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CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Maria was held in a cell, completely alone, sequestered until what was to be a very public hearing in two days. No visitors were to be allowed, and her meals were to be deposited in silence. No one was to speak with her, not even a word.

To most it would be torture. But after spending so many quiet days just sitting with Zepharos and listening to the sounds of the world, not speaking so much as a sentence for hours, comfortable in each other’s company, she found this wasn’t as much a punishment as her captors might have intended.

And while they weren’t talking to her, Maria did overhear plenty of snippets of conversation when her food was brought to her, as well as conversations out in the hallway.

The thing was, the cells were designed to hold people during the games, and as such, there’d been no need to soundproof the room in which they were constructed.

The games were long over, but staff still wandered the halls, generally chattering away, forgetting there was a prisoner locked away on the other side of that surprisingly thin door.

And as they talked, she learned a lot. Only in pieces, but it was enough to give her a good idea what was going on, and it didn’t sound good.

She wasn’t entirely certain, but from what she’d been able to piece together, the delay was two-fold.

One, they had to wait a full day and a half for the Dotharian overseer to make the trip from wherever they were in the sector. She wasn’t quite sure how big a sector was, but it spanned at least several solar systems, if not more.

Two, the chancellor was making an example of her, and with public announcements made far and wide of the very rare visit from the sector’s overseer to deal with the troublesome human, spectators were flying in from all over to watch the spectacle, just as the chancellor had hoped.

In fact, he’d reopened the arena especially for the hearing, to the delight of local restaurants, taverns, and, of course, the gambling halls.

What they would bet on, Maria didn’t really want to know.

What she did know was the chancellor was making an event out of this, and between the five elite families ruling the city and the Dotharian overseer’s own private guards, it was going to be a massive show of force.

A statement of dominance and control, cementing the chancellor in his role atop the food chain for many more years to come.

I wonder just how many people will show up , Maria wondered as she meditated away the hours in her cell.

In two days’ time she found out.

“Hoooooly shit,” she gasped as she was led out into the arena grounds.

This was huge. Far more than she’d expected, even in her wildest dreams. There were thousands upon thousands of spectators in the stands, all of them watching the elevated dais upon which the Dotharian overseer would direct the hearing, and the adjacent lower platforms on either side where the elite families sat smugly, enjoying their position of importance in the presence of so powerful a figure.

As for the overseer, the purple-skinned alien was both slender yet bulbous in shape, wearing colorful and ornate garb that looked like it cost more than a citizen earned in a year.

Behind them quietly sat another purple alien, but this one was more modestly dressed, covered from head to toe in a deep blue robe that seemed to drink in the sun’s rays and redirect them into a subtle swirl in the fabric.

Maria thought they were both male, but she couldn’t be sure.

Not all alien morphology was as obvious as others.

One thing that was clear, however, was that the Dotharian was not happy to be there.

They’d been dragged away from other far more important duties to this world for a simple hearing for one lone individual.

At least there were elites, politicians, and royals from all over the planet in attendance, all of them eager to get a look at this woman from a race called humans who was on trial.

Official Dotharian-helmed trials were quite rare, given their strict adherence to the laws and their brutally efficient rulings.

And more than that, these sorts of hearings were often followed by an execution, the possibility of which drew even more spectators, a great many placing all manner of wagers on what might unfold on the arena floor.

But no one could have imagined what would actually happen.

It began with a hearing, public and loud in the testimonies of officials who had been present when Maria had arrived, as well as one of the guards apparently from the transport that had brought her to the games, though she’d never seen his face, her and the others being locked up in the container the whole time.

But she did recognize his voice, and it was him and the others who confirmed that she had indeed been found lacking all Dotharian runes but the lone translation marking behind her ear.

One after another they were asked for details.

Information. Things they had noted about her, the chancellor taking the opportunity to grill them himself, his every sentence and accompanying gesticulations full of grandstanding for the crowd.

He was making a show of it, and the more he got rolling, the more he enjoyed the heady feeling of having all eyes upon him.

This went on for several hours. The testimonies were not particularly damning to Maria’s mind.

In fact, hearing time and again how she had been found and captured after a Raxxian crash, a tidbit which drew gasps of shock from the crowd, she felt they were making her case for her as well as their own.

She was a victim here, and they all seemed to know it.

And when Maddix finally testified, he seemed to be trying to paint the picture that she was not the criminal they made her out to be.

But she had lacked the runes. Some stupid law that didn’t take into consideration if someone didn’t come from the Dotharian realms. It was simply beyond them to imagine such a thing.

But here she was, living proof. Her and the woman she’d arrived with, though she didn’t know what ever became of Ziana after the games had ended.

She’d been whisked away just as they were beginning, and since her return she’d been locked away without the opportunity to inquire of her.

Regardless, at the moment, she had more pressing matters.

This wasn’t Earth, and whatever this legal system was, a public defender was not provided to her. As a result, after the lengthy testimonies of the witnesses were finished, Maria was ushered in front of the dais to testify on her own behalf.

The Dotharian overseer stared down at her, a very serious look on his face. It was a he, she’d decided after overhearing one of the many guards comment something to the effect of the man being known for dispersing justice with an iron fist.

“Speak for yourself,” he commanded. “What have you to say in your own defense?”

Maria hesitated, spinning slowly and taking in the crowd. The scores of guards. The staring elites. This was it. This was her chance.

“What the witnesses have said is correct,” she began.

“I did not have the Dotharian runes when I arrived upon this beautiful world. And yes, it is a violation of your laws, as I have since been made aware. But surely, a ruling body so powerful and expansive as the Dotharian Conglomerate has come across worlds on the outskirts of your territories where inhabitants also lack these markings. And I have to ask, do you treat them as criminals? Or do you offer to bring them into the fold, integrating them as allies rather than punishing them as enemies?”

“We do,” the overseer replied. “It is standard procedure for a world’s induction into the conglomerate.”

Maria’s lips creased slightly upward. “So, while it is the law, you are saying there are also exceptions for those who aren’t yet part of the conglomerate. If my world was close, it would fall under that classification. My people would not be viewed as criminals, is that correct?”

“It is.”

“Then I do not see how I should be treated any differently. I was living my life on my world and had never even heard of this one, let alone the Dotharian Conglomerate. But I was taken. Abducted by Raxxians against my will. You’ve heard the testimony of others as to my arrival here, but let me tell you, it was even worse than they describe.

To be held as livestock aboard an alien ship?

It was terrifying. Violating. And it was the first alien contact for my world. ”

The overseer shook his head. “The laws are clear. ”

“I understand, sir. But I was not marked by the traders who captured me. Why are they not punished?”

“You have heard from underlings. Employees. Followers, not leaders. You ask about punishment? The one in charge of that transport group is already in custody, and he will be.”

Maria felt her stomach flip. This was not good.

“Uh, okay. But you can see that I had nothing to do with any of those decisions. In fact, it wasn’t until they marked me to compete in the games that I had the runes, and I never had the opportunity to get them before then.”

“Yes, we’ve heard. Chancellor Vinchi graciously provided you with the required runes as soon as he acquired you to compete.

He saved your life that day, though it was skirting the edges of legality.

But while he has greater leeway due to his station, you do not.

And your arrival matters not. You broke from his indenture, voiding the tenuous respite you received.

This is law, and you violated it.” He turned slowly, looking over the assembled audience and the elites flanking him on either side.

“The human has made her case. And she has been found guilty.”

A murmur washed over the crowd as bets were paid and new ones arranged.

“Therefore, for violation of one of the most sacred of Dotharian laws, the human is hereby sentenced to death, execution to be carried out at once.”

Now the crowd began to get loud. It was to be a public execution, and that verdict had just made several people a lot of money thanks to fairly long-shot odds given the woman’s origins. But the overseer was living up to his reputation, and as a result Maria’s life was to be forfeit.

“Wait, that’s it?” she asked in shock. “Just like that?”

“Yes, just like that,” the chancellor announced, turning to his guards. “Prepare for the execution!”