05
DereKin wisely sent his eldest son DereDen down from the woods to argue the clan's case in court. Court was held in the common room of the Grimdar Arms, to allow any of the Deres to attend without putting themselves under the roof of their hated Master of the March. Unlike his father, DereDen was a calm, thoughtful person, who, I'm certain, knew he hadn't a legal leg to stand on, though he doggedly argued that the tenants right to use the common grazing lands trumped the Master's right to enclose it, if not in the law, at least morally, and that alone justified the raid and the clan's continued resistance to the new Master's plans to enclose the commons.
Master Brey brought forth witness not only to the incursion, but to all his previous efforts to explain his plans and include all of the clans in them - and Clan Dere's unwavering opposition to these plans, and indeed, to Master Brey's right to rule his march.
Magistrate Py then went over each of the laws that applied, and explained how DereKin was wrong in his interpretation of the rights and obligations of master and tenants. He then proposed the various compromises, including an amnesty, and enlarging the commons by carving out grazing land from the surrounding forests. Master Brey agreed that any further expansion of the vineyards would depend on a majority of the clans agreeing to it, He also agreed that the clans could expand their own vineyards into the common land adjacent to their current holdings. Given the rights of the tenants, this expansion would essentially expand their virtual ownership of land in the march, not a small concession, and not one many clans would turn their nose up on either.
DereDen could not commit the clan to anything without consulting his father, but admitted, at least in private, that he hoped his father would agree, and urged Py to accompany him back to the woods to help him persuade his father to call off his little war.
Magistrate Py readily agreed. It was the only way, really. He drafted two copies of the agreements for DereKin to sign. KaRaya and I would accompany Py back to the Dere encampment.
It was a cool, dim, and damp round on the Grimdar March, and so we were in our quarters dressing for the weather - and trouble. At least I was.
'What do you think, Raya?' I asked, holding up my holstered darter. 'Care to learn how to use it? I can set it up so it would only fire non-lethal darts.'
'Keep it. You know how Py feels about springers.'
'I believe Py said that springers are a bandit's weapon. A darter is not a springer. And when dealing with bandits? Besides, it can be set just to sting, not kill, like a springer.'
'What about you?'
'Oh, I have another one,' I said, bringing out my sissy from my pocket. 'It only fires non-lethal darts, but it will do for me. Besides, I'm used to it.'
She wagged a finger at me. 'You've had that along with you all along? Even knowing Py's attitude to springers? Why you must have had it when you were aboard the Bird of Passage!'
'Well, yes. Better safe than sorry is my motto. But, as I said, it's not an outlawed springer.'
'But you never mentioned it, did you?'
'Well, no...'
She shook her head, sadly. 'It's your loss of karma, brother. But I think I'll pass on your darter. It would be showing a lack of faith in Magistrate Py - and his boyhood dream,' she added with a taunting laugh, the old careless, carefree KaRaya.
'My boyhood dreams did not include subduing bandit bands with words of wisdom and an iron-vine staff. Besides, a darter's far more humane than an iron-vine staff or a blade since, unlike blades and springers, no one ends up with holes in them or broken bones, just a headache. Trust me, I know.'
'No. I've not served Magistrate Py, given up gambling, carousing, and all those handsome herders for the last four hundred rounds only to lose all of my store of accumulated karma by having anything to do with weapons other than my trusty blade. On your head, brother.'
I considered the darter in my hand for a second, and then slipped its belt over my head and settled it under my arm, and then tossed my spaceer jacket to Karaya. 'Even if you won't take the darter, put this on. I've shown you how indestructible it is. Wear it. My shirt and trousers are made of the same material, so I don't need it.'
She sighed. 'You're beginning to annoy me, brother. Why have we been practicing every round with our blades and iron vine staffs, if not to be able to stare down and, if necessary, take on a soggy gang of farmers?'
'I'd argue that we've been demonstrating our skills in order to deter any saggy band of herders from trying to take us on. But that's not the point. Accidents happen. Even a soggy herder can get lucky. Besides, you're assuming that they're stupid enough to take us on with blades. They all had the springer rifles that I'm certain they know how to use. How good are you at dodging slugs?'
'Brother, you are one gloomy fellow this watch. One would think you've never faced all the dangers you've said you've faced. What about all those pirates and assassins, were they just - made up - stories?'
'It's because I have faced pirates and assassins that I'm trying to minimize the chances of losing my twin sister - who tells stories of having been too carefree and careless in the past - should she get unlucky again. Wear the jacket,' I said tossing it to her. 'If only as a favor to your brother. And just remember, DereKin likely knows the results of the hearing. If he's serious about resisting Brey, he doesn't need to hear what Py has to say. We could well be riding into an ambush. Your blade won't do you any good when they're shooting slugs at you from the trees and rocks. It may well keep them from putting holes in you.'
'Oh, if it will make you happy,' she replied, with her careless smile. 'I never could resist a masterful man.'
She slipped into the jacket and added her belts and pouches over it. We donned our oil-cloth ponchos and then our sword belts over that, and headed out to the lopemount stable where Hissi was waiting for us, and making the lopemounts nervous.
The drifts had taught me too well. I wasn't about to give up any advantage for Py's boyhood dream. If things got nasty, I wanted to be well protected and well-armed. Py, I knew, would frown on the darters, and dismiss the armored clothing. But perhaps he could dodge slugs. I knew I couldn't.
As soon as Py and DereDen hurried out with the signed documents in a watertight pouch, we mounted the borrowed lopemounts, and headed for the wooded ridges in a steady, cool, and slowly falling rain. They'd found an old and stoically resigned mount for me, so we got along well. Hissi rode perched behind me with her head resting on my shoulder. Py was, I thought, rather too cheerfully optimistic, if only because he believed that anyone with a brain in his head, and an eye to the future would know that resistance was not only futile but fatal to the clan in the Grimdar March. Either that, or he was simply relishing the prospect of converting this band of would-be bandits by the force of his words or the speed of iron-vine staff. He spent most of the ride talking to DereDen about the prospects for peace and prosperity, forgetting, perhaps, that the Deres had been prosperous before the arrival of Master Brey. It was with his arrival that they'd lost their dominate position, likely forever. If my time in courts of the margin lands had taught me anything, it was that march-men did not forget affronts. Ever.