"And where is Commander Lande now to corroborate your story? How do we know that you're not just saying things to disrupt today's proceedings?" Unni asked, trying her best to save face. "Because I'm going to confirm everything he just said and more. As for my whereabouts: I'm right here, your Cuntestry," Trina said, her voice resounding from behind one of the larger groups of witnesses. Her words drew startled gasps and oohs from the crowd as she spoke them.
Unni's face, now soured by the name she was being addressed by, grew increasingly pale, as she gazed upon the pure, unadulterated malice that was plastered across Trina's face in the form of a smile. "Hello, Unni. It's been a while," Lande said, standing next to Wien who now rose to his feet. "What is the meaning of this defiance?" Anders asked, clearly confused by the whole interaction.
"Your majesty, do you recall saying that you were thankful for the 1st Royal Battalion for protecting us from enemies both foreign and domestic?" Wien asked, putting one hand on the hilt of his sword.
Anders' eyes darted around in confusion. "Y-yes. But this? This is insanity! How dare you address her majesty by such a crude name, Commander Lande? Even if you've known me for most of your life, you will extend courtesy towards her!" he shouted as spit flew from his mouth.
"And you, Sergeant Wien, how dare you say something like that here? You've gone mad, and I still have no clue what this is even about!" he exclaimed, rising from his seat and pointing his fingers at both who stood in front of him.
"If you stopped your childish shouting and listened to us, Anders, perhaps you'd see why we're doing what we're doing. Now, shut the fuck up and sit back down, boy," Commander Lande said, pointing her finger downward at him as her tone of voice grew more serious than he'd ever seen. "You'd better have a damned good reason for this, Trina, or I'll have your head," he conceded, sitting back down on the throne behind him.
"Why not just take it now? I have done nothing to deserve such disrespect, especially not from one as low as this steel-clad whore," Unni nearly spat but stopped when she remembered where she was. The crowd inside the hall gasped, though did their best to keep their murmuring hushed.
"Alright. Alright," Trina began, pursing her lips and sucking in a massive amount of air through her nostrils as she nodded her head. Wien nearly chuckled when he saw the face Trina made as soon as she heard those final words reach her ears.
He knew what was about to happen.
"Listen up, you wrinkly ball-sack that's about as beautiful as a bag of smashed assholes: I've tried to be nice, but I guess you two have skulls thicker than the castle ramparts. So, as a result of your family tree being little more than a single branch, I'm going to say this as plainly as I can," Trina hissed as she seethed with rage.
Everyone, including Anders, was too stunned to speak.
"Unni, you lying, sniveling, shit-sucking, life-ruining, drippy-tip-spreading fuck-toy. I know what that leprous taint of yours did all those years ago. I know your past, and I know the pain you've wrought upon the man who now sits beside you," she continued, taking a step forward.
Wien tugged at the nook in her elbow, but she pulled away in a quick and abrupt motion.
I know there's little I can do to stop her now, especially if she tore away from someone who would only want her best interests at heart, but what is she getting at? Anders thought as he sat quietly, observing everything from Trina's facial expressions, to Unni's changed one.
"What the hell are you talking about, Trina?" Unni asked angrily, standing up in a burst of motion. "We're not on a first-name basis, child-killer, so watch your tone," Trina seethed. Anders finally blinked. "What do you mean child-killer? Is there more meaning to your words?" he asked, leaning forward in his throne and resting his elbows on his knees.
"Do you know how trauma works, Anders?" Trina asked. Anders nodded his head. "I've seen many warriors fall to their inability to keep their minds in check, yes," he replied. "Do you also know that it can misconstrue memories? Replace certain things with others? It's a defense mechanism of the brain, apparently," Trina said, choosing her words carefully.
Unni scoffed, and began to chuckle. "What does that have to do with anything? Guards, I sentence her to death by hanging for spreading heresy and blaspheming against the rightful rulers of Hjalfar," she said in a harsh tone as anger flared in her eyes. "You know, I'd love to see any of my soldiers follow that order," she said coldly, spreading her arms widely in invitation.
"No? Not one? Not a single one of you dare to follow her orders? Hmm, it's crazy what being a good and honest person will do for you, isn't it? It's almost like you have no real power, here," she grinned without bothering to hide the malice behind her eyes.
Unni shivered.
"You can't command my soldiers like you did the former Kings' all those years ago, Unni. You also can't feed them false information, or place them in a location you knew they would be most likely to die like Ulfric Wien. To top it all off, you can't even tell them that the enemy will be most likely coming from the South, when in truth, you knew they'd be coming from the North," Trina began.
"What did you just say?" Anders asked, lifting his head up and refocusing his eyes.
"Unni framed you, Anders. She knew where the attack would come from, and when it came down to the interrogation, she framed your wife, the former commander of the unit you were a part of. She was also directly responsible for slitting your child's throat to the point of decapitation," Trina said, letting her words marinate in the crowd's minds as well.
"Murderer!" one of the men called out from the crowd. "Traitor!" another shouted out. Eventually, the entirety of the Great Hall was in an uproar. Trina gave Unni a cold stare as she spread her arms like a mage summoning the powers of the world.
"Silence!" Anders shouted, releasing a burst of mana that created a shockwave around the room.
Within a heartbeat, the Great Hall was silenced, and all that could be heard was Anders' heavy breathing. "Anders, my love…" Unni began as she tried to put her hand on the side of his arm, but was met with a swift, back-handed slap across the face. "Keep your forked tongue behind your teeth before I saw it off like you did my child's head," Anders seethed, as he drooled with rageful sadness, glaring at her shocked expression.
Giving him a moment to recover, Trina produced the page that Wien had taken from the office. "Why do I not remember it being her? How could I have been so blind?" he asked no one in particular as he stepped away from Unni's shaking figure.
"The mind does strange things when it suffers trauma," Trina began, taking a few steps forward. "It tries to replace one thing with another in hopes that it will make more sense. It represses certain memories in hopes of never being discovered. If you don't believe me, here is the proof of my words," she said, handing him the paper.
Anders looked it over and immediately knew it was Unni's handwriting. He was beginning to tremble as his eyes neared the end of the page coated in a thin sheen of salty liquid. "Y-you…" his voice now drenched in malice, aiming a trembling finger at the one whom he'd shared a bed with just the night before.
"Anders, m-my love, I just…" she was cut off, feeling the hot sting of a mana-infused slap this time. "You dare call me that?" he asked, taking a step forward as she took three back. "You got my wife and unborn child molested and murdered, then went on to decapitate my only living child with your bare hands. You've destroyed everything I once held dear and every good emotion I've ever harbored for you. As a final courtesy, and to appease my own curiosity, you will have thirty seconds to explain yourself," he said angrily but still trying to keep up appearances for the crowd around him.
"Anders, how can you believe that they didn't just write that themselves? How can you take the word of these two, insubordinate shit-stains on your banner over mine?" she asked, gesturing to Trina and Wien, who didn't budge. "Twenty-nine…" he began counting as he slowed his pace towards her like a wolf stalking its prey.
I have to come clean or he'll kill me where I stand, Unni thought as she froze momentarily, but recognized the urgency.
"Twenty-eight," he continued.
"Anders, it's true. I was the one who framed your wife for the attack on Mads' family. I-I-I wanted to get you away from her, and just wanted to make you happier than she could. I thought that it would be a way for us to finally be together, and that you wanted me as much as I wanted you. I see that I was wrong in thinking that way. I-I'm sorry," she stammered.
"Ten… nine…" he continued, not missing a beat.
"Please, Anders! Please try to understand! Forgive me, please!" she pleaded as her desperation became clear in her voice.
"One," Anders said, taking a final step forward.
He's not listening to me. I have to get out of here right now or he's going to draw his sword, she thought.
Seeing as her words did nothing to appeal to his better nature, she began to draw mana from the Ethereal, infusing it into her bones and muscles as she turned to make a run for it. Trina noticed this, and did the same, preparing herself for what she knew was about to happen.
Unni dashed forward, trying to make it out of the Great Hall before anyone else noticed what she was doing. Wien was too slow to react to her speed, and failed to notice anything at all. Trina, however, was faster, and ended up leaving a swirling ring of air bursting out behind her, as she surpassed Unni's speed, catching up to her in a single step. Trina had drawn her sword, and slashed at the back of Unni's leg, forcing her to stumble and slide across the remaining half of the Great Hall's carpet.
"Aah! You bitch!" Unni screeched as she writhed on the floor, trying to stop the bleeding. She drew a seax from her hip, and pointed it at her. "Don't you dare come any closer! Guards!" Unni shouted over her shoulder, never taking her eyes off her assailant.
Trina, however, chuckled and swung the blood off her sword with malicious intent and stood her ground. "Ten years," Anders called out from a few meters behind the commander. "For ten fucking years you lied to me. All those years I spent aiming my hatred towards Mads for what he did, when in truth, it should have been aimed at you," he said darkly. Trina, having sensed his anger, stepped aside. Unni, seeing his expression, began to scurry backwards, still unable to stand.