Chapter 20

Ludmila parted ways with Aemilia, who was to join the servants’ hall. Making her way up the central aisle between the rows of seated nobles, Ludmila came before Baroness Wagner, who was seated at the head table, which was raised to overlook the chamber.

“Welcome, Lady Zahradnik,” she smiled in greeting. “I’m delighted that you were able to join us.”

“The pleasure is all mine, Lady Wagner,” Ludmila replied. “I was not aware that there would be so many attending when the invitation arrived this morning.”

The warm smile on Baroness Wagner’s face faltered, and the warm tone of her voice turned sombre.

“You will have to forgive me for going about things the way I have,” Lady Wagner said. “It was…necessary. I believe you’ll understand why once we get started here. Countess Corelyn has reserved a seat for you beside her – please, make yourself comfortable.”

Two sets of long, ebony dining tables had been arranged parallel to one other, running lengthwise along the hall. Going by the number of nobles in attendance, Lady Wagner could have probably entertained her guests in the more personal setting of her dining room but, for some reason, she had chosen not to do so. Clara was seated at the front of one of the tables, with Baroness Gagnier across from her. Aside from them, it appeared that nearly all of the nobles in the duchy were present.

Most prominent among them was Countess Jezne, who was seated with all five of her direct vassals – four women and a young man – who all held baronial titles. Count Völkchenheim was present as well, seated with two independent baronesses from the western half of the duchy. Ludmila’s mind worked to name them all, but she could only recognize the women in attendance from past gatherings.

“Where is Baron Hamel?” Ludmila asked after she made her greetings and seated herself beside Clara.

“He’s out in his demesne this week,” replied Clara, “so he said he couldn’t make it. That shouldn’t be the case though – he’s not half a day away from the city…it’s too bad, he would have probably liked to see the Dragons.”

“You knew about them before they arrived?”

Ludmila wondered if all her time away from her administrative duties was preventing her from receiving important information in a timely manner. She never had a good ear for political matters in the first place, and her mounting responsibilities were certainly not helping her stay on top of things.

“No, I was just as surprised as anyone else,” Clara replied. “With all the preparations we’ve been making for the official announcement in a few weeks, however, I suspected that there might be more coming to impress upon new visitors the majesty of the Sorcerous Kingdom.”

“That’s right,” Lady Gagnier agreed, “the short-term policies set forth by the Royal Court have been pushing all of the territories along the major trade routes to bring their presentation to a higher standard. The worst sections of the highways have seen refurbishing, all of the villages and towns along them have been cleaned up and will be in full celebratory decor when the announcement is made and trade resumes. The city, especially, is being scoured clean and all the buildings are having their exteriors fixed up.”

“What does that have to do with Dragons, though?” Ludmila asked, “Do you mean to say that they were flown in to just look impressive when traffic from the Empire begins to arrive?”

“That sounds about right,” Clara nodded. “The Baharuth Imperial Guard has a contingent of Air Cavalry with Hippogriffs and Gryphons. I’ve heard that some places use other beasts, such as Wyverns, as well. Dragons patrolling the skies above the Royal Capital of the Sorcerous Kingdom is a clear display of superiority and presents unapproachable levels of prestige. The directives outlined by the Royal Court are clear: the capital duchy is to be the crown jewel of the Sorcerous Kingdom – a peerless bastion of power, wealth and majesty for all the world to stand in awe of.”

The excited energy that was carried in her voice had not diminished since the duchy’s nobles had been set on their course after the announcement of the Empire’s submission to the Sorcerous Kingdom to the gathered nobles in the Royal Villa. It was an event that very much tickled the sense of pride that many of the nobles of the interior nursed within themselves. Though it was something that she could understand if she thought about it, being raised in the coarse borderlands appeared to create a sense of distance between her own sensibilities and those of the others.

The muted conversation around the hall diminished and ceased as Baroness Wagner rose to her feet at the front of the room. She swept her gaze over the assembled nobles before she spoke, her voice filling the well-crafted chamber.

“I must first apologise for taking time out of everyone’s busy schedules with the coming proceedings,” she lowered her head slightly, “but there is an urgent matter that needs to be addressed by the nobles of E-Rantel – something aside from the current preparations underway throughout the realm.”

Liane’s voice was uncharacteristically tense; her face grim. She ran her hands slightly over the pure white tablecloth in front of her for a moment before speaking again.

“I’m sure most of you have guessed what this is about,” she said, “considering who is not present. Those of you with better ears and eyes than my own should already be very well aware of the issue at hand.”

Ludmila turned her head to look from Clara to Lady Gagnier, then to the rest of the assembled nobles. All of them held similarly grim expressions to Lady Wagner’s. None looked to harbour the same uncertainty that encroached on Ludmila’s mind. She resisted the urge to look around, trying to recall the faces and names of those in attendance to figure out what was going on.

“I assume this hall is warded against espionage?” Countess Jezne’s voice rose from her table.

“Yes,” Baroness Wagner replied. “The daily business of House Wagner is run from this office, as are the executive operations of all of our merchant companies. It is guarded from regular spying and warded against divination magic.”

With a nod, she seated herself at her table, ceding the floor to Countess Jezne. The aged matron’s heavy black dress unruffled as she rose, and she cast her stern, brown-eyed gaze over the assembly before speaking.

“Then I’ll get straight to the point,” Vilette Jezne said with a clear voice. “House Fassett is currently undergoing a succession dispute. Most of us have seen Jacqueline Fassett representing her late father’s title in recent weeks. As a result, most of us also assumed that Count Fassett’s son, Campbell, did not survive Katze. However it turned out that he was never at the battle in the first place. Two weeks ago, he came out of hiding and has since then gathered his supporters from around their territory in order to remove his sister from power.”

“Does the Royal Court know about this?” Someone asked after the brief summary.

“I don’t know,” Countess Jezne admitted. “The Royal Court has shown no indication that they are aware of the problem, but it could be that they simply do not care for such matters until it adversely affects the administration of the realm. I may have been appointed to the Royal Court as an...Advisor but, in the past few weeks, I’ve only come to accept many of their ways as inhuman. My role has mostly been to assist as an interpreter between the Royal Court and the House of Lords. Their actions are not driven by the same motives as one might come to expect from one of our own, and they certainly do not care for our politics.”

“Campbell is the legal heir,” Count Völkchenheim said. “If he brings the matter to the Royal Court’s attention, shouldn’t it be easily settled?”

“That is a question I might have expected out of Zahradnik,” Countess Jezne scoffed, “but definitely not from a member of House Völkchenheim. Are you truly so ignorant of your neighbor?”

Ludmila blinked as she was brought up in a way that did not sound very flattering – it did not help that she was indeed entirely ignorant of what was being discussed. Count Völkchenheim seemed to understand the meaning behind the Countess’ derisive reply, however. His lips formed into a thin line as he flushed slightly, nodding a few times in understanding.

“So you’re implying that any direct investigation by the Royal Court will bode ill for us all.”

“That’s exactly what I’m implying,” returned Countess Jezne. “The late Count Fassett may have been able to evade the oversight of Lord Rettenmeier, but his legacy will not escape the notice of the Prime Minister should they attract her attention. I assume no one is so naive as to think that the only one complicit was Count Fassett himself.”

Count Völkchenheim turned his head to look up at the arched limestone ceiling. Several seconds later, he turned his gaze back down again to address Countess Jezne with a sigh.

“So neither Campbell nor Jacqueline Fassett will request the arbitration of the Royal Court,” Count Völkchenheim said, “out of this same fear. If the Royal Court performs a full investigation of the dispute, it will uncover all of House Fassett’s shady practices. Still…this is the responsibility of House Fassett alone – are you certain that the outcomes of a royal intervention will affect us as well?”

“The probability is high,” Countess Jezne’s voice carried no hint of uncertainty. “Even if it was not, it’s still an untenable risk. At least two members of His Majesty’s Cabinet have openly expressed discontent with the allowances provided by the laws which were adopted from Re-Estize. It is not unreasonable that they would use House Fassett as justification to make amendments – or do away with our laws entirely.”

A murmur swept through the assembled nobles. These laws included the ones that ensured the rights and protection of the nobility and how the realm was governed as a whole. In the past, thoughtlessly removing those laws would incite a mass rebellion from the nobility, so the idea was unthinkable in Re-Estize. Even the ascendant Baharuth Emperor needed to preemptively perform a bloody, systematic coup in order to curb the uprising that would have surely occurred in reaction to the changes in his government. The Sorcerous Kingdom had no such issues, however – the law was naught but a paper shield should those in power decide against it: easily pierced, shredded and burned to ashes on a whim.

Or was it? Ludmila recalled her conversations with Lady Shalltear since she had become her vassal: at the least, her liege did not seem to be someone that would callously disregard the stated wishes of His Majesty. The only other members of the King’s Cabinet that she had personally interacted with were Lord Mare and Lady Aura, who both seemed like reasonable enough individuals as well, despite their apparent age.

Countess Jezne, on the other hand, had been appointed the ‘Human Advisor’ to the Royal Court, so she presumably knew all of its members. Perhaps there was something that she understood from her firsthand experience with the other members of the Court that caused her to believe in the likelihood of such an extreme outcome.

“How do you propose we do anything at all?” Clara’s voice rose over the din, “Unless they are our own vassals, we nobles have no right to interfere in the business of other fiefs.”

And therein lay the problem. A noble was an autonomous ruler of their own demesne, bound by the oath of fealty that they swore to their own liege. As long as a noble did not break those laws which applied to them or run afoul of the terms of their contract, the law protected them from arbitrary measures taken by even the sovereign, never mind unassociated nobles. One could not simply decide that they didn’t like their neighbor one day and go to war with them to fix the problem.

“Has Jacqueline Fassett’s oath of fealty been ratified by the Royal Court?” Ludmila asked.

“No,” Countess Jezne answered. “She has not come forward with one yet, as far as I know. With the uncertainty surrounding our place in the future of this nation, many nobles have not done so. But all that means is that the Royal Court can throw the book at House Fassett once they find out what they’ve been up to. It does not give the House of Lords the right to enforce our collective will upon them. The purpose of the legislative branch is to propose bills to the Royal Court, not deliver justice to one of our own – this is the role of His Majesty’s Judiciary, which reports directly to the Royal Court.”

“If the Judiciary deals with House Fassett,” Clara said, “will that resolve the issue in a way that will satisfy the Royal Court? Who is the Judiciary, anyways?”

“Each individual lord still administers justice in their own lands, so only the high courts can prosecute House Fassett.”

“In that case, who heads the Judiciary?”

“Lady Albedo does, at the moment.”

“I think I just heard something ridiculous,” Clara amethyst eyes glinted. “Are you saying that the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches of our government are all headed by the same individual?”

“Well, the sovereign technically has that authority in Re-Estize as well, within the bounds of the law. As Lady Albedo – the Guardian Overseer – is the right hand of the Sorcerer King, she wields that authority by extension.”

Clara leaned forward over their table after hearing Countess Jezne’s reply, lightly rubbing her temples. Several of the other nobles showed faces that ranged between shock and dismay. Having a single person hold such power was a problem waiting to happen: it was merely a matter of when. All one needed to do was get on Lady Albedo’s bad side and there would be nothing one could do about anything that befell them unless an appeal managed to reach the Sorcerer King. Given how consistently scarce His Majesty appeared to be, the chances of this happening seemed next to nonexistent.

“Then our hands are tied, aren’t they?” Count Völkchenheim rose to speak again, “We have no recourse – there is nothing that we can legally do to fix this.”

“We would not all be here if there was a simple answer,” Countess Jezne snapped. “A single noble can do nothing about this, but perhaps a solution can be found between all of us.”

“Diplomatic pressure, then?” Countess Corelyn ventured, “If a friendly word of caution doesn’t work, we can boycott them as a group through private sanctions.”

“Boycott them to do what, precisely?” Countess Jezne rolled her eyes, “We have two weeks before the territories are reviewed by the Royal Court to ensure that everyone has been made ready. Generations of their corrupt practices will not simply evaporate in such a short amount of time. The moment a single report of their activity reaches the Prime Minister’s desk, she will descend on House Fassett without a shred of mercy – and we’ll be next.”

“We should at least make the effort,” Countess Corelyn insisted. “There are lines that we should not cross but, at the least, we should demonstrate that we attempted to do something about one of our own through the limited means available to us.”

There was a long silence as the assembled nobles thought on what to do. With no other solutions presented, Baroness Wagner spoke once more.

“Then…are there any objections to our taking this action?” Her icy blue gaze swept over the hall.

Heads turned to look at one another with uncertain looks but, with the lack of alternatives, no one voiced their dissent.

“Very well,” she nodded, “lunch will be served shortly. Let us discuss how we can best turn House Fassett from its course.”