Kros Voyeh Ch. 21

Lislora glanced at the maid standing next to her, the woman looked almost tearful. "Ganas will see to it that justice is done," She murmured to the Munian hoping it was reassuring.

"Ig was always kind." Mes shook her head and looked away for a moment. "This doesn't feel like justice."

The trembling, weeping woman was dragged out of the cage and forced to kneel on the scaffold mere steps from the readied block.

From the scaffold, men began to shout demanding silence. Once it was reasonably quiet Rogath spoke in a booming voice from the royal box on the wall.

"Here begin the proceedings in the matter of the murder of Prince Draeseth's unborn son and the near murder of his beloved wife, Isonei of House Ernelis, Duchess of Kroscur by Ig the slave of Phaethia.

"The crimes of poisoning a Duchess beneath the King's own roof, of robbing a Prince of Torga of his first child, and the lack of remorse shown in refusing to name the poisons used to help the priests of Ganas in their tending to the Duchess all demand justice.

"May Ganas grant our King wisdom and see justice done here today for these heinous crimes."

The Crown Prince stepped back and spoke to his father briefly as the crowd murmured amongst themselves the sound of it both approving and angry.

Raising his hands he waited until the crowd had quieted again somewhat. In the distance, however, Lislora could hear the sound of men calling for others to make way.

"Do you have anything to say for yourself? Anything to plead in your defense?" Rogath's grim question was answered by a few in the crowd saying there was no defense and a murderess should be put to death.

Ig knelt, trembling, with her eyes pinned to the scaffold as they waited a long moment for a response.

"You do not dispute the charges or wish to show remorse and plead for mercy? Very well. King Orgath will give his judgment and the priests may ask Ganas to have mercy on you in death. For the crimes you have committed there will be justice." He stopped and looked toward the ever-nearing sound of men calling to make way with a baffled frown.

A moment later Kamrus Gillaugrim stepped up onto the scaffold and turned to assist a tiny woman in mourning rags. She moved slowly and her skin looked wretchedly sickly and pale.

"Is that-is that her Grace?" Mes asked in a hushed tone.

"They shouldn't have dragged her out of the Temple, she looks like she may fall over." Lislora covered her mouth.

Around them, whispers that it was the poisoned Duchess passed through the crowd. Any doubt was dispelled as the Kamrus began to translate the women's quiet words in a booming voice.

"Do you know me?

"You are the Duchess my Mistress hates.

"I require you to look at me, there are questions I must ask." He paused as Ig gave no reply but glanced up at Isonei.

"Do you hate me?"

The slave shook her head.

"Could you have refused your Mistress' commands?"

Ig looked up.

"No."

"Would you have harmed me of your own free will?"

The slave shook her head no again.

"Do you regret the harm you've caused?"

The kneeling woman seemed to say yes, breaking into tears and bowing down reaching toward Isonei's feet pitifully, as if pleading for her life. The Kamrus looked taken aback, speaking to the Duchess for a brief moment before sharing the woman's words with the crowd.

"Yes! It would have been better to have died as a child than to have endured this life. I beg your forgiveness, Duchess. I was forced to help my Mistress. I beg your forgiveness."

A shocked murmur rose from the crowd as Isonei knelt and took the slave's hands speaking to her quietly.

The Kamrus' voice boomed out, "I hold you blameless. You were wronged as was I. If his Majesty will hear me, I will strive to put things right for you and for the child taken from me."

The slave looked stunned, as did most of the crowd as Lislora glanced around her. The Kamrus helped the weak-looking Duchess to her feet and they faced the King who was already answering.

"There was a reason you were not to be dragged from your sickbed and made to endure this, little Duchess. Your husband warned that you would plead for mercy on behalf of this murderess despite what she's done. Your reputation for being a gentle and far too forgiving creature is known. It makes the wrongs that have been done to you and to your child worse.

"My judgment will stand and punishment will be rendered. Justice will be done today."

The Kamrus took a moment to translate. When he finished, the tiny pale woman next to him seemed to speak firmly and he began to translate once more.

"I do not ask for punishment to be withheld. I would be heard, O King, and have it fall justly and hard where it belongs."

The woman looked incensed as she spoke and Lislora couldn't tear her eyes away from the Aran even though her voice was indistinct.

"I know that the one truly responsible cannot be put here on this scaffold as she should be, O King, but there is a just punishment that will give a small amount of meaning to the death of my child. If you would see justice done, grant me this one thing, mighty King of Torga."

"What is she doing?" Lislora hissed at Mes.

"I will hear a grieving mother's plea."

"If you will see justice done, O King, free every slave in Torga." The Kamrus gave the Aran an almost startled look as he translated but he didn't falter, "If this woman had not been enslaved she would not have obeyed the one who wanted me and my child dead. If you had forced the one who cost me my child to take up Torgan ways and value her servants instead of tormenting her slaves and tarnishing the honor of your great house this would not have happened.

"I beg for justice in my child's name. I would have all of these people freed to prevent this from happening again and to make the legacy of the child who did not live be the lives of others returned to them. This is the justice I would plead for from you, O King of Torga."

Isonei had nearly broken down as she spoke and before the Kamrus finished translating she sank to her knees bowing her head and lifting her hands in supplication as if she were the one upon whom judgment was about to be passed. Kamrus Gillaugrim placed a hand on her head.

"Your Majesty, there can be no more compelling reason to end the Phaethian perversion of slavery that has made its way into Torga, and no one could make a more worthy plea than a proud and virtuous mother who has lost her child and nearly her own life to the dangers of this perversion.

"It is a noble and worthy request. I will kneel with the Duchess in supplication as should all those who would see this noble woman given her justice for a son who might have had his father's strength and his mother's gentle nature." He sank to his knees next to her and the priests who lingered at the edge of the scaffold sank to theirs as well.

Lislora lifted her eyes to the viewing box and saw Draeseth stand and then sink down, kneeling. Adareth did the same as Rogath began what looked like a heated argument with their father. Mes dropped to her knees like a stone. Glancing at the still kneeling Duchess and the stunned slave staring at her, Lislora chose to kneel as well.

Even if it was in vain, even if her dress was ruined, she could say... Blinking, she realized everyone else had begun to kneel as well. From where she knelt she could see no one left standing.

The argument had been indistinct but she could hear one thing as it came to an end, "Look, father! All of them!"

King Orgath stepped forward again and began to speak in a tone that sounded to her ears to be something between solemn and deeply displeased, "We came today promising justice for my son's wife and my murdered grandson. This is not the justice I had expected to offer but it is justice nonetheless and I am as moved by the pleas of Duchess Isonei as all of you are.

"I would have my murdered grandson be given a legacy worthy of Torgan royalty. I hereby proclaim that every slave in Torga is now and will forever remain a free man or woman and shall be treated as such."

If he said anything further it was drowned out by the exulting of the crowd as they surged to their feet.

Once she regained hers, Lislora looked to the scaffold again catching a glimpse of Isonei standing with her hand over her heart and bowing her head to the King before raised arms obscured the view.

Kamrus Gillaugrim raised his hands and his voice, trying to shout over the crowd. Several of the men picked up his question, of what to do with the slave on the scaffold, echoing it to the King and causing the crowd to quiet again.

"Do as you will with her." King Orgath made a dismissive gesture and it was uncertain to whom he intended to give that task.

The crowd remained relatively quiet, watching to see what would happen. Though at least one woman murmured that she'd have the woman's head regardless if she'd been poisoned and her child murdered.

Isonei, however, offered her hands to the kneeling woman.

Ig prostrated herself on the scaffold once more as if begging for her life and a murmur rippled out from those closest that she was pleading to be allowed to serve the Duchess.

With a proud smile on his face, the Kamrus translated in his booming voice, "The Duchess does not require another servant, but if you wish to serve she asks that you serve Ganas. It would be fitting."

The woman who'd been muttering about having the woman's head nodded with an approving look, "That tiny woman must be a saint!"

"I heard she tried to leave her royal husband and join a convent in the Kroscur before he got a child on her." A man behind her agreed.

Another spoke up knowingly, "She will now for certain."

The Aran looked as if she might fall over as the Kamrus called for someone to help her down from the scaffold and for a cloak for the drenched woman following with a stunned expression.

"Should we follow them?" Mes asked quietly staring after the retreating priests.

"No, we should go back to the palace."

Moving away from where they were had become even more difficult than before. The gathering around the scaffold was quickly becoming a celebration and people were pressing toward it not away. Several men had leapt onto it and were moving the block as others called for a priest.

A young woman forced her way through the crowd and embraced Mes chattering in what sounded like Phaethian before hauling herself up and shouting for someone named Turun to a great deal of laughter.

Lislora gave the maid a curious look.

"Vann is finally going to marry the stable boy she's been seeing in secret." Mes shook her head with a smile. "Whether he wants to or not."

The thought suddenly occurred to her, "We could stay a moment for you to marry Xago."

Mes opened her mouth as if she would protest and Lislora frowned sternly, "You can't remain in our service and bed a man not your husband."

A burst of laughter broke out from the maid as she shook her head and waved her hand, "You don't understand! He's my brother!" The Munian dimpled and grinned "Phaethians and Torgans separate slaves from their siblings. Pretending that we were seeing each other let me spend time with my brother! There was no bedding, my Lady!"

She stared at the woman for a moment, "You thought it was better to be seen as a-a..."

"I wouldn't have been allowed to speak to him at all if it had been known he was my brother." Mes took a deep breath and ran her hands over her braided white hair, "His name is Xagorath and mine is Ximesra, my Lady. Our father is one of the glass captains who trades with Ara and ports north."

If it was considered better to be scolded and treated like a whore than to acknowledge a man as your brother, perhaps the Kamrus had been right to call slavery a Phaethian perversion.

"We need to return to the palace."

°°°°°°°°°°

It took far longer than it should have to make their way through the raucous throngs and enter through the servant's entrance. Lislora's back and arms felt almost bruised from the jostling. Finally reaching the palace, it seemed the celebration had made its way into the servants' areas as well. The atmosphere was cheerful and some of the women were even singing.

Xago burst from the kitchen on hearing that Mes had returned and asked something in a language that sounded similar to Aran but was unintelligible to Lislora.

The Munian woman nodded and said something excitedly and the pair embraced with tears of joy. It made her remember what Isonei had said about the woman being kept from home and family.

"Duchess Isonei told me once before that she wouldn't keep you once you'd been freed if you didn't wish to stay. She said that no one should be kept from home and family to make her life a little easier. Replacements can be found if..." She trailed off as the two Munians looked at each other, their smiles fading.

Xago asked something and Mes seemed to agree to it.

"We'll stay, Lady Lislora." The cook offered a shallow bow. "We owe her a debt."

"But I want my name back." The maid spoke firmly. "I don't want to be called by that-that slave name again."

Her brother grinned and Lislora was surprised she'd never seen the resemblance between the two, he had no dimple but it was obvious they were closely related. Their skin and hair were nearly identical as were the shapes of their eyes and mouths.

"There may be many names changed in the next few days," Krouth spoke up from behind her, making Lislora turn in startlement.

"Why aren't you with the Duchess?"

"Her Grace is resting. The walk to the scaffold and her plea for justice took a great deal out of her. The Hallocs are making certain her exertion doesn't cause her to fall ill." He smiled faintly. "Kamrus Gillaugrim is preparing for lunch with their Majesties, I believe he intends to ask for her Grace to be released from the Aran Arrangement and allowed to become a Sister."

"Several people around the scaffold thought she was a saint." Lislora shook her head. "She looked exhausted. Why did they drag her out to the trial in that condition?"

"Her Grace insisted." Krouth straightened his brown tunic. "Kamrus Rimathe told her of the trial and she became upset at the thought of the slave being executed and Princess Kresh going unpunished." Eyeing her with a faint frown he added, "The mid-morning prayers were well attended."

"We could barely get back to the servant's entrance, it would have been impossible to make our way to the Temple." She passed a hand over her brows. "I need to wash and change. Mes-" Lislora stopped herself, "Ximesra will need some time to celebrate with her brother. Are there any maids-"

"I can help you, my Lady," the Munian spoke up cheerfully, "I'd prefer to celebrate this evening over a meal with my brother."

"That's acceptable." She tried not to smile as the woman nearly bounced into the kitchen after Xago.

"I'll make certain you have a maid this evening, my Lady," Krouth reassured her. "I'll go back to her Grace if I'm permitted. She's still delicate and in need of looking after."

"Your absence has been felt, Master Krouth." Lislora turned and invited him to walk with her. "Prince Draeseth may ask you to return if his silver Duchess can spare you."

The slim servant paused and looked at her curiously, "Was her speech as impressive as the Hallocs say?"

"It was moving. I think the Kamrus might have assisted her with her wording but even he looked surprised when she called for the King to free every slave in Torga. She nearly broke down weeping in the middle of her plea, I think it might have been as she was begging to have her son's legacy be the lives of others returned to them."

"Some have suggested that Kamrus Rimathe made a profound impression on her Grace but when one of the younger priests broached the subject and asked how often he'd spoken of the plight of slaves, the man was quickly corrected." Krouth's smugness was reflected in his tone but when Lislora glanced at him he looked more proud than anything else.

"The Kamrus very pointedly told everyone nearby that Duchess Isonei had been the one to school him on the matter."

"He discussed slavery with her?" She allowed him to open the door of her rooms and entered first.

"When we all shared a meal the topic turned to home and Hodrim wished to know why Ximesra had chosen to come here. Her Grace took the Kamrus to task for comparing our misfortunes as if that lessened one or the other."

"Did-did she know he was a Kamrus?" Lislora studied the servant's face carefully.

"No. I took care that she not be made aware. I didn't even tell young Hodrim. Though, I think the boy suspected Rimathe was a priest."

A nervous maid, not Mes, arrived without a pitcher of water. "Master Krouth, Lady Lislora? His Majesty wishes for you to attend him at once."

Lislora felt her stomach drop. "I need to wash and change-"

"He was very clear, my Lady." The maid twisted her dress in front of her.

"At once." Krouth inclined his head and gestured toward the door. "Are you permitted to walk with us part of the way and tell us why his Majesty seems to be in an unpleasant mood?"

The maid glanced around and leaned toward the slim servant to whisper something, before she nearly darted away.

Keeping his voice very low, the man shared her words, "Several of his women were slaves, a few have left his service and at least one has married."

She remembered the woman who had embraced Mes, "If it's the woman Mes knew, she married a stable boy."

"Ximesra," he corrected her in the same quiet tone, "That would infuriate the King. That a woman he chose to keep would prefer to be with a peasant..."

"He didn't seem to have a problem with Ximesra and Xago."

"His Majesty was sharp with her about it. She had, however, been released from her position as a mistress to be a common maid. It was less of a blow to his pride."

They fell silent and Lislora held her hands clasped in front of her. The prospect of seeing the King when he was in a mood was an unpleasant one. As they arrived at the audience chamber they were ushered into the antechamber to wait. She'd barely sat when Draeseth opened the door and came in grimly.

"You didn't change?"

"I'd only just gotten back when I was summoned. I-"

He made a displeased sound and held out his hand with a frown, "I should be grateful he didn't summon Isonei. Come with us, Krouth."

She allowed her cousin to guide her into the audience chamber, the servant trailed behind.

The King's look as she entered was accusatory, "So you did kneel."

"I did, your Majesty." Lislora dropped into a low curtsy, "My husband knelt, I-"

"I told you to get up! If a Prince of Torga kneels people feel compelled to!" King Orgath threw an empty glass at his bastard son, who caught it and held it without comment.

She pinned her eyes to the floor.

"It's a fine legacy for my son, father. My wife-"

"That tiny woman has cost me a fortune! And the household will be in chaos!"

"There will be less chaos than you expect, your Majesty," Krouth spoke coolly. "Many of the former slaves will stay at least for a time until they get their bearings and if they're well treated they will likely choose to stay in their positions."

"And if they don't?" Ougath sounded tired.

"Servants can always be replaced, your Highness. Enough will stay to keep things orderly. Many will be celebrating tonight and possibly tomorrow, though some high spirits may need to be overlooked."

"And how are the Duchess' spirits?" The King's question sounded dangerous, "Is she celebrating?"

"Her Grace is resting. She was utterly exhausted on her return. I persuaded her to drink a cup of honeyed milk before she lay down and left instruction for her to be given a soup she requested in the Dalcur when she woke." The servant sounded carefully nonchalant. "I would like to return to keep watching over her recovery but Ximesra has asked for the evening to celebrate with her brother-"