Chapter Thirteen
Later, at the newly appointed Razor City Courthouse...
Grey was tense. Beside him, Petra folded his hand in hers. He glanced at her. A storm of emotion raged behind his eyes. "What are you worried about?" she whispered. "They didn't seek execution."
He sighed. "I know. And I know he will be found guilty. He is guilty. I agree with his imprisonment. It's just...he's still my father, Petra. It's hard to see him like this."
The trials for Ezra Scarlet and his Nobles had been long and hard. There were so many people who had been wronged by the King's reign, so many people who had been hurt. Erika Brana had not pulled any punches. Grey and Cage had been called to answer for their parts in the crimes, but their work to restore the city had protected them from punishment. They would, however, be paying reparations to their own victims for a long time. As far as Grey was concerned, it was only right. Cage, too, seemed eager to atone for his own sins.
The citizens of Razor City were happy to see the end of the trials. It was as though a heavy weight was lifting off their shoulders. It was as though the entire city had been suspended and breathless. Now, they could breath again. There had been a great public outcry about the decision not to execute the former King and his Nobles, but the media had supported the representatives' decision to be merciful toward the former regime. Eventually, the city had reconciled to the idea, though there were still protests even outside the courtroom that day.
The street militia from Sector 5 stood guard outside the courtroom. Anna Bane had argued over the loss of their presence from the outlands, but Grey had insisted. He wasn't taking any chances on one of the angrier citizens dispensing their own vigilante justice against his father and the Nobles. So far, nothing terrible had happened. Grey hoped the city would remain calm, even after the verdicts were read.
They were certain to be found guilty. They had carefully selected the jurors, but there wasn't a life in Razor City that hadn't been touched by Scarlet and his men. They would not get off easily for their crimes. No one believed they should. Except maybe Scarlet and his Nobles.
His father had not repented for his crimes. He'd reminded the citizens of the good he had done in the beginning, right after the world had been thrust in chaos and needed a heavy hand to unite the city. He'd insisted that his deeds had been just. Grey thought he almost seemed surprised to hear the droves of citizens testifying to his wickedness.
Perhaps he'd never been aware of the level of corruption he'd reached. Grey knew his father didn't expect to be found justified in his actions. He'd known from the beginning what would come of the trial. Grey hoped that, someday, he might actually understand the impact of everything he'd done.
"It's almost over," Petra told him in a low voice.
"I know. Once it is, we can finally put this all behind us. Maybe someday my father will learn from his mistakes."
"Perhaps it's more important that you learn from his mistakes."
Grey smiled wanly. "I like to think I have. But I probably have a lot left to learn."
She squeezed his hand. "Knowing it is what makes you better than him."
He sighed. "I don't know if I want to be better than him. He is still my father, and I think there is good in him. He simply went the wrong way with his power and his influence. Perhaps I just want to make better choices about how I handle them."
"You will. You already have. You started out on the wrong track, but you got rebooted. You got start over."
He smiled. "Rebooted. Yeah, I guess a bump on the head was exactly what I needed."
"Sometimes you have to shut down and restart. It usually doesn't work as well for people as machines, but this time it worked out pretty good."
"If not for you, I might have gone back and never known what I could have made of myself."
She considered. "Do you think you would have gone back to your father if the Uprising hadn't struck when it did?"
He'd thought about this a lot. "I don't know if I ever would have gone back to the way I was, but I don't know if I would have taken over the city by force, like I'd planned. At the time, I thought my father was trying to have me killed. When I realized he wasn't, I tried to make a fresh start with him. I thought maybe I could change him." He sighed. "I don't think I could have. I'd like to think I could, but I don't think anything but a complete revolution would have changed him. I like to think I would have stayed good, but who knows what could have happened. I don't like to think about it."
She smiled at him. "You would have stayed good. Perhaps you would have reached a point when you realized you had to do something."
If he thought the same, he didn't get a chance to say. The bailiff called for attention. The judge strode into the courtroom. The spectators stopped talking and rose. The silence was tense and charged. The judge was a stiff-jawed man in his late fifties with steely grey hair combed back from his strong, humorless face. His dark eyes swept the courtroom with an uncanny alertness. He nodded and motioned them to sit.
Grey's breath caught. His grip on Petra's hand tightened almost painfully. She moved closer to him. The warmth and weight of her beside him was oddly reassuring. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. His heart thumped. He watched the door for his father to enter.
The courtroom, too, sat back down to await King Scarlet. A guard brought him into the room from a side door. He looked grim, but he held his head high. Grey watched him as though he were the only person in the room. Scarlet had lost weight. His charcoal grey suit looked too large. His hair was combed back from his face, but it didn't look as flawless as it used to. It stuck up slightly in the back as though he hadn't been able to tame it. He looked as though he hadn't slept well, either. Grey had seen him since his arrest. He visited him often. His father had not yet forgiven him for helping to overthrow his empire, but they were attempting to reconcile.
Grey thought they were talking more now than they'd ever talked in his life. He wished there could be another outcome to the trial. There couldn't. Even Grey couldn't have let his father off for his crimes.
The judge was anxious to end the spectacle. "Has the jury reached a verdict?" he asked immediately.
"Yes, Your Honor."
The silence that ensued was deafening. The clerk passed the jury's verdict to the judge. He looked at Scarlet. "Ezra Scarlet, please rise."
Scarlet looked almost as though he might refuse this last indignity, but he finally rose. His attorney rose to stand at his side. The man looked as though he'd been through a terrible ordeal. He looked like a beaten, hopeless man. He'd tried his best. He was a good lawyer. There was no defending a man like Scarlet, a man who refused to show even the slightest remorse for his sins. Grey felt a little bad for the attorney.
"In the case of Razor City versus Ezra Scarlet, we find the defendant guilty. He will be sentenced to life imprisonment in a facility chosen by the city leader. There will be no hope of ever getting out."
Scarlet lifted his chin. His dark eyes were unreadable. The courtroom exploded in a cacophony of cheering and shouting. Grey closed his eyes. He didn't want to see his father dragged out of the courtroom in chains. He didn't want to see his face as they took him away.
"I'm sorry, Grey," Petra said beside him. She remained firmly planted in her seat, despite the pandemonium around them. "I know you wish it could be different."
He sighed. He opened his eyes and looked at her. "I do wish it could be different."
He glanced around them at the citizens in the courtroom. They were happy. They were happier than he had ever seen them. The man who'd been oppressing, terrorizing and destroying their lives for a decade was finally going to face justice.
"I wish it could be different," he said. "But it can't. This is the only way it can be."
Petra smiled wanly. "It's finally over, Grey. We can finally start over."
"Do me a favor, Petra."
She glanced at him in surprise. "Okay."
"Just make sure I d
on't end up in the same place in ten years."
He looked so serious, she couldn't bring herself to laugh. She patted his arm comfortingly. "Don't worry. If you start to turn into an evil overlord, I'll overthrow you long before you get the chance to wind up here."
"Thanks, Petra. I knew I could count on you."