The Trial of Giles Hartwell – Part 1: The Boast

ROYAL TRIBUNAL OF VALDORIA The Crown against Giles Hartwell

Lady Justiciar Rosalind Verne, Authorised Court Officer of the Crown, has decided in the matter of the accused Giles Hartwell, locksmith of the Harbour Quarter, as follows.

In the name of the Crown of Valdoria, the accused is found

GUILTY

of the offences of

BOASTING THAT THE CROWN'S PRISON IS INSECURE

CALLING THE JUSTICIAR A FRAUD

Original statement of the accused:

I told my friends that I could open any lock in the Realm, including the great cell door in the castle, and that the Justiciar was a performer who would never carry out a sentence. I also said I would be out of her cell before the second bell. I made these claims as a volunteer of the Court, knowing perfectly well that I had agreed to its rules. I now ask the Court to put my boast to the test.

Mitigating circumstances: the accused's confession is candid and not without humour.

Aggravating circumstances: the accused is a master locksmith and therefore knew exactly what he was boasting about.

SENTENCE

• A fine of eight hundred crowns, counted aloud.
• A trial of the boast: the accused will be placed in the castle cell, with the door unlocked and a latch he can lift at any time, and will be required to remain until the dawn bell by his own choice.
• Twenty-five ceremonial strokes of the cane, counted aloud, within the Articles of Consent.
• A written apology to the Justiciar, read aloud on his knees.

Further provisions:

• The latch will be shown to the accused before the trial begins and may be used at any moment.
• The accused may end the trial by speaking the word TUMBLER.
• The trial is to be conducted with kindness.

Signed, Lady Justiciar Rosalind Verne.

Giles stared at the last line for a long moment. With kindness. It was the line he had asked her to add.

He was forty, a real-life locksmith with a cheerful, slightly boastful nature and a very quiet wish to be properly overruled. Rosalind was forty-seven, a magistrate, composed and dry, and had agreed to this only on condition that she write the verdict herself. She had asked him a hundred questions. She had practised the cane on a sofa cushion for two months.

"Mr Hartwell," said Rosalind, from the bench, in her court voice.

"Your Excellency."

"You boasted that you could open any lock in the Realm."

"I did."

"The Court is curious. Do you still believe it?"

"I believe it, Your Excellency. But I have agreed not to try."

"Then your boast is already half-withdrawn." She almost smiled. "Do you accept the verdict?"

"I accept it."

"Do you remember the word?"

"Tumbler."

"Are you content?"

"Content, Your Excellency."

"Good. Walk."

Continue the story: Part 2 – Tumbler.