Chapter Seventeen
The Una
Kai took his seat and glanced around the high court chambers. Its vaulted ceiling and heavily gilded and carved beams were familiar, yet at the same time menacing. Huge double doors dominated the wall behind the long table where the Headmen would sit, but they were closed awaiting the arrival of the Headmen from their private chambers.
The table contained two empty spaces: his father’s and Rem’s. They were seated along with him in the family box, a place usually reserved for Apprentice Headmen.
The gallery was fuller than he had ever seen it before, packed with people eager for a glimpse of the traitor.
Kai folded his arms and looked down at Rem where he was sitting next to him, stripped of a part in these official proceedings just as he had been stripped of his Headman robes.
As Rem and his father would not be taking part in official Una business, they had discarded their Headmen attire.
Rem wore the usual garments of an Una man; a knee length waistcoat sashed around his waist over white trousers and a white shirt. One side of his waistcoat bore sharp creases where he’d absently pleated the fabric between his fingers. It was a habit that Kai knew well. Rem was nervous.
Strangely, Kai didn’t feel anxious.
The long hours of the past night had resigned him to the embarrassment that Aya’s return would cause.
Whatever happened there would be shame cast upon him and his family, and he was tired of trying to calculate the exact amount of shame they would be forced to carry.
The large carved door opened slowly and six guards, gorgeously decked out in red and gold, entered the room. They were the Red Guard, the personal bodyguard for the Elder Headman. They stood to smart attention as the Headmen filed in after them. All those present in the hall rose from their chairs, and bowed as the Headmen found their seats.
Silence fell. Kai could almost feel the held breath of all those present as they waited for the accused to be ushered in.
“Bring them forth,” Elder Headman Amajit commanded.
Unseen hands pulled back the large double doors at the far end of the room, and a murmur of excitement ran around the gallery. Three soldiers stood on the threshold, resplendent in their black uniforms. Two wore coloured sashes that proclaimed the family they sprang from, but the third wore no sash.
Behind them, looking distinctly bedraggled, stood Astra and her foster-family, with a further two soldiers hemming them in.
From the distance between them it was hard to make anything out as the soldiers led them to stand before the Headmen, Shin at the front of the procession. He didn’t pause as he passed Kai and Rem, but for the briefest of seconds his eyes met Kai's.
For some reason Kai thought the look held a warning.
Then he saw her.
Her clothes were rumpled and stained by her recent adventures. The side of her skirt had split up one seam almost to her thigh. She was dressed as a Tula woman, and Kai was vaguely surprised by how little it angered him.
She was followed by four men and two women. Kai eyed them dispassionately, taking in the particularly dishevelled state of two of the men. One sported a heavy bruise and angry rash, and the other walked stiffly as though in pain.
The Tula men and women were corralled to one side, and Astra was left facing the Headmen on her own.
She bowed respectfully as an Una should, and Kai watched her long hair ripple forwards over her shoulders. As she straightened, she pushed it back, tucking the loose curls behind her ear.
She didn’t usually wear it down in Una fashion, Kai knew that much from the reports. Did she think to impress the Headmen, and those gathered, with a show of Unaness?
She could have saved herself the trouble.
Rem stirred beside him, and Kai looked up to see that the boy’s face had blanched sickeningly. He shifted in his seat so that he could lean a little near to him, without drawing attention from the crowd.
“What is it?”
Rem started at the whispered words.
“Nothing.”
“You look as though you might pass out.”
Rem stiffened, and Kai continued speaking quietly.
“Precisely: do not dare to embarrass me like that,” he paused. “You knew she was coming; what is there to be shocked about?”
Rem was silent, and Kai thought that he wouldn’t answer.
“She looks just like the picture I have of our mother.”
Kai remembered the picture. Rem had kept it beside his bed since he was four years old, and Kai had studied it several times. Mae Uel Ne Singh was laughing and the camera had captured her air of mischievous amusement just as surely as it had captured her loveliness. Kai had not really taken note of the resemblance before, but now he thought of it the physical similarity was marked.
“Aya Uel Ne Singh, daughter of Jaym Uel Ne Singh, Headman to the people of New Athens. You are hereby charged by the Una people of treason, and of conspiring with the enemies of your mother nation. How do you plead?”
Silence fell over the room as everyone awaited the traitor's answer. Even Kai, who had thought his interest in proceedings could not be excited again, found that he too was tensely waiting for her to speak.
The young woman in the centre of the hall remained calm, and bowed respectfully once again.
“Guilty, Elderman.”
A shocked gasp rippled around the room at her audacity. Kai discovered that his carefully cultivated indifference had been crushed by those two little words. His hand fisted, and he slid it out of sight, keeping his face neutral. He would not give those eagerly watching the satisfaction of knowing he was angry.
Guilty?
She was not even going to attempt to defend herself?
Her implicit acceptance enraged him. It was as though she were not sorry, as if she didn’t feel shame at her betrayal.
Headman Sengupta looked a little lost at her response to the question, and stood slack jawed and silent.
“Dam’sel Aya, have you anything to say in your defence?” asked Elder Headman Amajit calmly.
“I doubt that the Headmen would care for my excuses, Elderman.”
Elder Headman Amajit permitted himself a small smile at her blunt response.
“This court is one of justice. In this room, none of us has a denomination; we are just people.”
She inclined her head.
“If that is the case, Elderman, then I would very much like the chance to make a defence.”
“You may proceed.”
Kai watched as she knelt, placed her hands palms together, elbows pointing outward, and bowed until her head rested on her hands.
“I would beg leniency on behalf of those who have cared for me whilst I lived in the Tula Strongholds.
They adopted me into their family with great kindness, and betrayed their people to bring me home. I respectfully petition that they be given asylum here within the Una territories.”
Elder Headman Amajit looked surprised by her words.
“You are also being tried, Dam’sel Aya. What have you to say in your own defence?”
The young woman shook her head.
“All you have said of me is true; I worked as subsidiary to Councillor Ladron and am therefore guilty of treason. All I can say in my defence was that I had no choice; my cooperation was unwilling. That does not, however, change the fact that I cooperated.”
“If you were so unwilling, Dam’sel, why did you cooperate?” asked Headman Chopra.
She blinked slowly a few times, as though bringing him into focus.
“Councillor Ladron is not a man who will take no for an answer.”
“He forced you? How?”
“He threatened my family.”
A murmur rose up from the spectators.
“How could he possibly hurt your family when they were safe within Una territories?” scoffed Headman Chopra.
The girl's face remained impassive, but Kai felt that Chopra’s words
had angered her.
“He threatened my Tula family, Elderman.”
For a moment there was silence, and when Headman Chopra finally spoke his voice was cold.
“You have no loyalty to the Una people if you can claim this Tula filth as your family.”
Aya’s expression did not alter, but she turned to Elder Headman Amajit.
“I thought, Elderman, that within these hallowed walls we were without denomination?”
A stunned gasp whispered around the room at her fearlessness.
Kai’s eyes narrowed in on the bold frame that stood before the Headmen and dared to talk back. She was not afraid, he realised. These men threatened her life, but she showed no fear. He frowned. It was as though she had not seen the danger, as if it were so normal for her to live under threat that she didn’t notice it any more.
The thought angered him. Not really through any concern for her, it was more the idea that someone had dared to threaten a person under his protection. His pride was stung.
“Headman Chopra, we are not here to cast slurs, as Dam’sel Aya so deftly observed. This trial is to see that justice is done,” Elder Headman Amajit interrupted smoothly.
Headman Chopra bowed.
“Your pardon, Elder Headman.”
Elder Headman Amajit waited for Headman Chopra to take his seat and then turned his attention back to Aya. Kai knew what he was thinking, and he groaned. Rem’s sister had a swift mind and a detached calm that made her a formidable opponent. Elder Headman Amajit was undoubtedly delighted with her.
However Kai felt her calmness to be unnatural, and that worried him.
“You said, Dam’sel, that Councillor Ladron threatened your family. With what did he threaten them, exactly?”
“If I might beg permission to explain from the beginning, Elderman?”
Elder Headman Amajit nodded.
“I was wounded in the attack on Hope Valley. I don’t remember a great deal, but I know that it was a Tula medic that saved my life. That medic was Uri Va Dic Toban, now my foster-father. He took me back to the Tula camp and treated my wounds, and when I was strong enough he obtained permission to take me home to live with his family.
“You think that you hate the Tula, but the Tula hate the Una with much more venom. His actions were met with extreme resistance. Tula services wished to place me in one of the work camps.” She broke off.
“For those of you who have never seen a Tula work camp, allow me to explain how they operate. Captured Una prisoners are placed in the camps to be worked to death. Living conditions are sickening; the average life expectancy for someone in the camps is three months.
“My father knew that I would end up in one of those camps unless he could find a way to save me. So he and his wife decided to adopt me, thereby saving my life again. His family has some political strength, and after months of debate he was finally given permission. I have no need to tell you that from that point on his family lived as outcasts.
“At the age of sixteen I was selected personally by Councillor Ladron to be to be trained as his subsidiary. This decision was not based on any ability I possessed, but was rather a move to infuriate the Una, and to use me as a propaganda tool with regard to his own people. I attempted to refuse the position but...” She faltered, swallowing jerkily.
Kai watched her momentary break in composure with interest. A quick glance at the Tula men and women she had brought with her told him that they were stricken. Pain was etched on their faces, and the women were close to tears.
Aya cleared her throat and began again.
“When I attempted to refuse, Councillor Ladron had my stepmother killed. He assured me that he would continue killing my foster family until I complied with his wishes.” She paused again. “These Tula men and women saved me. They stood by me when all I brought to them was trouble and pain. I will not forsake them. My name is Astra Uel Ne Toban, and I will take my stand beside them. Whatever is to be done to them is also what I ask for myself.”
Kai groaned inwardly.
She had done it again.
She had disgraced both him and Rem. She had brought shame on them by aligning herself with her Tula family. He didn’t feel angry; this time he understood.
After all, the Tula people before him had shown her kindness. They had taken her into their family, and looked after her. It was only natural that her loyalty be with them.
However the flip side of that coin said that his loyalty belonged to his family over her, that to protect them he must punish her.
The Headmen were silent for some time after Aya finished speaking, vague unrest clear on their faces.
“Your adopted family seems to have treated you well, Dam’sel Ay... Astra,” Elder Headman Amajit corrected himself.
“They have shown me true kindness, Elderman. If we are to be judged, I would prefer that it is together. Not as Tula nor as Una, but as people whose only offence was a wish to keep their loved ones safe.”
Headman Daksha rose and braced himself against the table.
“The bond you share with your Tula foster-family is obviously strong, but that is not the matter under debate. We are here to judge whether your behaviour as subsidiary to Councillor Ladron can be forgiven. I see no reason why we should punish you for attempting to keep those whom you love safe. Our laws are built upon loyalty to family, and I think all here will agree you have nothing in your past to be tried for.” Headman Daksha looked around at the other men seated at the table. “Is that not so?”
The Headman all murmured a reluctant agreement.
“It is, however, your reason for being here now that worries me,” continued Headman Daksha. “How do we know that you are not Tula spies?”
A much clearer murmur of agreement greeted this question.
Beside him Kai felt Rem stiffen in his chair.
“What the heck is Yul doing? He’s supposed to be on our side!”
Kai reached out, and forced Rem back into his seat.
“Push your anger aside and you will see Yul’s plan.”
Rem’s brow creased in thought, and Kai allowed his attention to drift to the Tula men and women standing silent to one side. The two women were embracing each other, the elder trying to comfort the younger who was crying silently. The guards stood, one at each corner, with Shin standing a little to the side before them all.
Kai could see that Shin’s mind was not completely focused on proceedings. Every now and then his eyes would flicker to where the young girl cried. The lapse was only momentary, and he would quickly stare straight ahead again, but the glances were becoming more frequent.
Kai shook his head. Shin’s heart was too soft, and somehow these Tula people had gained his sympathy.
It would change nothing, there was very little Shin could do for them, it would only make his job harder.
Shin moved suddenly, reaching into his pocket and passing a handkerchief to the sobbing girl. She looked up at him, her large golden brown eyes flooded with tears. She was obviously surprised by the show of kindness, and reached out a trembling hand to accept his offering.
It took a good deal of self control for Kai to stop his mouth from falling open at Shin's breach of protocol.
“He’s trying to get them to pardon her for her past crimes by inventing another crime?”
Rem’s excited voice broke in on Kai’s thoughts.
“Exactly. The Headmen will not wish to make it appear as though they are persecuting an innocent girl, whose only crime was to save her foster-family. However, public opinion will support them killing a spy.”
“But the penalty for such a crime, should they convict her, is death by beheading!” whispered Rem frantically.
Kai smiled.
“But they cannot convict her without proof, and they have no proof. Therefore they must allow her, and her foster-family, to go free.”
“It seems that Yul is of some use after all.”
“So devious a plan is beyond him. Besides, he does n
ot have the necessary authority to carry the plan through.”
Elder Headman Amajit’s voice broke into the silence.
“What Headman Daksha says is true. Dam’sel Astra, cannot be punished for protecting her family, it would be to go against all our laws, do you not agree?”
An awkward silence greeted his words and the Headmen look at each other warily. To allow the prisoners to escape punishment went against the grain. However, to refuse was to go against Una law, which stated that the preservation of life was more important than anything else. Dam’sel Aya’s obedience to Councillor Ladron’s demands for the sake of her adopted family was, therefore, in accordance with the law.
In theory it made sense, but in practice, who could forgive a woman who had placed the lives of the enemy above those of her own people? The law might not make a distinction between Una and Tula, but the distinction was nevertheless present in the minds of the Headmen.
Headman Dutta rose, and bowing toward Elder Headman Amajit, sated his allegiance. Others followed, until all the Headmen had voiced a grudging agreement.
“However, this new worry must not be ignored; we must think of the safety of our people.” Headman Chopra made a small movement that encompassed those watching from the gallery. “We cannot allow any threat to our nation, and the accused are a very great threat. As Headman Dutta pointed out they could be spies, sent to find a way to defeat us.”
“You speak the truth Headman Chopra,” agreed Elder Headman Amajit. “But there is no evidence to convict them as spies.”
“I am aware of it, but neither can it be discounted and ignored as a possibility.”
For a moment Headman Chopra’s words, and all they implied, hung on the air.
“Headman Chopra is correct, how may we satisfactorily resolve this problem?”
Headman Chopra bowed.
“If I might suggest a solution, Elder Headman?”
Faint irritation passed across Elder Headman Amajit’s features.
“Very well.”
“I think our best course of action is to place them under guard.”
“The idea has merit. Where will they live?”
For a moment Headman Chopra's eyes rested on Kai and Rem where they sat in the family box.
“I believe that it should be Dam’sel Aya’s family that shoulders that burden. The problem will be finding soldiers who will volunteer for so demeaning a task as guarding them. It might therefore be necessary to intern them in one of the camps.”
Kai chose to ignore the insult, but he heard Rem grind his teeth beside him. For a moment the whole room was silent, and then Shin Uel Ne Phoenix stepped forward.
“If I might speak before the Headmen?”
Elder Headman Amajit inclined his head.
“You may speak.”
Shin bowed reverently.
“I, Shin Uel Ne Phoenix, would be honoured to do the bidding of the Headmen. I request the privilege of guarding the accused in the court’s name until such a time as their fate is decided.”
Headman Chopra’s lips thinned.
“This would mean a demotion for you, Shin Uel Ne Phoenix.”
Shin bowed again.
“It will be a privilege to serve the Una people in this matter.”
“Captain Phoenix may be eager, but he cannot take on this task by himself,” pointed out Headman Chopra sharply.
The four guards that hemmed in the accused, bowed.
“We will serve along with, Senior.” Stated one of the men.
Headman Chopra frowned and sat down.
“Then it seems the path before us is clear,” Elder Headman Amajit stood. “Dam’sel Aya Uel Ne Singh…”
“If you will pardon me, Elderman, my name is Astra Uel Ne Toban,” broke in the young woman, with a respectful bow. “I beg that you will use that name, not the name of a girl who died a long time ago.”
A murmured gasp went up at her audacity. Even Headman Amajit seemed surprised, and turned pleading eyes in Rem and Kai’s direction.
Kai had no intention of heeding that plea.
Astra had just insulted and betrayed his family before the Head Families of the Una nation. He understood why she had done it; it was not personal. She was merely attempting to remain a part of her foster-family. Yet she had opened his family, as well as hers, up to ridicule and that he could not allow.
Headman Amajit again turned to Astra.
“Very well, Dam’sel Astra. It is the ruling of this court that you and your foster-family be kept under guard indefinitely. All in favour?”
One by one the Headmen stated their agreement, and the scribe recording proceedings set a seal to the documents, and handed them to the Headman closest to him. As the documents were passed along, each Headman added his seal to the bottom of the page.
Kai waited until the last seal had been affixed and then stood. Rem jumped and whispered something beseeching that Kai did not hear. He slowly made his way to where the accused stood. Pausing briefly he placed a hand upon Shin’s shoulder, a gesture of the thanks that he could not voice, before moving to stand in front of Aya.
She blinked up at him, his sudden appearance seeming to take her off guard. Her gaze held no hint of recognition, and for some reason that angered Kai. He had thought of her every single day, but she didn’t even seem to know who he was.
He allowed his eyes to travel over her dishevelled appearance, taking note of mud and grass stains. If she was aware of the insult she gave no sign. Finally he raised his eyes to her face, taking in smooth soft skin and full lips.
“Rem, take your sister home.”
The watching crowd gasped in delight at the insult and passed Aya, Kai saw Shin flinch. He winced inwardly, thinking of Rem, of the shame he had just cast on him and of the gossip that his action would create. Yet he’d needed to do it; he couldn’t let the girl make the house of Sen appear weak.
Aya continued to look up at him, a slight frown between her brows, as though she did not quite understand what was happening. Her expression was free from anger and her face thoughtful as she continued to study him. She seemed surprised when Rem appeared at her elbow.
The boy looked stern, his lips pressed together in displeasure. As Rem made his bow, first to the Headmen and then to him, Kai knew that he understood.
Rem took Astra’s hand.
“Your name is Aya Uel Ne Singh, you would do well to remember that.”
He turned to Shin bowing.
“Thank you, Senior, let us now proceed home.”