Thawed Fortunes (2 page)

"You will release this young man into our
custody immediately, and then let your commanding officer know
there will be an investigation into why this prisoner's rights were
so soundly violated."

The guardsman looked for a second like he
would argue, but taking in Javin's size, his paired weapons, and
the almost notorious reputation of the Stephens bloodline, thought
better of the idea and quickly unlocked the cell door.

Va'del tried to get up, but he was too weak
to stand. Javin quickly realized the problem and picked him up,
carrying him out of the prison with surprising gentleness for
someone so obviously built for violence.

On'li kept looking over at her husband like
she wanted to start asking Va'del questions, but the large man
shook his head, so she sighed, covered Va'del up with a cape, and
then set off at a brisk pace.

Several minutes later, gentle hands pulled
the heavy gurra-wool cloth away from Va'del's face, and Javin set
him down on one of the low, metal chairs typical to the homes of
the People.

It wasn't until Va'del saw Mar'li, On'li's
sister-wife, that he realized they were back in the suite of rooms
Javin and On'li rated as Council members.

Javin's tiny second wife was several decades
younger than On'li, and almost completely opposite in temperament
from her sister-wife. Where On'li was forceful and talkative,
Mar'li was shy, and, until she felt comfortable with people, spoke
even less than Javin did.

If Va'del hadn't seen the fury in the younger
Guadel's eyes as she looked at him, he wouldn't have believed she
was even capable of anger, but as it was, he found himself drawing
back in fear that she was angry at him.

On'li patted the teenager on the shoulder and
shook her head. "Don't worry, that's most definitely directed
elsewhere."

Mar'li nodded as she hurried over to the tiny
space she used to supplement the meals provided by the communal
kitchens.

About the time Javin's second wife handed
Va'del a cup of steaming tea, Javin returned from the other room
with a set of fresh clothes that looked like they might fit Va'del.
"It's dishonorable. She has a right to be angry."

On'li sighed. "The whole business is wrong,
but we've known that from the first. When those guardsmen arrested
Va'del they didn't know he'd just helped accomplish what the entire
Council has been trying to do for months. You can't blame them for
carrying out the orders they've been given, it is just the logical
result of all of the enemies the poor boy seems to make simply by
breathing."

Mar'li shot her sister-wife a disbelieving
glance, and the older woman continued before anyone could
misunderstand her. "The way they treated Va'del afterwards was
inexcusable, but we'll see the proper people punished for that. No
use crying over it now."

A part of Va'del wondered if he should be
angry that On'li seemed to be minimizing what had happened to him,
but he found as he warmed up from the tea and got some of Mar'li's
food inside him that he was actually starting to be grateful she
was treating him like a capable adult rather than someone who was
damaged and in need of coddling.

On'li let the teenager get through most of
the food before checking the time sphere one last time and sighing.
"I'm sorry we can't give you more time to recover, but we've got to
have you at the Council session in a quarter color cycle. Change,
and then we'll find out what we need to know on the way."

##

On'li had motioned for
Javin to lead the way, so she could watch Va'del while they
walked.
He's starting to look a little
better now. In some clean clothes with a little bit of food down
his throat, but it's going to be several days still before he'll be
fully recovered. I hope he can make it through the Council
session.

Once I figure out who was responsible for
throwing him in that Powers-forsaken hole without food or heat, I'm
going to see them run out of the Guard. I can't imagine Garth would
want that kind of filth among the men he commands, but if that
isn't the case, if he fights me on this, I'll see him stripped of
his rank and thrown out as well. If we can't keep the Guard from
violating rights, none of the rest of this matters--we're only a
step away from our entire civilization falling apart anyway.

On'li took a calming breath and thanked the
Powers once again that Va'del was bouncing back so well. She
wouldn't have blamed him if he'd turned into a sobbing wreck, but
politics had always been a game of appearances. As long as Va'del
could look and act like a candidate, there was still a chance that
they wouldn't lose the fight.

On'li brought her attention back to Va'del's
responses to her questions, noting differences between his story
and the original report they'd received from Cindi. Unsurprisingly,
his story matched up very well with the story Cindi had related
just minutes after On'li and Javin had returned home. Her atonement
was a small thing against all of the half-truths she'd sent back
previously. If only Jain and Va'del had returned a few days later,
after On'li and Javin's caravan had already reached the Capital.
That would have saved Va'del days of suffering, but it was too late
to do anything but try and save Va'del from the potential
punishments awaiting him.

Just as On'li finished reviewing Va'del's
answers, they arrived at the Council chamber and there wasn't time
for any more questions.

As always, Javin led the way into the room,
almost as if to ensure that there weren't any enemies secreted in
the rough-cut, circular chamber. Even after centuries of relative
prosperity, the Council chamber was more or less unchanged from how
it had been when the Goddess had first led the People into the
mountains.

There was more light now and the chairs had
been replaced, probably many times, but nobody had ever spent the
time to do the kind of fine finish work that was often seen in some
of the living quarters. Not for the first time, On'li reflected on
how that simple fact really did embody everything the Guadel were
meant to be. Servants and protectors rather than rulers. The
current Council spent far too much time playing with people's lives
and dreams just to gain political advantage over each other. They'd
begun the transition from rough but honest to ornate and
useless.

A'vril, in her capacity as the Goddess'
Heart, or leader of the Council, opened up the session, and took
care of a couple of routine matters before allowing Cindi leave to
speak.

She's changed more than I would have
believed possible, and not just physically. The woman who made my
life miserable as a Daughter never would have admitted to being
wrong. Will the changes stay though, or are they just the result of
the shocks she's received? Will she continue to serve as Va'del's
ally over the coming months and years, or will she go back to being
the fat, miserable old woman she must have been since the day she
arrived here?

Whatever the future would bring, On'li had to
admit that Cindi was doing her absolute best for the boy now,
presenting her case clearly and calmly with only a few unconscious
hints of how tightly strung she must be after losing her husband
just days previously.

"So you can see, esteemed Council members, my
initial report regarding the incident was, if anything, too harsh.
I would recommend a dismissal of all charges."

Ja'dir stood up to be recognized with a
practiced smile on his classically handsome features, and after an
almost imperceptible pause A'vril signaled for him to proceed.

"Our thanks, Guadel Cindi, for your
testimony. I must admit it's unusual for the person who recommended
someone be arrested in the first place to later change their views
so drastically."

As always, Ja'dir started out sounding
reasonable, but On'li was too familiar with his methods to think
that he was going to end with anything other than an insulting
attempt to destroy Cindi's credibility. She stole a glance at
Va'del to see how he was holding up, and then returned her full
attention to the exchange.

Everything went very much as On'li had
expected. Cindi had penned her original letter with an eye towards
presenting an excellent case for the charges she'd wanted brought
against Va'del, and Ja'dir pulled out each of her points in turn
and verbally polished it to a high sheen before presenting it back
to her to try and refute.

It was a sound strategy, and one which Cindi
couldn't come out against too strongly, not if she wanted to keep
the credibility she was going to need to avoid being crucified when
the Council finally got around to deciding on her having linked
with Va'del.

After Ja'dir had made his case, and Cindi had
done her increasingly-frazzled best to defend both herself and
Va'del, both of them sat down and A'vril turned towards On'li. "I
imagine Guadel On'li will wish to speak now."

Taking a deep breath, On'li nodded and then
stood. "I think it obvious from the testimony we've just heard,
that the accused did absolutely nothing to seek out the
confrontation that ensued. In fact, he tried to defuse the
situation, and only became violent after first he and then Daughter
Jain were assaulted."

Ja'dir shook his head, dark
hair momentarily hiding the contempt in his eyes. "Come on, even a
Stephens woman can't possibly believe that a mere
shove
justifies
murder."

Javin shifted in his seat beside her, and
On'li knew her husband was closer than he'd ever been to
challenging the other man to an honor duel, the traditional
immunity of Councilors be damned. Before anyone else could open
their mouths, A'vril slammed her hand down on the table.

"The Goddess herself picked out the Stephens
bloodline, and if you can't avoid lowering yourself to insulting a
bloodline as old and honorable as any here, Councilor Ja'dir, I'll
have you ejected from the room and we'll continue these proceedings
without you! Assault is rarely an acceptable justification for
murder, but attempted rape would be, and use of deadly force in
defense of one's life is a time-honored right of the People, both
as a whole and as individuals."

Rarely in the recorded
history of the People had any Goddess' Heart ever come out so
openly against a Councilor, and 
A'vril
 had never displayed such
frustration. It was the first sign that A'vril might be wearying of
the petty power struggles that currently occupied so much of the
Council's time.

With A'vril having made her opinion of the
proceedings blatantly obvious, the rest of the discussion took less
than half a color cycle, and after On'li had pointed out that each
and every action taken by Va'del had been a reasonable and legal
response to events he'd been faced with, a vote was called.

And that's that. We didn't even have to call
on the poor thing to give testimony.

Not even Ja'dir was stupid enough to vote
against exonerating Va'del when the time came, choosing instead to
abstain.

Both Cindi and Va'del stood to leave, but
A'vril held up her hand. "Before the two of you go, I want each of
you to understand how grateful I personally am for your actions in
ending the threat we've been laboring under these last months.
Obviously there still may be consequences for the manner in which
you did so, but you knew that before you chose to do so. The fact
you were willing to face those possible punishments in order to
save us all is a remarkable sacrifice."

##

On'li leaned back in her chair as she
accepted the cup of tea that Mar'li had just finished preparing.
Getting Va'del back to his room and curled up in bed had proven
easier than she'd expected after A'vril's damning praise, but it
had been apparent that unlike Cindi, the teenager hadn't realized
the full implications of how the Goddess' Heart had delivered her
thanks.

His lack of understanding was a small
miracle, but one to be thankful for regardless. At least he'd be
able to sleep between now and whenever A'vril decided to try and
destroy him for doing what any rational person would have done in
his place.

As On'li finished relating what had happened
during the Council session, Mar'li looked up in confusion.

"I don't understand, how could she protect
him from charges of wrongdoing and then turn around and say that
he'll probably be punished for an unauthorized link, all the while
praising him for the results of that link?"

Javin's snort indicated that while he
probably understood what had happened fairly well, he wasn't
willing to try and explain the thought process behind it. Once
again it was up to On'li to try and make sense of the politics she
was growing to hate, even while becoming ever more adept at
understanding them.

"For A'vril, they are two separate things,
maybe even three. It was plain to everyone that Va'del hadn't done
anything wrong in defending Jain from those guardsmen. Ja'dir knew
that and his attempt to make the charges stick was nothing more
than a petty attempt at trying to eke a little more political
advantage out of our supporting the poor boy."

Mar'li nodded, but it was obvious that, while
she understood that piece of the situation, she didn't really
understand how it fit into the larger picture.

"Politics is a game of capital, and our
supporting Va'del because we know it's the right thing to do, is
eating up political currency that then can't be used on other
issues. Unlike some of the Councilors who are really disturbed by
the idea of letting the boy be sponsored outside of the normal
channels, Ja'dir just wants us to have to fight as much as possible
because it reduces the likelihood of our being able to successfully
oppose him on other items."