"Rufina, time to wake up." A soft voice calls to me.

It's Tilly. I don't know how she gets up before anyone else, so I ask her, "Tilly, How do you know when to get up?"

"I have a guard knock on my door. There is someone awake all night, so I have them wake me." Damn, I should have thought of that.

"Are you awake? Good, it's shortly after 500, the time you wanted to get up. Are we going to do T'ai Chi this morning?"

"Yes, same as usual." She turns, going to rouse the others.

After finishing my morning toilet, I dressed in a long skirt and blouse combo, as today is an official function. I even try brushing my hair, though I don't know if it did any good. When I go down to the kitchen, Eliza and Helen are already there, sipping tea, chatting with Tilly. A short time later Sophia arrives, gives me a hug and gets a cup of tea, also. I'm explaining T'ai Chi to Eliza when Emi and Mark arrive. The only ones missing are Aden and Kalvin, thought Aden is likely in town arranging the movement of furniture. So we head to the garden, where I have Emi lead the others while I show Eliza and Mark the first dozen forms. When we all finished, we put our footwear back on and went in to breakfast. Tilly had a pot of porridge, made of mixed grains, nuts and small pieces of fruit, ready for us, along with cream, butter and honey.

Kalvin came down from the guardroom, saluted me saying, "Your majesty, the prisoner is ready to be moved."

"Very good. Have you eaten?"

"Yes, your majesty, I ate earlier with the other guards."

I looked around, seeing that everyone was almost done, "We will only be a few minutes more, if you'll inform the guard captain."

"Yes, your majesty." With that he left via the front door.

I spooned the last of my bowl of porridge into my mouth and washed it down with the last of my tea. Emi and I were the first done so we helped clear the table, taking the dirty dishes and unused condiments to the kitchen. Dipping a pitcher full of hot water out, I poured it over the dishes then gave them a quick scrub. Tilly would finish them but she wouldn't have dried on porridge to contend with. Emi made another trip to the table and back while I washed up. I know I am a horrid example of a queen, queens don't do their own dishes, but habits die hard. I was used to washing dishes, people tend to get cranky if you don't help with house work in a group living situation. Two weeks ago it was me, Emi and Tilly, now there are nine of us. If they see me helping then they will have no excuse not to help.

Finishing the last of the dishes, I gave Tilly a hug, "Thank you for breakfast, Tilly. See you at dinner." The others are already in the garden changing to their boots, so Emi and I hurry along. After changing to our boots, we exit the garden, meeting the guard captain by the front of the palace. As we were in long skirts this morning we were walking to town, as riding in skirts is awkward to say the least. I am going to have to talk to Helen about making some split riding skirts. There are twelve of us going down the hill to town, six in my posse, the captain and four guards and Lian.

As we approach the town hall building I see quite a crowd, town folk, serfs and the captain and crew of the ship. There is a cart loaded with tables and chairs waiting also. Aden is talking with the captain, explaining something. I greet them, "Good morning Captain, Aden. Is there a problem?"

"Good morning, your majesty. No problem, I was explaining that we were waiting for you to arrive. Now that you are here we can head there."

I mounted the steps of the town hall, turned to the crowd, then in a raised voice,"Good morning citizens. If you are wishing to observe the trial please allow the principles to go first. Those are the Captain and his crew, the witnesses, you know who you are, the guards and the prisoner and myself. Once we have reached the place, please sit quietly as we set up and during the trial so that all may witness the procedure. Thank you."

After I was finished, I started walking toward the place the trial was to be held, Emi by my side. Following us was the captain and his crew, two of the witnesses, the guards with Lian, then the cart of furniture. When we reached mistress Nora's cottage, I halted the procession and enter her garden. I had barely knocked on her door when the door opened and mistress Nora appeared. "Good morning , mistress. Are you prepared?" She nodded, glancing at the mob at her garden gate.

"You have quite a large following this morning, your majesty. Is this all necessary?"

"I believe it is, mistress. I wish to have everyone know the reasons why Lian has been arrested and what I intend to do about it." As I was saying this I led her to and out the gate.

It was a pleasant walk to the, I guess I'll call it the amphitheater. When we arrived I had the captain sit his crew at the front of the flat area, with the three witnesses in front of them. Aden had some men unload the furniture and set it where I directed. Once the tables and chairs were place I had the captain seated behind a table facing the crowd with a chair beside his table also facing the crowd. Five chairs were place to his left in two rows, slightly facing the crowd. Two tables with chairs were placed facing the captain, Lian was placed on the captain's right and I was on the his left, closest to the jury. I had Emi lay the evidence on the table, weighting the papers down in case a breeze kicked up. Lian's guards were seated behind him, with drawn weapons.

As we waited for the crowd to find a seat and settle down, I arranged the evidence in the order I wished it. When the crowd had settled, Aden walks to front of the judges table saying," We are gathered here today to bring charges against Lian, former minster of the Domain of Haven. These charges being, Thief of Domain property, Embezzlement of Domain Funds and attempted murder of our Queen. As the Queen is the injured party in this case, she has appointed Captain Jones of the vessel Mary Weather to be the judge. And as Lian is a freeman and allowed a jury of his peers and is known by all on the island she has also asked the the freemen crew of the Mary Weather to be the jury."

"The first order of business is selection of the jury, Captain would you call your men one at a time to the witness seat to be interviewed by the voices."

The captain called the first crewman, who once seated was ask to repeat his name, if he was a freeman, if he had ever had a crime committed against him and if he had dealings with Lian in the past. He answered the questions and was accepted by both voices. This went on until the fourth man, who's name Rufina recognized as the mate of the ship, the one that was the suspected contact. After he had answered the questions, she told the captain that he was unacceptable as a juror, which seemed to shock the man. After he had been dismissed I waved Kalvin over, whispering to watch that man. He nodded and went back to where he had been standing, which was not far from where the man sat. The next two men were both accepted as jurors.

I had decided to start with the embezzlement charge. I presented the yearly records for three of the last four years, pointing out the fact that the harvests,units in the granaries and the units loaded were the near the same for all three years, but the amounts deposited in the treasury the last two years was short. Then I showed the numbers for the units sold, which were different than the units loaded. I then showed the large bag of coins recovered from Lian's house, having the witnesses confirming that it is the same bag they witnessed being removed. I then stated the amount of coin in the bag, pointing out that the amount nearly matches the amounts missing from the treasury. Lian makes no objections to any of this.

Next I produce the items removed from the treasury, the silver tray, candle stick and other objects. Then I show the inventory of the treasury, pointing out the identifying marks on them. Then I had the witnesses state where these items had been recovered. I then wondered out loud how were these items removed from a locked vault? I then told of the of the search for the treasury keys. I had Emi and Aden tell of finding the keys in the town hall lockbox. I then produce the three keys which I show the jury. I ask Aden who was the person that had control of the town hall lockbox which his reply was until twelve day ago Lian and only Lian. And who had control after that? Aden had. And when were the keys discovered? Eleven days ago. Lian objected, how do we know that Aden hadn't put the key in the lockbox. I produced a receipt from the same lockbox for a key blank dated five months previous and signed by Lian, and asked the guard captain if the men assigned to guard the town hall were present? One was, the others could be here the twenty minutes. I asked the judge for a recess, to fetch the guards. He granted that.

As the guard captain went to fetch the guards, I had Helen arrange for a bucket of water to be passed around. It was starting to get warm, as it was mid morning now. I still hope to end this by noon but it's looking like we will go longer. The captain and the guards arrive. I have them come up one at a time, asking if the they remember guarding town hall twelve or eleven days ago? They did. Did anyone enter the town hall on either of those days? Yes on the afternoon of the twelfth day, Aden came, he unlocked the door and had me watch him while he searched in the desk for something, a book, which he found quickly. Then he went to one of the shelves and took down a document case, removing several pages. He then left, re-locking the door.

The guard that was there the next day, says that the Queen, Aden and the queen's maid arrived just after he had returned from lunch break. Aden had unlocked the door, they all entered, going to the corner where a cloth covered table sat. After Aden removed the cloth he could see a chest, which Aden opened with another of the keys on the ring that he had used to open the door. Mile removed things from the chest as the queen and her maid watched. He had removed a bunch of papers when the the queen said 'Ah, May I see the plain key, Aden?" As he hands her a plain iron key she removes a fancy one from a pocket, compares the two. She then says, "You found bees wax in Lian house,didn't you Aden?" Which seemed to startle Aden who said,"How did you know, your majesty?" She just grinned. As they were leaving the Queen said, "All of this should be brought up to the palace later, I think. It's too much trouble running back and forth. Alright, now to check the treasury, now that we have the keys." Aden relocked the chest, dropped the cloth back over it and they left, locking the door behind them.

" So the keys to the treasury were in a lock chest in the town hall, a chest that up until twelve days ago was under the sole control of Lian. And after Lian was no longer in control of the chest, the chest was under guard 20 hours a day. And the only time the chest could have or had been opened, it was still under guard. So voice for the accused, when was this key put in the box?" as I said this I held up the plain key.

The judge denied the objection.

Before I started the presentation of the evidence for the attempted murder charge I lined the evidence along the front of the evidence table. A wine bottle, a small cloth bag, a bottle corker, several corks, a small stack of papers and a case holding eleven bottles. The main event is about to begin.

Once I have my props in position I turn to the jury, "Gentlemen, in front of you is the evidence of a crime most foul. The attempted regicide of me, the Queen of Haven. I am not sure why I survived the attack but I tell you it was not pleasant."

"What I remember of the day, I was in my rooms when Aden my assistant brought some papers for me to sign, from my minister, Lian. He also brought a bottle of wine, also from Lian. I had Aden open the bottle before he left. I poured myself a glass then read the papers, signing the first one. As I read the second page I drank more of the wine, one of my favorite vintages. I'm sad to say at the time I enjoyed my wine too much, I soon had that glass and the bottle empty. As I sat reading the third page I became very sleepy. The next thing I remember is being held by my maid, Emi. I was confused, it took awhile to remember who she was, who I was and where I was. I did not recover fully for two days, I was sleepy and confused."

"The next day Emi asked me where I had gotten the wine I had the afternoon before. I told her that Aden had brought it from Lian. She told me that it is strange as one of the bottles of that vintage had disappeared. She remembered placing twelve bottle on the rack after it had been purchased and I had the last bottle in the cellar two days before and there had been a bottle missing." I walked over at indicated the case of eleven bottles. "So where had the twelfth bottle gone?"

"So we have a missing bottle of wine which reappears, sent by someone that shouldn't have it, that after being consumed causes the consumer to become ill. So I had Emi, who as a catkin has a very sensitive nose, smell the remains in the bottle. She says she can smell something that shouldn't be there. Mistress Nora, would you take the witness seat please." Nora rises and sit in the witness seat.

"Mistress Nora would you tell the jury what you do on the island?"

"I am a herbalist, I raise and prepare herbs for the use of the island's population."

"Mistress Nora, in the morning sixteen days ago you were asked to come to the palace were you not?"

"Yes, Tilly arrived at my door, saying that the queen had questions I could answer and would I come speak with her."

"When you arrived what did she ask you?"

"She, you asked me to identify an herb. You handed me a wine bottle saying that there was a odor in it that you wanted to know the source of. I told you."

"This herb, is it dangerous?"

"In small amounts, no. In larger amounts or high concentrations it can be deadly."

Going to the small stack of papers on the evidence table I take up a page,"Is this the paper I had you sign that morning?"

"Yes it is."

"One more question, Mistress. Can this herb be grown on Haven?"

"No, it can not. It requires a humid climate, it is too dry here for it."

"Thank Mistress. I will be calling you again later."

As Nora returned to her seat, I called for one of the witnesses of the search of Lian's house and had him sit in the witness chair. "Sir, during the morning twelve days ago, you were called to witness the search of Lian's home, correct?"

"Yes, your majesty."

"Are these papers signed by you?" I showed him several pages describing the bottle corker, some corks and a bag of herbs, and where they were found.

"Yes, your majesty. Those are my signature."

I show the pages to the jury, along with the items described.

Dismissing the witness, I called the other witness to the stand and asked the same questions. And received the same answers. I dismissed him, also. I then recalled Nora.

Taking another page I showed this to Nora once she is seated. "Mistress Nora, is this also your mark?"

"It is."

"And is this the bag that you examined before you signed this paper?"

"It is."

"And this bag contains what Mistress?"

"The same herb in the wine bottle, your majesty."

"Thank you Mistress, you may step down."

As Nora returned to her seat I said,"So gentlemen of the jury, we have a missing bottle of wine, which reappears laced with herbs, dangerous herbs which the accused has in his home, along with equipment needed to reseal a wine bottle, sent to the victim by the accused. But why would the accused try killing his queen, that I don't know, perhaps I'll ask him. Lian take the witness stand."

"No, I will not." Which causes the crowd to hiss. I'm sure they don't like him.

"And why will you not take the stand, are you afraid you will say something?" If I can get him mad enough maybe he will admit he did it. "Are you sure the drunken little girl queen doesn't have the proof she needs to take your head? I have a surprise witness then, first mate, please take the stand."

The first mate pales, stands and takes a step toward the witness stand then lunges at Lian, a dagger in his hand. Before Kalvin can move he has jammed the blade into Lian's eye, as Lian had turned to look at him when I had called him to the stand. Kalvin grabs the man's wrist, crushing it as he twists the arm behind the mans back. The man screams and and goes limp, falling to the ground, causing Kalvin to fall with him. Kalvin rolls to the side, away from the man as other guards rush up, weapons drawn. Placing their spears against him, they tell him not to move. Then they notice something is wrong, he doesn't appear to be breathing. One of the guards reaches down and turns the man over onto his back. His face is contorted like he was in immense pain. And he is dead, very dead.

I go to Kalvin, who is shaking, coming down from the adrenaline rush, asking if he is hurt. He shakes his head negative. Eliza appears, hugging him tightly. I go back to the Captain, intent on asking him about the mate. "He joined your crew at the start of this voyage didn't he?" I ask.

"How did you know that? Yes, my previous mate requested emergency leave just before we sailed and this man was recommended by the harbor master of the port."

"He has been here at least three times, each time on a different ship, always with the same name though. The reason he was rejected as a juror was we suspected he had dealings with Lian and acting as an agent for someone. Someone that appears not to want Lian to speak of their relationship. Lian was a very poor spy, if a spy is what he was."

"What killed the mate, though? That is most strange." asked the Captain.

"I don't know. We will look into it, I assure you. As the defendant is deceased, the trial is over. Thank you for your help, Captain Jones."

"You are welcome, your majesty."

I go over to the jury, "Gentlemen, thank you for your assistance. You may go about your business."

The five say, "Thank you, your majesty."

I start packing the evidence away, not knowing what else to do. The guard captain and the guards are taking care of Lian and the mate, Eliza and Kalvin are still holding each other, Aden is answering questions from some of the towns folk and serfs. Emi, Sophia and Helen are sitting to the side with their heads together, whispering, with Mark standing behind them. Most of the serfs and town people are moving back to town. When I finish packing the evidence in to bags, I move over to my friends. They see me coming, stand and give me a hug when I arrive.

"Well, that didn't end like I thought it would." I tell them.

"Are you alright, Rufina?" Emi and Helen say at the same time.

"I'm fine, I wasn't near them."

I turn to look at Aden, then walk over to him. "Aden, Do you need help with anything? If not we are going back to the palace."

He looks at me, smiles a small smile, then says he's fine, we can go, he can get the guards to help.

I return to the group saying,"Let's go home people, Aden has it in hand." I pick up the evidence bags, hand one to Helen and keeping the other. I look around, walk over to Kalvin and Eliza, "You two coming?" They nod and start to follow as I head up the hill. I notice Nora still sitting there, staring in to space. I stop, "Are you alright Nora?"

"I saw him, I'm sure I did. Just before that man killed Lian, I saw someone whispering in his ear. Your guard didn't seem to see him though."

I start, looking towards the bodies, their faces now covered. What does she mean? I look at Sophia, asking in my head, did you notice anything? Sophia shakes her head, like she heard me. "Nora, come with us, we will escort you home." I reach a hand down to assist her up. Once she is upright, we start walking. I pass the bag to Emi and place Nora's hand on my arm as we climb the slight hill. We start talking to Nora about herbs and their uses, which gets her talking, most people like to talk about their passions. Between herbal lore I ask her about herself. She starts talking about her life and loves, her children and grandchildren. Soon we have passed her cottage and have reached the palace. I invite her to dinner, as I doubt that Aden will be here and it's dinner time.

I lead us in though the front door, the boots can stay on this afternoon. Sitting Nora at the table I head to the kitchen to talk to Tilly. I tell her we have a guest and Aden will probably not be here as he will be busy. She wants to know what happened at the trial. I tell her things didn't go as anticipated. We can discuss it over dinner.

When return to the table, I catch Sophia's eye. She comes over,"First, do you think Nora saw something or was it the shock of the killings? Could you do what you did with Eliza? and would she be a good addition to the group?"

"She would make a ideal group member, I can sense she did see something, and yes I could, do you want me to?"

"Yes, Please."

She goes over to Helen, who is sitting next to Nora chatting away, taps her on the shoulder then leans down and whispers in her ear. Helen nods and comes over to me, giving me a hug. Sophia sits in the chair next to Nora and starts chatting. Soon Nora is nodding off. Sophia reaches out and takes her hand then sits back and appears to nap too.

Tilly and Emi bringing out dinner and the dishes. Taking a stack of plates I start placing them, Helen placing the utensils. Soon the table is set and the meal is ready, the diners waiting for the guest to awaken. We don't have a long wait as Sophia wakens then Nora. Nora looks around at the faces surrounding her, finally settling on mine, "So your majesty, what do you want me to do?"

"First eat, because if you are as hungry as I'm you need to eat. Second what did Sophia tell you? And third, welcome to the group."

"I told her the same things I told Eliza and she shared the memory of what she saw at the amphitheater, if you will all join hands I can show you." We take each others hands, closing our eyes, soon we appear to be sitting at the trial. I have just asked Lian to take the stand and he had refused. As I was needling him Nora glanced toward Kalvin, who was watching the mate. There was a figure behind the mate, whispering in his ear. As I called the mate to the stand, the figure fades from view. The mate stood, took a step then lunged at Lian, sinking the dagger into his eye.

The dinning room came back into focus, looking around some of the faces were paler than normal, Tilly was shocked, Eliza had her face buried in Kalvin's chest, his arms around her. "Are you alright Tilly? Should have told you first. I'm sorry. Kalvin, is Eliza alright?"

"That alright, Rufina. It's not the first person I have seen killed." was Tilly's reply.

"I'll take her to her room, your majesty. Excuse us, please." was Kalvin's reply.

"So, do we know who or what that shadowy figure was?" I am looking at Sophia as I say this.

"It seemed familiar for some reason, I'll need to meditate on it first. But I think I need to see to Eliza, this may cause a set back for her. Excuse me." She followed Kalvin and Eliza up the stairs.

"A set back for her?" Nora asks.

"Eliza has been grieving for the her murdered parents for close to nine years, Sophia is helping her find closure so she can continue with her life. Seeing the death of Lian and the mate may cause her to return to grieving, she has been doing so well the last few days. Traumatic events can be harmful to the mind especially if the mind is already stressed."

"Well, let's eat before it get any cooler, Tilly's cooking is so good it will probably be good even if it is cold." I have the others pass me their plates so I can serve the main course. Soon the bowls of vegetables and bread are being passed around. We continue chatting as we eat, learning about Nora and she about us.

* * *

Kalvin leads Eliza to the stairs, where he lifts her in his arms, carrying her up the stairs. Opening the door to her rooms he looks around, not sure which bed chamber is hers. "Eliza honey, which is your room?" She points to the east room. He opens that door and sit on the edge of the bed, still holding her in his arms. She has started to sob, crying gently.

Between her sobs she says,"I was so scared for you, love. I was afraid of losing you so soon after finding you."

There is a knock at the chamber door, they turn to look, it's Sophia. "But you didn't lose him did you, Eliza. Do you wish me to filter this memory too?" Eliza nods. "Alright, why don't you both remove your boots and lay on the bed." They take off their boots and stockings, Kalvin removing some of his armor and weapons. When they are both laying on the bed, Sophia looks Eliza in the eyes. Soon Eliza is asleep.

"Kalvin, what I will be doing is putting you to sleep, as you sleep you will dream. In this dream I will bring you both to a place where we can talk, while there I will place a partial block on the memory of this morning on Eliza, but before that she may have a nightmare about it. Your role is to defend her from that memory, you will know what to do if that happens. I will now put you to sleep." His eye grew heavy, but before he succumbed to slumber he took Eliza's hand in his.

Sophia smiled at that, they were both very much in love, which will make this so much easier. Moving to the foot of the bed she sat so she could grasp their ankles, bare skin being the best access for her powers. Her eyes closed and she stiffened, going into the dream space.

Eliza was in a dream, she knew she was in a dream. She was sitting on the ground near Helen and Sophia, observing the queen questioning the witnesses. She has such presences, speaking in her clear voice, pointing out the evidence and what lead her to her conclusions. Eliza starts tensing up, she knows what is coming. As the Queen ask Lian to take the stand, she looks to Kalvin who is supposed to be watching the mate. She can see the figure whispering to the mate. As the Queen calls the mate to the stand the figure disappears, the mate stands but instead of attacking Lian he lunges at Kalvin. She screams. NO, NO, not Kal. She jumps up, intending to dash towards him. But Sophia stops her, saying,"Watch your man. He is no weakling." Eliza stares at Sophia, then stares to where the mate and Kalvin are coming into contact. Kalvin has the mate by the wrist of the arm holding the dagger, twisting the hand back. The mans face in contorted in pain as he drops the dagger. Kalvin draws back his off hand and slams his open palm into the mate nose, dropping him where he stands. "See, your man is strong and quick, it is alright to worry about him but if he sees the fight coming he can handle it. Now goto him." She releases her hold on Eliza.

Kalvin is in a dream, he knows he is in a dream. He is standing as he was this morning, watching the mate as the Queen commanded. So far he hadn't made a suspicious move, just shifting around a bit. When the queen asked the mate to take the witness stand the mate stood, but instead of lunging at Lian, he turns toward him. The dagger is beginning to appear from the mate's sleeve, as Kalvin's training kicks in. He deflects the dagger from it's course to his gut, grabbing the wrist of the hand holding the dagger, breaking the hold on the dagger, causing it to fall, then pivots, twisting the now empty hand and stepping a half step back, punches the mate square on the nose with his open palm, causing him to drop. He is aware of a scream but until now has too busy to notice where it is coming from. Eliza is suddenly there, hugging him tightly, crying on his chest. He returns her hug, caressing her back. Every thing except Sophia fades into a meadow of wild flowers surrounded by trees.

Eliza is still crying with her face buried in Kalvin chest. Kalvin reaches down cupping her thighs in his large hands, lifting her so her face is level with his and begins kissing her. Her arm go around his neck and her legs wrap around his waist, his hand gripping her bottom. He slowly sinks to the ground, sitting cross legged, Eliza still wrapped around him, placing kisses everywhere she can reach. Her hands are under his shirt, feeling his chest muscles. Soon his shirt is out of the way and she is kissing and nibbling on him. Smiling Sophia slowly fades from sight.

Sophia's eye open slowly, releasing her hold of the two sleepers. They have twisted around so they are facing each other, Eliza laying atop Kalvin, his shirt has been removed, Eliza kissing and nibbling on him. Sophia stands, moving to the door which she closes behind herself. She goes back to the table and her other friends.