Closed | I'm ready for the storm

[keenly]

WHO: Colin, Byerly, Anders, Alexandrie
WHAT: The trial of a Templar
WHEN: The end of Justinian
WHERE: Denerim
NOTES: tw: discussion of physical and sexual abuse.

Dramatis Personae:

Ser Lutair Balfour ........................................ defendant
Bann Kenneth Balfour ....................... defendant's father
Bann Uthor ......... ally bringing the charges against Lutair
Bann Emilia .... appointed blackhaller (judge) for the case
Ser Albert ..................................... eyewitness, Templar
"Lady" Rhoda ........................ the Balfours' personal fixer

The night before the trial, the team is shown to their room in Bann Uthor's estate. Their host has provided a guard at their door, and it's a good thing--more than once, someone arrives to try to speak to Colin. One doesn't leave without drunkenly calling threats through the window while Colin covers his ears until a guard forces them away. If it weren't for a dose of herbs, Colin wouldn't sleep at all.

Now, it is morning.

Comments

[justice_is_blond]

Anders doesn't bother to appear unarmed. He pulls his staff from his back and stands at Colin's right.

"You'll understand if we don't have the greatest amount of faith in offers from these sorts of corners. Lay out your bribe, all of the details, will you?" He's not that intimidating as Garrett, he knows, but it's the safest name to use. And at least he'd been in the Tourney as Garrett so there's a little chance he can seem like not entirely a pushover.

"What exactly would Colin be agreeing to?" He can't see any gain in accepting the offer, but he's also not going to speak for Colin in this.

[keenly]

Rhoda sits on the edge of a bed and makes herself comfortable.

"Fifty sovereigns. In exchange for withdrawing the charges and agreeing never to press charges again. There will be no other repercussions so long as you return to Kirkwall and make no more trouble."

"Who said anything about repercussions?" Colin asks quietly. "Haven't I suffered the worst ones already?"

"No," Rhoda says simply, offering no further clarification.

[justice_is_blond]

Maker. She's too comfortable, too at ease. She has insurance. Protection. Something that means she's not afraid of dealing with desperate people, desperate mages. They've brought this to a political arena he has no experience with and he's worried that whatever he does, he'll make things worse for Colin.

Anders needs to take a breath and think, and he does his best to do so with a glance at Colin. What's worse than rape and being held captive? Tranquility. But as traumatic as that is, it's curable now. What else does that leave? Colin has no blood family they can harm. His friends aren't going to desert him. He's coming up blank.

"Be clear with your threats. A 'we can do worse' is empty, especially when I can say the same and have it mean just as little." He leans against the edge of the table, watching her. "You've connections, we've connections, so out with it."

[keenly]

Rhoda purses her lips.

"At the risk of being turned into a toad, or set on fire," she says dryly, "I will say that this isn't Orlais. We play no games here, great or no. The only connection milord needs is the hallway to his torture chamber."

"He hasn't been found guilty yet," Colin points out, then frowns. "But you know he will be, if this goes forward. You've been sent to make bribes and threats because your lord is afraid."

"My lord is insulted," Rhoda corrects him. "To him, that is far worse. Even if he cannot force you to say you made it up, he will likely do it anyway for his own satisfaction."

[justice_is_blond]

It's strange how much of a relief that threat is. Torture is terrible, but it's mundane compared to where Anders' mind had been going.

"The rumor is now out there, and everyone will believe it if this is what you bring. Your lord will torture victims because he's insulted by the truth? Why would anyone doubt his son is capable of rape and assault?"

He looks over at Colin. "It's your call. But you know my resources, speaking of being set on fire, and you know I've someone paying close attention to my well-being at every moment after... recent events."

[keenly]

"So do I. After other recent events." Colin looks at Anders, then out the window. A willow's leaves glitter in the sun, its delicate branches swaying. It's a beautiful day, and he hasn't been in Denerim in some time. It doesn't look very much like it did when he was growing up here, since so much of it burned down. It's still recovering from the Blight even after all these years. Even the willow still has scorch marks from the battle with the darkspawn. And yet it is still here, bobbing in the wind.

"I didn't come here for revenge," he says aloud, still looking out the window. "I wasn't brought here at the urging of people who wanted to use me to prove a point. Just because I'm gentle doesn't mean I bend to anyone. That's not who I am."

He's the willow.

"I came here for justice, because I couldn't live in a world that made it an impossible thing for me to have. Your lord has a choice: compound the scandal by following through with these open threats, or distance himself from his son. He cares too much about his own reputation to choose the first one."

Rhoda squints at the back of his head, pausing a moment in thought.

"As you wish," she says. "But speaking as someone else who knows about such things, justice doesn't exist for anyone who can't buy it."

[justice_is_blond]

"Justice can exist for those who make it." His voice is calm. There's nothing threatening to it or his stance now. She's set out her case and Colin has made his choice, one Anders approves of though he's not about to say so in front of their enemy's agent.

"Most cannot buy or make it, and that should change. But we're not here for that today." Now he looks back at Rhoda, gaze neutral. "You have his answer. Was there anything else that you wanted to address or clear up? Because we'd like to continue moving forward on this. Justice for one is a step in the right direction."