Day 10
Afternoon

The caravan rolled into the warren. Many eyes followed its arrival, some
with more trepidation than others, but all with great concern. Among the
vehicles in the caravan was a carriage containing the Lord of Fowler
Estates. He and his daughter had been invited by the warrenlady over the
matter concerning the former warrenlady's sister, Lorelei.

Merissa feared what the Lord's decision might be concerning the young girl.
She had been seen stabbing to death one of Lord Fowler's caravan drivers.
Of course anyone who knew what he and some of his men had done to the girl
could blame her, yet there were others that would claim that the girl had
not been raped, but had in fact willingly gone with the men. Whatever was
about to unfold would not be pretty.

As the caravan made its way to the VIP quarters where the Fowlers resided
when they visited, Merissa called in her wingleaders, wingseconds and junior
queenrider. All of the joy that had been a part of the morning's
celebration of the egg laying had evaporated as she faced those gathered.

"I'm sure you are aware of who that was that arrived a short while ago?"
She glanced around the circle of faces. "I want to do all I can to protect
Lorelei, yet I can not afford to risk an incident with the Landbound,
especially when we have only just reached a peace with them over the Cult of
the Blindfolded Lady. There is still much suspicion among the Landbound
that the Cult sowed."

"I think we all understand that," J'red replied.

"I must ask Lord Fowler to rule in this incident. Lorelei was under his
protection when this occurred, and though the murder was on the Warren's
soil, the rape was on his land and by his men."

***
TAG: To all warren leaders. What's their take on this?

***
Late Afternoon.

The dining hall had once again been set up as a court. Lord Fowler sat at
the head table, with Merissa on his right and A'Rillia on his left, and to
their
rights and left sat the wingleaders of Whiteriver.

Across from them sat Lorelei at one table with Th'rin at her side. He was
one of the few people the girl trusted from times before and she knew that
her sister had trusted him as well. He also could testify to the injuries
she had sustained as a result of her captivity.

At another table, sat several men from Fowler's caravan. They glared about
them, obviously ill-at-ease.

The room was filled with spectators. Some were there out of curiosity,
others to support Lorelei, and a handful were from the Fowler Estates.

Lord Fowler rose and a hush fell on those assembled, "We are here to listen
to testimony concerning this young woman, Lorelei, recently of Whiteriver
Warren, in the death of a driver in the employ of the Fowler Estates. All
who wish to speak will be heard!" He looked at the list of names that was
on the table before him. Merissa had added to that list when he had
arrived, putting her own name there in addition to those at the warren who
had treated Lorelei, including, Th'rin, Latnem and Arri (any others we
should mention?), Hamn Fowler cleared his throat and called to witness one
of the drivers from the caravan.

The man was dressed in what appeared to be his best clothes. He stood
nervously before those seated before him.

"Do you have anything to say?" Lord Fowler barked.

"Begging your pardon, m'Lord! Alls I have to say is that girl there killed
my friend. In cold blood! I seen it all!" He stated and sat down
abruptly.

Lord Fowler frowned and called the next caravan man, who turned out to be a
bit more articulate than the first.

"We picked up that girl on the road the night before. She was drunk and was
coming on to all the men. A few of the men obliged her. I don't know which
ones... none of my business, I'm a married man! Anyways, we take her along
for the ride. She asks us to hide her when we gets to the warren, see?
Doesn't want anyone here to know she's here. So she hides in a trunk...
only I guess she gets scared that one of the caravan drivers is going to rat
on her and leave her behind, so she kills him. I seen her do it. She ran
right at him with her knife and stabbed him till he was dead!"

Lorelei jumped up. "You're lying! You were a part of it! You took your turn
just like all of them!" Th'rin gently pulled her back down, whispering to
her quietly.

The witnesses from the caravan came up one after another with similar
versions of that story. All had their turn to speak, just as Lord Fowler
directed. Finally, it was the turn of those from Whiteriver. Merissa
wished that 'Tonio had not been called away. His testimony would have been
hard to refute. Thankfully, he had written down his statement.

Merissa asked Tel'Thar if he could read 'Tonio's statement:

[EXCERPTS FROM [DL-W] Washing One's Hands by Chris Weeda]

"I was making my way through the marketplace when I passed by a group of
wagons. They looked to be traders of some sort and they were haggling with
the local merchants.

"As I was passing by the wagons, I heard a loud thumping coming from one of
the carts. Normally I would dismiss such a noise but the ferocity of the
noise urged me to investigate further.

"I found the door to the wagon locked and I persuaded it to open. Once
inside I found the source of thumping to be coming from a medium sized
chest. It too was locked momentarily. When I opened the chest, I found
Lorelei inside the chest, bound and gagged.

"I immediately removed Lorelei from the surrounding area without being
spotted. I then set her down and asked her what happened. About that time
I got a look at her injuries and Lorelei said that she was going to be sold
as a whore. She then ran past me, drawing a knife she had hidden somewhere
on her body. As I turned to go after her, she leapt upon one of the men
that had gathered by the wagon. I saw the knife flash
and a brief scuffle ensued. Then J'red arrived on Firefly and the melee
ceased."

[END SNIP]

J'red was next to the witness stand. "When I arrived, I saw a dead man and
Lorelei standing over him. She was ... naked and had been.... beaten. I
wrapped her in my cloak. The men there... those men... threatened us,
'Tonio, Lorelei and myself. I called for aid. Beta Wing arrived, along
with Th'rin on Areena. Th'rin took Lorelei to the medical center. Some men
tried to flee.... We arrested several... but Merissa had to release them."
His eyes burned with suppressed rage.

***
TAG: to Kris for Th'rin and Morgie for Latnem -- testimonies?

***

It was then Lorelei's turn to take the stand. She stood, trying to keep her
legs from giving in and her hands from trembling. She looked at the men at
the other table, and remembered how each of them had taken their turn with
her and laughed as she cried. She stood and faced them.

"How dare you" she said, her voice trembling with rage. "You stood there
and waited your turns as I was stripped and beaten by him. Now you stand
there and lie about it. I was raped! And I was beaten, and almost sold into
a life of slavery where that would have continued. If 'Tonio hadn't heard me
struggling in the locked trunk, I would still have been living this
nightmare."

Tears ran down her cheeks as she stood there, but still her eyes flashed
with fire. "All I knew when I got out of that trunk, was that I couldn't
let it happen again, and even if I was free and he couldn't do it to me,
then what others might it happen to? All of you deserve to be punished for
what you did and I hope Lord Fowler takes that into account. Even if I must
pay for what I did as well, at least now I know that that man will never
hurt another girl like he did me." She looked up at Lord Fowler, "Sir,
please...even if you must punish me, please, make sure that these men can
never harm someone else like they did me. That's all I ask." Her blue eyes,
wet with tears, pleaded with him. "Please?"

Lord Fowler's own face shone with tears. Lorelei had been like a daughter
to him, living in his house after her family had been taken from her. Yet,
he would have to pass judgment on the girl, for she had taken a life --
though he was now convinced that she at least thought she was doing it in
self-defense. He needed to consider this carefully. His voice husky with
emotion, he called for an adjournment. "We will reconvene in one hour.
Merissa... a word if I may?"

***
TAG to all present.

***
Respectfully submitted by:
Kat Robertson
AKA Lorelei

and

Arlene Jacobs
AKA Merissa, Warrenlady, rider of Chrysthal, of Whiteriver Warren
J'red, Beta Wingleader, rider of Firefly, of Whiteriver Warren.
and Lord Fowler