02
We spent eleven rounds in that valley, wrapping up the pending cases before pushing on to the last valley, with growing eagerness to reach an end, and home - at least on Py's part. We were still a day's march away from the last valley when it looked as if Magistrate Py's boyhood dreams would come true.
'Do nothing. But we are being watched,' Py said softly as we made our way up through a long stretch of wild, thickly wooded country. Our journey's way had been growing ever wilder, with the marches further apart, the deeper and higher into the Horn Mountains we traveled and the closer we were to the Cloud Home Community itself.
KaRaya and I both resisted staring about, but we both stared intently ahead, into the black green shadows of the grassy lane we were following through the dark woods.
'A feeling, or have you seen someone?' whispered KaRaya.
'Moving shadows in the woods pacing us. On either side, ever since we entered this ravine.'
'Bandits?'
Py allowed a little smile. And then shrugged. 'Perhaps. But we're safe enough. Few are bold enough to challenge a Magistrate of Laezan,' he replied in a whisper, trying and failing to keep his unsaid regrets hidden.
'Maybe you'll be lucky this time, my dear Py,' whispered KaRaya. 'Captain Wilitang is reputed to be a very lucky fellow.'
He sighed. 'They only watch.'
Whether I'd have ever noticed them or not is an open question. But once Py mentioned them, I seemed to feel their eyes on the back of my head. I couldn't help but remember Py saying that air rifles and pistols are the bandits' weapons. Our swords would be pretty ornamental if they decided to ambush us. I let my hand slip into my trouser pocket and grabbed my trusty little sissy. Not that it would likely do me any good unless they came within sword fighting range...
We reached the forested top of the ravine, and saw a line of men across the narrow trail before us. I counted a dozen, roughly dressed and armed, waiting in the deep shadows of the pines for us. They were less than fifty paces ahead.
'I'll go ahead, wait here,' said Py, almost eagerly.
'Our job is to be at your side, Magistrate,' said KaRaya. 'However, if it comes to a fight, we will let you lead as many of them to the Way as you care to handle, but at your side, we shall be.'
He smiled. 'Yes, yes, yes. Please forgive my foolishness.'
'Still, as I said, Wilitang here is a walking lucky talisman. Your boyhood dream of a band of bandits to lead back to the Way may well be at hand.'
'Tease me if you will. No doubt they're merely a welcoming committee...'
'This far from the valley? No, they don't have the look of a welcoming committee, of which we've yet to meet in all our travels,' said KaRaya, who, in her carefree way, was having as much fun as Py imagining those men to be bandits. 'They are no doubt seeking guidance back to the Way, one way or another.'
I wasn't having quite as much fun, and couldn't imagine them to be anything but bandits that would have to be dealt with.
'Have your fun, my friend. But bandits are simply a childhood romantic idea of mine that I've outgrown...'
'The truth,' said KaRaya in mock seriousness, 'is the true Way.'
Py may've blushed a little, but continued, '... in the course of this circuit. Besides, bandits arise out of poverty. Poverty arises out of either natural disasters, or the greed of the powerful. All the Masters of the Marches of these parts are good men and women, as are most of the tenants. Everyone knows their rights and obligations, and follows them - at least in great matters,' he added, since we'd just spent the last year settling disputes concerning rights and obligations amongst the tenants and occasionally between the Masters and tenants.
'The serratas?' I asked. Py had not altered his pace and so we were rapidly approaching the awaiting party.
He shrugged. 'Perhaps. As you know, the granaries and cellars of towers of the clan and master store are kept filled. Still, crop failures are not uncommon in these Horn Mountain marches. We'll know soon enough.'
True enough.
We pulled up ten paces before the line of men - dressed in leather pants and jerkins, belts and pouches, with riding boots and wide brimmed hats with flowing feathers - all typical march riders, all slightly worse for wear, likely from living rough. They also carried long barreled springer air rifles, which were, however, still slung over their backs, and their swords still sheathed on their hips. All to the good. So far. Perhaps they were indeed, some sort of a welcoming committee. At the center was a tall, young man, with an air of command. He bowed, cupping his hands, 'Greetings Magistrate LinPy. We've been awaiting your arrival with all the patience we could muster.'
'Your patience now bears fruit, brother. Greetings,' replied Py cupping his hands and bowing in turn. 'My lieutenants, Captains KaRaya and Wilitang, and the dragon Hissi.'
'I am DereDen. My father is DereKin, Chief of the Dere Clan in the Grimdar March. He has sent me to beg that you accompany us to our camp where you can meet with my father and he will tell you of our troubles.'
I still had my hands in my pockets, sissy in hand, as I surveyed the woods on either side of us. I could see more figures, and lopemounts in the shadows on either side of us. There could've been as many as two dozen of them. Everything looked peaceful at the moment. As far as I could make out, no one, even those in the woods, had their springer rifles in hand. I caught KaRaya's eye as she was doing her own survey and she flashed me a wide wink. I don't know if she had childhood dreams of bandits and pirates. If she did, I doubt leading them to the Way would have been a feature of them. But from her tales, she'd never gone greatly out of her course to avoid them either. I suspect that having followed the quiet Way for a year and more, she was rather missing the rush of adrenaline that being outnumbered three or four to one brings, sword in hand.
I, on the other hand, planned on settling my opponents with darts if this meeting got turbulent. I could hit 'em far enough outside of sword range to be pretty safe. And if past events were any guide, I seemed to be able to hit things far beyond my usual effective range when pressed. I wasn't all that scared. My 500 generations of St Bleyth mercenaries were rather enjoying this.
'Why does your father wish to talk to me? Grimdar is not in my circuit.'
'We've come to you to plead for justice,' replied DereDen.
'Then it is Magistrate VanDian you should be seeking, not me.'
'My father will explain all. We have mounts for you. It is not a long ride on lopes to our camp.'
'But, as I said, Grimdar is not part of my circuit. If you have grievances, they should be taken up with Magistrate VanDian when she next visits.'
'The affairs of Grimdar will not wait on Magistrate VanDian. Blood has been shed, and more will be shed to right the wrongs, unless justice is restored soon. My father, however, does not wish to shed blood, if it can be avoided. He has heard of your wisdom and courage, and is determined to lay his case before you so that it can be resolved peacefully. My father assures me, that a Magistrate of Laeza would not turn his back on our plight.'
There was a hint of challenge in DereDen's voice. And a hint of pleading as well. He was, after all, merely the messenger, though given the number of men he'd brought with him, I rather suspected he was told not to accept "No" for an answer.
Magistrate Py nodded. 'You are right. I cannot fail to hear what your father has to say, and give him my advice - pending Magistrate VanDian determinations. Lead on.'
'Bring up the mounts for the Magistrate and his followers,' ordered DereDen.
Now I was scared. Though built along the lines of antelopes, lopemounts were built on a different scale entirely. Their backs were head high, and how anyone managed to stay in the saddle as the Neb-blasted beasts looped along covering a kilometer in a dozen landings was anyone's guess.
'Thanks anyway, but I believe I'll walk,' I said.
KaRaya laughed. 'Frightened of lopemounts, are we?'
'Yes.' No point denying that. 'I've never rode any beast in my lif
e.'
DereDen laughed. 'You must learn. We'll be traveling too fast for you to keep up on foot. I'll have one of my men lead your mount. All you must do is hold on. He'll show you how.'
'And what about Hissi?'
'The dragon can ride with you.'
'And the lopemount won't mind that?'
He shrugged. 'It'll get used to it. DereLa, see to Captain Wilitang and his dragon. Perhaps one of the pack lopes might be best... They're steady beasties. You'll be fine,' this last to me.
Well, they found a pretty gloomy and resigned lopemount for me and Hissi, who didn't put up much of a fuss when Hissi jumped up behind me on the saddle. It did the minimum bucking and dancing before falling back into its brown study and bounded grimly behind the leading rider.
DereDen rode alongside Magistrate Py, talking of this and that, but not why we were summoned. 'My father will explain that when you see him,' was all that he would say.
KaRaya, Hissi and I rode through the dark pine woods, mostly in silence, as our escorts were not talkative, and had ears. The trail, such as it was - I couldn't make it out at all - led up and over the first ridge and over the grazing land of the Dondar March. One of the riders watching over a flock of those large sheep, rode up to investigate our band. He had a few words with DereDen and Magistrate Py and then rode off with a cheery wave. We left Dondar behind and after many kilometers of bounding mostly through woods, we wound through a narrow pass to reach some large caves carved in a tall cliff where an even larger band of march-men were camped out under old, towering, and storm twisted pines in dark green and mauve.
'This is our temporary clan headquarters, Magistrate.' said DereDen with a wave of his hand at the smoky encampment. 'I see that they have summoned my father, so I will turn you over to him. Thank you for accompanying me,' he added, cupping his hands, with a look of relief, glad to have carried off his assignment.
As we gingerly slipped off the tall mounts and stood, stiff and sore, a large man strode towards us briefly cupping his hands in salute.
'Greetings Magistrate LinPy! I am DereKin, Chief of the Dere Clan of the Grimdar March. Thank you for coming. I would not dare take you out of your way as I have, if it were not that a dire fate hangs in the balance.' he said in a rough voice, full of authority, and himself.
'Certainly Magistrate VanDian can handle even the direst of fates. She has ten thousand rounds of experience,' said Py after he had acknowledged DereKin's greeting.
'Ha!' a mirthless laugh. 'Old VanDian will not be around again for two hundred rounds. Justice cannot wait that long. And in any event, she is too close to the new Master of Grimdar March, and so cannot be relied on to administer proper justice for us, the age-old tenants of the Grimdar.'
'I am absolutely certain Magistrate VanDian will see that justice serves everyone, March Master and ancient tenants alike.'
The Clan Chief shook his head. 'It does not matter. Events have come to a head since her last visit. Blood has been shed. My youngest son lies wounded in the Master's Tower; my clan's herds have been taken by the Master and his band of mercenaries and sold for his profit. I'm asking you to join with me in the cause of justice that cannot be postponed. You must prevent more blood from being shed by holding this new Master - with all his arrogant ways, who stomps on the age-old prerogatives of the Grimdar tenants - to account. You and your lieutenants are the only ones standing between more blood-troubles. For, as you can see...' he swept his hands to indicate his band, 'I and my clansmen have been driven into the forests by the hired swords of the Master. But we will not stay driven. We will not let our land, our herds, nor our rights be taken from us without a bitter fight.... But come, you must be very hungry. I will tell you my plight over our rough meal.'
He led us to a circle of flat rocks and had his kinsmen serve us a hot, thick stew of game, forest mushrooms and root crops.
'It seems, Chief, that things have gotten badly out of hand. How is it that you have allowed this to happen? ' asked Py between spoonfuls of stew, as we sat in circles around a large campfire. Py and the Chief with his sons and elders in the inner circle, KaRaya and I along with the rest of the gang in the larger outer one.
'They have indeed, though through no fault of my own. Our ancient rights have been trampled on, and Magistrate VanDian has turned a blind eye to the new Master's breach of trust. That is why I have summoned you. Having heard of your great love for the common people of the marches and your ability to find peaceful settlements between the squabbling of the clans, I could not let you pass so closely by without appealing to your sense of duty, your sense of justice. As the Clan Chief of the Deres of Grimdar, I believe I have the duty to call on the Magistrates of Laeza to settle this conflict before lives are lost - especially as the matter is pressing.'
Py bowed his head. 'I am sworn to administer the laws and customs of these lands. And in a case, such as you describe, I am indeed obliged to try to settle this misunderstanding by those laws and customs when appealed to. But you must understand that I will settle them by the same laws and customs that Magistrate VanDian would use as well. I doubt very much that she gives the Master of Grimdar any special favors, so that I doubt that my findings will differ from those of hers, who has much wisdom and experience.'
'Be that as it may, the events of the last hundred rounds have progressed far beyond what she knew when she was last here. The time of action is now at hand, and so are you. The spilling of blood can only be avoided if you are brave enough to stand up against the Master of Grimdar with a mercenary band at his back. We must rely on you, here and now, to see that all of Grimdar and Clan Dere has the justice it deserves,' said DereKin gravely.
I am unsure of the precedents that control a situation like the one DereKin presented. Magistrate Py had a duty to prevent bloodshed, if he could. He also had a duty to protect the common people from the abuse of power. But could he interfere in the events of another Magistrate's territory? Still, knowing Py pretty well by now, I knew this was straight out of his boyhood dreams - bandits, hired mercenaries, and perhaps an overreaching Master of the March to be put in his place. He would not turn it down.
'I will expect you and your clan to agree to submit to my judgment in this matter, if I'm to proceed with this,' Py said, gravely.
'We will submit, if the Master of the March does,' replied DereKin.
Py nodded. 'Your story, then.' Looking back, he caught me yawning, 'But first, I see my lieutenants are weary from the ride. Since I fear this will be a long story, it might be best if they were given a place to sleep...'
The Chieftain nodded, and gave the orders. I didn't object. I'd sat through enough cases to know that Py would summarize the case in a tiny fraction of the time DereKin would use to tell it. And I was weary, and very sore. I'd no qualms about abandoning young Py with his seemingly boundless energy to DereKin's narration of wrongs.