---

RAY VAN CAMARO

When my unit and I, accompanied by Old Man Marcel, arrived at the Capital, we stopped at a post office so I could write a letter back to Gilead. To my surprise, there was a letter waiting for me.

"Are you sure this is for us?" I asked the post office worker.

The worker read the envelope. "It says, to Colonel Ray Van Camaro. That's you, is it not?"

"Yeah, that's me."

"Then it means it's for you." The worker shoved the letter into my chest. "Take it. I've got work to do."

The letter was from Ilias.

Dear Colonel,

How was the trip back to the Capital? I bet you and the others are exhausted and itching to go home. You have a mountain of evidence against John so I don't doubt your ability to beat him in court. I heard his family is strong and wealthy, but I don't think that's enough for him to beat you. Just hurry up and come back.

Anyways, let's move on to why I wrote this letter. I had been thinking of the leviathan recently—I don't know if you learned the news on the road, but the white whale has been identified as the legendary leviathan known as Moby Dick. Everyone is still surprised something so dangerous taught itself jynx.

You said before that if I had any ideas on defeating it, I should tell King Arthureus. I still think both sides of the country should attack it together, but you said before that this isn't possible because there is no way for us to contact each other. I may have thought of something. Instead of going around, over, or through Headrig's Pass, why not go under it? Digging earth is easier than cutting stone after all, though the digging might attract the wyrms dwelling in the nearby mountains.

Sincerely yours, Ilias

PS: Hi! This is Jaime, I just wanted to say hello! Bring two more swords, I want to carry three!

"What does the letter say?" Kaiser asked.

"It's just Ilias being Ilias—and Jaime goofing off behind him."

After dropping off our luggage at the Green Dragon, we made our way to the dungeons underneath the Iron Keep to show where John was going to be staying.

If this was the first day we had him in chains, he would be babbling but he'd learned that he couldn't talk his way out of any situation with us.

The giant door to the throne room was guarded by two soldiers who wouldn't let us through. We just wanted to let King Arthureus know about the trial as him attending would boost morale. However, the guards were insistent that we should come back tomorrow as the king had apparently just written and signed a hundred letters and was finishing up a meeting with his council.

One of the Royal Guards approached us. Half of his face had been burnt and what remained seemed like it was melting off. This memorable visage belonged only to Wrath.

"What's this?" Wrath asked, resting his hand on the pommel of his sword.

"Ser—" one of the guards whimpered before being interrupted.

"Wrath," the Royal Guard corrected. "I'm no Ser."

"Wrath, they're asking for an audience with the king."

The knight shot a glare at me and the five companions behind my back. "Let them through. I'm sure King Arthureus can spare a couple of minutes for them."

"Of course." The guards bowed as they opened the doors to the throne room. "After you."

Old Man Marcel couldn't help but marvel at the architecture of the Iron Keep. Its glistening walls and painted windows were something this old dog hadn't seen before.

The soldiers closed the door behind us and continued to stand at their posts. Wrath led us to the meeting room where council members made their exit.

King Arthureus was in the corner of the room pouring himself a cup of wine while watching the city through a nearby window. He noticed Wrath standing by the doorway and sighed annoyingly.

"I just finished signing letters and went through two hours of meeting to figure out what to do with this damn whale," the king said, "what is it now?"

Wrath gestured towards us. "They want to see you."

Arthureus downed the whole cup and squinted at us. "Oh, Colonel Camaro. I'm surprised you're still in the Capital. Am I going to have to write you up for deserting your duties?"

"I hope not, Your Grace," I smiled. "I'm back here to fulfil them."

"Back here? After two months? That means you were only in Gilead for a couple of days."

"Three days."

King Arthureus looked behind me. "Your men look like they want to stay home."

"You can say the same for me, Your Grace. However, things came up and I want to ask for your justice."

"Involving what?"

"Involving Colonel Armstrong."

"There are five Colonel Armstrongs. You've got to be more specific than that."

"Colonel John Armstrong—in jurisdiction of Rockbell. I can't reveal any details, but we've already taken Colonel Armstrong into custody and he's waiting in the dungeons for a trial."

"If he's here, then who's in charge of Rockbell?"

"Brigadier Bjork from Seraphim. I know Rockbell is part of the western region, but I had to take percussions to make sure that place is safe. The settlements near the mining town are not to be trusted."

"I'll oversee it this one time as, knowing you, it's for a good reason. So why are you telling me this? You don't need to ask for my permission to take a case to court."

"I know, Your Grace. I came here to ask you to be one of the judges."

A trial had three judges overseeing a case. The one in charge of ordering the court was whoever had the most seniority. For a case to be closed, the three judges' decisions must be unanimous.

King Arthureus rubbed his chin in thought. "I haven't been a judge in years. I've also heard some rumours that people think I'm soft. This is a good opportunity to show everyone I'm still capable and involved with ruling. I can also inspire soldiers to not commit any crimes. Yes, yes." The king's face brightened up in excitement. He snapped his fingers, though the sound it produced was flaccid. "Colonel, how many days do you need to prepare for the trial?"

"We just arrived in the Capital. Five days from now, if that fits your schedule, Your Grace."

"I was hoping we could do it in two. But, you did just arrive and I can't expect you to organize a case in half a day. And to be fair, Colonel Armstrong needs an attorney to make this fair. I know his family will want to know about this." King Arthureus gave instructions to Wrath. "I want you to let Steward Caine know the situation. Have him and Gluttony visit the Armstrongs and escort them here if they want."

Wrath bowed. "Of course, Your Grace."

The king then looked at us. "Have you found a place to stay?"

"We have. The Green Dragon."

He shook his head. "Wrath, find six soldiers and have them accompany Colonel Camaro to retrieve their things from this inn." The king turned to me. "I'll have one of the Royal Guards wait for you in the throne room and escort you to your temporary apartments."

Wrath gestured for us to follow him out of the meeting room.

I approached King Arthureus. "Do you remember Ilias, Your Grace? He told me you gave him the alias Prince Of Dawn."

"How could I not? He was amazing during the last phase. We've had our eyes on him."

I handed him the letter. "He has a suggestion on how to deal with the White Whale."

As we followed Wrath back into the throne room, the king's erupted laughter echoed down the halls. The Royal Guard had us wait at the entrance of the Iron Keep, returning with six soldiers that were ordered to do as we told.

It took us just under an hour to gather our things and come back to the keep. Waiting for us in the throne room was Sloth. He sluggishly brought us to our rooms and had the soldiers organize our belongings.

Sloth yawned the entire time, scratching his mess of a head every now and then. Out of the Royal Guard, he and Wrath were tied at best representing the virtue that was their namesake.

Sloth, even in his military armour, looked dishevelled and sleepy.

Wrath's half-burnt face always looked vengeful.

The days proceeding the trial were spent organizing the evidence. Old Man Marcel brought two cases of luggage with him. One was for his clothes and the other was full of the evidence we asked him to gather. We also practiced responses to debates that the Armstrong family lawyer might throw at us.

Hendrik always did the paperwork for me which made him instinctively review everything we had. By the end of the week, he was running on caffeine and determination alone.

After a few days, the witnesses from Rockbell that staggered behind finally arrived in the city. Since the settlements near the mining town were in John's pockets, we had to hire stagecoaches from further towns to make sure the townsfolk were actually brought here safely.

We had built and finished the case two days before the trial. It wasn't responsible to drink a day before the trial and so decided to congratulate ourselves now.

Heloise dropped by the tavern we were loitering in late into the evening. I'd only gotten one chance to visit her. She wasn't in her apartment at the time so I left her a note.

"What took you so long?" I asked.

She sat across from me and ordered food. "Work. I found a job as a jynx tutor teaching the children of a noble family. The oldest is eighteen and the youngest is fourteen." She took a drink. "Ilias becoming a State Jynxist only months after he became my only graduating student makes me look good. Everyone wanted to hire me."

"I know you're not supposed to talk about your students, but they don't hold a candle to your first, right?"

"I became Ilias' tutor when he just turned six. He was more mature then than my two students are now." Heloise flashed a smile. "By the way, how did he like his gift?"

"He loved it. He went crazy during the party and kept shooting out spells from his staff."

"The next step in Ilias' journey is to learn swordplay. You're supposed to be his next teacher. Instead, you're here incriminating that drunk colonel we met that's obviously going to be convicted guilty."

"As a soldier and a State Jynxist, I have duties to attend." I leaned back in my chair, relaxing my stiff back. "If it were up to me, I would've sent someone to be the plaintiff in my stead. However, if you want the job done, you've got to do it yourself."

"So he's just sitting at home playing around?"

Her question made me snicker. "Do you really think Ilias is just playing around while waiting for me? Ilias is a State Jynxist that wants to learn swordplay and Jaime is a swordsman that wants to learn jynx."

"I see what you mean. Having them teach each other makes the teachings we taught them stick better in their heads."

"It also makes it so that I don't have to teach the basics. They're the hardest lessons to teach because you've got to simplify so many complex things."

"So what day and time is this trial of yours?" the elf asked.

"Next Monday at ten in the morning. King Arthureus is serving as one of the three judges."

"The family I'm tutoring is going out on an outing that day. I'll come and watch your trial."

I took a sip from my glass of wine. "Thanks. We worked hard on it."

"So, what's the story behind the case?"

I pressed a finger against my lips. "The trial is in a day. You can wait to hear the story and have a verdict until then, can't you?"

"I suppose," she sighed. "Just know that I'm going to be biased towards you."

"I know." I watched my unit, who was in the corner singing along to someone playing the violin. "I just want this to be over with so I can go back home."

The trial, for someone that came from the Armstrong family, was surprisingly quick.

The Armstrong family was a rich and powerful house that lived in the north. Every member of the main family entered the military and many were jurisdiction of a settlement. The Armstrongs inspired the north and took honour in serving the military.

The head of the household and Warden of the North was John's grandfather, General Edwin Armstrong. John was the heir to the family which meant the general went out of his way to attend his grandson's trial. However, John was getting no help from his grandfather except for getting granted access to the family lawyer.

The other members of the Armstrong family that attended the trial were John's three younger brothers, two cousins, two nieces, and a nephew. They came through Gluttony's portal.

Surprisingly, the Armstrong household were big fans of Heloise the Heroine. The general himself accompanied her in the audience, entertaining her with many of his stories.

The three judges overlooking the trial were Steward Caine, General Crow, and King Arthureus himself.

As good as the Armstrong family's lawyer was, the evidence was too much for him to handle. Old Man Marcel, the other Rockbell townsfolk, and the people who exported coal from the mining town all came to speak ill of the colonel.

The nearby towns that were in John's pockets were mentioned and a full investigation for them would take place.

By four in the afternoon, the entire court was convinced that John was guilty. The Warden of the North was ordering him to be sent to the Divot.

"I've heard enough. I'm going back to Drenyev and I better get a letter telling me that he was pronounced guilty. Colonel Camaro, thank you for exposing John's crimes. I don't want someone as low as him to be associated with the Armstrong name." General Armstrong began marching out of the courtroom accompanied by his guards. He turned to John. "Let this be known, you had the privilege to use the Armstrong name. But no more. You are no one to us now. You are just John and I will personally make it so that you are removed from the family tree. It'll be impossible for you to wear the iron fist that is my family's sigil ever again."

The court was silent throughout this, King Arthureus was even staring at the general with a look of respect.

"Paul," General Armstrong said, referring to John's younger brother. "You and your wife are now the head branch of the family. And until you bear a child, your successors will be your younger two brothers, Richard and George."

Paul bowed. "I will serve it honourably, Grandfather."

"One more thing," the general said as he exited the room. "Once everything is over, take the pin with our house's sigil from John and give it to Colonel Camaro. He exposed a rooted evil within our family which makes him more of an Armstrong than John."

The Rockbell colonel couldn't look his family in the eye. His low gaze was directed at the floor the entire time.

I kind of feel bad for him.

After General Armstrong's speech, a unanimous decision was made by the three judges convicting John to three-lifetime charges with no chance of parole.

The Warden of the North insisted on sending John to the Divot, but King Arthureus declined it. The Divot was an island prison at the southern tip of the continent. It had been around for five hundred years and housed the most dangerous criminals Armestis had to offer. Over the course of its history, there had been many attempted breakouts, but none were successful.

As vile as John was, one look at him was all it took to know he wasn't a hardened criminal. There was no chance of him breaking out of a regular jail. Sending him to the highest security prison where his spot could've been used to house a more dangerous criminal like Scar was overkill.

The king decided to keep him in the dungeons underneath the keep as an example of what might happen to members of the military who disobeyed the laws of the land.

That night, we had a giant party at a tavern to commemorate John's incarceration.

The real hero of the trial was Sergeant Hendrik, who organized all of the evidence and paperwork all by himself. Each of us treated him to a drink and he was from exhaustion and alcohol by nine.

Paul dropped by to take a shot of vodka and give me the pin his grandfather tasked him to retrieve from John. The craftsmanship and steel used to make this pin were high quality.

The Armstrong sigil was an iron gauntlet making a fist.

"You're finally going home, huh?" Heloise asked, leaning her drunken face against my shoulder.

"Yeah. I just want to sit back and guard Gilead while making sure Ilias and Jaime don't make any trouble."

"A simple life for a simple man."

"It is, but that's the life I want to get back to."

On the morning we were to depart from the Capital, I visited the dungeons. Many of the cells were filled with criminals and drunks. The deepest cell belonged to who I was looking for.

John shot a sneer look at me. "Why are you here?"

"I just want to tell you that you are a sick lowlife monster who takes advantage of the people you swore to protect."

He broke eye contact. "Yeah, I know."

"But I know that you can overcome that monster. What I saw in your grandfather's eyes was the defeated look of a parent that knows they failed. Your entire family prides themselves with the military, which means your grandfather basically disowned you for this act."

John kept quiet.

"However, I'm not like your grandfather." I handed him a waterskin filled with ale. He accepted it. "I despise you for taking advantage of Rockbell, but I believe no one is irredeemable. None of us are too far gone and we can all come back to the light."

"You really believe that? From me? Someone that tried to hypnotize you with a charm. That actually succeeded in tricking your men and others?"

"Yes. You are the worst kind of person. But if someone like you can change for the better, then I have hope in what I'm fighting for. I have to believe that we can all come back."

John rolled his eyes, chugging the ale. "That ain't happening."

"If you don't want to change for yourself or for me, do it for your grandfather. When we were back in the courtroom, I could see how his words truly hurt you. Change for him. If you do, I will advocate for you to get the Armstrong name back." I produced the Armstrong pin from my pocket. "I will give this back to you, but you'll have to earn it."

John's response was quiet and meek, but it lit me up with hope. "I'll try."

"Good, that's a step in the right direction." I began to make my way out of the dungeons. "There will come a time when I will ask for your help. Maybe it'll be soon or maybe it'll be far into the future. When that time comes, I pray that you make the right choice."