Day Four-Seventy-Seven: Tyranny of Pears

Trial day two. It's the first trial I've attended where I wasn't kidnapped. One more day and this will be a record, I guess.

I've been assured that I'll have a chance (unwanted) to get up on the stand and provide testimony, for or against Jeffrey. (Against. Definitely against.) For now, though, I'm a non-entity to the trial. I've relegated myself to the upper walkways of Pagan's manor, and from up here I watched the proceedings, Eve on one side of me, Edmund on the other, and Julius on my shoulder.

(I know that Julius has been sent by June to watch over me, 'n that he's been doing it for a while. Anyone else, I would mind. This little spider? Naw. He's awesome. Saved me, kept up my diary writing, and makes me tea when I ask. Couldn't ask for a better spy.)

Today's court focused on the peasants forced to live under Jeffrey's rule. The prosecutor called at least a dozen witnesses who testified to Jeffrey's capricious, cruel, and bizarre decisions as a king.

"He ordered my house burned to the ground because it blocked his view of a fruit stand!"

"He banished my family because we sold illegal fruit! They were only pears!"

"He had me locked in the stocks for five days because he saw me eating a pear from his tower!"

"He had me flogged because I picked up a rotten, half-eaten pear I found on the ground and tried to throw it out! I just wanted ta be a good samaritan!"

"He fired me from my job as trash collector because I took too long collecting the trash! I was the only person on trash detail! Do you know how long it takes to clean up after an entire castle? There were pears everywhere!"

"He kicked my dog!"

And so on. Jeffrey's slippery defence did his best to concoct a long-winded, confusing story that could possibly explain Jeffrey's inexplicable hatred of pears, and all people associated with them, but the explanation fell flat. Everyone knows pears were a touchy subject in Castle DestroyAllGourds. (Yes, I know, pears aren't gourds. Jeffrey's dumb.)

Surrounded by friends, I had a much easier time watching the trial. The pressures of being present weren't nearly as intense from above, where nobody could see me. Nevertheless, I felt the guilt of putting Jeffrey in the spotlight squashing my spirit. Every day I visit Queen Daena, and every day I can see her quietly questioning why I've done this to her husband. To her family. She knows why, but at the same time, she doesn't know.

I'm not sure I do, either. Not anymore. I feel so sorry for Jeffrey. He shrank into his chair at the beginning of the session and stayed that way for three hours of deliberations. Hell, I seem to feel worse for him than his own daughter - Celine is utterly emotionless, planted stalwartly in the jury box. What a freakish trooper. I hope Eve doesn't grow up to be like her.

The next trial date was set for Friday, but the defence attorney has demanded an extension to next week on the grounds that he needs more time to prepare. I doubt he can do anything at this point, but Pagan has stalled the trial nevertheless. The old man likes to vex me, I think.

Sigh. Trials. How stressful.

Sincerely,

Dragomir the Mayor