“It is also survivable if it is true and we deal with it before the prosecution does.”
“It is true.”
“Good.”
Alliyanna frowned.
“You keep saying good to things that don’t sound good.”
“I prefer unpleasant facts to pleasant surprises.”
The door opened.
Edren appeared.
“Baroness, Captain Talak and Mister Kahlan have arrived.”
“Send them in.”
Sol looked at her.
“Your companions?”
“Yes.”
“Potential witnesses?”
“Probably.”
“Then from this moment forward, anything involving the night of Duke Birsha’s death should be discussed carefully.”
Kahlan entered first.
Talak was directly behind him.
Both stopped when they saw the room.
Kahlan looked at the lawyers.
“I see the cheerful meeting has started without us.”
Sol stood.
“Advocate Merin Sol.”
“Kahlan.”
“Captain Talak.”
Talak shook his hand.
Then looked at Alliyanna.
“You all right?”
“Yes.”
No, she added silently.
Talak’s eyes changed.
He sat beside her.
Kahlan took the other chair.
Sol noticed the exchange but said nothing.
He opened the indictment again.
“Let’s establish something immediately. These are not ceremonial accusations.”
Talak’s expression hardened.
“We figured that out.”
Sol continued.
“Treason carries forfeiture of Senate standing and hereditary office if convicted.”
Alliyanna felt Kahlan go still beside her.
“Depending upon the findings, the Barony itself could be placed under Imperial administration.”
“What about Birsha?” Alliyanna asked.
“The claim would almost certainly be extinguished.”
“And imprisonment?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
Sol looked at her.
“That depends upon which charges survive.”
Talak leaned forward.
“What is the maximum?”
The room became very quiet.
Sol answered.
“For the highest form of treason combined with conspiracy against the life of the sovereign, the maximum penalty is death.”
Alliyanna stared at him.
She had known the charges were serious.
She had not allowed herself to think that far.
Kahlan spoke first.
“They’re going to execute her?”
“I did not say that.”
“You just said—”
“I said that is the maximum available penalty.”
Talak’s voice was quieter.
“How likely?”
Sol looked at the indictment.
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