“You have said that should Jett Blake try to enter any lands or properties that you own, you will use force to drive him out. Is there a particular reason for that? To the best of my knowledge he only committed minor offences against you.”

“That would relate directly to the accusations he made of Lady Nela, your Majesty. The thing he accused her of was with every single man in my castle. He not only tried to impute her actions, but those of myself and a significant preponderance of my servants and soldiers.” That was a low bar to cross, Braydon could have said anything and those present would be none the wiser of the truth of what he had said.

“That is not something that you can just say about my son without proof, Sirrah.” Earl Blake rebutted, he had clearly seen the flaw in what was happening and did not want to let it continue. He did not forget to add in a jab, calling Braydon ‘Sirrah’. While it was true that Braydon was of lower status, it was not significant and the situation was more than atypical. It had been meant as an insult, but nobody could say anything about something so technically true.

“Then you ought to find better witnesses then we have here, Sirrah.” It was here that Duke Oakley decided to weigh in, the first of the factions to do so meaningfully. He decided to use Earl Blake’s trick against him, immediately throwing it back at him. It was clear that he had decided that standing with the King on this matter would bring more benefits than standing aside or helping Earl Blake.

“You know as well as I that there are no other witnesses than Viscount Fiton’s servants.” The earl decided that he did not want to start trading insults and referred to Braydon by name. There were not going to be any factions taking a side in this to help him. Duke Burn never took a side in anything and Duke Riley had not even bothered to show up for such a trifle. His faction had only one representative at court, a minor viscount that took part in every court session but rarely spoke. He was likely there just to report on what went on.

“Then your demand of Viscount Braydon is not tenable if we want to reach a conclusion. Carry on, Sir.” King Aled once again took control of proceedings, though not until he was sure that Duke Oakley was not going to attack Earl Blake anymore. It was far better to use someone else’s sword than one’s own. He also addressed Braydon as Sir, if anyone else were to call him Sirrah, it would be openly going against the King. And with the stances that the Dukes had taken on this issue clear, that was not a good idea. Of course, had Duke Oakley taken sided with Earl Blake instead, it was likely he would continue to call Braydon Sirrah.

“As I was saying, me and my men were accused along with Lady Nela. I had not even mentioned what we were accused of yet, Earl Blake. That is unless your son told you what he had said to Lady Nela, which would prove my point.” Braydon would not take being insulted lying down, he just had to make sure to do it the right way. Earl Blake was higher ranked than him so he could not openly insult him in the same way.

Pointing out mistakes that his counterpart had made was a very good way of fighting back. Braydon found it truly vindicating that Blake had tacitly admitted that his son had said something horrible by refuting it before Braydon himself had clarified what was said. And by the look of regret on the earl’s face he had only now realised that he had done that too.

“Is your own admission adequate proof for you?” Aled jumped on this too. If they could pin Earl Blake admitting everything on him before Braydon filled in the details, that would give them free reign for the rest of the court session.

“Perhaps we should hear more of what the viscount has to say before we jump to any conclusions.” Duke Oakley spoke once again. He was making it clear that he was against Earl Blake but that did not mean that he would help the other side. ‘Tsk, of course you’d say that.’ Aled was not happy about it but he had to accept, there was no reason not to.

“Jett Blake alleged that Lady Nela had stooped to the level of a prostitute during her time at my castle and had ‘served’ every man within that castle.” Braydon carried on speaking when the King gestured for him to continue. But he once again had to pause for Earl Blake stepping in to refute.

“There is no way that my son said that.” He was being more careful with his words, lest he admit that his son had actually told him what had been said. The earl was expecting another rebuke from the duke or the king but Braydon did not wait for them and instead made another move.

“Lady Nela could tell you the exact words that Jett said. Being accused of that by your own fiancé is not something that one forgets in a hurry.” He decided to let Lady Nela talk, she had near perfect control of her expression, he was sure that she could put up an aggrieved expression at a moment’s notice. It helped that she was also enraged when the words were said to her.

“When we were talking in the great hall…*sniff*...he said ‘I never wanted to marry a whore like you anyway. I am sure you have already given yourself to every man in this damned castle by now.’ Even if we had our disagreements, he did not have to say that.” Nela pulled out a stellar performance, even able to make herself cry and pull out a handkerchief part way through. Even though he knew that she was putting on the tears, Braydon could not help but be affected by how pitiful Nela looked. He wanted to put an arm around her but that would be a severe breach of etiquette between two unmarried nobles.

“I presume that we do not need to ask if what the Lady says is true?” King Aled looked around the hall and got nods and small words of affirmation from most of the people there. When he turned to look at Earl Blake, he had a swollen red face. He was clearly angry but knew that his son had said exactly that.

“I cannot accept that.” Earl Blake said. The members of his faction that were with him had similarly ugly faces. They all knew where this was headed now, but there was nothing they could do.

“You might not be able to accept it but Lady Nela’s testimony has clearly persuaded a large majority of those present. It is the will of the royal court and I presume that of the King that Jett Blake be held accountable for what he has done.” Duke Oakley was more than happy to make the final blow in this case. He was obvious in his hopes that this would help in his disputes with the Earl in the future.