Nilo did listen to her, though his eyes were trained on the floor and away from her. Not that he was scared to look at her, but he was just at a loss. This decision was already weighing on him like a sack of stones. The prince was furious with what they had done to Theodore, but he was able to separate himself and his relationships for the sake of trying to be just. At that point, most of the anger he had displayed with the soldiers was more so what they had done, rather than who they had done it to. Nilo just could not fathom what had happened and how these men could have possibly considered that a valid form of warning.
Nilo’s mind had begun to spiral, the man wondering how many times these kinds of “accidents” had occurred in the past. How many times had a soldier lied to get out of something, only to have an innocent person take the blame? Is this what happened in the field? A hand came up to his head and he felt nauseous, eyes squeezing shut for several moments. These men had been considered good soldiers, solid fighters that fit the bill of his army. But they had done this without a second thought. So what did that mean for the rest of his military? Did they all fall beneath that same canopy?
The prince would never get a chance to know. He was going to spend his life living a life of luxury in his castle and that question would never be answered. Nilo knew he couldn’t let that eat at him because, at the moment, it was a problem that extended beyond his reach. He had to focus on what was occurring now and it was that one of his citizens had been severely harmed. Usually, his father would have been in charge of such things, but the king had traveled beyond their borders. The older man had been worried enough about leaving his throne behind for a bit, considering it had been his first outing alone in over three years.
Nilo was trying his best to set bias aside to reach the most justified verdict he could, but he knew he could never be completely neutral. Nobody really could. His background greatly influenced his thought processes, just as his wife’s did. They were all looking at the situation through spectacles with lenses made of bias. He just wished his father was there to handle it all. The man knew that it couldn’t be like that forever, as he would one day be king, but this? This really had to be the second situation he had to handle and it was yet another instance of someone he knew personally being heavily involved? What the hell kind of luck was that?
“I’m not going to sit there and examine their facial expressions to try and find some sort of remorse. If they want to show that they are apologetic, then they need to communicate that clearly. It’s not my job to look for secret messages in their gazes and even if they did regret it, it isn’t going to alter their charges or my judgment.” Nilo understood that she would look deeper into these men, as she had a special attachment to the army and she had even appeared to know one or two of them. Unfortunately, he wasn’t going to do that. If they held too much pride to grovel, that was their problem, not his.
His problem was analyzing the proceedings and trying to find a fair punishment. On top of that, he would need to speak to the generals and the Valencias. Though, he was more anxious about Theodore’s family. He had to find a way to tell an altered version of the story to keep their son from being crucified when he was already down. Then he would probably have to send a letter to his father… He hoped whatever he decided would be enough to please the king. The last thing he needed was his father being disappointed in him on top of everything else.
“And I’ll go find Damien to get his report to look over it. I’ll also need to make a copy… or twelve. I’m not sure.” Nilo sighed and got to his feet, smoothing out his shirt and re-tucking a portion into his pants. He could already feel that sleep would not come easy that night, if at all. He now had so much to do. There would be a hefty amount of planning and the rumors… Gods how was he supposed to handle those? The men were contained for now, but things would still get out. He might have to pull some strings… “We’ll have to figure out something soon, we can’t keep them locked up forever and we can’t leave the victim in limbo.”
He stepped over to the door and opened it for her. There was nothing left for either of them in that room at the moment. It was just empty and… heavy. “I wish you luck. I’m sure he’s still in the infirmary, he’s bound to be unable to leave with all the painkillers they probably fed him.” The man shook his head and the frown that fell onto his lips was unfortunate. “You might run into Isabella, Damien said she was supposed to be heading in. She might be able to help you out.” Nilo offered, trying to be at least a little positive.
Winter Month: 3 
Night Weather: 
