Reborn To Change My Fate-Chapter 334 - Three Hundred And Thirty Three

The King narrowed his eyes. "Explain yourself, Lord Colton. You provided weapons that could have killed thousands of my soldiers. Why?"

Lord Colton took a deep breath. His hands clenched into fists inside his iron chains. He looked around the room, making sure all the wealthy, comfortable nobles heard his words.

"Prince Liam used our greatest weakness," Lord Colton explained. "He used the pain of my people. The people in the West have been treated as if they weren’t part of Eudora simply because they wield magic."

Lord Colton took a step forward, his chains rattling.

He went as far as to point out the unfair treatment his people had been suffering for decades.

"We are isolated! We are treated like monsters!" Lord Colton said, his voice echoing with genuine pain. "Your Majesty, look at the laws established after the last massacre which was sugar coated as a truce all because our king was threatened by our existence.

There was silence in the hall.

Lord Colton continued " The law clearly states that any family that harbors a magic wielder will all be executed."

He shook his head, tears of frustration forming in his eyes.

"Do you know what that law has done to my region?" Lord Colton asked the silent court. "I have seen mothers crying in the streets. I have seen families selling off their own children to slave traders just to hide them, to save the rest of the family from being hanged! Because of an accident of birth! Because a child can light a candle with their mind!"

The court was completely silent. It was a harsh truth that the capital preferred to ignore.

"Magic wielders in the West have been isolated by their own people," Lord Colton continued, his voice breaking slightly. "They live in fear in the deep forests. They are starving. And as their Governor, I could not sit and watch it continue. I had to protect them."

He looked back up at the King, his expression desperate but proud.

"When Prince Liam came to me in secret," Lord Colton confessed, "he offered me a solution. He told me that his father was weak. He told me that if he became King, he would change the laws. He promised that if I helped him build a secret army, he would solve the problem of the West. He promised my people freedom. He promised they could live without hiding."

Lord Colton bowed his head. "I was desperate to save my people from selling their own children. I believed a Prince’s promise. I was a fool."

As Lord Colton finished his speech, loud murmurs started again among the nobles. This time, the whispers were not just shocked; they were divided. Some nobles looked angry at the traitor, but many others looked down at the floor, uncomfortable with the harsh reality of the magic laws that Colton had exposed.

The noise grew louder as people began to argue quietly with each other.

The King raised his hand. The murmurs died down instantly.

The Chancellor walked up the small stone steps of the platform. He leaned in close to King Alistair. The verdict reader went to meet the King to discuss the final judgment. They whispered to each other for a long minute. The King looked at Lord Colton, considering the man’s motives. The King knew that executing a beloved Governor of the West might cause a massive, bloody uprising among the magic wielders.

The Chancellor nodded slowly. He turned around and walked back down the steps. He unrolled the final section of his long scroll.

The court held its breath.

The verdict continued.

"Lord Colton," the Chancellor announced loudly. "You have admitted to supplying weapons to a traitor. However, the court recognizes the complex nature of your crimes."

The Chancellor looked at the scroll.

"With limited evidence of your direct involvement in the massacre of the Thompson army, and by acknowledging that you were heavily deceived by Prince Liam’s false promises..."

The Chancellor looked up.

"His Majesty, in his infinite wisdom, has waved off the death penalty."

A collective sigh of relief, mixed with surprise, swept through the hall.

"Lord Colton," the Chancellor declared firmly, "is sentenced to twenty years imprisonment in the royal tower. Furthermore, the King will appoint another, loyal governor to take his place and oversee the western region."

Lord Colton closed his eyes and let out a long breath. He was going to a cold cell for two decades, but he would keep his head. He bowed low to the King.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your mercy," Lord Colton said.

The King waved his hand wearily. "Take him away."

The four royal guards stepped forward. They grabbed Lord Colton by his upper arms and turned him around to face the heavy wooden doors at the back of the hall.

They began to march him down the long center aisle. The nobles parted to make way for the prisoner.

Derek stood perfectly still as the guards approached his position at the front of the aisle. He watched Lord Colton walking toward him. Derek understood why Colton had done it. Derek was a man who would have burned the world down to protect Marissa. He understood desperation.

As the guards walked past the Grand Duke, Lord Colton turned his head slightly.

He looked at Derek. He met Derek eye to eye.

Colton’s expression was serious and urgent. As he passed within an inch of Derek, Lord Colton leaned in slightly.

He whispered, his voice so low that only Derek could hear it over the clanking of the iron chains.

"Meet me."

Derek’s eyes widened slightly, a tiny flicker of surprise breaking through his mask of grief. He did not move his head. He did not say a word. He just stood there, his back burning with pain, watching the guards take the former Governor out of the Great Hall.

The heavy wooden doors slammed shut.

Derek stared at the closed doors, his mind spinning. Why would a disgraced governor, a man he had just helped put in prison, want to meet him in secret? What did Colton know?