New Reality: Book Four: Re-Education

We filed out of the office, and I grabbed Chris and pulled him outside. He didn’t seem surprised.

“Are you sure you painted the right picture?”

“I think so, Greg. Yeah, can you give me any more paint?”

“I write the laws, Chris, I could paint the damned picture for you if I wanted to, but that would be too far from what we both consider justice,” I said, exasperated.

“Can you tell me which way to tilt the canvas?” Chris asked, raising an eyebrow.

“You’ve read the same manuscripts that I have regarding higher nobles overturning a Baronial decision? And what they cannot overturn?”

Chris smiled broadly and said, “I have. Trevor and Johnny are ready. Tanya is worried, but she’s in love with Trevor and will follow him through the gates of hell.”

I sighed. “Unfortunately, our friends are in for a hell of a ride. That’s why I chose the dining room, fewer spectators.”

“Who’s going to prosecute this for you?”

“I don’t think anyone’s qualified, Chris. You can’t do both, no matter how much I wish you could. I’ll have to do it myself.”

“I’m gonna fight you.”

“If you don’t, I’ll put you on trial next,” I said with a grin.

“While we’re at school, we need to find a few more lawyers, Greg. I don’t see George letting you go far beyond graduation unseated, and with a Barony, you’ll need a prosecutor and a defender, along with lawyers for all the staff and business issues.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. That’s a few years down the road. We’ll find them at Harvard or through connections I make.” I laughed. “I got invited to join The Duquesne Club last night.”

“No SHIT? Dude, we gotta have dinner there—”

“I haven’t decided to accept yet.”

“I’m calling George. You’re obviously insane.”

“Yeah, well, there’s another tool for your defense. It’s almost time. Are you sure we’re on the same page? Are you sure they’re ready to hear what I say?”

“We are, and they are. Relax, Greg, I know the judge.”

I was still laughing as I walked into the foyer, looked around, took a deep breath, and said, “The Baronial Court of Baron Gregory Fowler will open in the dining room in five minutes. All those having business before the Baron gather round and give your attention. The Baron requires the attendance of Trevor Bowers, Tanya Gatling, and Johnny Fletcher. The Baron further summons Chief Marshal McNiel, Marshal Sargeant Riva, and two Marshals as Chief McNiel shall assign.”

Tommy gave me a shoulder bump and said, “That’s my job, asshole.”

I smirked. “Well, since I did your job, you wanna go in and do mine?”

“Oh, that was nicely done, Greg. I don’t think George could’ve pulled that one off,” he turned to go into the dining room and, over his shoulder, said, “And to answer your question, not a chance in hell.”

I walked into the dining room and found that my industrious friends had moved all the ancillary furniture out of the room, leaving only the dining table, which was near the far wall and turned ninety degrees to its normal position with one chair behind it. The rest of the room was empty, making it large enough to accommodate every individual present on the farm, save the four marshals on duty at the front doors and main gate. I sighed to myself as I walked around the table.

James was waiting for me with a box in his hand. He handed it to me and, as I opened it, he explained.

“Your grandfather, my father, was a Baron in Germany. When he stepped down, he kept this, and when Scott’s eyes changed to green, he told me to pass this on to you on the day of your first court. This may not be exactly what he had in mind, but it’s an important court, and this is symbolic.”

In the box was a mahogany gavel engraved with Baron Zell’s coat of arms. There was also a small square of mahogany to protect the table or bench when the gavel was used. I had to blink my eyes to control my tears. It wouldn’t do to start my first Court with tears on my cheeks. I started to sit and looked down, realizing that I was about to have court in basketball shorts and a tee shirt.

How many times have I said that I love Billy? Well, add one more because my miracle worker came through once again. I sensed him behind me before I felt his hands on my shoulders as he wrapped me in a black silk robe that covered me from neck to toes. I looked like a judge. Properly attired, I sat down, looked around, and banged the gavel on the small wooden square.

I looked at Tommy and nodded. He grinned and shouted, “All those having business before the Baronial Court of Baron Gregory Fowler, come near and be silent. Court is now in session.”

I looked around the room and said, “The Court calls Trevor Bowers, Johnny Fletcher, and Tanya Gatling.”

They stepped forward with Chris by their side. He said, “My Lord, Christopher Thomas Barnes, defending the accused.”

“The Court is short a prosecution advocate. As such, the defense concedes that the Court shall fulfill this role. Is this correct, counselor?”

“It is, My Lord,” Chris said.

“Each of you is accused of the same crimes. In the interest of time, will the defense waive an individual reading of each charge for each accused?”

“We waive that right, My Lord, and accept the reading of each individual charge, specifying that each accused is charged with one count of each.”

“So noted. The accused did, at some time prior to midnight last night, willfully feed from a human without said human’s consent. The accused did also, at some time prior to midnight last night, willfully conspire to feed from humans without said human’s consent and did, as a group, prey upon humans in the city of Pittsburgh, in the Baronetcy of Pittsburgh, in the Barony of Pittsburgh of the Nation of Dracul. Do the accused understand the charges? Each accused will respond individually.”

Trevor said, “I understand, My Lord.”

Tanya said, “I understand, My Lord.”

Johnny said, “I understand, My Lord.”

“And do the accused understand that a charge of conspiracy carries a sentence of not less than twenty, nor more than one hundred years imprisonment at hard labor?”

Each one said they understood.

“And do the accused understand that a charge of feeding from a human carries a mandatory sentence of death? And further that a charge of preying on humans also carries a mandatory sentence of death?”

Once again, they each said they understood.

“Counselor, how do the accused plea?”

“My Lord, my clients have instructed me that they want to enter their own pleas individually.”

“Trevor Bowers, how do you plea?”

In a firm, steady voice, Trevor said, “I plead guilty on all charges, My Lord, and wish to present extenuating circumstances.”

The room erupted in whispers. I banged the gavel and said, “Before this Court accepts your plea, I want to caution you that the sentence is death. There is no option, and as such, extenuating circumstances can have no bearing on your sentence.”

“Yes, My Lord, I understand that.”

I sighed. “Very well, Trevor. This Court accepts your guilty plea. Without objection, I will delay declaring sentence until I have accepted the pleas of the other accused.”

I heard no objection, so I said, “Tanya Gatling, how do you plea?”

With tears in her eyes, Tanya’s voice shook as she said, “I plead guilty on all charges, My Lord, and wish to present extenuating circumstances.”

“This Court will again caution the accused that extenuating circumstances cannot affect a sentence of death. Do you still wish to make this plea?”

“I do, My Lord,” she replied.

“Johnny Fletcher, having heard my warning on the death sentence twice, I will not repeat myself. With this in mind, how do you plea?”

Johnny held his head high as he said, “I plead guilty on all charges, My Lord, and wish to present extenuating circumstances.”

I nodded my head. “Having accepted guilty pleas to two capital crimes, this Court has no choice but to sentence the accused to death by beheading. Sentence to be carried out by the Baron’s executioner at sunset today.”

The room was as silent as the grave. No one expected me to sentence these poor homeless vampires to death for doing what they had to do to survive. My friends, my brothers stared at me in horror. I saw a tear roll down Scott’s cheek.

Chris cleared his throat and said, “My Lord, the convicts would like to appeal, citing extenuating circumstances.”

“As I said during the trial, counselor, a guilty verdict leaves me no choice but to execute the convicts. Regardless of extenuating circumstances. I sincerely wish the sentencing guidelines had left some room, but they have not. The appeal is denied.”

Again, a sick silence fell across the room. Some had held out hope when Chris spoke up, but they were finally accepting that a guilty verdict left me no choice but to sentence them to death.

“Is there any other business before this Court?”

Chris waited, maybe just a bit too long, but I appreciated what he was doing, so I waited, too. Finally, he stood and said, “My Lord. I come before you with a petition for a writ of pardon from the Baron to set aside a gross miscarriage of justice.”

I glared at him and asked, “What miscarriage of justice do you speak of, counselor?”

“My Lord. Earlier in your Court, three vampires were sentenced to death for feeding from humans without consent, for preying on humans, and for conspiracy to do the same. We would not deign to accuse His Lordship of an improper verdict, nor would we question His Lordship’s administration of the proscribed sentence. We are petitioning for a pardon based on extenuating circumstances in hopes that His Lordship sees that, as he had no room for leniency, justice was not, and will not be served by executing the aforementioned vampires.”

I continued to glare at Chris. How dare he stand and embarrass me in my own court? At least, that’s what I hoped everyone thought. Inside, I was smiling. I waited another minute as if I was considering this from every angle. The truth was, this was exactly how I had wanted this to go.

“This Court will hear your petition, Mr. Barnes. You may speak.”

“My Lord, these three young vampires, two of whom are under the age of majority—”

“That is irrelevant, Mr. Barnes! They are over the age of six and, as such, are subject to the laws of Dracul. I personally interviewed each of them, and they fully understood that what they did was wrong and illegal. You may continue, but I caution you. Do not waste this Court’s time with technicalities.”

“Yes, My Lord. These young vampires,” Chris gave me a timid look, afraid I would snap at his use of ‘young.’ “found themselves homeless and without the help of a family due to circumstances beyond their control. Two of them, Trevor and Tanya, have lived on the streets of Pittsburgh for over a year, while Johnny has lived on the streets for the larger part of three years. In order to survive, to provide food, they had to sell their bodies to strangers who performed sexual acts with them that I beg the Court not to compel me to detail.”

“So allowed Mr. Barnes. We can well imagine the horrors; please continue.”

“Thank you, My Lord. At times, they found they were able to convince humans to provide them with blood in exchange for money. Usually, the homeless humans these young vampires shared the street with. Unfortunately, this life does not provide a steady, nor even a strong flow of cash. It was during these times they had to resort to enthralling a human and feeding from them. Not that one human is worth less than any other, but they always tried to target the drug dealers, muggers, and the many pedophiles that prey on the homeless youth of our city. If His Lordship will forgive me, it was the fear of these pedophiles that resulted in these convicts appearing before this Court.”

“I will caution you, Mr. Barnes, that our personal friendship will not excuse you from my wrath if you are suggesting that I am a pedophile,” I snarled.

“No, My Lord. Nothing of the kind, My Lord. If you will allow me to connect the dots, I can assure you that no one in this room believes for a second anything but the best of your character.”

“Due to our friendship, I will allow you some latitude, Sir, but tread lightly when you speak of my reputation, or you will find yourself joining your clients at sunset,” I said as I glared holes through Chris. When he warned me that he was coming after me, I didn’t expect him to literally come after me, but I had a feeling where he was going, so I let him go.

“Through events that have no bearing on this case, these convicts found themselves the guardians pro tem of two very young vampires, one aged three and a half years and the other aged thirteen months, when they took them under protection. The convicts had to substantially reduce their begging and what few small jobs they could find in order to have one stay with these minors at all times to keep the pedophiles away. When Your Lordship found young Craig, he had abandoned his post as a guard over the youngest while the older three were out doing, um, forgive me, My Lord, sexual favors in exchange for money or blood so they could return and feed the two youngest. When Trevor found His Lordship with his charges, he immediately assumed the worst and valiantly fought to protect what he considered his young.”

“This Court wishes to recognize Trevor's bravery and devotion in his attempts to protect said young. Were it not for their intervention, Trevor would have died by my hand last night,” I said.

“We thank His Lordship for honoring Trevor in such a way. As you well know, My Lord, during your investigation of their living conditions, they were asked about having broken any laws. They could have simply remained silent, as is their right, and we would not be here, as this Court would have no knowledge of a crime having been committed. Johnny saw remaining silent as a mark against his honor, so he spoke up, instantly condemning him to death. In His Lordship’s wisdom, he chose to give them a chance to plead their case in His Lordship’s Court. Unfortunately, Your Lordship was given no choice but to condemn the three of them to death. It is this restriction on Your Lordship’s sense of justice and mercy that we are pleading, My Lord. Justice will not be served by cutting three lives down before they’ve begun. Their deaths will not return this stolen blood to the veins of the injured humans. And their deaths will weigh heavy upon those of us in this Court who pray for a more modern, more, dare I say human, Nation of Dracul. We are here, begging His Lordship for a pardon for past crimes, with whatever conditions His Lordship deems as just. Thank you, My Lord, for allowing me to plea this case in your Court.”

“The Court thanks you, Mr. Barnes, for your passionate presentation of your petition. This Court will be in recess while your petition is considered. I ask for your indulgence so that I may ponder the issues in private.” I banged the gavel and stood. Everyone stood and waited as I walked out of the room and into the office.

I had asked for privacy, but I knew that wasn’t going to happen. I had just sat down when the back door opened, and Scott and Billy came in, bringing me a glass of wine. Billy sat in one of the armchairs facing the desk while Scott stood behind me, rubbing my shoulders.

“When did you realize your mistake?” Scott asked as he stroked my neck.

“Listening to Trevor in the Denali on the way home,” I replied.

Scott paused, then asked, “And what happens now?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. I all but handed Chris the way out of this mess, then he threw me a fucking curve.”

“The conditional pardon?” Billy asked.

“Yup.” I nodded, trying to think through this. They both knew what I was doing, and they both knew to wait until I spoke. We stayed like that for eleven minutes. I actually watched the hands moving on James’ antique clock while I thought. Then, the thought hit me. “What about a stay?”

“Instead of a pardon?” Scott asked.

“No, to give him more time to consider things. Time to talk with Trevor, Johnny, and Tanya and find some options,” Billy explained.

“Exactly.” I smiled. Then I stood and pulled Scott to the sofa, grabbing Billy’s hand as I went. “There’s something else I was going to do, and with everything else happening, I forgot to talk to you two about it.”

“Yes,” Scott said.

“I haven’t even told you.”

“It doesn’t matter, Greg. It’s yes from me too,” Billy said.

“But—”

“Get this stay ordered so you can do whatever else you’re doing so you can make Chipper our son, you idiot,” Scott laughed.

“I didn’t even get to ask you guys,” I whined.

Billy shrugged. “That’s ok. I have two sons, and I’m still technically a virgin.”

“That makes three of us,” I laughed. “Let’s sneak upstairs and—”

“Oh my gods, with all you have going on, you want to—”

Billy rolled his eyes and said, “Calm down, drama queen. He wants to go clean the boys up so they don’t feel bad at Court. And he wants me to tell Tommy that upstairs is strictly off limits until we’re done so we can surprise Josh.”

I just stared at Billy, my mouth hanging open. “How the hell do you—”

“If I told you, I’d have to kill you, and that is not going to happen.”

“You love me too much?” I asked with a grin.

“If he kills you, he becomes a Baron, and as hard as his job is, he does not want yours!” Scott explained.

“I hate you both,” I pouted. I couldn’t hold the pout for long, and I giggled as I grabbed them both by the hands and pulled them up the back stairs. Rather than send either as a messenger, I sent Tommy a mind-to-mind asking him to clear our wing of the second floor and prevent anyone, especially the twins, from bothering us.

As we were running up the stairs, Scott asked, “Will he be our son? Or just our ward until we find his parents?”

“They’re dead. Trevor didn’t tell me the story yet, but he said it’s bad,” I explained.

“What about Craig?” Billy asked.

“He told me about Easter Sunday when he watched his mother’s boyfriend kill her. I almost lost it.”

Our mood was much more somber when we got to the door that held these two innocent angels. We paused, each of us pulling ourselves together, and then I tapped on the door and pushed it open. We were touched by what we found. Craig was awake but wrapped around a sleeping Chipper. When he saw us, he held his finger to his lips and whispered, “He had a nightmare, Lord Greg. When he does that, I hold him, and he calms down.”

“Well, he’s lucky to have you here to hold him then, huh?” I grinned.

Craig’s face fell, and I could sense his fears returning. That’s not right. It wasn’t fear, it was insecurity. When he opened his mouth to speak, I knew what he was going to ask.

“What’s gonna happen to us now, My Greg?”

“Well, what do you want to happen to you now?” I asked, giving him a grin.

“I don’t wanna tell you. You’ll be mad at me,” he mumbled.

I sat on the bed and pulled him to me. Craig was still in the filthy clothes he had on when I met him, but now I noticed they were covered in blood, Trevor’s blood. I brushed the hair from his eyes and said, “I won’t be mad, buddy, I promise. And I’m a baron; I gotta keep my promises.”

Craig looked at the three of us, then settled his gaze on me. “I’d kinda like to stay here and live with you, Lord Greg, but…”

“But only kinda, and you really want something else? And you’re afraid we won’t like you?”

I saw the slightest nod and smiled. “So, what is it that you really want?”

I felt him calm, and his voice rose from the depression to a more normal tone as he said, “I wanna live with My Josh if he’ll let me.”

Billy took the boy’s hands in his and asked, “What did you feel when you were looking at Josh last night?”

He blushed and looked down. “It’s embarrassing, but it’s like… um… it’s like when I rub my...”

“Like when you rub your penis?” Scott asked.

“Yeah, cept it’s not as intense, but it’s like when I get my tingles and my belly flutters and, you know.”

Billy smiled at him. “But it doesn’t stop and you get it when you just think about him, like right now?”

He nodded.

“Well, we can’t make any promises, but we’ll see if we can help you make that happen, okay buddy? And we don’t hate you; we could never hate you.” Scott said, reaching out to caress the freckled face.

“Can you help us give Chipper a shower while Uncle Billy goes and asks his grandma if she has any clothes that will fit you so you can look good for Your Josh?” I asked.

“I’d like that, Lord Greg.”

“How about you ignore all that Lord stuff and just call me Uncle Greg?” I asked as I set his feet on the floor and reached to pick Chipper up.

“So would I call My Josh, Uncle Josh?”

Scott grinned and said, “I think you should ask him when we see him, but you can call me Uncle Scott, okay?”

The body in my arms squirmed and muttered, “Where we goin, Uncle Greg?”

“We’re gonna take two dirt piles to the shower,” Scott answered. “I bet there’s a couple boys in there somewhere.”

Chipper giggled and said, “You’re silly, Uncle Scott. I’m a boy, not a dirt pile.”

As Scott got the water going and warmed up, I took the boys to the toilet, where they played ‘cross the streams,’ getting more on the floor than in the bowl, but that’s fine. I can clean it up later. Neither one showed any concern about being naked with us in the room, which seemed to say that Trevor and Johnny Fletcher had done their job keeping the boys safe from the predators.

It was funny watching Scott try to supervise the boys as they showered, making sure they actually washed while he did his best not to get his clothes wet. Finally, having had enough entertainment, I stripped my clothes off and joined them. They had seen me naked last night, so I didn’t see a problem, and apparently, neither did they. Craig soaped up a washcloth and washed Chipper from top to bottom: literally.  He actually had the boy lift his feet so he could scrub the filth off the bottoms of his feet. Chipper tried to return the favor but wasn’t up to the task. I was touched when Craig handed me the cloth and soap and asked me to wash him. I avoided his more private areas, and he noticed.

“Ya gotta wash me everywhere, Uncle Greg,” he admonished.

“I shouldn’t touch you there, Craig. I know you’ve been told about that.”

“Yeah, but you’re washin’ him, Uncle Greg, it’s ok. You’re not a perv,” Chipper argued.

Rather than make an issue of it, I gave in and scrubbed his groin. Of course, him being an adolescent, his little penis stood proud, and of course, Chipper noticed, but our talk in the Denali may have had an effect because he didn’t say anything. When I washed his rear, I learned a lesson about the hygiene habits of homeless boys. After this discovery, I grabbed Chipper and washed some hidden filth from his little behind as well. After we rinsed off, Scott tossed me a bath sheet, then wrapped Chipper in another. I handed the sheet to Craig and told him to dry off while I grabbed a third and dried myself. We were almost dry when Billy showed up carrying shorts and tee shirts.

“What about underwears,” Chipper asked.

“I couldn’t find any, buddy; you’ll have to go commando.” As soon as Billy explained it, I knew it would come back to haunt him, but I held my tongue.

Craig was dressed and started jumping up and down. “Can we go see My Josh now? Pleeeease, Uncle Greg?”

“Come with us to our room so I can get dressed, then we’ll go down together, okay?” Billy met my eyes, and that one brief contact sent him my thoughts. He started undressing, and Scott caught on. Fifteen minutes later, we descended the front stairs, and the room fell silent.

After our shower with the boys, Billy, Scott, and I dressed in our official Dracul uniforms of office, including our capes and swords. Tommy had noticed this and not only got himself into uniform but somehow managed to get Captain Vega and Sergeant Riva in theirs as well.

As I had asked when we were upstairs, Tommy had come down just before us and guided Joshua into the dining room, keeping him distracted while we brought the boys down and asked Mary to take them to the basement to play video games until we sent for them. With that accomplished, the three of us entered the dining room as Tommy announced that Court would resume in five minutes.

I sat at the table and slowly looked around the room. “The Court asks that you all remain silent until I finish announcing the decision on the petition presented to this Court.” I waited to make certain that everyone understood that I meant silent, and then I made the announcement.

“This Court spent quite some time considering your petition, Mr. Barnes, and at this time, I cannot grant you the pardon you have asked for. There are issues that I have yet to resolve, and until these issues are addressed, the sentence remains as entered. That said, this Court will grant a forty-eight-hour stay of execution so I can attempt to resolve the issues mentioned and again take up the consideration of this petition. During this period, the convicts are to remain in this house and in sight of a Baronial Marshal. They are further ordered to meet with this Court in private, with myself, their counsel, and the Lord Steward in attendance. These meetings are to begin at eight this morning and will continue until this matter is resolved.

“In the interest of the general public, this Court will take a five-minute recess to briefly meet with all three convicts, their counsel, and the Lord Steward. I ask that you all remain in place while we quickly resolve this single issue. Court is in recess.”

I stood and quickly left the room, followed closely by Billy, Chris, Trevor, Johnny, and Tanya. The second the door was closed, Chris snarled at me, “You betrayed my trust, My Lord!”

“Hold your tongue, Mr. Barnes; this is still an official proceeding.” I snapped, taking my stress out on Chris. “I arranged this meeting to explain the situation to your clients. Shall I do that? Or should I let them spend the next several hours wondering if they’re actually going to die?”

“Forgive me, My Lord. I feel I’ve failed my clients and failed you.”

“You didn’t fail anyone, Mr. Barnes. You exceeded my expectations. That, precisely, is the problem.”

The four of them looked confused, and Chris asked, “Would you explain that, My Lord?”

“Lord Steward, we are off the official record, if the counselor will allow?”

“Of course, My Lord,” Chris replied.

I sighed. “Everyone take a seat; I’ll try to be as brief as I can.” They all found a seat, and I sat at the desk and began my explanation.

“I was fully prepared to honor our agreement from last night when I made it. Unfortunately, on the way here, I talked to Trevor, and that got me thinking. The first option was that you ran. What are you going to do after you run, if you run? You would end up back on the streets, and that solves nothing. I damn near killed Trevor, and it gained all of you nothing. The second option is you stayed past dawn, and you’re guests here. Now you feel like you’re imposing and charity cases, and that makes you depressed, and again, you probably end up on the streets. Does anyone disagree with my thinking so far?”

I waited, but no one spoke. “Then I got the idea that we tried. Did Chris explain the legal aspects of it to you?”

“I didn’t really have time, Greg. I wish you’d given me a couple of hours, but we both will learn. Anyway, what Greg’s talking about is the fact that if he somehow ignored Johnny’s confession and found you guys innocent, the viscount or the count could review the case and change the ruling. George could do that, too, but you heard him say that he would not touch it, so we needed a way to block the higher nobles from overturning Greg’s decision. Are you with me so far?”

They nodded, and I picked up where Chris had left off. “I knew that Chris had read the same things I’ve read, and we’ve known each other for, well, longer than you guys have been alive, no offense.” I laughed, as did they. “So, I had to give Chris hints without actually telling him what to do. Otherwise, it’s obvious that the trial is a sham. From the reactions of those outside this room, we achieved that, right?”

“I’d say so, Greg. Grandma wants to slap you,” Billy said.

“So, Greg had to find you guilty, and I had to make that stupid attempt at an appeal. We all knew there was no hope. Greg even pounded that point home during the trial. So now, we’re here, at the pardon.” Chris explained. He then turned to me and asked, “Would you be so kind as to tell me how I fucked it up?”

“You didn’t fuck it up, Chris. I didn’t think it through as far as you did. I expected a fastball, but you threw a curve, and I dropped it. Before this trial idea, you guys ended up back on the streets. We’ve agreed on that, right?” They nodded. “Well, I didn’t consider the fact that, if I grant you a pardon, you still end up on the streets, and we’re right back where we started, and I’ve played games with my first Baronial Court. If I’m going to risk that, I want an actual just result.”

“Hold up, Greg, you’re giving me credit for something I didn’t realize.”

“Then why the hell did your pardon petition ask for a conditional pardon?”

Chris stared at me for almost an entire minute. Then he started laughing. “You think I put that in there so you can give them conditions that let you put them in the school or in some other service to you so they’re not homeless, but it doesn’t seem like charity, so they keep their self-respect.”

“Well,” I said, drawing out the word. “isn’t that why you did it?”

“I put it in there so you could save face. So you could show that they were punished for a crime without losing their lives for something they did to save those lives. I did it for you, Greg.”

“So, in essence,” Billy said, “you’re both saying that the fates stuck their fingers in and provided this fix to an issue that none of us could solve.”

I nodded slowly as I observed, “It would seem so, Billy.”

“And these issues that you need to resolve?” Chris asked.

I looked at the convicts and said, “I want to sit with each of you and find out what you want to do with your lives. Then I can, hopefully, set up the conditions to help you achieve that.”

Tanya burst into tears. Through her sobs, she said, “So, no matter what, we’re not gonna die?”

I jumped up and knelt in front of her, saying, “You were never going to die, Tanya. There’s no way in hell I’m going to allow you to die for surviving how vampires survived for thousands of years. I would die in your place first.”

Trevor stared at me as he said, “You mean that, don’t you, My Lord?”

“I swear it on my honor, Trevor.”

Trevor dropped to his knee, lowered his head, and said, “Make my condition that I must serve you, My Lord, for as long as you can tolerate me.”

I pulled him to his feet and looked into his eyes. “I can do that, Trevor, but I still need to know how you would serve me best.”

I looked at Johnny and saw that he seemed to be staring at the floor, so I asked, “You’ve been awfully quiet over there. What are you thinking?”

He raised his head, and I saw the tears. “That, for the first time in my life, I have options. I’m with Trevor, My Lord. Whatever conditions you put in place, I ask that it somehow put me in service to you. You’ve given me a life—not just keeping me alive, but an actual life.”

I looked at Chris, and he knew what I was thinking, but I wanted to let him do it, so I waited.

“Tanya?” Chris asked. “What about you? Is there something in particular you’d like to do? Do you want to go to college? Or work in a factory? Or I don’t know, tell me what you’d like to do with your life.”

“After my parents threw me out, I stopped thinking about a future, Mr. Barnes. I just figured I’d survive by being a whore. I don’t suppose there’s a job posting for that, is there?” Her voice sounded totally serious, but her face told me that she was trying to joke.

“Sorry, hon, wrong equipment for this house,” I said, smirking at her.

“Speak for yourself,” Billy said, sounding insulted.

“I need a serious answer, Tanya. What would you like to do?” I asked, putting genuine concern in my voice.

“Other than working for you as a whore, I was serious, My Lord. I really have no clue.”

Chris was thinking, but somehow, I knew that Billy would come up with it, so I waited. I was right.

“Tanya, before the trial, Greg asked if you trusted him. Do you still?” Billy asked.

She nodded and said, “Now more than ever, My Lord, why?”

“Well,” Billy said, drawing the word out as he thought it through, “it seems to me that you don’t have to specify what service they’re doing for you, Greg, just that they’re bound to service for however many years. Am I right, Chris?”

Chris started nodding, slowly at first, but then faster. “It’s that simple, Greg. Billy’s right. You don’t need to address some issues; you can address them after the fact. Your people need this resolved now, not two days from now.”

“You know, I’m not supposed to have the defense attorney tell me that I need to make a ruling,” I laughed. “OK, I agree. Now we have to agree on a time period that’s fair.”

“Before you start talking about ten to twenty years, you need to show an actual punishment that somehow compares to the death sentence, Greg,” Chris argued. “Don’t think like a human; to a vampire, twenty years is a blink of an eye.”

I looked at the three vampires in front of me, none of them older than ten years. “To a ten-year-old, ten years is a lifetime, Chris.”

“If I may offer another thought, gentlemen?” Billy said, being snarky. I stared at him, raised an eyebrow, and waited. “Just like you can grant a pardon, you can also commute a sentence.”

“If Greg ever gets tired of you, Billy, my dad would just love to have you in his office,” Chris said. “You can make the conditions for five hundred years; it doesn’t matter. As long as they’re in your service, you can choose when to commute it.”

I slowly shook my head until they stared at me. Then I said, “You’re seeing the up sides to all of this, but what about them? Even if we just say one hundred years, they effectively become my slaves for one hundred years, or until they please me enough that I commute and release them. Regardless of how much freedom they have while in that service, they’re still bound to me.”

“But there must be a price for having committed a crime, My Lord; otherwise, we’re savages,” Johnny said in a voice barely above a whisper.

Trevor said, “Johnny’s right, My Lord. While I can’t imagine one hundred years, you reminded us at trial that we were facing two death sentences and twenty years. As Mr. Barnes said, compared to death, what’s five hundred years?”

“Greg,” Billy said, putting his arms around me. “You have the criminals saying that one hundred years is a light sentence, and you are saying that twenty is too long. Give them one hundred, and you can commute it in twenty if you want. Isn’t that what happens in the human courts? Death gets commuted to life without parole? But Chris has a point: if word gets around and people start to think that you fudged a capital trial, no one will respect you.”

I looked into the eyes of each of these ‘convicts,’ and each one gave me a firm nod. It was done; we just needed to finish it. I walked behind the desk and nodded to Chris. When he stood, the others stood.

“Lord Steward, we are now back on the record. Let the record show that after heated debate, the Court has been beaten down by the defense and reluctantly agrees that, as a condition of pardon, the convicts shall labor in service to Baron Fowler for a period of at least eighty years and not exceed one hundred and fifty years. Is this our agreement, Mr. Barnes?” I asked, giving Chris a wink.

He got it and replied, “I still say one hundred and fifty is too long, My Lord, for individuals who were essentially stealing food and doing so in a manner that vampires did for thousands of years. I will ask again that you make the maximum term of one hundred years, My Lord”

I shook my head and let out a long, groaning sigh. “I will agree to this, Mr. Barnes, on the condition that I do not have to see your face in my Court after today for at least a week.”

“To keep my clients alive, My Lord, you may extend that to two weeks, and I’ll happily comply.”

“Then let us return to the Court and put an end to this whole affair. You may escort the convicts to the Court and let the Chief Marshal know that I will return in a moment.”

When they were gone, I turned and grabbed Billy, pulling him into a passionate kiss. When we separated, I asked, “So, you’d toss me to the curb for Tanya?”

“Not in a hundred years,” he replied with a smirk.

I turned and headed for the door, calling over my shoulder, “Asshole.”

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