Chapter 26 Trial (Part 2)

'I understand now why I was arrested. All ability users were told to assemble in the great cities, but being at the slave camp meant there was no such news that reached us. Regardless, I didn't get my ability until after the day they all met, so what the fuck do they expect of me?'

Leo could feel his heart beating, it felt as though it was going to explode. The stress of the situation was extreme. 'If I say the wrong thing... I could lose my life!'

"I... My power only awakened two weeks ago... And I've been in a place where the kings order was never heard, at least not by those like me. Its not that I chose to ignore the kings order, I was simply unaware. "

Nobody said anything, and for a while there was silence. Sir Thompson was deep in thought, he was debating with himself whether or not what Leo was saying could be true.

p Sir Thompson spoke," What we know of ability users is that all of them awakened their powers the day they turned 15 last year. Currently, all the ability users in our kingdom are 16 years of age, apart from one." He gestured to Officer Thorn. "How old are you, Leofalor?"

"Im 16." Leo could see that Sir Thompson was genuinely trying to think of a way to get the truth, but currently he could not outright believe Leo, he needed more proof, or at least a story that was more believable.

"Then it makes no sense, although you are the right age, the timing is all wrong. We had all the ability users converge on their nearest city, but we gave them months of notice so that there would be no issues. Yet you're saying you never heard the decree at all, because of where you were? How could anywhere be void of the kings word? Where exactly where you boy? "

'I was really hoping I wouldn't have to go into detail about my past... But if it's the only way, then...'

"I...was in a slave camp. I had been there for most of my life and they didn't bother telling us about the outside world. My ability only awakened after I escaped. I then returned to help free the others... But I was too late. They were all dead."

~Gasp~ once again the room erupted into conversation.

" He's been a slave his whole life? How tragic."

" How did he escape from slavers? And without an ability at that. What a courageous young man. "

" We can't just take him at his word, we need proof! "

A man had shouted from the crowd while standing up. "We must have proof! Everything he says could be a lie!"

Sir Thompson had a crestfallen expression when Leo had stated he was a slave. The king was portraying a similar expression as well.

Sir Thompson had remained quiet until the man had shouted out. At that moment, Sir Thompson became furious," A CHILD HAS JUST ADMITED TO HAVING BEEN A SLAVE AND YOU WOULD DEMAND PROOF RATHER TRY TO HELP OR CONSOLE THE BOY? HE EVEN STATED THAT THOSE WITH HIM WERE ALL DEAD! HAVE YOU NO HEART!?"

The king stood up and walked forward, placing his hand on Sir Thompsons shoulder," Calm down, in a regular circumstance you would be right... But this is a serious crime that the boy is accused of..."

When Sir Thompson had gotten angry, Leo was surprised, but also happy. A complete stranger wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt... 'I've never had anyone other than Zack get angry on my behalf before... Yet a complete stranger...'

The king looked to Leo," Boy, no... Young man, is there any way that you can prove your story to us?"

"Yes, your majesty" Leo had bowed his head slightly, he then lifted it to look at the king and continued, " I can give the location of the camp the slavers were keeping me, I can also tell you where within the camp I buried all the corpses of the other slaves. There will also be the corpses of the slavers all around the camp... I did not bury them." Leo's expression became intense when he spoke of the slavers bodies, but the anger faded when the king spoke again.

" That should be enough... If your claims can be verified then we shall know you are innocent. Officer, take The prisoner back to his cell, he will remain there until we can verify his story. Sir Thompson, you will lead this investigation from here onwards." With that the king walked out of the room through the door he had entered through.

Sir Thompson walked down towards Leo. Officer Thorn had taken Leo out of the wooden stand, and started walking back to his cell in the dungeon, Sir thompson followed.

Not a word was said during their walk to the dungeon. When they arrived at the cell, Leo's manacles were removed and he was placed inside the cell. There was a hatch on the door that could be opened, it was used to give prisoners food but Sir Thompson was using it to talk to Leo.

Leo explained the location of the camp on Obsidian Mountain, as well as how many bodies there would be and the state of their bodies. Sir Thompson nodded and turned, but before he could leave, Leo called out to him.

"Sir Thompson... I have a question for you. May I?"

BEst

Sir Thompson turned to face Leo again, he gestured for Leo to continue.

"When I spoke of the slave camp... I noticed how angry you got... Why did it upset you so much?"

Sir Thompson was silent for a few seconds, like he was thinking about what he should say. "I have experience with slavers... I have a deep hatred for anyone that would treat another person like an object." Sir Thompson walked away immediately after, not giving Leo a chance to reply.

'You and I share that hatred...' Leo thought.

Several days went by and Leo was still in the cell, waiting for Sir Thompson to return. 'If I remember correctly, he is supposed to be back today.'

Hours passed and Leo was getting worried, 'What if something happened to him, or worse, what if they decided it wasn't enough evidence to set me free...'

Later, as night was approaching, just before the sun completely set. Leo's cell door was opened. Standing in the doorway was Sir Thompson.

"It seems you were telling the truth, Leofalor. However, there was a problem when I investigated camp. One of the details you gave me, didn't quite match up..."