"He will stand trial," Sapphrine declared.
The crowd gasped. Lance looked up, surprised.
Darth stared at his mother in disbelief.
"Mother... you just believed me without a trial. Why does HE get one?"
Sapphrine's grey eyes met her son's.
"Because I almost executed you without letting you speak."
"I will not make that mistake twice."
Without love, Sapphrine had only logic.
And logic demanded consistency.
If Darth deserved to speak in his defense...
Then so did Lance.
No matter how obvious his guilt appeared.
Justice without procedure is just revenge.
The trial lasted three days.
Lance argued his case: The mark was forced on him. He was a victim of Clandareth's corruption, not a willing servant.
He claimed the daemon magic controlled him. Made him frame Darth. That he tried to flee out of fear, not guilt.
The arguments were... not unreasonable.
After all, Darth had said the same thing.
But the evidence was examined thoroughly.
Witnesses testified: Lance had been seen with daemon artifacts weeks before the murders.
The wine bottle he gave Darth was tested. Possession poison. A rare substance requiring knowledge and preparation.
And the mark on his back? Burned deep. Old. Not recent.
Lance had been Clandareth's agent for YEARS.
The verdict: Guilty on all counts.
Sentence: Execution.
But this time, it was earned through process. Through testimony. Through examination of facts.
Lance was given every opportunity to defend himself.
And the evidence condemned him anyway.
This was justice.
After the execution, Darth approached his mother.
"You gave him a trial," Darth said quietly. "Even though you knew he was guilty."
"I did," Sapphrine replied, her voice empty as always.
"Why?"
She looked at her son with those grey, loveless eyes.
"Because the law must apply equally."
"Even when administered by someone who no longer feels."
Darth realized something profound:
His mother without love was actually MORE just than she'd been before.
No favorites. No bias. No mercy for the charming or cruel punishment for the ugly.
Just cold, perfect procedure.
He had been saved by evidence, not love.
Lance had been condemned by evidence, not hatred.
Was this better? Or just... different?
CONSEQUENCE: PROCEDURAL JUSTICE
Darth lives. Lance dies. But both received fair trials. Sapphrine's lovelessness created a strange kind of perfect justice—cold, but consistent.
In the absence of love, can pure logic create a better system? Or does justice require compassion to be truly just?