Desolation of Erimos
Copyright© 2026 by Rycliff
Chapter 13: The Trial
The Senate chamber looked different when everyone knew someone might die because of what happened inside it.
Alliyanna noticed that before anything else.
The galleries were full. Every hereditary seat was occupied. Additional benches had been installed along the lower level for legal staff, clerks and witnesses. The press gallery above the eastern wall was packed tightly enough that several correspondents stood behind the seated rows.
No one spoke loudly.
There were conversations, but they were subdued. Anticipatory.
Alliyanna stood at the defense table beside Advocate Sol.
Talak sat directly behind her. Kahlan sat beside him.
Neither would testify until called, which meant both had been warned repeatedly not to discuss the case inside the chamber.
Kahlan had lasted almost eleven minutes.
“This room would be less intimidating if they served breakfast.”
Sol had turned around.
“Mister Kahlan.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“No.”
Alliyanna had almost laughed.
She had needed that.
Now, as the last senators took their seats, even Kahlan had gone quiet.
Alliyanna looked toward the second level.
The Kar’Jan chair was empty.
Her chair.
Senate trial procedure required an accused member to remain at counsel table while evidence was presented. She still held the seat. That had been stated formally in the trial order.
But today she stood below it.
The President of the Senate entered.
The chamber rose.
He took his place and brought down the gavel.
“Be seated.”
The clerk stood.
“In the matter of the Imperial Senate versus Baroness Alliyanna Kar’Jan, hereditary peer and sitting member of the Imperial Senate.”
Alliyanna listened to her name carry through the chamber.
“Proceeding upon formal charges of treason against the Imperial Throne; conspiracy against the life and person of His Imperial Majesty; conspiracy in the unlawful killing of the late Duke Birsha; fraudulent acquisition of noble title and succession; obstruction and evasion of lawful Imperial authority; and related subordinate offenses as entered into the record.”
The words sounded worse aloud.
Alliyanna felt Talak through the faint telepathic link between them.
Anger.
Controlled.
Kahlan was there too, more distant, but present.
Sol leaned slightly toward her.
“Breathe.”
“I am.”
“You stopped.”
She drew a slow breath.
The President looked toward the prosecution table.
“Advocate-General Serin Vale, are you prepared to proceed?”
A woman in dark Senate robes rose.
“Yes, Mr. President.”
Alliyanna had met Vale during the preliminary conferences. She was perhaps fifty, composed, precise and entirely uninterested in being liked.
Alliyanna respected that more than she wanted to.
The President nodded.
“The prosecution may proceed.”
Vale stepped into the center of the floor.
“This case is not about whether Baroness Kar’Jan is intelligent, courageous, sympathetic, or young.”
A display appeared above the chamber.
Dates.
Locations.
The betrothal to Birsha.
The codicil.
The ballroom attack.
Birsha’s death.
The Senate Notice.
Alliyanna’s departure.
Erimos.
The Fragment.
The Imperial interception.
Ran Academy.
“This case concerns a sequence of actions.”
She turned toward the display.
“Before Duke Birsha’s death, Baroness Kar’Jan deliberately required a succession provision ensuring that, should he die before the ceremony while their betrothal remained in force, his title and estates would pass to her.”
The codicil brightened.
“Soon afterward, Duke Birsha was dead.”
The ballroom appeared.
“Baroness Kar’Jan survived and stood to inherit.”
The image changed again.
“When ordered to appear before this Senate, she did not comply. She departed Norbos without reporting to the Capitol, concealed her destination, traveled to a remote world associated with unknown alien technology and recovered an artifact of uncertain capability.”
The Fragment appeared.
“When Imperial forces finally located her, she resisted direct transfer of that artifact.”
Vale let the display remain.
“The prosecution does not ask this Senate to imagine crimes from nothing. We ask you to consider motive, opportunity, benefit and conduct after the fact.”
She looked directly at Alliyanna.
“Any one of these events may have an innocent explanation.”
Then toward the chamber.
“All of them require explanation.”
She returned to her table.
Sol leaned toward Alliyanna.
“That was good.”
Alliyanna stared at him.
“I’m glad you enjoyed it.”
“I didn’t. But pretending it wasn’t good won’t help us.”
The prosecution began with the Senate Notice.
An investigator established that Alliyanna had received it, knew she was expected to appear and left anyway.
Sol did not dispute any of it.
Instead he made the witness establish what the Notice had not been.
It was not an arrest warrant.
It contained no murder charge.
No accusation of treason.
No formal allegation that she had participated in the attack against the Emperor.
When she departed, she had been ordered to attend an inquiry.
Nothing more.
The next witness authenticated the Birsha betrothal contract and succession codicil.
Vale made certain the Senate understood that Alliyanna herself had demanded the clause.
Sol made equally certain they understood that Birsha had accepted it knowingly, that the agreement was authentic, that the clause had been legal and that no one had concealed its meaning.
The prosecution moved to Alliyanna’s travels.
An Imperial intelligence analyst described a route that had been deliberately difficult to follow.
Vale called it consistent with someone avoiding observation.
Sol agreed.
Then he asked whether the investigation had found that Alliyanna was traveling to meet a conspirator.
It had not.
Whether any message connected her to the ballroom attackers.
None had been found.
Any payment.
No.
Any intermediary.
No.
By midday Alliyanna understood Sol’s strategy.
He was not trying to make her behavior look innocent.
He was forcing every witness to admit the same limitation.
They could describe what she had done.
They could call it suspicious.
They could dislike it.
They could not connect it to the crime.
The prosecution came closest after lunch.
A financial investigator displayed the scale of the Birsha inheritance.
Properties.
Accounts.
Commercial interests.
Political authority.
Assets Alliyanna had not even known existed.
The numbers were staggering.
Vale asked the obvious question.
“Did Duke Birsha’s death materially improve Baroness Kar’Jan’s position?”
The investigator looked at the figures.
“Enormously.”
Sol stood.
“Did your investigation uncover any payment from Baroness Kar’Jan to the attackers?”
“No.”
“Any secret account funding the attack?”
“No.”
“Anything financial connecting her to the attack itself?”
“No.”
“Thank you.”
The final prosecution witnesses dealt with the Fragment and the Imperial interception.
Alliyanna had resisted direct surrender.
That was true.
But she had not fired on the Imperial ships, attempted escape or hidden the Fragment. She, Talak and Kahlan had voluntarily entered custody, and Commander Rell had agreed to place the artifact with Ran Academy under documented scientific custody.
The prosecution could call it resistance.
The defense could call it negotiation.
Both descriptions were true.
Late that afternoon Vale rose.
“The Imperial Senate rests its evidentiary case.”
Alliyanna looked at Sol.
“That’s it?”
“For them.”
“They didn’t prove anything.”
“They proved quite a lot.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Yes.”
Sol closed one file and opened another.
“Now we show them what those facts actually looked like.”
The defense began the following morning.
The first witnesses were deliberately ordinary.
A server from Birsha’s estate.
A household coordinator.
Two guests.
A security officer.
No one offered a revelation.
That was the point.
Together they built a picture of an ordinary evening before the attack.
Alliyanna had eaten with the other guests.
She had not altered staff assignments.
She had not requested changes to security.
She had not arranged special transportation or a private exit.
Several guests had spoken with her minutes before the first shot.
One remembered her standing near the Emperor.
The estate security officer confirmed that she had no access to the restricted systems controlling ballroom security.
Vale’s cross-examination was simple.
Could Alliyanna have communicated privately without those witnesses knowing?
Yes.
Could she have made arrangements earlier?
Yes.
Could she have concealed her intentions?
Yes.
Possibility kept the prosecution alive.
But possibility was all it had.
Then Talak testified.
Sol began plainly.
“How would you describe your relationship with Baroness Kar’Jan?”
Talak glanced toward Alliyanna.
“Close.”
“Are you loyal to her?”
“Yes.”
“Would you lie for her?”
“No.”
Sol let that answer stand before moving to the attack.
Talak had known of no conspiracy.
No secret meeting.
No communication with the attackers.
When the shooting began, Alliyanna had reacted with everyone else.
“She tried to survive.”
Vale rose for cross-examination.
“Captain Talak, you love Baroness Kar’Jan.”
The chamber became very still.
Alliyanna felt heat rise into her face.
Talak answered without looking at her.
“Yes.”
“You have risked your life for her.”
“Yes.”
“You traveled with her knowing the Senate wanted her here.”
“Yes.”
“You would do almost anything to protect her.”
Talak considered that.
“Yes.”
Vale stepped closer.
“Then why should this Senate believe you would testify against her interests?”
Talak looked directly at her.
“Because you didn’t ask whether I would protect her.”
Vale waited.
“You asked whether I would lie.”
A murmur crossed the chamber.
“I won’t.”
Vale studied him.
“No further questions.”
Kahlan took the stand next.
He confirmed much of the same ground.
No knowledge of a conspiracy.
No contact with the attackers.
No indication Alliyanna expected the attack.
Sol asked what he had seen when the first shots were fired.
“Surprise. Fear. Confusion.”
“Preparation?”
“No.”
Vale’s questions focused on his loyalty.
“You remained with Baroness Kar’Jan after she entered Imperial custody.”
“Yes.”
“Voluntarily?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Kahlan looked toward Alliyanna.
Then back at Vale.
“Because she is my family.”
The word struck Alliyanna harder than she expected.
Vale paused.
“No further questions.”
Kahlan returned to his seat.
Alliyanna did not look at him immediately.
Family?
His reply came faintly.
Don’t make this awkward.
Despite herself, she smiled.
Then Vashin was called.
He entered wearing formal household attire rather than Senate robes. He looked uncomfortable, which Alliyanna thought probably helped.
He was not a politician.
Not a soldier.
Not one of her friends.
He was a man who had spent seventeen years making Duke Birsha’s household function.
Sol established his position and responsibilities.
Vashin knew the household schedules, guest lists, staff assignments and most private appointments.
He had seen no secret meetings between Alliyanna and anyone later connected to the attackers.
She had made no unusual requests before the ballroom event.
No changes to security.
No staff removals.
No special exit.
No waiting transportation.
Nothing suggesting she knew the evening would end differently from any other formal function.
Sol turned to the betrothal agreement.
“Did Duke Birsha know about the succession codicil?”
“Yes.”
“Did he object?”
Vashin hesitated.
“He complained.”
A quiet laugh traveled through the chamber.
Alliyanna closed her eyes.
Of course he had.
“But he signed it knowingly?”
“Yes.”
“And the agreement was not secret.”
“No.”
Sol shifted to the attack.
“Where was Baroness Kar’Jan when the first shots were fired?”
“Near His Majesty.”
“Was she positioned somewhere protected?”
Vashin almost laughed.
“No.”
“Did the attackers avoid her?”
“No.”
“Did any member of the household report that she had warned them in advance, altered security, met with the attackers or given them instructions?”
“No.”
Vale stood for cross-examination.
“Mister Vashin, did you know every private thing Baroness Kar’Jan did?”
“No.”
“So it remains possible she arranged something without your knowledge.”
Vashin thought about that.
“It is possible Duke Birsha secretly became a pastry chef without my knowledge.”
Several senators laughed.
Vale stared at him.
Vashin looked horrified with himself.
“I’m sorry.”
The President struck the gavel.
“Witness.”
“Yes, Mr. President.”
Vale tried again.
“Is it possible?”
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