She reached over to grab her things, and then the pair of them walked through the large open doors to the Hall of Judgement. Since this was a public hearing, the seats were filled, but not everyone in the room wore the trappings of a priest. Sin saw Ordanes, Centurions, Signifers, and plenty of journalists. Each one was looking back at him, but neither he nor Julie stopped until they stood behind the table for the defense.
Directly across the room, Joshua and another priest waited in the place for the prosecution. At the back of the room was a long desk with multiple chairs behind it. That was where the ten Tribunes would sit, the ten priests who would decide Sin's fate. Guilt and innocence required the unanimous agreement of them all, but lower crimes could be considered if the Tribunes couldn't come to an agreement.
But where was Benedict? Looking across the room, Sin found Jaime, the shop owner who'd helped him out of the alley. His testimony would be nice, but Rissa's would be even better. Glancing the other way, Sin looked at the large clock that hung on the wall behind where the Tribunes would sit. Three minutes,and every single second felt like it took an eternity with the entire room watching him.
"Are we supposed to start this without her?" Sin asked.
Julie leaned towards him slightly. "If we have to. Just tell the story as you remember it, and do not let the prosecution make you look angry or frazzled."
"Easy."
But that was a lie. Hewasangry. This entire ordeal was insane, and everything was pointing to it being little more than the tip of the iceberg. The Legion had a cancer growing inside it, and it felt like this was the first time the rot was willing to show itself. The simple fact that a priest had attacked another's angel?
If Sin could somehow point out the problems with that, he knew this case would be decided in his favor. Unfortunately, he had no clue how to do that without looking like he was scrambling to hide his own guilt. Even worse, he didn't know which of the thugs who'd jumped them had been the priest - and that was going to make it harder to defend himself.
Or had that been the plan all along? No, Joshua wasn't that foolish. Likely, he was just using this coincidence to his favor - but the Censor clearly had a plan. He was going to do something to make sure Sin looked like he was the problem, but how?
At the exact second the clock reached the hour, the door at the back opened and the ten Tribunes filed in. Each one claimed a seat. All of them were older priests, increasing the chances they had experience with trials like this. Then, when the group was settled, the man in the middle picked up a gavel and struck it once.
"This hearing is for the case of the Imperator, Brother Sinclair Cassis, in the death of Brother Paul Allston of the Signifers," the man announced. "Legate Sinclair, you are accused of killing another priest in cold blood. How would you like to plead?"
"Innocent," Sin announced, making sure he sounded both proud and confident.
The man dipped his head in acknowledgement. "Understood. Censor Joshua will be leading the prosecution against you. Censor, the floor is yours."
One side of Joshua's lips curled higher as the man stepped around his table to take his place in the center of the room. "Legate Sinclair, is it true that on the night in question, you killed Brother Paul?"
"I do not know," Sin answered, keeping his responses short as Benedict had directed.
"How can you not be sure?" Joshua pressed.
"Because I did not know Brother Paul," Sin replied.
"Did you kill anyone on the night in question?" Joshua snapped.
"Yes, Censor," Sin said, enjoying how his short, calm answers were making Joshua the one who was frustrated.
"And would you like to tell us about that ordeal?" Joshua asked.
Sin nodded. "I was taking my assigned angel to her drop point. I noticed someone following us. After a moment, I realized it was more than one. Because of the area, that could've been coincidence, but as my angel has been threatened before, I had reason for suspicion. I moved us to an area with less foot traffic, at which point I could identify four people who were definitely tracking our movements and trying to intercept. Without any other means of defense, I had my angel take shelter behind a metal dumpster and encouraged the attackers to leave. They chose not to."
Joshua ran his tongue over his teeth behind his lips. "Could they?"
"Yes, Censor. My angel and I were the ones with our backs to the wall. They had an open street behind them. When theassailants brandished their weapons, I used mine. Then, when the apparent leader said I couldn't dodge all of their bullets, I decided to even the odds. That is when the shootout began."
"So you fired first?" Joshua asked, his eyes sparkling as if he'd just hit on something.
"When a Legate's assigned angel is threatened, we do have the responsibility to remove the threat, even if no action has yet been taken," Sin said, paraphrasing the Legion's laws.
But Joshua merely turned to casually pace towards the desk of Tribunes. "And this man you shot, was he enhanced?"
"I am unsure," Sin replied.
"Were any of them obviously enhanced?" Joshua tried next.
"I am unsure," Sin said again.
So the Censor spun back to face him. "How can you be unsure if someone is enhanced, Sin?!"
