Glitnir, the hall of justice
Chapter 14: Glitnir, the hall of justice
Having Snotra around proofed to be a glorious idea from the queen. It was exactly what you had needed. It wasn’t that you didn’t have any visitors, but they couldn’t stick around for long as they all had their own duties and lives to attend to. Djúpvitr too tried to visit you as often as she could as she snuck out of the servant wing or the kitchens during her breaks with the others. But even her short visits didn’t stop you from being bored the rest of the days. Prince Frey too was shortening his visits, because he would soon leave for Alfheim and had a lot of preparations to make, especially since some of the people he had come with wanted to stay a while longer here at the palace.
There’s only so much you can do while being forced to stay in your bed. Snotra had been shy at first, but as soon as you had assured her about five times that she wouldn’t get in trouble by gossiping, you had finally managed to get her to talk. And that’s exactly what you were doing right now, while she was eating a peach and lying next to you on the bed.
“I mean if Drifa was smart about it, she would keep her mouth shut and simply go to Dalla. But I will bet this month’s earnings that she will simply confront Arnora about it and have them both cleaning out the dungeons for a year or two.”
“Norns, would she truly do so? I mean I’ve heard quite a few things about the dungeons and I would try to avoid that as much as possible.” Snotra nodded while taking another bite of her peach.
“My thoughts exactly. I’m pretty sure the dungeons work with some kind of list as well. Every time a servant is send down there to clean it, they end up cleaning it again sometime later, again and again. As long as you remain unnoticed and behave, your name is more likely not going to end up on that list.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because it makes sense.” Snotra said and ate the last of the peach. She had just gotten up to throw the pit away when the doors opened and an einherjar walked in.
“It is time.” He said and then looked at Snotra, standing frozen by your bedside. “Make her presentable. Once you’re done, knock on the door. You have five minutes.” He said and then turned around and closed the door behind him to leave both you and Snotra behind, equally trembling. It was finally there, then. The trial. For the past week they had been trying to find all of the maids responsible and even some male servants had been arrested. The allfather had warned you that he would have you dragged or carried to the trial, but attend it, you would without a doubt.
“At least your mother bought you a new dress to wear.” Snotra said, trying to get both your nerves under control.
“No.” You said while she helped you into a sitting position. “I’m going to wear my servant dress. That way I’ll show everyone that I am just like the other maids, no different. I think I will get more sympathy like that, besides it is a statement that will not go unnoticed.”
“You’re right. The servant dress it is then.” Snotra beamed at you and helped you dress and braid your hair in a simple plait. When you were finally presentable, Snotra walked to the door and knocked to signal the einherjar to come back in and help you with the crutches. This was the first time, you were out of bed and even though that might have delighted you, the reason for it made you more than nervous. You had thought that perhaps the allfather would have given you advance notice, so you would be able to prepare yourself, but of course he had not and now you had no idea what to expect.
“Can you walk?” The einherjar asked while looking hesitantly at the way you were holding the crutches.
“I have never done this before.” You said feeling a little defensive at the way he was looking you up and down as if he was doubting you. To be honest, you had no idea how to work with these things and the fact that you had a broken arm and some broken ribs did nothing to approve your situation.
“Perhaps, it is better to use the chair? Or that I carry you?” The Einherjar asked as he approached you slowly. You knew he was right, but you would be damned if you entered the hall of justice as a weak little thing in the arms of an einherjar you didn’t even know.
“The chair it is.” You mumbled and the einherjar moved to grab it and help you in it. Once you were comfortable, he pushed the wheelchair out of the room and out of lord Blekk’s apartments, that you now called home. Three other einherjar were waiting outside and joined your side as you were pushed through the corridors. You had just passed the throne room when a figure approached your group of escorts from another corridor. When the figure stepped out of the shadows and was close enough to see his face, you immediately recognised him.
“Give us a moment.” Prince Loki said without looking at any of the einherjar.
“I’m afraid we can’t do that, my prince. The allfather ordered us to escort the maid straight to Glitnir for the trial.” That got prince Loki’s attention as he glared at the einherjar who had spoken with a look that would make any man shiver with fear.
“And you will escort her there, but not before you have given us a moment.” He said with an monotone voice, but that just made him sound more menacing. Your escort party all looked at each other with uncertain glances before the leader bowed for the prince and left with the others behind him to stand further away to await the prince’s approval to continue their escort of you.
“How are you?” The prince asked which made you furrow your brows. He had looked so murderous just to ask you how you were doing? He seemed to understand your silence and confused expression as he chuckled. “I’m only asking to ease into the conversation I had planned to have with you.” He said with a big smirk.
“What conversation?” You asked not answering his original question. The prince sighed, but kept his amused smile on his face.
“I wanted to offer you some advice on how to behave during the trial.” You huffed. Your brain couldn’t handle any tips and tricks at the moment, because you were simply too nervous to remember any of them.
“You will be asked to share your story. Make it as detailed as you can. That way you will reduce the amount of questions they will ask you later.” He said and then let his eyes rove over your body. “I must say the servant dress is a great touch. Very clever. It’s very important how people see you. The servants will expect you to be dressed like a noble and by dressing up like them, you make a clear statement. You would also do good to be pushed inside the hall of justice in your wheelchair, to show just how terribly injured you are. The jury consists mostly of old nobles of the court and they are prone to be sympathetic to helpless little girls. The allfather however, who will be passing his judgement, is not so easily persuaded. While the jury will plead in your favour as soon as you turn your sweet, pain-stricken, eyes on them, he will not be moved in the slightest. He’s all about strength and therefor you will have to pull yourself together to walk the last few feet to the witness chair where you will tell your story and answer some questions. This might help the allfather to make his questions a little less harsh.”
“Why are you helping me?” You mumbled out before you even realised you had said anything. You didn’t mean to say it out loud, but you were most definitely thinking about it. Why was he helping you? You were nothing to him, no one. Yet here he was, looking out for you and even giving you tips on how best to survive the trial. He looked taken aback by your question and even hurt. He clenched his jaw and you saw his expression change to an icy one.
“As pathetic as you are, you were nearly killed by even more pathetic creatures. I may be wicked, but even I will not stand by and watch an innocent get slaughtered for nothing, even if you may not believe so.” Now you were the one who was hurt.
“My prince, that’s not what-“
“I don’t want to hear it.” He hissed in your face. “I’m helping you without any alternative motives, simply because I want to. I thought you to be clever enough to not believe in rumours or gossip, but here you are treating me as the rest of them! Like the dark prince they all claim me to be.” You were truly shocked at the harsh words and his cold eyes.
“Please, I didn’t mean-“ He interrupted you again as he lowered his face inches away from your own. You could see the little flecks of blue in his emerald green eyes and feel his cold breath on your skin.
“If I were you I would be careful, little one. After all I am the most powerful seidr-wielder in all of Asgard and it would be a shame if anyone else found out about there being another one like me in their midst, wouldn’t it?” Your breath hitched in your throat and you were pretty sure you felt all the blood drain out of your body.
He knew. And what was stopping him to tell his father, the king, about your secret. The prince had an evil smile on his face, but his eyes were empty of any kind of emotion. You were close to tears. You had been working so hard for all these years to keep your seidr hidden and yet, prince Loki knew about it without you ever suspecting a thing. How the hell did he even find out?
“Please.” You pleaded with a broken voice. The prince only snickered and called the guards over to continue their escort.
“Keep your grovelling and pleading for the jury, they love that sort of act.” He said hatefully while you were left heartbroken.
“I thought you to be different.” You whispered, more to yourself than anyone else. “I was wrong.” You didn’t even mean to actually say it, but it happened and the prince gave you an awfully hurt look as if he had been struck. A tear rolled down your cheek as an einherjar pushed your chair away from the corridor and into the direction of Glitnir where the trial would take place.
When the doors were opened and you were pushed inside by your escort, your breath was taken away. If you thought the throne room was magnificent than the hall of justice was truly indescribably beautiful. The hall was long with golden pillars and a ceiling completely inlayed with silver that mirrored the light that fell in through gigantic marble windows. The floor too seemed to be shining as if you were walking on the surface of a pool of milk. People were either sitting on a raised podium between the pillars or sitting on the ground. You noticed that the people who had seats were dressed more elaborately than the ones sitting on the ground. You assumed that some of these people had to be relatives of some of the accused which made a shiver run down your spine as their eyes kept following every move you made.
Like the prince had said the jury seemed to be sympathetic for your situation as their eyes were filled with pity as you rolled closer to them. To your surprise however you spotted prince Loki, prince Frey and prince Thor there as well. The former had his eyes on you, but his expression was unreadable while the latter seemed bored to no end.
“How in all of Yggdrasil did prince Loki get here while he had just been hissing at me a second ago?” You asked yourself and even thought that perhaps you were going mad. The stage in front of you looked threatening with the king on a high wooden chair and the jury around him. But no matter how threatening that sight might have looked, it evaporated as soon as you locked eyes with the very maids who had nearly killed you a few weeks ago. They were openly shooting daggers at you which was not going to improve their situation at all, given that everyone could see them doing it.
“Stop.” You said to the einherjar who was pushing your chair forward. He looked quizzingly at you. “I will walk the rest of the way.” You told him and you thought you saw a tiny movement at the edges of his mouth. He helped you get out of the chair and once your feet were on the ground and you felt the coldness of the marble through your casket and slipper, you took a deep breath, dreading what you were going to do now. The first step you took was horrible as a pain shot through your leg, but you clenched your fists and set your jaw. You were not going to show any weakness, at least not right now. After the trial you were free to growl in pain, but that had to wait.
The second step was as bad as the first, but still you kept going and going until you reached the three-step stairs to the bench. You didn’t know whether the silence in the hall was helping or not. For one thing you could pretend you were the only person in here, but for another it made you self-conscious about the slow pace you were going. Eventually you managed to plop yourself down on the hard wooden chair and adjust your leg, so it hopefully wouldn’t be throbbing as much. You had just taken a deep breath through your nose when a man with a booming voice spoke and asked your name which you gave.
“How did you get into the palace’s service?.” He asked next. If he was going to ask the same questions as the allfather had asked you before, then this wouldn’t be so bad.
“My father managed to get an application form for the position of maid. I travelled with my family to the capital to have an evaluation to which I was hired later on as a kitchen maid by the lady Rydigg.”
“And is that your current position?”
“No. I am the help of the esteemed archivist of the palace, lord Blekk.”
“And how did you manage to obtain this position?”
“During my evaluation with Rydigg, she asked me whether I could read or write. I told her I could do both and that I was capable of math as well. She then told me that she would consult with lord Blekk about my position and the next day I was send to the archives to try for my abilities. He eventually appointed me as his official help.” You heard one of the maids huff at this.
“Is all this true, lord Blekk?” The man asked and your eyes immediately shot up to look for him admits the jury, but then his voice came from your right. There he was, sitting on one of the seats of the raised platform.
“It is. Rydigg told me she had a girl who was gifted with the word and if I would be interested to have her around as my help. I told her I needed to see her talents and was surprised with the efficiency of her work and her eagerness to learn. I appointed her as my help because of that.”
“Thank you lord Blekk.” The man continued while lord Blekk kept his eyes fixed on him, rather than look at you. “Now tell us what happened with Thyri, lord Fandral’s former chambermaid.”
“She attacked me in the corridor when I was on my way to lord Skírnir’s apartments with his lunch.”
“And the reason for this?” You took a deep breath before continuing.
“She accused me falsely of… fornicating with her master.” Noise broke free in the hall as people whispered to each other or gasped at the statement.
“And you say these allegations are false?”
“Yes. Lord Fandral asked lord Blekk to make me his chambermaid, which lord Blekk refused. Thyri however was cross that her master would shove her aside for another and blamed me for this. When she saw me walking down the corridor she cussed at me and used violence. Eventually she stopped when…”
“When?” You gulped down the lump in your suddenly very dry throat.
“When prince Loki noticed the commotion.” More mumbling was heard from the crowd.
“Is this all true, my prince?” Prince Loki stood up and looked you straight in the eyes.
“It is. When I found her, she was lying face down in a pile of glass and porcelain with the other maid kicking her. I later on told lord Fandral to punish his chambermaid, which he did with ten lashings.”
“Thank you, my prince.” The man said and prince Loki sat back down, never breaking his eye contact with you. “Tell us what happened at the Imbolc feast, Kadlin.”
“I was serving the royal table, my lord, as is my duty. Then suddenly she comes to serve the princes while she was only supposed to serve the nobles at the lower tables. I will admit, I was a little cross for sharing my work with another, especially such honourable work as serving the royal house of Asgard. But I didn’t act on my anger, I never would. I simply let her serve the princes while I kept the queen and king’s goblets full at all times. When the royals left and I was done with cleaning the high table, I simply left.” She said and you gritted your teeth at her lies. She was the leader of the band of maids who attacked you and then left you for dead.
“And how do you plead?” The man asked the other maids. They all looked at each other before one of them spoke. You seemed to remember her as the one who had laughed in your face before the attack began.
“We were serving the nobles at the lower tables, my lord, just as she was. Although we don’t sit in a lord’s lap, drinking from his own goblet while we’re at work.” She said and another round of loud gasps was heard from the crowd. “She was rather drunk. Please, noble lords of the jury, don’t be too hard on her, it was after all her very first feast and perhaps she forgot that maids are not to behave like so.”
“You’re lying.” Prince Loki suddenly said as he stood up with force. “She was not drunk and she was clearly uncomfortable with how that vile man was treating her. That’s why I asked a servant to tell her to serve the royal table instead. She was clearly frightened as she kept trembling while pouring the wine. It would be wise, girl, to tell the truth from now on as I can tell when you are being dishonest. I would advise you all to cooperate for lying to your king is a serious crime.” The prince said with his trademark smirk and you could clearly see the girl pale and crumble under his gaze. The other maids too seemed to be uncomfortable as they started shifting on their seats.
“How do you say the night of the feast went?” The man asked you next. You took another deep breath before you delved into the long story of how you ended up being so badly injured. Djúpvitr too was dragged into the story as she explained the state in which she found you in. Things got sour however when you told everyone present that you recognise the maids who had definitely attacked you.
“She’s lying!” “I wasn’t there.” “No, it must be someone who looked like me.” Were some of the things the maids said in their defence, but they weren’t all that convincing.
“I will pass my judgement now!” The king roared and the entire hall went silent. “This could have ended in murder and given that the victim was found all alone, bleeding out, I will judge this case as I would a successful murder. Let it be known in all of Yggdrasil that acts of such violence will not go unpunished! Kadlin Eyjolfdottir, because you were described as the leader of this you will be punished with a fine of 500 gullkrónur and furthermore be banished from Asgardian soil for all eternity. You are no longer a citizen of Asgard!” He said and banged Gungnir on the ground while the whole room broke out in loud noise with the underlining pleading of Kadlin.
“Grima Grisdottir for dealing the first blow you will be fined 400 gullkrónur and be banished from Asgard for a millennium.” Again the allfather banged his golden spear onto the floor and the noise intensified. He raised his hand to silence the crowd once more before passing the rest of his judgement. “The rest of you are equally guilty to this vile crime and therefor you will all receive the same punishment as your companions in blood.
I sentence you all to 600 years of imprisonment in the palace’s dungeons. Once that time is over you will leave the capital and never set foot here again.” And that was it then. Judgement was passed over your abusers. You should have felt happy or something along those lines, weren’t you? But all you could feel was dread and it continued to ache your heart long after you had left the hall.