Font of Fertility Ch. 05

I led them out, followed by Lauren, Adama floating after us. Annalise's eyes tracked the fairy with surprise and wonder; I realized that she'd never mentioned having a Prime like I had Lauren, which probably meant she also didn't have a mentor. With an insane father like hers, I could only imagine what learning to use or even control her powers had been like. What of others though, teens and adults around the world who didn't even have that? How many mages had died or gone insane wondering what was happening to them?

I shook off the thoughts and cleared my throat. "I call this Judgement to order," I said, figuring it sounded the most formal. I was relying a lot on Judge Judy and the People's Court at this point. "Annalise Stoker, you have approached me as a ruling Seat for judgement on a personal issue. Please name the accused for the record."

I immediately realized there wasn't going to be a record since we were the only people in the room.

"I name my father, George Stoker."

I nodded and turned to Adama, who had a solemn look on her face and was sitting in the air at about head level. "Adama, please verify that George Stoker was notified over 48 hours ago, and that he has not responded."

"He was," She said, but as I went to continue she interrupted, "He did send a response, however. As well as a witness, if you will allow it."

I raised my eyebrows in surprise, "I'll allow the witness, where are they? And why didn't you pass on his response?"

"He responded directly, I believe it was in the form of a dead flower in your path." It had been on my doorstep, a dark shape in the night that I had tossed into the garden. Of course a crazy botany-mage would use some stupid symbol like that. "And I have his witness here," Adama continued, moving to the bed opposite where Annalise was sitting and with a wave-snap of one of her little hands, a small potted cactus about a foot high popped into existence.

"He sent a plant," Lauren deadpanned.

Annalise drew in a breath a frowned, clenching her fists for a moment before releasing and taking deep breaths. "He'll watch through the plant," she explained. "It was probably raised in one of his greenhouses, he'll have a connection to it."

"Alright, well, George Stoker's presence is noted," I said, trying to lead the room again. I was standing in front of the shitty television in the center of the room, Lauren and Adama on either side of me facing Annalise sitting on one of the beds and now the potted plant on the other. It was as close to a courtroom as I was going to get.

"As the accuser, Annalise, if you could please outline your charge and any information you think is relevant that I need to know."

Annalise took a deep breath and glanced over at the cactus spitefully before turning back to face front.

"I'm charging my father with familial abuse and the suppression of a free mage. His acts include threats of violence against non-magic users, blackmailing me with said threats, and demanding my eternal servitude on threat of violence towards my sister, his youngest daughter."

I nodded and she continued, "This all started on my sixteenth birthday, when I went through my awakening process and came into my powers. I will admit that due to my nature, my awakening was destructive, but that does not give George Stoker the right to threaten and enslave. From my first day with the fire, he forced me to suppress my abilities instead of learning to use them on threat that he would ruin or injure my older, magicless brothers. As my brothers left his sphere of influence and he lost his control over me, he began making more demands of me until I left him and the remainder of my family, my mother and my younger sister, assuming they would be safe if I were gone.

"My sister is now entering the age where she might experience her own awakening, and my father has threatened that if I do not pledge my eternal servitude to him, he will kill her before she has the chance to awaken, leaving her bones for the desert. This is why I travelled to request judgement, Jeremiah. My father is insane and needs to be controlled."

I took a deep breath and nodded, I had heard most of this before from her. I hadn't told everything to Lauren, however, and I could feel her anger at the story beside me. I touched Lauren's arm and she looked at me, eyes hard but softening as she realized she was getting emotional when we had agreed to be impartial.

"Do you have a specific request or way to end this judgement?" I asked.

Annalise paused, then nodded. "My father is necessary to support the rest of my family, even if he was willing to threaten their deaths in his hate for me. I ask he be barred from enslaving or injuring his family in any way."

I nodded my acknowledgement of her request. She was being reasonable; if I had been some sort of golden hearted tyrant, or had taken her payment before hand and been pleased, I might have just ordered George Stoker's death. That would have left a wife and children without knowledge of his cruelty reeling and alone in the world. If Stoker was still providing for them, he had a reason to live.

"At this point I would give the accused the chance to speak in their defence, but since he has deigned to send a cactus as his witness-

There was a ripping sound, like a cardboard box being torn into pieces, and the Cactus quivered on the bed. "I will speak," a voice said, and the cactus bobbed, opening and closing a wide, torn hole in it's side like a puppet.

I blinked several times even though I shouldn't have been surprised. We were dealing with a magical family quarrel involving a fire mage and a botany mage, of course weird shit was going to happen.

"Alright, this is George Stoker addressing the Seat through this plant?"

"Yes," it said, the voice coming from the plant gravelly and rough.

"Alright, George, what do you have to say in your defence?"

The Cactus rattled slightly, the opened it's mouth again, "I need no defense. You have no right to judge me, you little mageling; barely awake and already feeble. You have no right to restrict my actions as a mage, or as a parent. I will do whatever I want in my territory, including use my spawn how I will."

"Stoker," Adama shouted, enraged at his words, "How dare you defy a Seat of the Council. You should know full well what will be done if you refuse to respect his authority."

The voice from the cactus wheezed and I realized it wa laughing, the needles rattling ominously.

"Alright, I've heard enough," I cut in, stepping forward slightly. "I have the information I need. Before I make a ruling I will accept your offers of recompense for this judgement."

Annalise raised her chin and looked at me, having avoided even glancing at the cactus since it started talking. "I offer my body to you," she said. "For whatever pleasures you might take from it. I trust you to be just in your taking, and in your decision."

I turned to the cactus and it made a snorting noise. "You want payment for me to defend my parenting? And you, you fire-devil, whining before this boy like a whore instead of owning up to your duties as a daughter. I offer you my daughter's body to ravage as you will, Seat, until she is used up and broken."

I clenched my jaw and saw red, closing the distance to the plant and picking it up by the pot. "Then I close this judgement, and once payment is made I will proclaim my ruling."

I walked the three steps to the door and pulled it open, throwing the cactus into the mostly-empty parking lot where the pot smashed and the plant snapped in two. I slammed the door and turned back to Lauren, Adama and Annalise.

"Fucking. Asshole."




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So it took longer than I thought.

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As always, I love seeing comments on any of my stories. Your thoughts, hopes and critiques are always welcomed with excitement. For those critically (and constructively) inclined, I will be posting a request in the comments below with a couple of specific notes I am interested in.



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