Russ tugged at his suit jacket, wishing that someone would turn on the air conditioner. The hearing room was crowded, with every seat taken and all of the spaces between the seats and the walls crammed with people who stood, craning their necks for a better look at the High Council and the man standing in chains in the front of the room. It wouldn’t be accurate to say that this was a standing room only crowd. There wasn’t even any standing room left. Everyone who could squeeze themselves into this room had done so, eager to catch a glimpse of the Commander who had, shockingly, dared to dabble in dark magic.
“Commander Hawkins, you have heard all of the testimony against you. Is there anything else you wish to say in your defense, or any other witnesses you wish to call, before the High Council passes its judgment?”
The room seemed to collectively hold its breath as Commander Hawkins looked up at the High Council. High Council Member Oscar Ceyus had been chosen to preside over this trial, and now Councilor Ceyus looked down at Commander Hawkins with an iron gaze. Russ glanced to his right, where Mandy sat. She was too intent on watching Commander Hawkins to notice Russ’s gaze. He bit his lip to hold back a smile. She was always beautiful, but even more so now, when she was concentrating so earnestly. Her brow was furrowed in a slight, worried expression, but he knew she wasn’t really worried. Neither were Jake, Clint, or Leif, who sat in the seats beyond Mandy’s. The evidence against Commander Hawkins was damning and irrefutable. The Commander had not brought any witnesses forward. It seemed that even his usual cronies wanted to distance themselves from him now. No one wanted to be associated with dark magic. Not after the awful war the wizard and shifter communities had come through just a few short years ago.
“I’ve been framed!” Commander Hawkins blurted out suddenly, startling Russ’s attention back to the front of the room. “Someone planted all of that evidence to make me look guilty. It was probably that bitch Mandy Evans. She’s had it out for me for quite some time. You saw how she came in here and told all those lies about how I had made up orders for her.”
“Commander Hawkins, you will please refrain from using profanity in our courtroom,” Councilor Ceyus said. “Now, is that all you have to say in defense of yourself?”
“It’s all I need to say,” Commander Hawkins said with a sneer. “Any fool can see that I’m not guilty.”
Russ heard a few titters of laughter rippling across the room behind him. Commander Hawkins himself must know that any fool could see that he was guilty. But still, the man stubbornly refused to confess. Councilor Ceyus seemed resigned to this fact by now, and let out a small sigh.
“Very well, Commander Hawkins. The High Council will now retire to chambers to deliberate. Everyone please remain here while we make a decision on this case. If it takes us longer than one hour to come to a conclusion, we will let you know. In that case, you will all be dismissed and we will reconvene tomorrow.”
Russ turned to Mandy as the High Council retreated from the room. “How long do you think it will take them to decide this case?” he asked.
She chuckled. “Not as long as it took them to decide the last one, that’s for sure.”
Russ chuckled as well. The last time he’d been in this courtroom and heard the High Council announce it was ready to deliberate, he had been a bundle of nerves. He hadn’t known whether the testimony on Mandy’s behalf had been enough to help her win her case. But none of that mattered now. Commander Hawkins had bigger problems than just Mandy Evans, and the chances of his walking out of here today as a free man were absolute zero.
The High Council didn’t waste time on their deliberations. Less than ten minutes later, they were back in the room, announcing they had come to a decision. Russ reached for Mandy’s hand and held it tightly. He knew this was an important moment for her. She had suffered a lot at the hands of Commander Hawkins, and seeing him finally pay for that suffering was salve in the emotional wounds she had suffered.
The onlookers in the room once again fell completely silent as Councilor Ceyus cleared his throat, and then began pronouncing their official judgment on Commander Hawkins.
“We, the High Council of Torch Lake, find Commander Alexander Hawkins guilty of the use of dark magic, of the attempted concealment of dark magic usage, of influencing others to use dark magic, and of falsifying High Council orders to influence his subordinates to take actions detrimental to the city of Torch Lake.”
A murmur went up from the crowd, and Russ felt Mandy squeeze his hand tighter. He turned to her and smiled, their eyes meeting in triumph. Neither one of them said anything, but Russ knew they were both silently rejoicing in the fact that Commander Hawkins had also finally, officially, been condemned for giving Mandy false orders before her dragon recovery trip to Chicago.
For once, Commander Hawkins had nothing to say. As he stood before the High Council, hearing the judgment against him, Russ thought he detected a bit of trembling in the man’s leg. And it was hard to tell from such an awkward, sideways angle, but Commander Hawkins’ face also appeared to be turning a pale white.
“These offenses are considered high treason, both to the city of Torch Lake, and to the community of wizards and shifters as a whole,” Councilor Ceyus continued. “They are punishable by life in prison or death.”
Another murmur went through the crowd. Were they all about to hear the formerly glorified Commander sentenced to death? Russ sat on the edge of his seat, interested to hear how the High Council would handle this situation. As far as he knew, this was the first time since the war that someone had been convicted of the use of dark magic. How they punished Commander Hawkins would send a message to the rest of the wizard and shifter communities, and surely the High Council knew that it was important to show everyone that they would not tolerate the use of dark magic in the slightest.
“You are hereby stripped of your Commander title, and are dismissed from your position at the Dragon Recovery Division. You are sentenced to life in prison, without parole, and will be compelled to hard labor in the service of Torch Lake.”
“You can’t make me work!” the former Commander Hawkins yelled out. “You have no right to force anyone into labor! That’s slavery.”
Councilor Ceyus looked down at Hawkins in disdain. “No one will force you to work, if you wish not to. However, if you would rather repay your debt to society by choosing to be executed, the High Council will honor that wish. We see an offer of life in prison with hard labor as an act of mercy, considering your crimes. We are not always in the habit of being merciful, however, we think it is important that the world know that the High Council is not vengeful. We do not make decisions based solely on weak concepts such as ‘getting even,’ but we do want our citizens to know there will be lifelong consequences if they choose to dabble in dark magic.”
Hawkins did not seem impressed by this speech. He started screaming obscenities at Councilor Ceyus, who sighed and signaled to the guards to take the screaming man from the room. Murmurs once again rose from the crowd, as everyone realized that the great Commander Hawkins had just lost everything. Councilor Ceyus hushed everyone with a few bangs of his gavel, though, and called for order.
“Tomorrow, the High Council will be announcing an opening for a Head Commander position in the Dragon Recovery Division. Anyone who supported Commander Hawkins in his scheme to give false orders to dragon recovery agents is disqualified, but otherwise, the position is open to anyone who is a citizen of Torch Lake. We hope some of you, who have worked so hard to uphold the integrity of our great city, will consider applying.
The High Council member looked directly at Mandy as he said this, and Russ felt her tense up. He knew she didn’t enjoy the spotlight, but he also thought she would be perfect for the job. He would have told her as much, too, except that he realized that a position as a Commander in Torch Lake would definitely prevent her from moving back to Chicago with him. Russ felt a pang of worried sadness as this thought crossed his mind, and that sadness only increased when he looked beyond Mandy to Jake, Leif, and Clint, who were grinning from ear to ear like kids on Christmas morning.
Everyone was happy, and celebrating, but Russ suddenly felt like an outsider. This was not his town, and these were not his victories to celebrate. Of course, he had been inextricably part of the situation that had brought Commander Hawkins down. It had been his life on the line when Commander Hawkins sent his dark wizards to attack, after all. But he had been only a cog in a system—a cog that could have been replaced by any old dragon shifter. He didn’t truly belong here.
And so, even as the High Council dismissed the crowd, and Russ’s new friends high-fived him and each other, even as others in the crowd came to congratulate him on bringing down such an evil man, and even as Russ found himself agreeing to an invitation from Jake to go celebrate with a pint at the Winking Wizard, Russ felt like an outsider.
He had more than completed the job he came here to do. He had killed far more than one dark monster, and he had even rooted out dark magic in Torch Lake in the process. He had done enough. It was time for him to go home, back to Chicago to the streets and bars that he knew.
Back to the wonderful, anonymous existence that had allowed him to never have to truly open his heart or be vulnerable to anyone.