The Trial Begins

   It was one novice against 40 experts.  When Joan first came in to where the judge and his men were she looked pale and dejected.  But as she stood there, she gained courage and looked him right in the eyes.  She had such presence of mind that when they would ask a super sneaky question she would answer in a way no one thought was possible.  So it turned out to be more like one expert against 40 novices.  Later, they went to a different building where there were 62 experts against her. The judge told her to take an oath to always tell the truth and answer every single question, but Joan refused.  She wanted to have the right to remain silent.  For if she did what they said she would have to tell things of which she didn't want to speak.  Her voices had also told her not to speak of certain things, so it would not have been right for her to speak of them.   The first day there were about three hours debate because of this.  Finally the judge decided to let her have her own way.