Ingrizon's Hearing (1/2)

Writers: Aaron, Devin, Duskdog, Estelle
Date Posted: 21st June 2025
Series: Guarding Gil

Characters: N'vanik, Corofel, Tr'vel, Alyena, R'ayl, Nidre, Oriel, Gil, Ingrizon, Trennemar
Description: Corofel presides over a hearing to decide if Ingrizon should be made Holdless.
Location: Emerald Falls Hold
Date: month 3, day 10 of Turn 12

N'vanik

Corofel

Tr'vel

Nidre

A small group of dragons landed in the Gather Square, the Weyrleader's
huge bronze and the Weyrwoman Second's small gold impossible to miss.
A pair of blues accompanied them, one
missing an eye. Tr'vel had taken charge of the prisoner, so this time
Gil was riding with N'vanik. The Weyrleader dismounted and helped the
former holder down as the young lord approached.

Corofel nodded to N'vanik and the others. Once again, his retinue was
prepared with masterful direction from his senior staff to provide for
everyone's comfort and for the venue for the hearing.

"Everything is prepared inside. This is Journeyman Harper Trennemar,
Ingrizon's advocate." N'vanik very well may have remembered him from
Grevan's trial.

"Lord Corofel," Nidre nodded, "Journeyman Trennemar. I'm sure you'll
want some time to speak with your client once we've all gotten settled
inside, and of course you'll have it."

She didn't envy the harper one bit. It couldn't be easy to speak on
behalf of someone whose crimes spoke so loudly for themselves, but it
was a necessary part of the process. What a rotten mess the whole
thing was. And probably more preventable than anyone involved was
willing to admit. Though hindsight, of course, was always clearer.

"Lord Corofel. Journeyman Trennemar." N'vanik inclined his head,
managing to keep his expression (mostly) neutral. He was glad to have
Nidre with him to help him keep a cool head.

"Ma'am. Sir." Trennemar nodded to both Nidre and N'vanik. "I appreciate
your understanding."

Corofel had arranged to hold court in the hold's largest indoor space,
which could accommodate a large number of observers while remaining
relatively easy to protect-- and he had invited a large number of
observers. However, they were scheduled to arrive a bit later, once
everyone involved in the hearing itself was situated and secure. He did
not need anyone attacking the weyrfolk or Ingrizon at Emerald Falls, and
he had given Captain Oriel orders to ensure everyone's safety. Uniformed
guards were conspicuously posted in all of the obvious places, and many
more were watching under cover.

"My staff will make sure everyone has anything they need for this
process to go smoothly," he said, once he had given them a quick tour of
the adjoining spaces set aside for each of them. "As you have no doubt
noticed, Captain Oriel is sharply focused on maintaining security during
your visit."

Gil had seen the guards, and a few more who weren't in uniform. It felt
disorienting to be back in Emerald Falls, where he'd spent so long
standing on guard duty himself. The halls all looked much the same, but
the faces were different. Not many of the men he'd served alongside were
left. After so many Turns, some would have retired, and he'd heard
Corowal had brought his own people from Coral Bay.

He glanced at Alyena and R'ayl. Both were pale, and the young boy seemed
particularly apprehensive, so he offered them both a reassuring smile.
As strange as it was to be back, and though he wasn't without nerves of
his own, he knew he had a job to do: to explain what happened and get
justice for the mother and son.

He wished he could exchange a few words with Tr'vel, but knew that now
wasn't the time to distract him. Ingrizon was gazing around him with a
sneer and an air of disdain for the whole proceedings, but Gil knew he
was capable of a swift and vicious attack if given half a chance.

**Calm, calm, calm,** N'vanik kept telling himself. "Journeyman
Trennemar, would you like to speak with your client now? My guard will
escort him, but he can stay outside the door if you'd like." If the
harper wanted to risk his life being alone with Ingrizon, that was his
business.

"Yes, please," said Trennemar. He could handle himself long enough for
a guard posted outside to interrupt if necessary. "And thank you."

Tr'vel marched Ingrizon out, following the harper.

"Anything we need to discuss before they get back?" N'vanik asked.

"The hearing will be open to the public," said Corofel. He was sure
that if he was not completely transparent, Master Aleriand would be
quick to publish some trash in his stupid rag about what a tyrant he
was. "But Captain Oriel will be checking attendees for weaponry or any
other chicanery, and there is a limited amount of seating for
observers in the gallery. Any disruptions will be handled swiftly, and
they will be advised as such."

"All right," N'vanik nodded. Waiting for Ingrizon and the harper to
return was uncomfortable and N'vanik had to lean on his dragon to keep
steady. He kept thinking he should have taken Cyradis's advice and
dumped the man /between/.

"Keeping it open is a good idea," Nidre said thoughtfully. "Not just
so they know this is all above-board and that there's plenty of
evidence of his guilt, but so they can be reminded -- right in front
of their faces, not just secondhand rumors about someone getting
'disappeared' at the Weyr -- that there are consequences. The wheels
of justice _do_ turn." She glanced at N'vanik with a wry smile tugging
at the corner of her lips, nudging his shoulder with her own briefly.
"Even if it's too slow for _some_ of us."

The Weyrleader managed a small, amused smile for her.

"Would you all care to take your seats?" said Corofel. "This is
Lieutenant Elivare. He'll be representing Captain Oriel at the hearing
and presenting the evidence to show probable cause for the execution
of the warrants at White Hollow." The man was relatively new and
freshly promoted, but he was somewhat removed from the case and had no
personal stake in it, and he was not one of the men Lord Corowal had
brought in to take control of the guard at Emerald Falls.

Faranth, N'vanik was going to have to sit through this whole stupid
thing while Corofel made a show about what a good, rule-following lord
he was.

Gil bowed his head to the Lord Holder and the dragonriders, then
escorted Alyena and her son over to the seats for the witnesses. The
Headwoman was a match for anyone, he thought, but he hoped that the
harper wouldn't give the boy a hard time. With luck they'd have found
enough evidence at White Hollow and Ingrizon's own hold to condemn him
regardless of the attack.

A while later Ingrizon and the harper returned and the hearing finally
began. N'vanik fought an urge to tap his fingers on the arm of the
chair. There were holders watching and he had to at least try to put
on a good public face.

By the time Trennemar seated himself next to Ingrizon at the defense
table, the gallery was full to the brim. And the evidence against the
man was, indeed, substantial. Oriel presented a detailed, step-by-step
explanation of every piece of the puzzle that led to the warrants for
White Hollow. Trennemar did his best to poke holes and provoke doubt
at every juncture, but even with a lower standard of evidence, there
was little he could do.

When Oriel moved on to the evidence they had seized at White Hollow
and the witness testimony they had arranged, the defense was even more
hopeless. Still, Trennemar played his role with expertise and forced
the captain to defend every single piece of evidence he could without
drawing attention to anything that would harm Ingrizon's case. It
would be difficult for anyone watching to accuse him of giving
anything less than the best defense Ingrizon could have hoped for.

At last, Oriel moved that Corofel allow N'vanik to present the
evidence of Ingrizon's actions after he had fled from justice.

"Ingrizon's alleged actions outside my jurisdiction will have no
bearing on my verdict," said Corofel. "But on the question of
extradition, I will take these accusations into consideration. You
have the floor, Weyrleader," said the Lord.

N'vanik surged to his feet. "I call Gilbek as witness."

Gil rose and went to stand near where Oriel had. His demeanour was calm,
and the familiarity of the situation helped. He'd given evidence before
in the Hold, when he'd worked there, though never to such an audience or
for so serious a crime.

Ingrizon, who had sat through the proceedings with an air of bored
disdain up until then, half-rose from his seat with his eyes burning
with hatred. "Him! You can't trust anything he says. He's a holdless
man, a former guard of White Hollow who was dismissed for disobeying
orders. He's got a grudge against us."

Trennemar resisted the urge to put his head in his hands.

"Counsel, I expect you to maintain control of your client," said
Corofel. "No more outbursts, please."

"I'll make the case to impeach their witnesses when it's our turn,"
the Harper whispered. "This is your best chance, and Corofel isn't
going to be any more inclined to listen if you speak out of turn."

N'vanik's head whipped around at Ingrizon's outburst. }:Be calm, mine.:{

The Weyrleader took a slow breath. "Gilbek is here to speak about an
incident witnessed by scores of weyrfolk in the middle of the dining
cavern." He turned to the former guard. "Please tell everyone what you
saw that day."

Nidre had to bite back an entirely inappropriate wry grin -- literally,
biting the inside of her cheek. Ingrizon was going to convict himself if
he kept acting like that. It was for the best if he made himself look
like a crazy fool in front of his peers, anyway. So long as Gilbek kept
a calm demeanor -- and she expected he would -- the contrast would be
sharply evident to the gallery, which could ultimately only work in the
Weyr's favor.

"I was in the dining cavern at the Weyr with Bluerider Tr'vel." Gil's
voice was steady, not loud but carrying to the holders in the furthest
part of the gallery. He showed no sign of being troubled by the accused
man's words. "I saw Holder Ingrizon, who I recognized from when I worked
at White Hollow, approaching one of the tables where there was a group
of weyrfolk sitting. I knew he had no good reason to be there, so I ran
to intercept him, and as I approached I saw him draw a blade on a young
dragonrider. He shouted something about traitors - and then I tackled him."

"So he came to the Weyr," N'vanik said in as steady a voice as he
could manage. "with the express purpose of killing a dragonrider. One,
I might add, not yet old enough for the fighting Wings." He glanced at
the people in the gallery. "Is this the kind of man you want walking
free among you?"

"My Lord Corofel," said Trennemar. "I object to the Weyrleader's
statement on the grounds that he is speculating and leading the
witness."

Corofel tilted his head for a moment, but then nodded.

"Your objection is sustained. Weyrleader, please refrain from speculation."

N'vanik's eye twitched. }:You don't actually want to strangle the Lord
Holder,:{ Loseth said calmly. }:You have a plan, keep going.:{

"Drew a knife on a teenage boy, then," the Weyrleader said. "You
sustained an injury, didn't you?" he asked Gil.

"Yes, he caught me on the arm with the knife in the struggle. I told him
to drop it more than once, but he didn't, so - I'm afraid I might have
broken his wrist," Gil admitted.

That annoyed N'vanik, but then he realized it was probably better that
Gil volunteered that information. "You only did what you had to in
order to protect yourself and others. Ingrizon mentioned you had
disobeyed orders when you were a guard at White Hollow. What order did
you disobey?"

Last updated on the June 23rd 2025

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