A Place Beyond The Map (10 page)

“Not exactly admissible evidence is it, Your Honor?” Periwinkle asked with a thin smile. The judge’s lip trembled more violently until finally he slammed an open hand upon the table.

“Bailiff!” he yelled, prompting the thin, dark-haired Faë to reappear. “Please remove the charge of treason from the Accused’s record, citing lack of evidence.” The dark-haired man scowled at Periwinkle.

“Your Honor?”

“You heard me! Remove it. And take this
witness
with you when you remove yourself. The dark-haired man frowned and glared darkly at Periwinkle.

“Very well, Your Honor,” the bailiff said, sneering once more in Periwinkle’s direction. And then he vanished, as did Mr. Sparrow.

“Strike one, Your Honor,” Periwinkle murmured.

CHAPTER 8

A Lack of Evidence

The next half-hour or so passed with further frustrations for the judge and Phinnegan began to have hope that the purple-haired Faë was indeed right that these charges were little but nonsense. Two more witnesses were summoned before the court to testify on two separate charges. But again, the judge was foiled.

Periwinkle remained in his chains for the duration of these questionings, a smirk on his face and only speaking now and then to taunt the judge whenever a snag in the judge’s case became apparent. Phinnegan thought that in spite of his mounting anger, the judge showed remarkable restraint in the face of Periwinkle’s jabs.

As the judge shuffled through his papers yet a fourth time, a member of the jury rose and cleared his throat.

“Ahem, err, Julius. I trust that somewhere in that stack of documents you do have at least
one
legitimate charge against the Accused?”

The Aged who had spoken was of middling-height with graying, brown hair cropped short. He spoke politely, but Phinnegan thought his voice betrayed a lack of sincerity and respect. “It would be gravely disappointing if you have succeeded only in wasting the time of myself and the remainder of this esteemed jury. Would you not agree?”

The Honorable Julius Jay clenched his teeth at the use of his familiar name by a member of the jury. He leveled a cold stare at the Faë who had questioned him.

“This court has sufficient evidence,
juror
, I assure you.” The judge cleared his throat and looked back to his papers. Nonplussed, the juror spoke yet again.

“This evidence may be sufficient for you, perhaps, but it is whether this same evidence would be considered sufficient to we, the jury, that matters with regards to the predicament of the Accused. I am of course certain that a Faë and judge of your honor would have no need to be reminded that while it is the judge who presides and charges the Accused, it is the jury who casts the vote on his guilt or innocence, and when warranted, his punishment. I assure you that the jury would be quite happy to punish the Accused,” he waved his hand in the direction of Periwinkle, “but only if the evidence so permits. I trust that this court at least has the appropriate evidence to have arrested the Accused thus and brought him here before the jury to pass judgment?”

The judge stared blankly at the juror. When at length he spoke, his voice was incredulous.

“Of course this court has evidence and the proper authority to arrest the Accused! Do you dare to question the motives and workings of this court?!?”

The juror only shrugged, a thin, tight smile upon his lips.

“The jury has no desire to delve into the motivations of the court. But the law is the law, and I, that is,
we
, the jury, would feel better if we were to see this evidence.”

Phinnegan watched as the judge’s face turned first to red and then to white as the color drained completely. His bottom lip began to quiver and when he spoke, his voice was tight and strained.

“Very well. The court will provide the evidence of the Accused’s most recent crime, the reason for his arrest and incarceration, and the fomenter of this trial. Bailiff!”

Once again, the tall, dark-haired Faë appeared, and once again he held before him an unfurled scroll. He stared first at Periwinkle and then looked to Phinnegan, who had watched the fall Faë since he had first appeared. When their eyes met Phinnegan felt a chill run down his spine. He looked away and after a brief pause, the tall Faë began to read from his scroll.

“The Accused is hereby charged with the illegal use and activation of a wishing stone beyond the Boundary. The use occurred at approximately four-thirty in the afternoon, yesterday, near the forest outside Ballyknockan, County Wicklow, Ireland, being a part of the realm of Man, and therefore outside the Boundary. At the time of the Accused’s illegal activity, he was in the presence of one human boy,” and here the Faë paused and glanced at Phinnegan, who at this moment, felt quite small, “one Phinnegan Lonán Qwyk, who witnessed the activity of this stone. It is this court’s position that the Accused activated said wishing stone with the knowledge that the human boy was present and indeed, with the express purpose of exposing him to the existence and capabilities of said stone. Therefore, this court has brought the Accused before a jury of Aged to determine the punishment to be handed down for his intentional actions, which, of course, endanger the whole of the Faë race and community, and run in direct opposition to the edicts agreed upon in the Counsel of Eagles, approved in the 32
^nd
year of the 69
^th
Venus Cycle. Thereby and therefore, the court asks that the jury impose the maximum possible sentence upon the Accused, up to and including,” he paused, fixing a glare upon Periwinkle.

“Changing.”

A hushed whisper spread through the jury, themselves veterans of the court of Féradoon, yet surprised by the severity of the requested sentence. Phinnegan had yelped when the bailiff had spoken, having already gathered that the Change these Faë spoke of was an important and personal manner. Yet, he saw that Periwinkle was little phased by this threat.

The judge smiled coldly, his gaze passing between the jury and Periwinkle, triumph written across his face.

“Is the jury satisfied with the reading of these charges and the evidence that this court has provided against the Accused? As you have now heard, not only did the Accused cause the activation of a wishing stone to occur beyond the Boundary, he allowed it to be seen by one not of our race, nor even our world. Further to this, he did so intentionally, baring the ways of the Faë to a human!” The judge slammed his fist upon the bench, fixing his bright blue eyes on each member of the jury one by one.

“I trust that we can now move forward without further questions, yes?” The judge smiled as he spoke thus, his yellowing teeth shining in the torch-lit chamber. The juror who questioned the authority if the court now stood and again bowed deeply in the direction of the bench.

“I beg the court’s pardon, Your Honor. The jury is of course satisfied with this charge.” So saying, the juror reclaimed his seat, casting a troubled glance in the direction of Periwinkle. The judge nodded in the direction of the jury.

“The court is pleased that the jury is satisfied with the evidence as presented. The court will now consider the charge – “

“Half a moment, if I may,” Periwinkle interrupted, raising his hand with a clatter of chain.

The glowering face of the judge darkened as he regarded the purple-haired Faë.

“You wish to confess your guilt, perhaps, or beg for the mercy of the court?” he asked, although with little conviction in his tone. Phinnegan sensed that Periwinkle had one card left to play.

“Hardly,” Periwinkle scoffed. “But I do have a question regarding the evidence that has been presented against me; a question which it is my right to ask.”

“Oh, is that it then? What could you possible question? Do you deny the charges? Impossible. I am afraid that the dictations of time mandate that your request be denied. The jury has been patient enough through the…difficulties already experienced here today, and I will not further extend their duty by entertaining your lies. Your words would serve only to delay this court from performing –“

“Impossible? On the contrary, it is
very
possible. I do believe that my right to question the evidence presented is solidified in the case of Robin v. Cardinal, is it not? Need I go through the court’s holding and reasoning in that case?”

Periwinkle smiled mischeviously and Phinnegan thought that he was quite calm for one who had, in his opinion, done exactly as the bailiff had recounted, which appeared to be a very high crime amongst the Faë. Phinnegan was sure that the Faë was doomed and had begun to wonder at his own fate. But it appeared as though Periwinkle was right, for though he grumbled and harrumphed, the judge pushed himself back in his chair and signaled for Periwinkle to continue.

“Thank you, Your Honor.” Periwinkle turned to face the jury, a finger pressed into the dimple on his chin.

“I must confess that I am rather confused about one aspect of this court’s case against me, and that aspect reflects on the question asked just earlier by you, good sir.” He pointed to the juror who had stood to challenge the evidence.

“I am quite perplexed as to how it is that this court knew I had activated the wishing stone.”

The judge barked a laugh, clearly relieved by the question.

“How we knew? Why, Periwinkle, I am surprised at you! Could you not guess that given your record of rebellion and crimes against his Highness that we would not be monitoring your stone and other means of communication?”

Members of the jury snorted as they regarded the purple-haired Faë, snagged by such a simple surveillance tool of the court.

“You had all of the proper warrants to watch me thus, I presume?” Periwinkle asked the judge.

“Of course,” the judge replied, holding up a yellowed document with a large wax stamp in the lower right corner.

“May I see it?”

The judge’s eyes narrowed and he considered Periwinkle’s request for a brief moment before finally sighing heavily.

“I suppose it can do no harm. Perhaps it will convince you to hasten the end of this nonsense.” He leaned over the edge of the bench, holding the parchment out to the bailiff who reached up to accept it. He carried the paper to Periwinkle who took it and studied it for a few moments before nodding his head.

“Everything looks to be in order, for this stone at least. However, where is the warrant for the other stone?”

“What do you mean the other stone?” a female member of the jury questioned.

“Well, the warrant is for the stone owned by one Periwinkle Lark, that would be me of course, but if the jury would permit me a moment,” he paused and dug his hand deep into the pocket of his black trousers, which was no easy task given the shackle upon his wrist. At length he produced a round, white stone, which Phinnegan recognized as the wishing stone he had seen in the clearing beside the wych elm; the very stone that had brought him to this strange place. Periwinkle held the stone up for all to see.

“If the court will indulge me but a moment?”

“Get on with it then!” the judge snapped.

Periwinkle held the stone before him in an open hand. He spoke clearly and loudly enough for everyone in the chamber to hear him.

“Spirit, who is your master?”

To Phinnegan’s surprise, the stone spoke. A feminine voice, lazy and humming.

My mistress is Emerald Wren
.

Gasps and murmurs spread through the jury and the judge banged his gavel on the bench.

“Quiet, I say! What devilry is this?”

“No devilry, Your Honor. You must know that a stone cannot be tricked to speak that which is not true. You have heard from this Spirit just as clearly as I have that it is not
my
stone.”