A New Novel, Part 271 The Charges Related to Theft are Dismissed and Absolved

2 July 2011, A New Novel, Part 271 The Charges Related to Theft are Dismissed and Absolved 

For those who haven’t been following this blog, let me introduce it a little. I am currently blogging my 21st novel that has the working title Daemon. The novel is about Aksinya, a sorceress, who, to save her family from the Bolsheviks, called and contracted the demon, Asmodeus. Her family was murdered anyway, and she fled with the demon from Russia to Austria.

Aksinya is on trial in Wien, Austria.  The presiding judge decided to try Aksinya's fraud case first. We find that all of Aksinya's bills have been paid.  Father Dobrushin wishes to question the witnesses further...

Father Dobrushin put up his hand, “Presiding Judge, before you release the witnesses, I’d like to ask each a single question.”

“I see no reason why not.  You may begin with Herr Frump.”

Father Dobrushin stepped up to the bench, “Herr Frump, did you contract with the Countess or with someone else.”

“I contracted with Anatov Aznabaev.  He said he represented the Countess.” 

“So your claims were really against Anatov Aznabaev and never against the Countess, yet you accepted the Countess’ goods against the debt of Anatov Aznabaev.”

Herr Furmp’s merchant smile slipped into a frown, “I didn’t think I would be on trial here.  My claims were paid.”

Father Dobrushin turned toward the Judge, “Yet, Your Honor, the claims were most properly against Anatov Aznabaev.  Why should the Princess Aksinya not have an equal share in the claims against this man?  It seems to me that these claimants have all been made whole, but she has born the entire burden of a debt that she did not cause.”

Aksinya spoke very clearly, “Although I did not know Herr Frump, I did benefit from his business.  I ate his very fine beef and blessed his meats at my table every night.  I do not wish to make any claim against him or his business.”

Herr Frump stood at the witness chair and bowed deeply, “God bless your words, Dear Lady.  I felt myself lucky to balance my books after such an incident.  I am more than blessed by hearing you disburse me of any guilt as well.”

Father Dobrushin drew his hand across his face, “That is not the outcome I desired or expected.”

Judge Richter laughed and the rest of the court broke into mirth.  The judge held up his hand, “I do under my authority as the presiding judge of this Schöffengericht pronounce all the charges related to theft dismissed and absolved.  I will state in the official records that they were brought wrongly and with prejudice.  This will be presented to all the claimants along with a potential petition to be used by the Princess in any civil litigation against them.  She shall be able to claim in civil trial any difference between her benefit and what she was forced to pay.  I shall leave the details to her representative, Herr Lopuhin.  Herr Lopuhin, will that please you?”

“That pleases the defense.”

“Prosecutor?”

“The prosecution agrees with the judge’s assessment.”

“Therefore, I release this Schöffengericht for luncheon.  At one we shall begin with the assault and battery charges.  Sergeant Nagel, there is no reason to return the Princess to her cell.”

Father Dobrushin is a good defender and a good lawyer.  He brings up a very important point--this is also a metaphor within the context of the novel.  The question is simple--it is one of contracts.  Who did you contract with?  The answer is not Aksinya.  The point is that the claimants accepted money from Aksinya even though it wasn't her debt.  The debt was the demon's and not Aksinya's.  On the other hand, as Aksinya noted, she accepted the meat at her table and even blessed it.  There is another important point her.  Father Dobrushin (we will shortly find) paid off Aksinya's debt.  Therefore, he paid a debt that was never his.  This was a gift to Aksinya.  If you aren't getting this metaphor, there is no need to go further.

The metaphor goes one step further--Aksinya forgives any debt Herr Frump might have against her--and Father Dobrushin.  She forgive his debt as well.  Listen to Herr Frump's words: "I am more than blessed by hearing you disburse me of any guilt as well.”

This is indeed not the outcome Father Dobrushin wished.  He wanted to get back something for Aksinya.  He is defending and protecting Aksinya.

The judge notes there are no longer any charges in relation to fraud against Aksinya.  The books are cleared and the only charge against her is that of assault and battery against Natalya.  The judge goes further and gives Aksinya the right to make a counter claim against her accusers.  Then he releases them to lunch.  Tomorrow, luncheon.

A New Novel, Part 246 There are Other Charges

7 June 2011, A New Novel, Part 246 There are Other Charges

For those who haven’t been following this blog, let me introduce it a little. I am currently blogging my 21st novel that has the working title Daemon. The novel is about Aksinya, a sorceress, who, to save her family from the Bolsheviks, called and contracted the demon, Asmodeus. Her family was murdered anyway, and she fled with the demon from Russia to Austria.

The day of Aksinya's ecclesiastical trial has arrived.  Aksinya is acknowledged as a Russian Princess.  Now the rest of the charges will be made known...

Aksinya sat in the Bishop’s chair.  She smoothed her soiled dress, “We may now proceed.  Please continue, Archinquisitor.  I am ready to hear your accusations against me.”

The Archinquisitor hid his face for a moment.  He stood and stepped off the platform.

The inquisitor bowed toward Aksinya, “Princess Aksinya, may I approach?”

“Please do, Inquisitor.”

Inquisitor Esposito stepped beside her and whispered, “You are not wise to infuriate the Archinquisitor.  You have embarrassed him before his own court.”

Aksinya whispered back to him, “The verdict of this trail is already known.  I simply settled the first point.”

“Yes.”  He stood.

Aksinya waved, “Please proceed.”

The Archinquisitor returned to his papers, “Very well, Princess Aksinya.  We have established your rank.”  He cleared his throat, “The first accusation is therefore moot.  The court acknowledges your right as both a Russian Princess and a Russian Countess.”  He paused just a moment to take a deep breath, “The next charge is that you did commit sorcery and by this sorcery did murder your own family, steal the goods from the estate of Count Golitsyna, cheated merchants in Wien, and escaped Russian justice.”

Aksinya rested her elbow on the arm of the chair and laid her chin on the back of her hand, “I admit to sorcery.  I am guilty of that great sin.  I have confessed it and am forgiven.  I have not paid the price for all the evil I committed because of it.”  The Archinquisitor was about to speak.  Aksinya raised her hand, “I did not murder my family.  I did not steal the goods that already belonged to me.  I did not intentionally cheat the merchants in this city.  I am not certain there is Russian justice.  As a Princess, I am Russian justice.  Do you have any witnesses to any of these charges?”

“To the charge of cheating, there are witnesses, but if you acknowledge them, they are also moot.”

“I will accept that and any secular punishment.  I believe that is well beyond this court.”

“Yes, you are correct Princess.  Then let the court record read that the Princess Aksinya is guilty of theft and that shall be left to the secular courts.  There are other charges.”

Aksinya won a short lived victory, but for the moment, she is in charge and the Archinquisitor can't do anything about it.  The Inqusitor Esposito approaches her and tells Aksinya something she already realizes.  Perhaps the inquisitor is used to stupid nobility.  He states the obvious.  The reason I do this is because it is a trick of the writing so the reader doesn't miss this point.  I don't think my readers are stupid, but this makes the point that has been present through the entire set of events.  Aksinya embarrassed the Archinquisitor.  I don't tell you the results of this, but I want you to realize that it is purposeful and that Aksinya knows the trial is rigged against her.  We all realized this.  I also wanted to show that Aksinya is truly in charge.

The next set of charges are much more serious than the first: sorcery, murder, theft.  Aksinya is not worried about the outcome.  She is poised and thoughtful.  She confesses to sorcery--that is her great crime after all.  She then claims to be innocent of the other charges.  The Archinqusitor turns to the last charge of cheating the merchants of Wien.  This is not really an ecclesiastical charge.  Aksinya and the Archinquisitor agree to move that to the secular trial--I told you before, this would happen.  This is an acknowledgement of it.  From this interaction, we realise that Aksinya is well versed in law--as a Russian Princess, she is law. 

Still, there are the other charges--many of them false and ones that could only be known by the demon.  What we must realize is that Asmodeus purpose in bringing Aksinya to trial is not to condemn her or to bring about her righteous confession (she already confessed and in the court confessed--that should be enough for an inquisitor).  The trial is not about Aksinya--the trial is about all those around her.  This is how the demon will bring about her torment.  Tomorrow, proof of the charges.

A New Novel, Part 238 I Am Clearly at Fault

30 May 2011, A New Novel, Part 238 I Am Clearly at Fault

For those who haven’t been following this blog, let me introduce it a little. I am currently blogging my 21st novel that has the working title Daemon. The novel is about Aksinya, a sorceress, who, to save her family from the Bolsheviks, called and contracted the demon, Asmodeus. Her family was murdered anyway, and she fled with the demon from Russia to Austria.

Aksinya is a captive in the residence of the Cardinal of Wien awaiting an ecclesiastical trial for sorcery.  The Inquisitor Esposito came to speak to her about her defense...

The inquisitor ignored her, “There are other charges.”

“These are?”

“The first is that you impersonated a member of the nobility.  Do you have any proof that you are noble?”

“My passport.”

“Do you know where it is?”

“No.”

Inquisitor Esposito cleared his throat, “Can anyone vouch for you?”

“My aunt and uncle, the Freifrau and Freiherr Bockmann.  The Freiherr is my mother’s brother.  I am related to the Herzog Bockmann of Germany.”

The priest’s expression turned bleak, “They have both declined to testify either for or against you at trial.  They are in the process of legally disowning you because of this incident.”

Aksinya lowered her head.  Her voice was soft, “I understand.”  She spoke more loudly, “What of the other charges?”

“There is a charge that you kidnapped and kept an apprentice to your sorcery, the Lady Natalya Alexandrovna Obolenska.”

“That is true.  I did.  I am confessed.  I harmed her soul and mind.”

Frau Becker and Frau Mauer gasped.

Father Esposito cleared his throat again, “Yes.”  He turned away his head, “There is another charge that you seduced the mind and soul of a Herr Ernst von Taaffe, a member of the Austrian nobility.”

“I did that also.  I am clearly at fault.”

The Frauen couldn’t hold back their gasp again.

In inquisitor continued, “The other charges relate to your use of sorcery.  They are that you used sorcery to murder your family, steal the goods from the estate of Count Golitsyna, to cheat merchants in Wien, and to escape Russian justice.”

Aksinya’s eyes widened, “I did not murder my family, the Bolsheviks did that.  I did not steal the things that belonged to me already, although I did use sorcery to bring them here to Austria.  You can lay the charge of cheating on me.  I did not know that was the case at the time.  I am still culpable.  Of Russian justice, I cannot speak.  I’m not certain who rules Russia, the Bolsheviks, the nobility, or the Parliament.”

       The inquisitor chuckled at the last.  Then his face turned serious again, “There is much to recommend these charges.”

Now we get the full list of charges against Aksinya.  They are many and devastating.  She will have problems with just one of them, but there are many more than one.  It would seem that someone who is privy to very private information about Aksinya proffered the charges.  Can you guess who?

Do you see that Aksinya is unable to prove who she is?  It is as if her identity and person were taken from her.  Do you remember that she was so proud of her house and her nobility?  Now she has neither.  The demon has conspired to take away her very being in the world. 

Things have gone so far that Aksinya's aunt and uncle are in the process of disowning her.  They want nothing more to do with her.  This is how far everything has come.  Aksinya is an embarrassment to them, and the best way to get rid of an embarrassment is to make it go away.  We do get more information about Aksinya.  We find that she is related to a Duke in Germany.  A Herzog is a German Duke.

The charges against Aksinya get worse and worse.  She kidnapped and apprenticed Natalya.  This could be a capital charge.  Aksinya simply confesses to it.  The degree of the charge is the reason for he response of the Frauen.  The next charge is as bad.  Aksinya seduced the mind and soul of Ernst.  Aksinya acquiesces to this charge as well.

Then there are the charges of sorcery.  Aksinya already confessed to sorcery, the charges just make everything worse.  This is when we see the true fruit of Asmodeus' actions.  Aksinya is accused of murder, theft, and flight from justice.  These are capital charges.

Aren't you glad that Aksinya stands up for herself.  She will not accept these false charges.  She confesses to the use of sorcery, but not to murder, theft, and flight from justice.  We also see the destruction that Asmodeus has wrought.  He has brought on Aksinya a charge of theft in Wien.  We know the charges are false from Russia, but there are charges from Wien.

The world in crashing down on Aksinya.  She has little defense.  The inquisitors will have a strong case against her--or will they?  Tomorrow, more on the charges and defense.