"I call Mr. Hanlon to the stand!" I slapped my hand on the table for dramatic effect and the rest of the room gasped with anticipation. And then nothing. Valrym looked at me with his usual perturbment from his place next to me (I had cast our lawyer aside for he was useless, that and he called me an idiot and I do not truck by that kind of upstartedness!). Guthlu was in the gallery and looked at me like I was crazy.
"Mr. Lorentino you can not simply call whoever you want to the stand, they have to actually be available." The Judge talked down to me like a stupid child, and I'm not a stupid child, normally!
"You'll forgive me your honor, but I know that any minute now Hanlon will be coming through those doors." Outside of that they had unshackled me, so I could have burned my way out and fled. I know that would have screwed Val, but when have I ever cared about others? Exactly! We waited about ten minutes, the judge getting perturbed with each passing one.
"Ok ready these men for the gall..." The Judge was interrupted by Hanlon bursting through the doors, at the head of a squad of men dressed in suits. I'd never seen that many Hanlon workers in one place, and I doubt anyone else had ever.
"Sorry your honor I just like to make an impressive entrance." Hanlon made his way to the front of the court and took his seat next to the judge. His men sat in the gallery imposingly, I couldn't tell if he planned on killing everyone to get out of court, but it looked like the plan was on his mind.
"I don't know why he bothered you to show up Mr. Hanlon, Trezlan Lorentino, and Valrym Jorfot our currently on trial for abominable magic practices."
"He called me your honor because you all owe me and by extension you owe Mr. Lorentino and Jorfot. These men have stood against your enemies with brazen courage and have asked for nothing in return. I (he highlighted the I specifically) have no asked for anything in return, but if you execute these men I will ask for something in return and," Hanlon snapped his fingers and one of his suited men approached with a fairly lengthy scroll, "what I would want in return is the entirety of the arms bill for supplying the Guard in their recent conficts." He rolled out the scroll and it flapped back to the end of the courtroom, I could see he was not lying items were listed next to prices on the scroll, he had kept track.
"You can't buy Justice Mr. Hanlon." The judge was visibly sweating.
"Of course I can, I do it all the time, I bought your country entirely, and now you'll either pay me in releasing these men or you'll pay me with what little treasure you have remaining and when you fail to do that, and you will, I'll own every last one of you. At which point I'll free Lorentino and Jorfot anyway, but I'll also own your country and Judge," Hanlon smiled and it was pretty upsetting to see, "You don't want me to own you." Hanlon finished, pulled the scroll back up with a flip of his hand (which was quite amazing to see) and went to leave, before he did he put a hand on my shoulder. "Come find me after they let you out we have things to discuss." He also winked at Val, which Val took with a harumph.
Of course the Judge in the face of Hanlon let us go free, no one wanted to be the guy who gave away the entire country to a weird not human creature who makes weapons for a living. I felt vindicated, Valrym was angry, and Guthlu though I had only known him briefly seemed terrified. All in all it was the perfect Lorentino plan!
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