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[Jolicia]

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Jolicia looked to the ceiling as her mind whirled, painfully, over the day events. She rocked back and forth gently in the hammock that Grig'nag had setup for her, in his shack several weeks ago, when her life began to fall apart. She tried hiding the sobs and sniffles knowing Grig was in the room watching over her as he always did. He was writing in a small book, something he often did while looking over her or waiting for her to fall asleep before going back to the fort. She opened her eyes slightly on occasion to peek at him. Finishing his writing, she heard him go down stairs and knew instantly that he most likely headed to the fort to tend to the runts. She curled up in a ball in the hammock, tears beginning to flow more freely now as she thought of the days events.

Her presence had been requested at the trial of Vaen Swiftar for the actions of Marcus Stanim, whom had forced himself on her while in control of Vaen's body. Her and Grig had sat in the back of the courtroom away from everyone that was there, but she could still hear the whispering and see the glances. It made her feel even smaller, made her want to hide, and she found herself huddling closer to Grig. She hadn’t been paying too much attention to what was going on, not really wanting to be there. Finally she heard her name called and at first she didn't move but just looked up at Grig, the fear starting to swell up inside of her. He gave her a gentle nudge and a reassuring nod as she slowly stood up and looked towards the front of the courtroom hearing Brian calling for her to come up. Brian opened the gates for her as she slowly walked up, her head lowered not looking at anyone. The judge had sworn her in and she took a seat, looking up at Brian. He began asking her questions about the events that had happened and she did her best to try and answer them. The more he wanted her to share though, the harder it was. She kept looking to Grig for nods of comfort as she was starting to sniffle and tear up from having to bring everything out into the open. She had not wanted anyone knowing what had happened to her, blaming herself for it and to be sitting there talking about it out loud in front of all those people... was more than she could handle. A few times she didn't quite understand what Brian was trying to ask her or what he meant, and even felt a little pushed or like she wasn’t able to say everything. Brian finished with a short recess taking place before Vaen started. She looked at Vaen once while he was asking her questions and all the events that had happened came flooding into her brain. She did her best to hold herself together, wanting to be brave like Grig told her she was. After a few questions from Vaen and then a couple more from Brian again, she was done. Grig escorted her back to where they had been sitting and she hid her face against his chest. He didn't say much, just wrapped his arms around her, letting her hide.

A few moments had passed and she realized the judge was making his verdict. She peeked out from Grig's arms to listen. The judge talked for a little saying that all the evidence showed that Vaen was possessed and did not have control. But then his tone changed and he gave the verdict. Guilty. Jolicia wasn't sure what to think at first. She knew what had happened was bad, very bad, but at the same time she knew that it wasn't really Vaen that did it. It had been the man that was in control of his body... not him. The judge continued saying that even though Vaen didn't have control, it was his body that did 'the deed' and his body needed to be punished. The sentence was 30 public lashes. She hid her face against Grig again, hearing him snort in disapproval. A million thoughts ran through her brain, people trying to come up and talk to her, hearing mumbling in the background and then the whip. She heard the whip crack and then Vaen cry out in pain. She huddled closer to Grig trying to block it out but couldn't. Then looking up to him, she asked him to make them stop. He just shook his head and patted hers letting her know that he couldn't, that the only thing he had control over was protecting her. She heard the whip crack a few more times, Vaen's crys getting louder. She couldn't take it anymore, this just wasn't right... the person that needed punished was Marcus, not Vaen. She pushed her way out of Grig's arms and through the people around her walking up to Brian, tears rolling down her cheeks. She glanced over for only a moment seeing Poet ready the whip again and Vaen slumped over the side railing. She begged Brian to make it stop, that Marcus deserved this. He told her firmly but coldly that he would not stop it and that he felt this punishment was “weak enough as it is.”

Again the whip cracked, she jumped at the sound turning away and running up to Grig. She couldn't watch or hear this anymore. She wanted to leave this place behind. Nodding his head Grig took her back to his shack. Once inside she fell to the floor crying, mumbling about no one seemed to understand and wondering how this was supposed to help what had happened to her. Grig didn't have the answers, but knew she needed to rest. He leaned down and picked her up, leading her upstairs to her hammock. It had been a very long and trying day for her, with many more to come.