The Head Steward of the palace was quietly proud this morning, the Thirty Second Merecvi. Eight, almost nine months had passed since the return of the Dark Lord, and the Hall of Hearing had been returned to a state that was acceptable for his sovereign to meet his subjects in and to hear their petitions. It was not completely finished, there was much detail work to be done, but he had agreed with the Dark Lord that few would notice the incomplete work.

Following on the permission received to increase the staff of the palace, slowly, the necessary staff had been added. Four carpenters, three painters, five gardeners, seven office and security staff, six in the ushers section, four in housekeeping and four in the kitchen. More were interviewed and some others had been quietly vetted without their even knowing about it.

Much to their surprise, all were welcomed by the Dark Lord himself. They were even more surprised, and pleased, to learn that that there were accommodations available on the edge of the palace grounds and that the pay that they received would be tax free. All were carefully inoculated into the palace culture and on meeting with their Master and the Ladies, they quickly learnt discretion.

Yes, Grada Karkart was very happy. He positively beamed on the morning that the Day of Hearing was to commence. The smile slipped only slightly when he was told that he was needed now for the rituals that started the hearings. The palace itself being closed and sealed for the day.

The doors to the wasteland opened and, as described elsewhere, the grim soldiers from another time who are sworn to do the Dark Lords will marched the length of the hall to the doors that opened into the palace proper. There they hammered with their spears on the high double doors to summon the Ladies of the Circle.

Escorted back to the throne, now occupied by the Dark Lord, the Ladies divided, then gathered behind the throne. The soldiers forming the honour guard saluted, then joined their grim comrades.

The Dark Lord first addressed the Head Steward. “Good Steward, you are all ready?”

“Indeed sire, I am.”

“And you Legate, you and your men are ready?” Went to the leader of those who do the Dark Lords will.

“We are Caesar!” Replied Mangus Lictus Garius. The heavily build soldier wore his shiny armour, his gold inlaid helm on his head. He waved at the soldiers. “The men are anxious to do your bidding.”

Unlike their commander, the soldiers wore plain and well used armour and dress. It suited the deadly tasks that they might be called on to perform. They all wore looks of grim expectancy as they saluted the Dark Lord.

“Ave Caesar.” they called, first slapping their right hand to their chests than holding it out. The Dark Lord nodded his head in acknowledgement.

“If we are all ready, then let us commence.” He turned back to the Head Steward as Grada began to speak, “On no, let me be surprised. Just call for the first petitioner.” Grada bowed and stepped to the front of the dais.

“I call Lois Parter.” A rather stout, kindly looking woman stepped hesitantly forward. “Speak, the Dark Lord is listening. But be brief, and speak no lies.”

“My Lord.” The woman gave a terrified glance at the soldiers staring at her. “My husband left me and has taken up with a younger woman. He refuses to pay support ordered, and his lawyers put up roadblocks against any effort on my lawyers behalf. I beg for assistance and relief.” She stopped.

“Hmm, rarely is there just one side to this kind of story.” The Dark Lord leant forward. “What would your husband say?”

Lois looked embarrassed but had taken the sensible precaution of reading up about previous hearings, and had done a quick study of her sovereign as well. She knew better than to lie.

“My Lord, my husband would say that I was also unfaithful to him and that I berated him so that he sought solace elsewhere.” She stopped when the Dark Lord put up his hand.

“That is enough, as is many times the case, fault can be equally shared. I order your husband to pay the support for children as required. You are to receive one of the residences suitable for you and your children. That is all. This is to be carried out in fourteen days.” He smiled, “You may tell your husband and both sets of lawyers that the Imperial Guard will be checking on this settlement.”

He turned to Mangus Lictus Garius, “Legate, see that this woman is escorted off the premises.”

“Sire!” A motion was made and one of the solders took Lois’s arm. They left, Lois bowing and sobbing with thanks.

“I call Rene Hardis.”

A tall man, Rene seemed to have a good share of arrogance. This was misleading. “My Lord, I beg relief for those who have combined their funds for me to make my pleading.” He started. “I have a farm, a small one on planet five of system Ragna B in the sixth cluster. It is one of numerous farms where I and other families make a good living. However a man has recently arrived and begun terrorising the farmers. I have had my crops damaged and family attacked.”

“What are the local authorities doing to help?” Came softly.

“They are powerless, it seems. The police force cannot find this man and his ship, while the sector stationed a ship but it went away after a short time.”

“How long has this been going on for?”

“My Lord, it started soon after your return. About a month after.”

The Dark Lord smiled. “You will have relief and quickly.” He made a sign. A grizzled, bearded Guardsman stepped forward.

“Take this man, Rene Hardis and find out everything he knows about these pirates, then speak to the Admiral of the Legion. Ask him to supply you with whatever he can, then take a section of the guard and hunt down and destroy these pirates and everyone who supports them.”

At the Dark Lords last words, uttered in an icy tone, a hiss ran through the crowd. This was the first indication to all onlookers in this Day of Hearing of the ruthless side of the Dark Lord. The guardsman bowed and left with Rene Hardis in tow.

“Let us continue.” The Dark Lord waved his hand. Some nearby cringed. The Dark Lord affected not to notice.

The next several petitioners were much of the same. Small problems, but of great importance to those involved. Some, being told bluntly that they bore the responsibility of the problem themselves, were sent away unsatisfied, usually thankful to keep their heads. Others only got part of their claim.

The twenty seventh petitioners were a couple, both in restraints and escorted by guards. The man being the one who was begging to be heard while the woman remained silent.

“And what do we have here, not marital bliss it would seem, Steward.” Grada smiled at the Dark Lords remark as he walked over to Him. He was happy that both the Dark Lord and the Ladies, all of whom were sitting on the crowded dais, seemed relaxed after the explosive revelations of the fall.

“We have Ogdon of Danis V and his wife, Mire. They have been charged with murder although the charges remain unproven. Their legal system is very slow.”

“Well, we will see what we can do to speed things up.” The Dark Lord sat back in his chair as Grada told the pair to speak. Ogdon spoke first.

“My Lord, we have both been charged with the same crime. But I am innocent. My wife killed our neighbours. I admit I was unfaithful, but I did not raise a hand to her.”

“Really, and you Mire, what say you?” The Dark Lord sounded mildly interested.

“He told me to. We would fight and he would laugh and say ‘Why don’t you kill them, kill them both!’” Her finger was an accusing dagger. “And he would call me a coward. Say I was afraid to carry through with it!” She spat out. “Well, one day I showed him.” She glared at her husband.

The soldiers who had been standing and looking bored, stirred and were now looking with interest at the husband and wife pair. They were also throwing glances at the Dark Lord.

“Have you nothing to add?” The Dark Lords quiet question was directed to the husband.

“My Lord, certainly I spoke those words, but they were uttered in the heat of argument. Surely I can’t be held responsible for speaking in a moment of anger.”

“Actually you can.” The Dark Lord stood, waved to the Legate.

“Sire, I am at your command.” Mangus Lictus Garius bowed, holding his hand to his chest.

“Good, here you see a particularly odious individual, one who seduced his neighbour’s wife so he could provoke his wife into murdering both her and her husband. He planned to fix all guilt on his wife of course so that she alone would suffer the consequences. His plan was to go free, or so he hoped.”

The Legate studied the couple with cold eyes. “Your will, Caesar?”

“She may suffer less, cut off her head. As for Ogdon of Danis V, crucify him.”

“As you command, sire.”

Harsh orders rang out, the two were relieved of their restraints then dragged out to the wasteland. The place of blood. Protesting stridently, the husband was bundled to where there were a number of tall poles, while Mire was dragged to another area. There her hands were roughly bound behind her, her arms held and her head forced down to a block of wood. An axe was raised and brought down with a dull thud. Mire’s sudden shriek was cut off along with her head.

*********

The following petitioner was a women who was being sued by her neighbour, who was claiming that she had built her driveway over his land. White faced at the death of Mire, she stuttered her way through her situation. Interrupted by the Dark Lord, she stammered to a halt.

“Is you neighbour here?”

“No my Lord.”

“Why not?”

“He and others said I was being a fool and I would be beaten and killed for bothering you”

*********

During this explanation, the unfortunate Ogdon was stripped naked and fastened, hands and feet, to one of the poles. A soldier stood to one side, raised a whip and proceeded to lash it across Ogdon’s back.

The soldier who had wielded the axe, washed the blood off it.

*********

“I see.” The Dark Lord sat back, “And why have the local government officials not carried out the usual survey to determine the correct boundary?”

“My neighbour is a powerful man so people are afraid of him. Also, he wants to buy my property, he has said so himself and offered much less than what my land is worth.” Glancing over at Ogdon’s shrieks, the woman shuddered. “My Lord,” she stuttered, “if he had offered a fair price, I may well have accepted it just to be done with this matter. But this is unjust.”

“I see.” The Dark Lord repeated still sitting comfortably while the Ladies watched carefully, alert for a change of mood.

With unexpected smoothness, the Dark Lord rose, stepping down from the dais. While motioning to a guardsman, He addressed the woman.

“Do not fear, you shall have justice.”

“You have orders sire?” The guardsman bowed.

“Indeed, take this woman, have her give all she knows to you, than seek out the Admiral of the Legion and tell him from Me that you need a survey ship and crew, one competent in laying out land boundaries. Then travel with this woman to her planet and carry out a full survey of her lands and the neighbours land.” The Dark Lord paused, “Do you have all this?”

“Yes sire.”

“Good, carry out all enquiries necessary, a man who acts like this will have done it before, see if others need justice.”

“And once we have completed our investigation, sire?”

The Dark Lord smiled, “Give such justice as you see fit.” The guardsman bowed but before he could leave, the Dark Lord spoke again. “You will need an escort, have the Admiral assign a platoon to accompany you.”

The guardsman, to the petitioners surprise a woman, now accompanied by her partner, bowed and left the petitioner in tow.

*********

Returning to his seat, unnoticed by any others, His eyes sought out Lady Andrea, she nodded, turned her head and nodded to Lady Taryn.

*********

The next petitioner was an elderly man. His petition was simple. He wanted to return to his home planet to die and be buried there but his family opposed this and all his money was tied up in a trust for his children. He could not get the travel fare, as the trust could not be broken without the children’s consent.

The Dark Lord frowned. “And your children refuse.”

“They have many good reasons sire. I have no family living on the planet I was born on. There have been many difficulties on that planet and it remains a rough frontier world. All my family is here. Some however disagree and want to give me the fare.”

“Why do you want to return?” The Dark Lord enquired in a soft voice.

The old man looked down at his feet. “That is where my parents are. I am their last child. I should be with them.”

Beside the old man was a man of middle years for Tihab. A younger woman also stood there. The Dark Lord spoke to them. “What have you to say? You are his son. And you the granddaughter.”

The son could not help being distracted by the sounds of the last strokes of the flogging that Ogdon was receiving. It was with an effort that he pulled himself together at the Dark Lords question.

“Sire, it is not a question of money. I would pay the fare myself, but my farther refuses to accept it. He wants to use his own money and the family is divided for many reasons. Not all bad, some very sound and some emotional.” He paused. “I am sad that my farther wishes to leave us and go to the far end of the empire to die, however his daughter, my sister is devastated, so much so she could not come here to plead. But I honour my farther.” The granddaughter echoed her father’s words.

*********

The screaming had stopped, the whipping over, Ogdon was dragged to another part of the Wasteland, where more tree like poles stood.

*********

The Dark Lord raised his hand and the group fell silent. There was silence while the Dark Lord considered the matter. His head came up.

“Old man, will you accept passage as a gift from your sovereign?”

There was a look of surprise on the man’s face. “My Lord I...” The young woman spoke fiercely in his ear. The old man looked at her. She gestured to the Dark Lord. The son did likewise. The Dark Lord waited, his face expressionless.

“I accept, Sire.” There were some muted cheers.

*********

Meanwhile Ogdon of Danis V learnt the agony of having his wrists nailed to the cross beam of the crucifix.

*********

“Steward, see to the details. There are Legion ships leaving every day, or perhaps a commercial transport may be more practical. Tell the Councils office to arrange this.”

“As you command, sire.” Came the prompt reply. The Dark Lord turned his attention back to the trio in front of him.

“Old man, you will send a message to your son on your arrival. He will bring it to me.”

“Indeed sire.”

*********

They left, hurried along by the screams of Ogdon learning what having his feet nailed to the upright meant.

*********

“Steward, next.” The Dark Lord smiled as he gestured to the Steward. The Day of hearing continued.