“Well, I guess it was all pretty bad, then,” said Sadie. “They told me not to ask you about it too much. I’m sorry, miss.” She curtsied again. “What did you need me for, then?”
Ariana stood up. “I want to leave.”
Sadie’s face fell. “Oh. Well, you can’t do that, you know? They said to make you comfortable as best we could, but to keep a close eye on you.”
Ariana sagged against her bed post.
“I’m very sorry, miss. Your parents will be coming in from Wendo tonight. There’s going to be a dinner party to welcome you back. If you look in the wardrobe, there’s a very pretty dress that I’m to help you into later—”
“A dinner party?” Ariana was completely flummoxed. Her parents, who assumed she’d been held captive by a rapist and serial killer, were going to throw her a dinner party? Were they completely out of their minds?
“I’m sure it will be very nice.” Sadie’s voice was tiny. She was cowering away from Ariana in a way that Ariana had never seen the girl behave. Apparently, Ariana was scary now. Well, good.
Ariana took a deep breath and began to pace again. “So, they’re going to pretend like none of it happened, I suppose. They’ll have a nice dinner, shove it all under the rug, and go on. Meanwhile, they’re keeping me prisoner here.”
“I’m so sorry, miss,” said Sadie.
Ariana waved her away. “Go away, Sadie.”
Sadie started for the door.
“Wait,” said Ariana. “Bring me a net tablet.” If she couldn’t leave the house, at least she could find out what was going on in the sector. Maybe if she sent out a few blasts over the the net, she could try to get people to see that what they thought of Keirth wasn’t true.
Sadie stared at the floor. “Well, they thought that access to the net might just upset you, miss, so they’ve ordered us to keep it from you.”
Ariana let out a roar of frustration. “Get out of my sight.”
When Sadie left the room, Ariana felt guilty. It wasn’t the girl’s fault, after all. She was only doing what she was told. It seemed her only recourse was the dinner party. She’d be sure to have a lot to say that evening.
* * *
Keirth hadn’t offered any resistance to his arrest, but they’d beaten him anyway. Once they’d hauled Ariana away the police had taken turns kicking him and ramming the butts of their blaster rifles into his face. He was bloody and bruised when they brought him into the courtroom on Risciter.
He’d never been in such a room before. It was all guilded arches, high ceilings, and glittering pillars.The judge sat on a high bench, at least twenty feet in the air, glaring down at him as they dragged him forward. Why was he in a coutroom already?
Keirth knew a bit about arrests, mostly things he’d learned from the people he’d met who’d been through the sector’s legal system. He knew things worked a bit differently here than they did on the colony worlds, but most people claimed the sector was a bit more civilized. There were more comfortable jail cells, court-appointed counsels, and other sorts of things that made being arrested on the sector seem more appealing. Of course, it wasn’t likely you’d get arrested on a colony world. Mostly, on the colonies, you just got shot. Some places were more civilized than others, of course. Here, in the sector, things were supposed to be the most civilized of all.
“Ah,” said the judge, “he’s here.”
The police shoved Keirth into a seat at a table in front of the judge’s bench. Across from him, Keirth could see a man in a suit seated with a few other police officers, all in their dress uniforms. A camera was buzzing around the room. It fluttered down in front of his face. Keirth batted it away, and it tumbled through the air a few feet before righting itself.
The judge banged a gavel down. “The state vs. Keirth Transman,” he said. “Prosecution may begin.”
Wait a second. This was his trial? He’d barely been arrested. He certainly hadn’t been processed or given counsel or anything. He stood up. “Your Honor?”
The judge glared at him. “I have not recognized you, have I, scum?”
“Aren’t I supposed to get a court-appointed counsel or a comm message or something?” Keirth asked.
“Sit down,” thundered the judge.
Keirth didn’t. “I’m fairly sure you’re violating my rights.”
“This,” said the judge, “is the King’s Bench and Star Chamber, where we hear only the most heinous crimes against the nobility. I decide what rights you have, and I’ve decided, due to the nature of your crimes, you deserve none.”