Wyrm’s cell changed. It transformed into a large circular room, with several chairs. Wyrm stood, looking around. As he did, his bed disappeared. Then, Ann, or Drepal, and Shunati appeared. She looked different. Her stomach was swollen. She must’ve seen him looking at it. “I’m not really this big.” She patted her stomach. “Things are affected by the way we feel.” “You feel swollen?” Wyrm was confused. “This morning I do. I’m pregnant.” “Pregnant?” Wyrm frowned. Ann nodded. “Pregnant.” She repeated it in Ertonian. “I’m going to have a baby.” Then Wyrm understood. “Doesn’t that hurt?” “Not yet. I only look like this.” Her stomach shrank some momentarily. “Most of my clothes are getting too tight so I feel like I’m bigger.” “Are you Ann or Drepal?” He asked. “Ann.” “What’s going on?” “We’re getting ready for your trial. I’m going to be the one defending you. Thailyn still isn’t able to help much, so he’ll monitor everyone. We don’t have a lot of time, but I need you to plead not guilty. “But I am. I abducted your dad.” “I am aware of your actions. Sometimes, people are found not responsible for what they do.” “But I did it.” “Uncle Wyrm, I don’t have time to explain. Please, trust me. I want to help you.” Wyrm nodded. “I’ll do what you say.” Then others appeared. King Emeton, Prince Remtani, Mishtali, Chapado, Morina, Queen Tylan, and Pt’this were brought in by Mila, Shunati, Darkham, and a healer Ann introduced as Bob. She also reminded him of all their names. “Wyrm, due to the unusual setting of this trial, we thought to set aside fanfare and get started. Do you object?” Emeton asked. Mishtali translated. “No, your majesty.” “Very good. We’re going to use Menthan for the trial. If you don’t understand something, please don’t hesitate to ask. There are several here who can translate for you. We want this trial to be fair.” Mishtali translated again. “Yes, sir. I understand.” Wyrm used Menthan. “Good. How do you plead?” “Not guilty.” The response surprised Emeton, though his frown was directed at Ann. She stood. “We intend to show Wyrm acted under duress.” “You were told to be brief,” Emeton reminded her. “I was also told to defend him. I am aware of the difficulties this trial puts on many. I do intend to be as brief as possible while making sure Wyrm gets the best defense I can.” “So be it. Hurry up.” “Yes, Father.” She saw him frown at the use of the familiar term. But she knew it did what she had intended. Ann pointed out his own familiarity telling her to hurry up. “The first person I’d like to question is Wyrm,” Ann said. “Wyrm, come sit here and answer all questions truthfully.” She indicated a chair in the middle of the room. Wyrm took a seat and waited. His stomach twisted. “Wyrm, you were involved with the attack on the palace, weren’t you?” Ann asked. Wyrm nodded. “I was.” “How were you involved?” “Excuse me?” “How were you involved?” She repeated in Ertonian. “What did you do?” Morina added. “I transported everyone here from Ertonia,” Wyrm answered. “And then what?” Ann asked. “I transported a smaller group into the throne room.” “And then?” “I grabbed King Emeton and transported him down to the catacombs,” Wyrm said. He wondered why she was having him confess when she wanted him to claim he was not guilty. “What did you do with the king once in the catacombs?” “I put him to sleep and waited for Cramda. He had me bring him to another room where I can find him. After that, Cramda took me to a third room where he told me to wait. I fell asleep until he woke me because you were chasing me.” “Wyrm?” Remtani stood. “You just confess to the crimes you’ve been accused of. Why did you plead not guilty?” Wyrm hesitated and looked at Ann. She nodded. “Princess Ann told me to.” “Wyrm, why did you abduct King Emeton?” Ann asked. “Because Cramda told me to.” “He said to take the king to the catacombs?” Wyrm nodded. “I was to transport us into the throne room and then transport the royal family to the catacombs. Emeton was the only part of the family I saw.” “You’ve been kept asleep for several months. You’ve been shown how to manipulate your surroundings but you stay in your cell. You won’t even leave with a visitor. Why?” “Cramda didn’t want me to leave without permission. He’s dead so he can’t give me permission.” “What would happen if you did leave, when he was alive, I mean?” Ann asked. “He or Morcri would beat me.” “He beat you? Frequently?” Wyrm hesitated, not knowing how to answer. “Did he beat you often?” Ann repeated. “I don’t know.” “What do you mean you don’t know?” Remtani asked. “I don’t know what often is.” Remtani turned to Morina. “Can you translate?” “I know what the word means,” Wyrm said. “I don’t know how to tell if it was often or not.” Shunati stood. “May I ask a few questions to help?” Emeton nodded. “Wyrm, aside from the battle here and when they rescued Chapado, did you receive any other injuries that weren’t due to Cramda beating you?” Wyrm nodded. “Some were from Morcri.” “Which beat you more often?” “Cramda.” The healer nodded. “Yes, sire, he was beaten frequently, very frequently.” Emeton nodded. “Thank you.” “Wyrm, you disobeyed that much?” Remtani asked. Wyrm shook his head. “I tried not to, but sometimes I couldn’t do exactly how he asked, and sometimes, he’d forget he told me to do something and get mad because I did it. Sometimes, he’d beat me because he was mad about something else.” “When was the last time he hit you?” “It was just before Ann came in. He kicked me in the face for sleeping.” “Why were you sleeping?” “He told me to rest, and I hadn’t slept for a few days.” “Thank you, Wyrm. I don’t have any further questions, currently,” Ann said and turned to her brother. Remtani shook his head. “Not currently.” “I was going to question Shunati next, but he’s already testified to Wyrm’s injuries so I see no need to waste time re-questioning him,” Ann said. “Rem, do you have any questions?” “I did just like to know the severity of the beatings.” “Few were life-threatening, but any one of them would’ve gotten Cramda arrested and Wyrm taken to the home. Put it all together and you would have had Cramda hung.” Remtani nodded. “Thank you.” “The next person I’d like to question is Joanne Thompson,” Ann said. “Jo wasn’t involved,” Remtani reminded her. “She was at the home.” “Sorry to interrupt,” Thailyn’s voice came. “It’s time to end for today. All the healers are showing signs of fatigue.” Emeton nodded. “We will convene for today. Wyrm, we’ll be back tomorrow.” Everyone disappeared. Wyrm started to transform the room back to his cell when Ann reappeared with Lamdi. “Wyrm, I’d like your permission to conduct part of the trial in the real world to give the healers a break. Today was harder on them than we realized. It was also hard on you,” she told him using Ertonian. Lamdi stood looking around. She clearly didn’t understand. “I’ll bring you a summary.” Wyrm nodded. “That’s fine. I don’t want to cause problems.” Ann nodded. “Good. I can’t stay. The baby doesn’t like it either.” “It’s not hurting him, is it?” “She’s fine,” Ann assured him. *** Wyrm didn’t know how long they were gone. He’d gathered that time passed differently in his head. He waited in his cell, like always. He tried to study his spellbook, but most of it was blank. He only remembered a few spells. Finally, the room started to change back to the circular room. Ann appeared with Shunati. “Sorry that took so long,” Ann told him. “We decided to question most of the people out there. You couldn’t take the stress. We need to limit those who will be coming in. It will only be me, my dad, and Remtani today. Mostly, I tried to show why you shouldn’t be held responsible. Remtani wants to question you again.” Then, Darkham appeared with Emeton and Remtani. “Wyrm, you stated that you always tried to obey Cramda?” Remtani asked. “Yes.” “That was so you wouldn’t get beat?” “Yes.” “Ann has worked to show that you participated in the attack and the abduction of King Emeton due to mental trauma caused by the abuse you suffered and its conditioning you to obey.” “I’m not sure I understand,” Wyrm admitted. “Basically, Cramda trained you to do whatever he said to avoid pain.” Wyrm nodded. “I guess.” “So tell me, what happened to Cramda?” “I killed him.” “Why?” “He was going to kill me.” “Is your life more valuable than his?” Wyrm shook his head. “My life isn’t as valuable. I’m an abomination and shouldn’t live. I was scared and confused and angry. I was starting to see how he lied to me. And I didn’t want him to hurt Ann. I’d never met another dragon before.” “You didn’t want him to hurt her, but then you attacked her.” “I realized I was alone, trapped in an enemy kingdom with people I’d been told would kill me just for being a half-breed.” “It sounds like most of what you did was out of fear.” “I suppose.” “You feared Cramda so much, you did whatever he asked. But then you killed him. If you could do that, why did you ever need to obey him?” “I didn’t know I could. I’ve never killed anyone before.” “No more questions,” Remtani said. “I’m done.” Ann stood. “Wyrm, just a few quick questions. Did Cramda keep your vial?” “Yes.” “Did you have to buy it from him each time?” “Sometimes, I hated the things he made me do to get it back. If he was in a bad mood, they were terrible.” “You had your vial when you were brought here. When did you get it from Cramda?” “During the battle. I wanted to use it to store energy.” “That’s all.” “Wyrm, we’ll let you know the verdict as soon as possible,” Emeton said as they left.