by C. R. Daems
She knew she couldn't change the disparity, but as a judicator perhaps she could provide a check and balance on some of the excesses. She had reached into her hair to stroke her viper, content with her place in life, when she realized Agnese was talking.
"Lady Olinda would like to visit with you after you've rested and refreshed yourselves. I'll return in two hours if that would be convenient. That will allow you an hour with Her Grace before dinner is served."
"That would be acceptable, Captain. Thank you," Tenzen said. She smiled after the captain until the door closed behind the woman. "Well, Jola, what do you think of Stag Bluff castle?"
"The street rat in me is overwhelmed, but the judicator in me is content."
"That's my wish for you, my sister-that you'll always be overwhelmed by excesses and content with who you are." Tenzen hugged her.
Jola went about the business of a much-needed wash at the marble washstand, and then donned fresh clothes, ignoring the luxuries of the room. She had just made herself presentable when the captain opened the door to the sitting room and asked them to follow her.
"Judicator Tenzen, it's been a long time between visits," Olinda said as she rose from her chair with a welcoming smile.
Jola thought Duchess Olinda a plain-looking woman, until she noticed the woman's piercing gray-green eyes that radiated authority and intelligence. Her brown hair was long and held loose with several jeweled combs. Her figure and face were somewhat rounded with age.
The duchess's private parlor was furnished with simple elegance. Behind her, a broad window led out to a balcony. A darkening blue sky was streaked with clouds, tinted gold by the setting sun.
"Yes, it's been a long time, Your Grace. However, you look as young and vibrant as when I saw you last," Tenzen said. "Your Grace, I'd like to introduce you to Judicator Jola."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Your Grace." Jola made a small bow.
"Well, Judicator Jola, tell me, are judicators allowed to tell lies?" A small grin formed on Olinda's lips, and she nodded toward Tenzen.
Jola had felt the affection and admiration between Olinda and Tenzen through her viper, whose head lay on her shoulder and whose tail remained in her hair.
"Can honest admiration ever be a lie?"
Olinda studied Jola for what seemed like a long time before replying. "No, Mistress Jola, it can't. I'm afraid I'm not used to honest admiration. Please sit. We can swap stories until dinner."
Tenzen and Jola each took one of the chairs upholstered in rich damask. Tenzen told Olinda the reason for their visit.
"Nobles in general have always been resentful of the Seven Provinces' Treaty because it restricts their conduct. Most accept it as the way things are. Now and then, there are those who believe they are above the commoners' law. In most provinces, they are punished, and although subdued, their resentment festers." Olinda paused, remaining silent for a while.
Jola wasn't sure whether she was finished talking, whether she was thinking, or whether she was waiting for comments. Then, the duchess continued.
"From what I hear from my nobles and those traveling in Essam, someone is forming a cabal. For what purpose, I can only guess. In those cities, I've heard rumors of abuse of justice."
She held up her hand and they waited while servants laid out on the nearby table a dinner of peas with fennel and onions, flatfish in an onion sauce and mutton with thyme and mushrooms in wine. The scents had Jola's mouth watering. Olinda's three children, two girls and a boy, joined them. She seemed to use dinner as an opportunity to catch up on the family's activities.
"Mistress Tenzen and Mistress Jola, may I introduce my children."
The three made their courtesies. Jola was impressed with their well-mannered behavior. The oldest girl looked to be about ten, and each appeared to be separated in age by a couple of years, with the boy the youngest at about six years.
"Mistress Tenzen, would you authorize the admission of my oldest daughter, Freira, to the monastery?" Olinda said. "I'd like to send her this year if possible."
"Well, Lady Freira, what do you think of the idea?" Tenzen turned toward the slender little girl.
"I don't want to leave home, but your training will help me be a good ruler like my mother," Freira said as she glanced at her mother out of the corner of her eye. "And, I'd like to go to the same school she did."
Tenzen studied the girl for a while before speaking. "I'll write a letter of authorization to the monastery, as well as authorization for your guards to escort her through Tyrol to Astraea."
Jola wasn't surprised. Freira's answer had been honest. While she wanted to please her mother, she seemed to understand, as well as a child could, the responsibilities that lay ahead of her.
"Thank you. I'd like both of my daughters to be trained at the monastery. I only wish my son could be," Olinda said.
"Perhaps you could send him to my family in Ironwood for training-that's if you plan for him to take service in the Rador army."
"Oh yes, Mommy," the little boy said as he bounced up and down in his chair.
"Thank you again, Mistress Tenzen. I'll consider it. But before I dispose of my entire family, could I impose on you to hear a dispute between two of my nobles? Their quarrel has gone on too long." Olinda shook her head with a frown.
"If you've no objections, I'd like Mistress Jola to hear the case. I'll still be responsible for the outcome. I assume you'll be present as the noble's advocate. If so, I'd suggest that you may want to allow your daughter to attend with you."
"Oh, Mother, may I?" Freira said.
"Very well. Judicator Jola will preside over the dispute, and Freira may attend with me," Olinda said with a smile at her daughter, who straightened in her chair and beamed her delight.
* * *
The next morning, Jola and Tenzen entered the castle's great hall through vast double doors. The floor was set in an intricate pattern of circles and arcs. The walls had fronds and blossoms molded into the plaster. Plaster panels in the ceiling high over their heads echoed the pattern of the walls. The room was already crowded.
Based upon the crowd's finery and the number of swords showing, Jola judged that nobles were in the majority. She could see that the remaining attendees, while not nobles, were wealthy citizens, from the fineness of their dress. She strolled to stand in front of a silver-leafed chair, with a matching table bearing paper, pen and ink, and water. Tenzen took a chair to her right, while Olinda and Freira sat to her left. Jola stood to address the assembly. The crowd, the decorations, and the clothes brought out the child of the streets that she knew she was. I love being a judicator, but I'll never get used to the nobility.
"In the name of King Nicolas, I, Judicator Jola, do hereby call this judgment in session." Jola hoped her voice sounded steady. Let the story begin. What a circuitous route had led to her life as a judicator.
"First Minister, please read the charges in this dispute."
"Count Edmundo claims that all the land north of the Horse River belongs to him, in accordance with the original land grant nearly one hundred years ago. Count Kemen claims that the recent river change doesn't constitute a change in his land," Olinda's first minister read in a normal voice, which somehow seemed to carry across the entire hall.
"First Minster, would you please unroll the map you've had prepared." She stood waiting as the minister rolled out the map, inscribed on a two-meter-square parchment. The map was a beautiful work of art, with pictures of land animals, water dwellers, and strange mythical creatures, and the name of each town written in an elaborate script. She descended to the bottom step as her viper twisted its way into her hair and rested its head on hers. An undercurrent of muttering went around the room.
He placed it on the floor and weighted the corners so she could examine it.
"Count Edmundo, please use the pointer to state your case."
"Yes, Mistress. The original land grant specified that the Horse River defined the north-south border. Over the years, th
e Horse River has shifted its boundaries many times. I claim the river still defines the land grant." Edmundo waved his hand toward the map with a smile and bowed in Jola's direction.
Jola felt truth, and a strong sense of satisfaction, humor and triumph. What a strange combination of emotions.
"Count Kemen, please step up and state your claim." Jola gestured to the map.
Kemen stepped up, taking the pointer from Edmundo, and stared at the oversized map. "Mistress, it's true that the Horse River has, over the generations, made minor changes. The land around those shifts in the river usually turns into marshes that are unsuitable for either of us to use. This time, however, the change was significant, involving land my people have inhabited for generations. I claim that it remains my land, since it's been in my family for almost a hundred years," Kemen said, without smiling or bowing.
Jola detected truth and anger. So it comes down to an arbitrary decision about an unreliable river.
"First Minister, how far is this land from here?" Jola said. The minister looked surprised, although Jola had to admit, he recovered gracefully.
"Less than a day's ride, Mistress."
"I hereby adjourn this judgment until four days from now." Jola turned back to Tenzen and Olinda. "I need to see the land under discussion."
Freira watched with a wide-eyed excitement that made Jola smile.
"Duchess Olinda, may I take Lady Freira along with me, since she's observing the judgment?"
"Please, Mother." Freira reached out to grasp her mother's hand.
"I think we'll all go. I don't get out enough," Olinda said.
* * *
Jola rode in the middle of a caravan. She understood that a Duchess or Duke never went anywhere alone, but this seemed excessive. Accompanying Olinda were twenty-five soldiers, four of her ministers, six women serving as attendants, three kitchen staff, a wagon with who-knew-what, and her three children.
Jola had planned to ride out with Tenzen, a guard or two, and Freira. That had seemed a crowd. The Duchess, on the other hand, thought the current group small. Obviously, learning to understand nobility was going to take time. While Stag Bluff rested on the side of a mountain, Counts Edmundo's and Kemen's disputed property lay in a green valley of rolling hills, and gentle streams that originated in the nearby mountains that bordered Stag Bluff. Those small rivers fed into the Horse River, which separated the two holdings. Everywhere Jola looked, she saw a lush green landscape of grasses and trees.
They reached the village in contention around mid-afternoon. The local inn had received notice of their approach. Its owner had made rooms available for Olinda, her children, ministers, and the judicators.
The next morning, Olinda and Tenzen decided to remain in the village rather than ride all over who-knew-where; Olinda allowed Freira to go with Jola, after much pleading and wheedling from her daughter. In the end, Jola, Freira, Captain Agnese, and six soldiers left to investigate.
Jola directed them to follow the dry riverbed back toward the point where it had changed course.
"Mistress, what are we looking for?" Freira said as they rode. The child beamed with excitement.
"You may call me Jola when we're alone, Lady Freira."
"We're not alone, Mistress." Freira waved toward the captain and the guards.
"You won't tell, will you, Captain?"
"No, Mistress," the captain said with a grin, as she put a finger to her lips.
"Mis... Jola, what are we looking for?" Freira asked again.
"We're going to see if we can get the river to tell us why it changed course, so that we can decide what is fair for both Count Kemen and Count Edmundo." Jola wondered what it would be like to have a child to care for. None of the sisters had children, although she had heard that Sister Theodora was the daughter of a sister who had reared her at the monastery.
"Rivers can't talk," Freira said with certainty, and then she frowned. "Can you hear rivers talk?"
Jola reached into her blouse and pulled out her viper, which coiled around her hand and arm.
"Everything can communicate, if you listen, but you've to listen with more than your ears. My viper says you think I'm making fun of you." Jola couldn't contain her laugh.
"It told you?" Freira's face lit up as she watched the viper in fascination.
"Yes, it did. The river will also talk to us if we use our eyes, noses, ears and minds."
They followed the dry riverbed. The trees and shrubs along the bank were brown and withered, some dead.
"Halt, you're on Count Edmundo's land. You must turn around and go back!" a soldier with sergeant's rank shouted. He sat on a beige warhorse, and was accompanied by five other soldiers.
"You're addressing Judicator Jola. Stand aside and let us pass," Captain Agnese said, as her troops tightened around Freira and Jola. Jola winced at the metallic snicks as their guards drew their swords.
"I'm sorry, Judicator Jola, but those are my orders," the sergeant said, although his brow was beaded with sweat.
"I'm Captain Agnese of Duchess Olinda's guard. Her daughter, Lady Freira, is in our company. Would you refuse her entry onto your count's lands?"
"I have my orders, Captain."
"Corporal, return to the village and tell Duchess Olinda that Lord Edmundo has refused us entry onto his land," Agnese said to one of her soldiers in a voice of steel, while never taking her eyes off the sergeant.
"Wait," the sergeant said. He looked from Jola to the captain, and the sweat ran down his face. "That won't be necessary, Captain. You may enter." He raised his hand and signaled his troops to the side.
"Corporal, return to the village and bring back half the troops to join me." She waved him off and waited until the additional troops arrived before proceeding.
Jola couldn't blame her for being cautious. After all, she had the Duchess's daughter along. She thought the captain would gladly give her life to protect the child, and would never take chances with the child's safety.
About a league up the road, Jola stopped and dismounted. Freira hopped off her horse and followed as Jola strode to the riverbank and proceeded down into the riverbed. This section of the bed had damp spots in it.
"Lady Freira, what do you see?" Jola said.
"A dry riverbed?"
"Is it dry?"
"Well, no." Freira poked at a damp spot with the toe of her boot. "It's damp."
"Why? Do you think that maybe the river wants to come this way and can't?"
Freira looked blank, and began walking up the riverbed, where it was even wetter. Jola followed closely behind, along with Captain Agnese and six troopers. A hundred meters further, they reached a huge mound of rocks and dirt that blocked the riverbed. Jola took Freira's hand and scrambled up the slope to the top, followed by Captain Agnese and her troops.
"Well, Lady Freira, do you think the river made this mound?" Jola smiled at the little girl.
"No, Jola. It's too neat. And there are no trees or bushes until way over there. This is all new dirt." Freira's voice rose with excitement.
"See, the river is talking to you. It's saying, 'I'm being forced to go that way when I want to go this way.'" Jola motioned toward where the river was blocked. Freira stared, fascinated by the viper that coiled around the arm Jola was gesturing with. Seeing Freira's nervousness, Jola transferred the viper back to her neck.
"It won't hurt you. You're my friend."
"But it's poisonous?"
"Yes, if it bites you, but it won't." She looked over her shoulder at the captain. "Would you have a couple of your men remove some of the stones damming the river here, please?"
"Yes, Mistress Jola," the captain said as she pointed to several of the men. Over the next several hours, the men dug, and moved rocks and debris. Eventually a trickle of water flowed through the opening. Soon it became a small river, as the water opened the channel and the mound began to dissolve.
"Look, Jola, the river has found its way back. Now it's laughing." Freira chuckled.
<
br /> By the time Jola and Freira returned to the village, the river was flowing steadily past the village on the north side. Jola informed the captain that she planned to return to Stag Bluff alone because she wanted to think. The captain didn't argue, but sent two troopers to accompany her. Some nobles will forever confound me. They have so much and yet they are never satisfied.
* * *
"In the name of King Nicolas, I, Judicator Jola, do hereby call this judgment back in session. After my review of the land and river in question, I've reached a decision." Jola turned to Olinda. "Your Grace, I've been asked to judge the merits of a land dispute caused by a change in the Horse River. I've not been asked to rule on charges that may be related to the change. Is this correct?"
"That's correct, Judicator Jola. My daughter, Lady Freira, has assured me the river is happy where it is and would be unhappy flowing anywhere else," Olinda said with a small laugh.
"Let it be known to all citizens of Pyxus that Judicator Jola has resolved beyond any man's right to question the issue before her involving the land dispute between Count Edmundo and Count Kemen," Jola chanted. "I decree that the river continues to define the north/south border of the land grant as originally specified.
"So say the Judicators of Pyxus."
* * *
The next morning, Jola, Tenzen, Olinda, and Freira sat in the Duchess's private sitting room sipping goblets of wine, Freira's heavily watered.
"My daughter informs me she wants to be a judicator," Olinda said, looking directly at Jola.
Jola smiled. "Lady Freira, judicators are important for bringing justice to the people of Pyxus because our vipers can detect truth and lies, and judicators can hear the vipers. But good rulers, like your mother, are the stability of Pyxus. Without them, there would be no judicators and chaos would reign. You have a good heart and will make a good Duchess when your time comes." Jola reached over to squeeze Freira's hand. While she talked, her viper twisted around her arm and slid down until it almost touched Freira. Jola heard Olinda's sharp inhale. Freira's eyes were wide, staring at the viper's progress, but she didn't try to pull away.
"How do you know I have a good heart?" Freira's eyes remained glued to the viper.
