The morning found me out with my soldiers, training together with the platoon and half my bodyguard. I was openly training my power on them, but except for when something was touching I still had a hard time making a link that could hold up for any length of time. I had gotten better at altering trajectories of fast moving but light objects.

A new trick I had learned though, mostly through the use of bow and arrow, was a predictive link, as I liked to call it. I was able to project a link from a musket ball or an arrow to the target I wanted to hit. The link informed me when the angle, power, and timing was right to release the arrow or pull the trigger. It was more reliable than changing trajectory and used less power.

The best thing about all my training with my bodyguards was that I had finally gotten them to break out of the highly ritualistic thing they were doing earlier. It turned out that they were much better swordsmen than what I had first estimated them to be. Which meant that I was finally beginning to learn to fight with weapons. It also meant that I needed a lot of healing from Nathalie.

It was during one of my healing sessions that Theo came out to talk. “Greetings Lord Karth.”

“What’s with the Lord crap? Just call me Karth,” I grumbled while Nathalie was healing a cut that ran the length of my forearm. I had misjudged the angle of Kiril’s swing. It had happened because I was training without a shirt, wanting to rely on my own instincts instead of magic to tell me where I would be struck. It was a work in progress.

“There are many ears interested in you, Lord Karth,” he said and indicated the gardens nearby, where a lot of younger nobles were trying to appear non-interested in what was happening. “So any impropriety would be ill-advised.”

“I guess. So what can I do for you, Theo?” I asked.

“Well, I would like to spar with you. You definitely have an interesting style, one not taught by any of the Blademasters I know of.”

I laughed at that. “I feel like I’m flailing around.”

“Would it not be better to spar with blunted weapons?” Theo ventured.

Shaking my head, I provided the answer, “Safer yes, but slower. Pain is a great teacher. We only have so long before we’ll be joining the High Lord’s forces, so I need to get better. My men need to get better.”

He looked thoughtful for a moment, before nodding. “I guess I can see that. I’m to accompany the levy my father is sending.”

“Not lead?” I asked.

“Our Hold has to provide two squadrons, I’ll be in charge of one of the platoons while two of my brothers will be leading the squadrons. I know the Linns are supposed to provide four,” Theo said. “From what Father tells me, the whole High Hold is supposed to provide two complete battalions.”

“Does he know what we’ll be doing?” I asked curiously. I felt Nathalie’s strand of magic stop, so I stopped feeding her mana. Giving her a smile, I said, “Thanks, Nathalie.”

“Milord,” she said and hurried over to where the platoon were drilling with their sabres. Someone had managed to cut themselves drawing the thing.

“We’ll most likely be sent to the Eastern front, where the largest concentration of elves is amassed. If we’re unlucky, we’ll be sent to the Final Bastion.”

“The Final Bastion?” I asked.

“It’s actually named Black Mountain Castle, however, since we lost the war against the elves almost a thousand cycles ago, it has gotten a new name,” Theo explained.

“I thought the war was a hundred cycles ago,” I pointed out.

“That was just the latest string of losses. The Final Bastion is far to the southeast and was a border castle. From here it would take almost a half cycle to travel there on horseback,” Theo went on. “However, the Bastion has a portal gate. For nearly a thousand cycles humanity has bled to hold on to that piece of land.”

“Why go to the trouble?” I asked. It seemed like a waste to me.

“Because the elves have to divert a considerable force, or we can go raiding into their lands uncontested,” Kiril answered from behind me.

Theo nodded. “Exactly.”

“Okay, so if we get sent there, we’re going to be holding off a siege that’s been going on for a thousand cycles?” I asked

“Yes. No matter where we’re sent, we’ll be there for five moons before we’re relieved,” Theo said.

“Well, that’s going to suck, because we both know where the High Lord will send me,” I grumbled.

“We should find out more tonight,” Theo said. “So, can we spar?”

“Sure,” I said and grabbed my sabre.

“I’d prefer blunted weapons,” he said immediately.

I shrugged. “Sure.”

While he was gathering up some blunted weapons for us to use, I turned to Kiril. “Get some rest, I’m sure later is going to be interesting.”

“Yes, Milord. Sorry about the arm,” he said.

“My own fault. I’m glad that you guys are breaking from the mould that the Unifiers forced you into.”

“We’d never seen a real battle, you were right about that Milord. What happened at the lake showed us that at least with regards to melee combat, we’re outclassed,” was his reply.

“Yeah, showed me that as well. That was rather a stupid move I made,” I said with a chuckle.

“Indeed, Milord. We’re glad you survived, and it did cause quite the disruption,” Kiril said and headed off. I turned my attention to the mana crystal I was pouring some of my excess mana into. Studying the flow of mana with my eyes closed.

After the midday meal, it was time for the official business of the meeting to begin. High Lord Wilbur stood up, looking like the pompous ass that he was. “Greetings, it’s always a pleasure to have all of you gathered here in my hall. We’ll start off with those that have matters they wish to bring before High Justice. May Gyzbohr guide us.”

The Cardinal rose and started a long prayer to Gyzbohr, asking for his Wisdom of Law, his Sense of Justice and Fairness, and his Protection against all evil. I was not paying attention to the mumbo jumbo.

I was sitting at the second to last at the end of the long table that had been brought out again. The only one lower in seniority was the Steward of the other Hold without a Lord. He was sitting on my right, while I had a young man on my left. Young being around twenty-five or so. He seemed affronted by my presence. Lord Linn was the one with the most seniority, followed by Lord Erthal.

The man to the right of Lord Erthal rose. “My liege, I wish to lodge a complaint against Lord Terud, his villagers are overhunting the Whispering Timberland, leading to roaming wolf packs.”

Lord Terud, the man on my left shot to his feet. “Milord, that’s a preposterous accusation. I will not stand for it.”

From there it devolved into a verbal argument, with little merit, no proof. It went on for almost thirty minutes. The most irritating part was that it all seemed fake, almost rehearsed. For what reason, I could not fathom.

I was about at the end of my wits when Wilbur put up his right hand and the two bickering fools fell silent. “I’ve heard enough. There’s no evidence that Lord Terud knew about the overhunting. However, I must insist on a four moon ban on hunting in the Whispering Timberlands. Furthermore, I give Lord Maelk permission to patrol all of the Whispering Timberland and punish any hunting there.”

“Milord,” both of the Lords said and sat down.

After five minutes where servers brought in something to drink, I refused any, Wilbur asked for the next case to be brought forth. Which was two neighbouring Holds to the East. A giant thunderstorm had spooked the herds of cattle in both Holds. The cattle had run into the same valley and gotten mixed. Both Lords claimed to own the majority, so in the end, Wilbur ordered half going to each.

Next case was a bit of a shock when Lord Terud stood up. “I’m accusing Lord Karth of purposely arming serfs in a move to rebel. He has even killed a priest.”

There were mutters between the Lords and the other spectators. Before Wilbur said anything, I looked at the Cardinal and said, “Are you sure you want to rock the boat? You know I had a nice conversation with the dickhead before he died.”

The Cardinal got red faced and turned his face away. Wilbur had the look of “gotcha” on his face. He stood up and proclaimed, “Since we got a confession—”

“Not so fast, Milord,” I said and stood up. “I’ve not confessed. I just said I talked with him before he died.”

“I’m passing sentence, you cannot interrupt me,” he sneered. However, the murmurs got angry, not at me, but at the High Lord.

Lord Linn stood up. “Milord, I’m not coming to the defence of Lord Karth, however, he is right, he did not confess, nor have we heard evidence for or against his guilt.”

“You’ll side with this insolent cur?” Wilbur growled.

“Milord, I side with no one, merely pointing out the facts,” Lord Linn said calmly and sat down again. Agreements rose from some of the other Lords, even some of the spectators. While this was going on, I retrieved the dagger hidden in my boot, as we were not allowed to carry weapons into the hall. Not even my bodyguard.

There were ten guards inside the room. Only two with muskets which were standing behind the high table. The rest were carrying halberds. Two of them were standing at each end of the high table, the rest was spread throughout the room.

I would have to take out one of the musket-wielding guards first by throwing my dagger, then cross the room keeping the High Lord between me and the other shooter. Then take care of whichever guard I came across without a weapon. Disarm that guy and then take out the last shooter. The fight would devolve from there. However, it would be a shit show, because the Cardinal was supposedly stronger than Ethan with whatever magic they were using.

My planning was interrupted by the toad Wilbur speaking again, “Fine, I’ll listen to whatever lies the man has to tell.”

Seeing the attention shift to me, I calmly said, “Careful of who you call a liar. It’d be grounds for a duel. According to your laws, Milord.”

The last part dripped with sarcasm. Wilbur got mad, as I knew he would. “You dare threaten me?”

“No more than you threaten me with a hasty and corrupt judgement,” I said and stood up. The dagger was still hidden flat against my forearm, ready for a quick underhand throw at anyone who made an attempt to do anything. “You call me a liar. I’m willing to be read while I tell what happened when one of the Cardinal’s self-professed thugs attacked my camp in the middle of the night.”

“That’s a serious accusation,” Lord Linn said unhappily.

“I’m willing to be read by a Ghidanian cleric while testifying. With regards to arming serfs. Yes, I’m arming them. It’s the only way I can raise the squadron I’m ordered to raise. I’ve no thoughts of rebelling unless I find the High Lord unjust and corrupt,” I said calmly, getting another dig at Wilbur in. “What I wish to know is where Lord Terud got the idea and knowledge to make the accusation from?”

“None of your business,” Lord Terud said, crossing his arms, sending a glance at the high table. I wished for nothing more than to hurt the bastard.

The Cardinal rose. “I’ll not let lies be spread. I’m willing to be read by a cleric as well. I did not send anyone after Lord Karth.”

I narrowed my eyes at that. With how powerful the priests’ magic was and his eagerness to prove his innocence, it suddenly occurred to me that they probably had a way to influence the outcome of a reading. A thought struck me, ‘The Cardinal put on this charade, to get it on the record.’

‘But why?’ was my next thought. Outloud I said, “Fine, let’s get this farce over with.”

They called forth a cleric of Ghidana, who started with me. He put his hands on my temples and I felt the tingle of magic being applied to me. The feeling was interesting, to say the least. I could feel the mana spread around my head, almost feathering across my brain. I had felt it when I had visited the market place, but this time it felt more intrusive than before.

Since Lord Terud had made the accusations, he was the one to ask the questions, “Do you want to rebel against the High Lord?”

“The way you ask the question reveals your intention, you slimy piece of shit. I’m not arming a rebellion against the High Lord or anyone else,” I said. Knowing I had to give context, or my words could be misconstrued.

“Truth,” the cleric said, almost being drowned out by the sputtering of Lord Terud.

“You didn’t answer the question,” the Cardinal pointed out.

“The question has no bearing on the matter, except trying to put me in a bad position,” I countered.

“Truth.”

Lord Terud grumbled at that. “Fine, did you kill a priest?”

“No.”

The cleric hesitated a moment, before saying, “Truth.”

“Impossible,” the High Lord exclaimed.

“You lie!” the Cardinal said. “You sent back his head.”

“I can’t lie. I didn’t kill him, one of my associates did, while he was torturing me. Said he was there on your orders,” I countered.

The entire room was silent, as the cleric stammered, “Tr—truth.”

The bedlam that followed that was deafening, and I could see more than one of the older Lords stare with narrowed eyes at the two central figures at the high table. The Cardinal looked around clearly gauging the situation.

Loudly he demanded, “Who?”

“Matters not. Since it was someone in my retinue, the blame can only be placed on me. And since the priest was killed committing torture and assault, even killed a soldier, all acts that are illegal, making the killing a justified one. Meaning you can only acquit me unless you admit that you’re not following the laws,” I said, referencing some of the laws I had read up on. Just in case they wanted to press me on the killing of the priest.

“Truth,” the cleric stated feebly. The Cardinal looked like he wanted to murder me. I could not help myself and sent him a shit-eating grin.

The Cardinal grumbled, “Fine. Let’s get this over with.”

I went back to my seat, having managed to hide the dagger the entire time. After the cleric had indicated he was ready, I figured I might as well bite the bullet, and ask the only relevant and predictable question. “Did you send men after me?”

“No,” was the predictable answer. “He worked on his own.”

“Truth,” the cleric said. That part came as no surprise to me. Otherwise, there was no way he would have agreed to it. It pretty much cemented my earlier thoughts. Fideomancers could not read priests.

The High Lord looked put out when he rose to pass judgement. “The accusations against Lord Karth are false. He killed a rogue priest in self-defence. The Cardinal has truthfully proven his innocence. Lord Karth is to pay the Cardinal a thousand mark in reparation for tarnishing his reputation.”

“Bullshit,” I shouted from my seat. “What about Lord Terud tarnishing mine?”

“You’ve no reputation. You’re a brutish oaf. My sentence stands, don’t forget your place,” Wilbur said. Knowing that it would not be a good idea to pick another fight with the High Lord. The thousand mark fine meant I had to alter my plans a bit.

Fuming I sat through a couple of more cases. One of them was Lord Erthal accusing the Golden Northmen mercenaries of raiding. They got off scot-free as well, except for those that had been proven to be involved, who had already been hung. It was clear that any semblance of justice was tainted by self-interest from the High Lord. He was doing a favour for the Cardinal.

I was not the only one being unhappy. Even though I was sitting at the other end of the table, from the few glimpses I managed to catch of both Lord Linn and Lord Erthal, they were unhappy about the proceedings as well.

“If there’s nothing else, we’ll proceed to—” Wilbur started to say.

I stood up and interrupted him, at the same time I signalled my bodyguards. “Milord, I have a case to bring before you. It revolves around the theft of at least fifty thousand marks.”

Again I made the hall go silent. The Cardinal got a dark look on his face, he probably knew what was coming. My bodyguards led the gagged and bound Vernon into the hall.

“What’s the meaning of this? Untie him at once,” Wilbur demanded.

“Had to ensure that the criminal got here safely,” I said and ordered my men to ungag Vernon.

“Dad!” the pig cried out as soon as his gag was removed. “Please help me.”

“Shut up,” one of my bodyguards growled and cuffed the back of his head.

“How dare you,” the Cardinal growled.

“I’m simply bringing an embezzler here for justice. In concert with the Church, this pig has swindled at least fifty thousand marks from Wolf Ridge Hold,” I said loudly. Staring at the Cardinal.

The High Lord was lost for words, but Lord Linn was not. “That’s a grave accusation you bring, do you have any proof?”

“Of course, the Recorder from my Hold,” I said and indicated Hugo, who reluctantly stood up. One of my bodyguards were standing behind him. “He can testify that his accounts are accurate, and they include confirmation that Vernon in his capacity as Steward purposely forsook paying the Church its tithe, and instead donated the coin and materials to the Church.”

“That’s a lie!” Vernon cried out.

“Willing to be read and repeat that?” I offered. To which I got no answer.

Turning back to the Recorder, I said, “Is any of what I just said untrue?”

“No Milord,” Hugo said through clenched teeth glancing fretfully at the Cardinal.

The Cardinal whispered something to the High Lord and Wilbur stood up. “I’ve heard enough. Your theatrics is not amusing, Lord Karth. Your insistence on continuing to antagonise myself and the Church will come to an end. I judge that no embezzling went on.”

I had expected that outcome, in fact I was counting on it. The other Lords were not happy about the outcome either. It was a blatant misuse of power. Something they were used to, but not against one of their own stature. I might be a newcomer, and disliked in general, but I was still holding the same station as them.

Lord Erthal stood up, speaking loudly to be heard over the others. “High Lord, you cannot dismiss a case without hearing the evidence, not one of that magnitude. Especially not since the Steward was appointed by you.”

“Silence!” the Cardinal roared and stood up. “As a priest of Gyzbohr, I ratify this judgement as just and within the law!”

That quieted the Lords down, but it did not go over well with them. I could not help but smile, it went exactly as I predicted it would go. They were even more heavy-handed than I expected. Time for the next part.

“Vernon, Steward of Wolf Ridge Hold,” I said loudly. “I pass judgement on you for falsely imposing Lord’s Privilege when you took the daughter of the Miller family to your bed. The truth of the statement has been confirmed, noted, and sent to the King along with a writ of the Judgement by the Recorder of the Hold. For the transgression, I pass judgement as afforded by the Low Justice on my Hold. I sentence you to serfdom and castration.”

It was one of the reasons why the Miller family had stayed, despite my unorthodox methods and opinions. They had come to me complaining about the Steward’s behaviour, and I found out he had made them believe he could impose the Lord’s Privilege before the daughter got married the year before. It was a sick law that permitted the Lord to bed any unwed woman on the Hold. Unfortunately for Vernon, he was not the Lord, just a Steward.

As I spoke, the two bodyguards had kicked the legs out from under him, re-gagged him, and were in the process of putting a collar on him. One prepared under protest by Ethan. I had told him I needed some to capture harpies. He reluctantly made them, because the only alternative were uncollared prisoners of war, which he did not want.

“Stop!” the Cardinal shouted and my two bodyguards froze. I recognized that he had used the power.

“The last time a priest used his power unlawfully against my men, he died,” I said slowly.

“You dare threaten me?” the Cardinal seethed. The guards in the room had all levelled their weapons and were approaching.

“You dare to try and stop the lawful collaring of a serf?” I countered, my smile growing more and more vicious. “You dare to interfere with the rights given to me by your Gods?”

“Stop this nonsense, at once,” the High Lord impotently raged. “Place Lord Karth under arrest.”

It was Lord Erthal that stood up first amongst the Lords. “Low Justice has been passed, the King notified. Unless you’re saying that the Church and High Lord is above the Law.”

Almost all the other Lords stood up, except for two of them and the Steward. The guards had approached me but looked uncertain if they should continue to arrest me. The High Lord raged, “You’ll side with this outsider over me?”

“We side with neither, we guard the privileges we are afforded,” Lord Linn said.

“Release my men, if they don’t breath soon you’ll kill them. If you do, I’ll have to kill you as well,” I said to the Cardinal, trying to appear unworried about the halberds pointed at my throat.

From behind me, I heard two gasps of air. Still looking at the Cardinal, I said, “Kiril, put a collar on him. Will one of the priests here please do their duty and activate the collar?”

Vernon was screaming for his daddy, but there was nothing to be done. The Cardinal knew it, and he was staring daggers at me. Wilbur did the only thing he could, which was telling the guards to stand down. One of the priests stepped forth and activated the collar. I was sure that it was activated, because my men tried to take it off Vernon.

Lord Terud stood up. “Seeing as you owe me a lot of coins, how about I take this serf of your hands?”

I looked him up and down. I knew what he wanted to achieve, the gratitude of the Cardinal. Giving him a smile, I said, “Sure. He’s yours for one thousand and ten marks. Very capable Steward.”

“Ridiculous, no serf is worth that much,” he gasped.

“The price was originally ten marks, but then you insulted me. Want him or not?”

Lord Terud gulped, cast a glance at the Cardinal, before finally saying, “Deal.”

“That takes care of the debt, he’s yours as soon as I get ten marks,” I said and held out my hand. Reluctantly he handed over ten marks.

“Hand him over to me,” Lord Terud demanded.

“Sure, when he has been castrated, judgement has been passed.”

“That was not the deal,” he protested.

“He’s yours now, I just have a prior claim because of the judgement has not been carried out. One I did not hide from you,” I said with a smile, as I heard my bodyguards drag a struggling Vernon from the hall.

The Cardinal had stood back up. “You’re being a fool, you’ll pay for this.”

“I told you I would follow your traditions and the letter of the law. This is the letter of the law, though the same can’t be said for you,” I said with a smile. “You could just have admitted that a clerical error was made, and the debt would be scratched. I would have banished your son instead of making him a serf.”

The entire hall was silent at my open declaration of animosity towards the Cardinal. I knew I was playing with fire, but I had read the room enough to know that on this, most of the other Lords would side with me. The High Lord and the Cardinal had overplayed their hand by browbeating me and trampling all over the rights belonging to a Lord, which was something the other Lords did not appreciate.

“I think that concludes the judgements,” I said as I sat down. “What’s next on the agenda?”

I had gone into this knowing I would be screwed over, no justice applied. However, I had also found a way to stick it to them, while getting the Lords tentatively on my side. I had aired my grievance publicly. If something happened to me, they had born witness to what was going on.

The Church might be powerful, but it needed the nobles. The Cardinal might be powerful, but there were those more powerful and they would definitely not like for the boat to be rocked too much.

The meeting then continued onto what Theo had told me about earlier. We were told where we would be stationed. The Final Bastion. No surprise that I would be going there, but what surprised some of the Lords was the fact that both Linn and Erthal were ordered to supply two squadrons each to there as well. Clearly a last-minute adjustment he had made to his plans because they had spoken up.

In total, six squadrons would be going to the Final Bastion, together with six squadrons from each of the other High Holds, for a total of six battalions, the optimal number of occupancy.

Unfortunately, the fighting would be heavy and usually, less than two out of six squadrons returned. Out of 27,000 men, only around 6,000 were expected to return. It was as good as a death sentence.

I tuned out most of the rest of the troop deployments and wondered what sort of calamity would strike me on the road home this time.