It Rained Red Upon the Arena by Kenneth Champion Read Free Book Online

the while he was rehearsing in his mind what to tell the judge. He dared not think of what would happen if he was found guilty. He needed to prove his story for his life.
    The door unlocked after a long while, and a Refect came in, holding a plate of food. He looked down at Nick and said, “It is definitely better than the food at the holding cell. This is actually real food. If the day does not go in your favor this might be the last real meal you’ll ever have, so enjoy it.”
    Nick did not say a word. He looked at the meal placed before him, a sandwich and potato fries. Nick was starving at that point, he had not eaten a meal in almost a day. The Refect once again left the room, and Nick feasted by himself. His hunger had been met, but his nervousness only grew. At any one minute he would be called before a judge who did not know him. The judge did not know that Nick trained to be a Refect, the judge did not know his personality, he did not know the pain he had gone through. The judge did not know him, yet the judge would determine Nick’s entire future.
    More time passed by, and Nick sat in silence. It felt like he had been there all day. Time is irrelevant when one is sitting in a room with no window and no way to tell time with the sun. All there was in that room were walls, and Nick’s thoughts revolving tirelessly through his head. So much rode on the coming moments of his life.
    Three Refect come into the room. “It is time,” said one. They grabbed Nick’s arms and escorted him to the courtroom through a series of doors. In the courtroom sat Judge Bryant Gove at the center. Nick was directed to sit in a chair a few feet before him. There were a few citizens in the room and a woman who worked for the courts. The Reza woman sat at a desk and would write down the events of the courtroom through pen and paper.
    Judge Bryant Gove was of Reza blood. He was an older Reza; he had to wear glasses for his sight and had white hair. His hair was long and pulled back, his skin blue and full of wrinkles. He looked at Nick and said, “Nick Bint, you are here today on trial for the murder of two men last night at The Cove Tavern. That is two counts of murder and punishable to the fullest extent of the law in the name of our king, King Dedan Hudson. We have several witnesses who have stated you were on top of one man stabbing him multiple times. You stabbed this man multiple times even after he was dead. Next to the man you were stabbing was another man also deceased. I have come to learn that this man was your father. So Nick Bint, how do you plead to the accusation of two counts of murder?”
    Nick looked firmly into the judges eyes. “Not guilty. I did not murder anybody; I only acted in self defense,” said Nick.
    Judge Gove replied quickly, “If you are not guilty please enlighten us of the events that occurred last night. I want to hear the events from your own words.”
    “My father and I went out for a meal,” said Nick. “We decided to go to The Cove Tavern. We sat down at a table in the back corner and were talking for a while before a drunken man came over to us. He was saying things like ”they were worried about you,” and “I was invited,” implying that he was sent to kill my father. After he said those things he pulled out his sword and cut my father’s throat. When my dad fell to the ground he put a final blow in him as he drove his blade into his head. I reacted; I tackled him and I pulled out my dagger blade. I stabbed him multiple times to prevent any more attacks on my father or upon myself. I killed him in self defense. There was no murder done by me. My father was murdered by that man.”
    “So you plead your innocence through self defense?” asked Judge Grove. Nick nodded his head in agreement. “If that whole grand idea of a story is true, then why is it that the coroner found seventeen stab wounds in the unidentified man’s corpse?
    “I was scared and mad,” said Nick. “I had never