The Trial

The old man sat in the front of the room looking at the defendant, "Answer the charges," he demanded, "Do you plead guilty or not guilty?" She looked around in confusion "But Sire, I know not the charges." He turned to another man "Read the charges!" "Lady Susan of Amber you are hereby charged with being an unfit wife and mother." The old man looked at her again, "GUILTY OR NOT GUILTY?" he yelled. "Not guilty..." she stammered. Whispers of "liar" echoed amongst the crowd. The old man called for order and the whispers died down. He looked over at another table, "You're witness, m'lord." Susan swallowed hard as Corwin stood before her and began the questioning. "M’lady answer if you will... How many children do you have?" She looked at him, "Corwin... I am your wife... You know how many children I have." "ANSWER THE QUESTION!", bellowed the old man. "I am the mother of four children, a fifth died at birth and I have three stepchildren." "And where are your children m'lady?" "The two eldest are on their own, my daughter Brittany and stepchildren live with me and....", she casts an unsure look at him, "my husband." "But m'lady you claim you have four children yet you mention only the three where is your fourth child?" Susan looked down at her hands and whispers almost too lightly to hear "I do not know." "What was that m'lady, I do not believe it was heard by all." "I said I do not know where my child is..." Voices of disbelief were heard through out the room. Words of condemnation reaching her ears as tears began to stream down her face. "And yet m'lady, you sit here before us, expecting us to believe that you are a fit mother for these other children but you cannot explain where the child you gave birth to is..." He looked at her, his usually warm eyes were cold and the expression on his face was one of contempt. "She was taken from me, I... I had no choice in the matter. Please you have to believe me..." She looked about her for a friendly face, but those she recognized only turned away from her, then she saw Blackhawke. "Please Stephan tell them, tell them how she was taken from me, I beg of you." He too turned away. The old man banged on the table before him. "YOU WILL SILENCE YOURSELF WOMAN!" He looked around the room, his eyes taking in everyone assembled there. "What is your verdict?" He asked. "GUILTY! GUILTY!" the assembly yelled. The old man turned back to Susan, "Your sentence will be a life alone, your children will be given over to their father, Lord Corwin, and you shall be locked away where you will never again be a threat to them." "Noooo ohhhh Noooo please, it was not my fault, someone please help me", she cried as she watched Corwin leading the children away and the guards grabbed her roughly to take her to the dungeon.

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Susan awoke with a start, tears streaming down her face. The nightmares had returned since Corwin had left for his trip. Her yearning, for her little girl that had been taken away from her, was at the core of each dream. Never had she forgotten the old man's words in the firehall declaring her unfit to raise Isabel and that someone suitable would be found and that even the name she had been given would be changed. Her heart ached as she held Corwin's pillow close to her and sobbed into it far into the early morning.