"My father was executed for his crimes..."
Hugoâs words rippled through the Great Hall like a stone cast in water, and each ripple washed over the audience with a different kind of shock.
The death of a baron was a notable event. Just as every baron of the march had made their way to Lothian for Marquis Borsâ funeral, almost every baron would have made the trip to Hanrahan to pay their respects to Ian Hanrahan and to attend the coronation of his successor. Even those barons who didnât attend would, at a minimum, send their heir or perhaps their wife with a retinue of knights in order to pay proper respects.
To hear that Baron Ian had died was a shock to many, whether they considered themselves his allies or his adversaries in the politics of the Lothian Court, and it was even more shocking to men like Telent Rundel who had considered Ian Hanrahan to be a friend in addition to being his neighbor.
On the heels of that came the second wave of shock. Lady Ashlynn had loaned Dame Sybyll her SECOND army, and that army conquered Hanrahan Barony more than a week ago... Rumors had swirled for several days about the missing Hanrahans, and the most outlandish rumors claimed that the barony had been destroyed by demons... To think that it had been conquered by Lady Ashlynn and this mysterious âDame Sybyll Hanrahanâ...
"Wait, wait," Onen LeGleau said, taking off his copper-rimmed spectacles as his gaze shifted from Hugo to Lord Liam Dunn, who had acted as Lady Ashlynnâs herald when they entered. At the time, everything had been so shocking, heâd lost track of the details, but now, something the young man had said came rushing back to the front of his mind.
"Didnât Lord Liam announce Lady Ashlynn as the âCommander of Four Armiesâ?" Onen said, turning to meet his eldest sonâs wide-eyed gaze. "And Lord Hugo is claiming that just one of those armies was enough to conquer Hanrahan?"
"He did," the young man answered as he tried to calculate how many men and horses it would take to conquer an entire barony. Conventional wisdom said that you needed ten times as many soldiers as defenders in order to sack a walled and fortified town like Hanrahan, and Baron Ian had hundreds of men at his command, plus the soldiers and templars who had accompanied Loman Lothian to Hanrahan...
"He also called her a âSlayer of Ghosts and Giants,â Onenâs eldest daughter added, looking at Lady Ashynnâs striking figure with eyes that glittered with more admiration than fear. "Just how powerful is Lady Ashlynn?" she wondered aloud before her mother hushed her with a sharp rap on the back of her hand.
The third ripple, however, was the most devastating one to every lord in the chamber, particularly Serle Otker, whose skin went cold and clammy as his face drained of blood.
"Did he say âexecuted for his crimes?â" Serle whispered, staring fixedly at Hugo Hanrahan and Lady Ashlynn as if he couldnât believe his ears. "What crimes did Ian ever commit?" Serle stammered, even though he was fairly certain he knew of at least a few. After all, heâd helped Ian to move questionable goods out of the march on more than one occasion, and he knew more than most did about his old friendâs âhobbies.â
"And who, who would dare to, to execute a sitting baron," he said in a quiet, trembling voice. "Youâd have to be a Marquis or..."
"Or a Marchioness," Charlotte said softly. "I told you, Father, the Blackwells are good people to befriend. They really do live up to their virtues; thatâs why we can trust them," she said, doing her best to keep herself from sounding like she was scolding her father for voting to side with Owain. "But... Can Lady Ashlynn trust us?"
"Charlotte," Melsinde said sharply, not because her daughter was wrong, but because now was not the place to say such things. For better or worse, her husband had already cast his vote in favor of Lord Owain...
It was too late to regret it. If it turned out for the worst, as she was beginning to suspect it would, then they would have to find a way to make amends later. Glancing at the way Lady Ashlynnâs knight, Sir Ollie, stood protectively beside Lady Jocelynn, Milsinde only hoped that her daughterâs fledgling friendship with the younger Blackwell sister would help to balance the scales.
"Youâve gone too far, Ashlynn," Owain scolded from the oak throne as he spotted a weakness in the position that Ashlynn was building for herself. "More than a week ago? While my father still lived? Even as my wife, you had no right to sit in judgment of one of my fatherâs vassals."
"Ian Hanrahanâs crimes demanded justice," Diarmuid said, speaking up at last. "Once Hanrahan fell to its rightful ruler, it was impossible for the people of Hanrahan to allow Ian to live," he added, pursing his lips as he wrestled with how much he should reveal. "If Dame Sybyll didnât deliver justice for her people, they would have risen up and taken it for themselves. Many more would have died needless deaths."
"It was the same for your brother," Diarmuid continued before Owain could interrupt him. "The common people of the kingdom accept many injustices from lords who fail in their struggle to be just and righteous rulers, but some transgressions cannot be easily forgiven by the masses. Your brother was judged by the same Court that sat in judgment of Ianâs crimes..."
"Are you saying that Ashlynn had my brother executed?" Owain said darkly. His brother had betrayed him, rising up to contend for the throne after promising for years that he had no interest in worldly power, but that didnât mean Owain would let someone else kill his brother. No one could touch a member of the Lothian family so easily, and anyone who thought they could had signed their own death warrant!
"Your brother lives," Diarmuid said. "Though his punishment was... heavy," he said, choosing his words with exceptional care. "He sacrificed acolytes of the temple in Hanrahan, spending their lives to call down a miracle he couldnât control, slaughtering attacker and defender alike," Diarmuid said with a pointed look at the Inquisitors lying on the floor at Ashlynnâs feet.
"Loman lost his way," Diarmuid said, turning his gaze to High Priest Aubin. "He misused the teachings of our faith," he said, unable to bring himself to claim that Loman had misused the teachings of Exemplar Domas Onaitis. After all, it seemed like Lomanâs ritual had been performed in exactly the fashion that the Exemplar had taught it... It was just that Loman had been ignorant about how the power he wielded truly functioned.
"Then, you were one of the people sitting in judgment of Disciple Loman?" Aubin said, pressing a hand to his chest over his heart. Heâd once thought that Loman was among the brightest of stars in the sky, destined to rise to greatness, but if heâd lost his way...
"I was," Diarmuid said, unwilling to deny his role in what had happened. "As were Lord Liam and Sir Hugo, along with Lady Heila, Lady Ashlynnâs lady-in-waiting, and her apprentice, Lord Hauke," he explained, even though no one recognized the names of the latter two. "I promise, your Worship, the trial was as fair as it could be, and the punishment Loman received was, if anything, lighter than he deserved."
"So where is he?" Owain asked, drumming his fingers on the arm of his throne as he seethed. "Where is my brother?"
"He is my guest, far from here," Ashlynn said simply. "Heâs received treatment for his wounds, as much as can be done, and he hasnât been mistreated, which is far more than I can say for people who have found themselves in Lothian dungeons," she added, glancing at her sister.
"Which brings us back to the matter at hand and the Inquisitors who follow Abbot Recared," Ashlynn said, turning her gaze back to Hugo. "So, what say you, Sir Hugo? On behalf of Hanrahan, do we convene the Lothian Court to sit in judgment of the abbot, defer judgment to powers outside the march, or leave things in my husbandâs âcapableâ hands?"
"We convene the Court," Hugo said in a voice that held more strength than he felt at the moment. "The people need justice," he added, nodding at Diarmuid in acknowledgement. "And they will not accept delays."