Midnight's Song (5 page)

He waited for an answer
that wouldn’t come. Yes, I did have a good reason. He probably
wouldn’t think so. I shook my head as if to say no, but he
obviously couldn’t see it. One of the bailiffs had to speak up for
me.

“She’s shaking her head, Your
Honor.”

“Thank you,
bailiff.” The Judge adjusted his bifocals again. “Now then, I’m
inclined to inform you that a missed court date is punishable by a
fine of 200 quint. Seeing that you do not presently have the money,
the court is willing to arrange a deal in exchange for your
complete cooperation
.”
The old man paused for a moment before callously continuing. “Join
the 3
^rd
caste, and the fine will be waived in
full.”

It seemed obvious that their
definition of cooperation was not mine. It had always been said
that this decision was solely mine, bar the prospect that it was
really all just a clever façade over subordination. Let’s not humor
ourselves – there was no real choice. It was simply another way for
me to bow to the Magistrate. Choose one path and be rewarded.
Choose the other and be forced to live with a debt that my family
could never repay. I didn’t know much at that moment, but I did
know one thing:

They couldn’t force a decision out of
me if I was mute.

“Well…?” The judge again
questioned, raising an eyebrow.

I stood there in complete
silence.

“Don’t be difficult. Tell me your
decision or you will face serious consequences!”

Nothing.

After a few moments
of silence, the judge became angry. His expression became fierce
and grumbling. “You will not speak?! Very well. The court has now
raised your fine to
400 quint.”
He exasperatedly snarled at me. “Your next
hearing will be in two days. If you are silent then, your fine will
be raised by two-hundred more! Take her away!”

The protest would
only continue. Two days later, they took me again. Silence.
600 quint.
Two days
after that, more silence.
800
quint.
After that, more time in my cage.
Then there was another appearance, and 200 more quint to worry
about as the result. Soon I had been caged for over two weeks –
though strangely, my health was improving. Ironically enough, I
received more food as a convict than I had as a
citizen.

After the
2
^nd
week, it became obvious to my entire family that I was going
to remain as stubborn as a mule. With each silent refusal, everyone
realized that the prospect grew larger and larger of the judge
simply banging his mallet and rendering me
casteless
. Word travelled to my
mother’s family very quickly. In a desperate attempt to help,
Grandmamma visited Papa. Despite his prior convictions, he agreed
to meet with her in one last desperate plea to save my
life.

It was known that
this type of conspiring was illegal in its entirety – so the
meeting had to be organized with extreme care. They agreed to meet
in the conference room at a hotel in the wealthy
8
^th
district; a place where no one would suspect a person of our
class to have business. They sat across from each other at an oak
table exchanging solemn glances as they discussed the
inevitable.

“We both know that Elissa
is running out of time.” Grandmamma told him, sliding a stack of
papers across the table. “The girl is just like her mother –
immovable as a load of bricks. We cannot have her deemed
casteless!”

She slid them to him, and he looked
down at them desperately. He knew it was true. Time was running out
until I would be. But now, it seemed there was another way. Though,
it was a method which he was reluctant to take part in – for he
knew I would not do so willingly.

“Please, sign the
papers Gaerwyn. I understand you are slow to trust me – but I
promise that I will take good care of the girl. I assure you that
she will be able to return when she comes of age,” the woman
persuaded. “You know the truth – I don’t even have to say. If you
will consent to this, she’ll be spared from it all and
still
allowed the
liberty of her choice when she is of sound enough mind to make it.
Your fine will be gone and your debt repaid – something that I
would have been prohibited to interfere with for any other
way.”

He looked up at my
grandmother, then back down at the papers. His fingers trembled as
he moved the pen. Papa was well aware of what would happen if he
didn’t. Even if my mother’s family paid the fine, my fate would be
sealed. Poverty would gnaw away at my tiny bones until they became
nothing. Not able to bear the thought of losing another love, he
signed the paper.

“Wait,” his eyes
moved down the document. “It requires one from
her.
”

It wasn’t a question – they knew it
was there. If they showed it to me they knew I’d refuse it. There
was no time to ponder it, they simply had to move. The usually
polite, soft spoken woman sat up in her chair with a rarely seen
kind of grit and made the most audacious command:

“
Forge it.”

With the next stroke of that pen, my
life was changed forever. The plan was now in motion. They came to
get me from my cell that day.

“The judge wants to see
you,” the guard barked. “It’s on special notice.”

I went through all of the
usual twists and turns of my journey from cell-to-judge. This time
the atmosphere was different. I could sense it in my bones and feel
it in my endless trembling. Soon, I saw Papa in the corner of the
room and felt my heart rapidly thud. I witnessed endless pain in
his withered eyes. The judge entered, wearing his bright sash and
ominous crest.

“Elissa McClellan,”
the judge started, taking his seat. “You’ve come before me 7 times
in utter silence. It’s obvious you
can
hear. In my opinion, you should
be casteless!”

Casteless.
I looked over to my father and closed my eyes.
The next words I heard caused my heart to nearly stop
beating.

“But, there has been a change. Your
fine has been paid and you are to be freed immediately.”

The words almost didn’t seem real.
What was going on? Who would do this? What was this – a miracle of
God himself?

“Paid by whom?” I confoundedly asked;
the first words I’d uttered since coming here.

The doors in the back of the courtroom
jetted open. A tall, darkly-complexioned boy wheeled a familiar old
woman into the room. Two familiar ladies walked closely behind.
Both were dressed in vibrant, lacy dresses with exaggerated bustles
and veiled hats. They came up the center aisle and stopped before
the arbitrator.

“Your honor,” the old woman started.
“We thank you for allowing us to be here and state our case. You
have such wonderful flexibility.”

As soon as I recognized them I my
excitement quiet down. They were my mother’s family – Grandmamma,
Wren, and Beeti. This was more than a simple bail-out. This was
more than anything I’d ever known or seen. I knew inside that there
had to be more to it than a kind, selfless act – it had to be a
proposition with strings attached.

“These women have come to
me today with a special proposition in mind that would seem to
satisfy both your wishes and those of the court.” The judge stated
bluntly.

As if they knew anything
of my wishes at all. The only thing that I wished now was that my
life had been different – and I had realized that to be impossible.
So, I had stopped wishing a long time ago. My grandmother suddenly
looked over at me pityingly. It was as if she could read my heart
and mind from simply looking at me. The judge urged someone from
the party to come up to the podium and make their case. Wren
volunteered.

“Thank you Your
Honor,” she told him, unfolding a paper and reading from it
directly. “As you know, our decision to pay the fine is without
discretion. Though, we propose to the court that long with the fine
being paid: you allow Elissa to go free and return home with
us.
”

That was it. I knew
it. They were here to steal me. To force me to become one of
them.

“Wait –” I
interjected, “But I still have not made my choice. I can’t
simply
leave
with
them if I haven’t chosen to be part of the
3
^rd
caste!”

The judge knocked
his mallet against the table and demanded silence. Wren continued.
“Well, your honor – what we propose is special and... fitting of
the situation. My niece has been subjected to tremendous hardship
over the last few months. The girl’s mother – my sister Rose –
passed tragically last spring. Since then the girl has fallen ill
from the grief
and the starvation that has
plagued our land. Look at her! Can you not see that she is
sick?”

Technically, I
wasn’t
that
sick.
Yes, my face was pale and hollow from hunger. But, I was no longer
near death. Una had helped nurse me back to health, and the
jailhouse menu actually wasn’t that bad. It was a very good thing
that the Magistrate believed that ample food would lessen prison
uprisings. Still, I didn’t dare argue. I could already tell that
Wren’s class distinction was turning the judge in my
favor.

“Your Honor, it is obvious
that this girl is in no place to make her decision right. She is
physically and mentally unable. The doctors on the Magistrate’s
High Medical Council have clearly stated that it takes
approximately 3 years to recover from the grief of losing one’s
mother or father,” she handed a piece of paper to the judge that
reaffirmed her statement. The paper could have honestly said
anything. It may not have even said anything at all. The judge
couldn’t make out a single word of its tiny print, even with his
monocle. He simply played along as if it was complete
truth.

“Grief is a very
impairing thing, Most Respectable Judge. That is why we propose
that you put Elissa’s decision on hold. We propose that you allow
her to come home with us until the drought is over and the grief
subsides. Our family will care for her, treat her for her ailments,
and educate her in the ways of a Lady for the three years’ time.
Then, after the three years’ time
she will
be allowed to make her decision.”

I stood up again,
breathless. What could these people have done to weave their way
around such an austere system? At that moment I simply couldn’t
fathom it. I was actually being allowed to leave this place
without
making my
decision! Half of my will wanted to jump and take great leaps of
joy around the room. The other half wanted to protest. The
protesting half quickly eyed Papa where he sat soberly on the other
side of the room.

“How could I leave my Papa?” I
interjected. “I can’t leave him, he’ll –”

“Silence!” The judge
knocked his mallet again. “You’re clearly not of sound enough mind
to decide. Besides, it clearly states here that everyone in your
family has signed the agreement…” he strained to look down at the
paper’s medium sized print and skimmed the page. “Everyone has
signed it, including
you.”

I’m sure that the man
realized that it was forgery just as well as I did at that moment.
My mother’s family was of great wealth and power all the same. In
lieu of their sparkling jewels and veiled faces the man didn’t
question it.

“This
is
your hand Miss
McClellan, is it not?”

I wanted to say no,
but I realized what the consequences would be. These were dangerous
waters to be playing in. If I didn’t tell them that I had
signed it, Papa would be sent prison for forgery
on a magisterial document. It seemed that the wealthier party was
above the law. Perhaps I was stubborn and naïve; but I was still
too brave to allow my papa to suffer in vain.

“Yes, it is.” I lied.

The judge took his heavy
mallet and swung it on the hard wood surface of his pedestal. I
closed my eyes, feeling that the mallet was hitting me along with
it. All the while, the whole room sat on the edge of bewilderment
expelling sighs of relief at the success of their secret plans. The
adjudicator stood up in his seat and made his
declaration.

“It’s settled then.
For the next three years Elissa will reside with the Devereaux
family in the 3
^rd
caste. In three years’ time she will appear again
before the court and make her final decision. You have one week
from this date to gather her belongings and arrive at the Devereaux
Estate.”

“I’m so sorry Lissie,” Papa cried on
the day of my departure. “Had I only been stronger for ya – this
would never’ve happened!”