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Sitting on the bench by the stairs of Martle’s Square they were leaning, elbows on knees, and playing with one of their daggers, trying to learn to spin it. It was Trial Day, they thought with an internal snort. A farce in their opinion. The townsfolk wouldn’t let anything happen to the boys, Sandrock’s boys. Haru might have had a harder time without Logan but not by much. While Logan was the golden boy of Sandrock, Haru was the success story, proof of the intelligence hidden in the desert communities.
Either way, Logan and Haru were deluding themselves if they thought the town would actually jail them the way they were fighting to be. Throw the book at them, seriously? Even in the short time they have lived here it was easy to see the love Sandrock had for these two.
And it was just the town here too; none of the villages of the desert were represented. Since it was mostly the villages the men had robbed, the town folks would be even more likely to let them off. It’s far easier to forgive when it’s not your kids going hungry because someone stole your groceries.
Evil Duvos plot to take over the world or not.
They had to give it to Logan though, as they listened to the arguments. He was fighting for what was right, just like he had done from the start. Not letting the town just forgive him and move on. It wasn’t surprising he felt he should be punished for his crimes. In their short conversations it was clear Logan had been raised with a strict code of conduct that being a bandit went against. Looking at Haru, they thought he could be convinced that no real punishment was needed but not Logan, he would not give in. And Haru would ultimately side with Logan, as he had every other moment of this situation.
The town wanted to go back to how things were and if that meant letting things go… then so be it.
It was another delusion, just on the side of the townsfolk this time. Things could never go back. Not for Logan and Haru and not for anyone in this town. To much time, to much hurt, to much… everything. If it had just been a rebellion, a grief driven bad decision, that would have been one thing. Unfortunately, Duvos saw to it that it wasn’t. The Duvos army was only in town a few days but in that time the empire saw to it that no one would ever be the same.
They leaned back and started cleaning their nails with the tip of the dagger, surprised. The argument had shifted and Burguss was standing up and agreeing with Logan, that he should be penalized. Good for him, speaking up. That must have been hard for him. They should remember to tell him they were proud of him when this was over.
There was a silence that drifted over the square.
Wait, what? They looked up from their nails at the crowd, who were all looking at them. They blinked, replaying the last few moments in their mind. The town wanted their opinion? Fuck. Think…. Um…. Right. Take a deep breath.
“Well, none of this happened to me, or at least nothing was stolen from me. That’s what this is about, yes? The thefts Logan and Haru did? Right, so my opinion doesn’t matter. I think you should ask the people they stole from. Where are they actually?”
They looked around as if just having this thought, that maybe the villages affected by Logan and Haru’s crime spree at the start of their bandit days should be there as well.
Trudy cleared her throat, but Justice chimed in, “Yeah, um, right. That’s a good idea. We’ll, um, telegraph them.”
No one else was saying anything. They sighed, fine. They stood up, and sheathed their dagger before crossing arms and taking a deep breath. If no one wanted to just state it plainly they would.
“Look, fine them. Just make it reasonable, verify what they stole and add a reasonable amount on top, depending, then give it to the villages and families Logan and Haru stole from. Give them a week or two in jail and assign community service, maybe to the towns and villages they affected, but make it matter whatever it is. This way, you are honoring everyone and the law. Logan and Haru can relax, they are being punished for doing illegal things and working to make things right. The town can rest easy that they are both upholding the law and acknowledging the actions of Logan and Haru by giving a sentence on the lighter end of things. The Alliance and Church of the Light can say the same, actions acknowledged but consequences still rendered. And, most importantly, the people they stole from can feel understood, feel like their struggles were recognized as important, and feel seen.”
“That’s, well, that’s a very good idea. Thank you, builder.” Trudy said, with large, surprised eyes.
They rolled their eyes, ‘always with a tone of surprise,’ they thought. They might not speak much but that’s no reason to be surprised they had a good idea. Lowering their arms to their side they locked eyes with Logan. He held their gaze and mouthed Thank you. They gave a nod back. Logan wasn’t a bad guy. He was actually rather charming and after that first meeting, they had finally understood why the entire town was confused about his actions over the last three years.
He just didn’t give off ‘bandit bad guy’ vibes at all.
“Alright everyone. You have given me a lot to think about. As mayor I have to stay impartial but know that I am taking all your words seriously. I will let everyone know the final outcome by mail. Thank you.” Trudy said as she turned and went into city hall, dragging Justice with her.
Justice just pointed at Logan and Haru and whisper yelled “Don’t go anywhere.”
Folks started breaking up. Some left, to go back to their day, some grouped up to chat. Andy and Elsie ran up the stairs to hug and chatter with Logan and Haru. Logan though was still looking at them. They gave him a small smile and sat back down, pulling out the dagger to go back to trying to learn to spin it. He’d get to them when he could. They could wait.