ROSIE THOMPSON
xxxthough the pressure's hard to take
xxxit's the only way i can escape
xxxit seems a heavy choice to make
xxxand now i am under all
Rosie was ready to begin, and frankly, she probably would have preferred to just get started. But she looked up to discovered that Trav still wasn't there. She went to shoot a look at Evelyn, but both she and Neden were absent, presumably looking for Trav. She sighed and anxiously tapped her pen on the table a few times. She knew by the atmosphere in the room that it would be hard to turn the room in Trav's favour. She shot a glance towards the front two rows, where she'd asked the jury to sit. They didn't look particularly happy.
She sighed a little with relief as Trav finally appeared in the room. The atmosphere seemed to become even icier as Travis, Neden, and Evelyn made their way in. As they took their seats, Rosie got to her feet and stood at the podium. The eyes of the town were on her, and she could almost feel their doubts about whether or not she was the right person for this. But she couldn't let that worm its way into her head. She cleared her throat.
"People of Greythorne, it is my honor and my privilege to welcome you here today. I could only wish that it was for a slightly more pleasant purpose. Today, we will decide the fate of Travis Graveson, who has been declared a traitor to our town after being discovered to be a member of the Hunting group known as the Branded. I know that many of you are angry and hurt, that you have lost people in the attacks on our town or have been injured yourselves. But I ask that you listen to the evidence put before us with an open mind, and make your decision based on that. I have asked a number of you to form a jury who will represent the town people and make the final decision; so the decision will come from the people and not from me. First, we will hear a representative of our town's elders to describe the course of events and the evidence implicating Mr. Graveson."
She took her seat as the old man stood up. He was old and for a second, Rosie dared to hope that he might be boring and monotonous. He wasn't. Instead, he gave an impassioned account of the evidence they had and the damage that the Branded had caused to the town, and Rosie could tell just by looking at the crowd that they were siding with him. "Thank you. We will now hear from representatives for Mr. Graveson, Ms. Evelyn Fox and Mx. Neden Isimir."
She sighed a little with relief as Trav finally appeared in the room. The atmosphere seemed to become even icier as Travis, Neden, and Evelyn made their way in. As they took their seats, Rosie got to her feet and stood at the podium. The eyes of the town were on her, and she could almost feel their doubts about whether or not she was the right person for this. But she couldn't let that worm its way into her head. She cleared her throat.
"People of Greythorne, it is my honor and my privilege to welcome you here today. I could only wish that it was for a slightly more pleasant purpose. Today, we will decide the fate of Travis Graveson, who has been declared a traitor to our town after being discovered to be a member of the Hunting group known as the Branded. I know that many of you are angry and hurt, that you have lost people in the attacks on our town or have been injured yourselves. But I ask that you listen to the evidence put before us with an open mind, and make your decision based on that. I have asked a number of you to form a jury who will represent the town people and make the final decision; so the decision will come from the people and not from me. First, we will hear a representative of our town's elders to describe the course of events and the evidence implicating Mr. Graveson."
She took her seat as the old man stood up. He was old and for a second, Rosie dared to hope that he might be boring and monotonous. He wasn't. Instead, he gave an impassioned account of the evidence they had and the damage that the Branded had caused to the town, and Rosie could tell just by looking at the crowd that they were siding with him. "Thank you. We will now hear from representatives for Mr. Graveson, Ms. Evelyn Fox and Mx. Neden Isimir."