Ravenmarked (The Taurin Chronicles) (22 page)

“If it please you.”

Braedan shot a glance at Ronan, who gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head. “I don’t feel comfortable leaving a foreign princess in a position of such authority,” Braedan said.

Igraine blinked. “Sire, forgive me. I only meant that I could offer administrative assistance to Lord Rowan—legal research, assistance with correspondence, those kinds of things. I would not presume to govern in your stead, majesty.”

Braedan rubbed his chin. The lords listened carefully, watching to see what he did. Mac Rian waited, eager and hopeful.
If I give Mac Rian the help he asks for, the rest of them will expect it as well. Still, I am his liege. If he asks, I should assist him.
He gestured to a servant. “Water.” The boy bowed and brought a goblet, and Braedan took a long drink to give him a moment to consider his position.
Mac Rian isn’t telling me everything. If I went north, I could find out what’s really happening with the tribes and perhaps find a guardian myself. But if I anger Hrogarth in the process, is it worth it?
He glanced at Igraine again.
I can’t let the other dukes think a foreign royal has sway over me, either. They’ll assume my loins are doing the thinking.
He drank again to hide a grimace and shifted in his seat.
And I confess—they may be right. Damn woman.

He gave the goblet to the servant. “Her highness speaks eloquently in favor of helping you, but I’m not prepared yet to acquiesce,” he told Mac Rian. “Let me have a night to consider your request and her suggestion. I will give you my answer in the morning.”

Mac Rian bowed. “Of course, sire.” He backed away from the dais and sat. Igraine and Ronan returned to their seats as well.

Braedan turned to Cormac. “Who’s next?”

Cormac called the next lord forward, and Braedan dispatched the petitions of the dukes and minor lords quickly. When Cormac signaled the guards to let in the other petitioners, the audience hall filled with commoners and merchants. Cormac introduced the petitioners one by one, and Braedan listened as boundary disputes, minor criminal cases, tax questions, and other matters were brought before him. He found himself stifling or hiding yawns in short order. Igraine’s eyes rarely left his face.

When Cormac brought a common woman of middle years before him, he expected another boundary petition. “This woman is from your uncle’s holdings, majesty,” Cormac said. “She wishes to present her claim for ownership of her property.”

Ronan stood. “Majesty, may I?”

“You may speak.”

“This woman’s petition has been before my court before. Her husband died some time back, and they had no surviving children. By law, without heirs, her property should be mine to claim.”

“Sire, please,” the woman said. “The farm belonged to my father. He bequeathed it to my husband when he died. I have men to work the land, but your lord uncle desires to put me out of my home.” Tears welled in her eyes. “I’ve lived there my whole life. We’ve paid our dues—we’ve given our tenth to your lord uncle every year. We’ve always lived within the law. Am I to be homeless because I have no heir?”

“You have no one who could take you in, lady?” Braedan asked.

She lifted her chin and straightened her shoulders. “I’m an able-bodied woman capable of taking care of myself. I have no need of a keeper. My only crime is being a woman. I can’t keep my farm because of my gender. Is this the king’s justice?”

“Majesty, it is the law,” Ronan said. “A woman cannot inherit property. I have offered to take the lady into my household as a maid, but she has refused.”

“I am not a servant,” the woman said. “Majesty, I beg mercy of you—let me keep my farm.”

Braedan considered her.
People will follow a vision. I have a woman ambassador in my court. Perhaps it’s time to change things.
“Very well. The king’s court will be merciful. You can keep your home and lands, and upon your death, they will pass to Lord Kerry.”

The woman’s face broke into a wide smile amid shocked murmurs of the crowd. Ronan’s face clouded. “Majesty, you cannot just overrule the law that way,” he blurted.

And now my uncle will interrupt me as well?
“If I can’t, who can?” Braedan held up a hand when Ronan opened his mouth. “Protest again, uncle, and I’ll have you escorted out.” He gestured to the woman. “You can go, lady. Find a place to stay. Lord Rowan will draw up papers. Return tomorrow and your deed will be ready.”

She curtsied, low, and started to speak, but Igraine stood and interrupted. “Majesty, forgive me again, but I fear you are making a grave error.”

The hall fell silent. Braedan’s shoulders tightened.
Will this woman ever learn to keep still? Who’s king here?
He stood. “I warned my uncle, highness. Do you expect me to be more merciful for you than I was for him?”

“No, I expect you to listen and obey the law you purport to respect.”

He motioned to Logan. “Escort her highness back to her chambers.”

Igraine brushed Logan’s hand away and took a step toward the king. “A moment, sire.” She gave him a winsome smile. “Please.”

That smile . . . I know what it does to me, I know why she uses it, and yet . . . .
He sat on the throne again and folded his hands in his lap. “Make it brief.”

“Forgive me, sire, but despite this woman’s sympathetic argument, the law is not on her side. She cannot inherit property. It is sad and unfortunate, but the law does not recognize her as a separate and distinct person from her dead husband. Only a separate and distinct person can inherit property, and only men are recognized as such.”

Braedan leaned back on the throne. Ronan and the common woman stared at Igraine. “I realize the problem, my lady, but I’ve already overruled the law and granted her request.”

“And is it your plan to overrule the law every time you don’t like it?” She stepped closer to the throne. “If the king thinks he operates outside the law, he is no better than a common criminal. You are bound, majesty. It is sad, and I grieve for this lady, but she has no legal options. You cannot overrule the law for one woman unless you plan to overrule the law for every woman.”

My father would never have stood for this—for a woman speaking this way in open court. I should have her taken away. But . . .
His hands tightened in his lap. “Do you argue to change the inheritance laws, my lady?”

“I am simply pointing out to your majesty that the law, as it stands today, is not on the side of this woman. It is on the side of your lord uncle. If the king will not follow the law, then the king opens his justice for abuse and disparity based on the whims of nobles and outlaws alike. If no one follows the law, anarchy will follow in short order.” She paused. “But if the law is unjust, it is a matter for the king and his advisors to consider if it might be changed.” Her eyes flicked down to his hands, and a hint of a smile twitched at her mouth.

She sees my tension. This woman misses nothing.
He unfolded his hands and tapped his lip. She stood with the poise and elegance of a woman raised in a royal court, but she spoke with the wisdom and eloquence of a man practiced in law and leadership. He stood. “Her highness has given me much to consider. Forgive me, lady, but I will have to reconsider my ruling. Please come back to court tomorrow. I will give you my answer then.”

The woman’s eyes teared, but she swallowed once and curtsied. “As it please your majesty.”

Braedan waved away the next paper Cormac tried to give him. “I’ve heard enough petitioners for today. I have much to consider. You may return tomorrow, and I’ll begin hearing cases again.” He descended to stand near Igraine. “Highness, a word in private?”

“Of course.” She took his arm, and Logan and her ladies fell in behind them.

When they were out of earshot of the lords and petitioners, Braedan dropped her hand and turned to her. “Is this how it is in Eirya? Is this how your mother speaks to your father—interrupting his deliberations and scolding him in open court?”

She lifted her chin. “Aye, ‘tis. If ye don’t like it, get control of your court.”

She had slipped back into her lilt as into an old pair of slippers. The sound of it tickled his ears. “I had control until you arrived.”

She snorted. “Your control is an illusion. You speak without thinking, make decisions based on whim instead of the law or even thought. You’re no better than your father if ye can’t even handle a bit o’ dissent.”

His composure wavered.
She may as well have slapped me. It would have been easier to recover. Am I so much like my father?
He took a deep breath and lowered his voice. “Of all the people in the room who would argue with my decision in that final case, you are the last one I would have expected.”

“D’ye think my desire for equality between genders and classes precludes my love of the law, then?”

“My pragmatic princess has little room in her spirit for mercy and exception.”

Her mouth dropped. “Little room for mercy? You can’t be serious. It is the role and obligation of the noble class to dispense mercy when and where it is required—as your uncle was doing by offering the woman a position in his household. Her pride kept her from accepting it. She desires only to stay in her family’s home.”

“And you don’t think I was merciful?”

“Aye, perhaps, but you were breaking the law. Once she married, the law saw her and her husband as one person. When he died, it was as if she did as well for the purposes of ownership. Her circumstances are sad, but the law is clear.” She smiled. “If the law recognized her as a separate and distinct person from her male relatives, we wouldn’t have this issue, would we?”

“We come to the heart of it, don’t we? You want the law changed.”

“If the law is unjust, it is the duty of the king and his advisors to change it.” She paused. “You are the king. You cannot just make exceptions to laws you don’t like. You can, however, change the law by royal edict.”

He crossed his arms. “I would need a very good reason to change a law, wouldn’t I?”

She inclined her head. “I will write one for you.” Her eyes softened, and she gave him a hesitant smile—a genuine smile. “I confess, sire, I thought ye’d have me in irons after my interruptions.”

One corner of his mouth tilted involuntarily. “I should have. My father would have.”

She laughed, low and seductive. “Then perhaps you are a better man.”

And like that, I’ve forgiven her. What does this woman do to me?
He offered his arm again. When they arrived at her door, he turned to her. “A moment in your study, my lady?”

“Of course.”

Logan opened the door, and they both walked into the room, leaving her ladies in the hall. “Duke Guinness has returned from Eirya.”

“I’m aware,” she said. She walked to her desk and picked up a parchment with green wax. “He wrote me as well.” Her face clouded, and she frowned.

“Something wrong at home?”

She put the parchment down. “Nothing I can’t take care of. What of Duncan’s return?”

“I want to welcome him back. I’m planning a banquet for tomorrow night.”

She smiled. “A banquet. How lovely.”

Her tone suggested she’d rather stab herself to death with an embroidery needle than attend his banquet. “You disapprove?”

She sighed. “No. ’Tis proper. I suppose you’ll expect my attendance. Will I be there as your ambassador or as the Eiryan Princess Royale?”

“I hoped you would attend as my companion.”

Her face turned to cool steel. “Your companion. You would dare to ask after your shameful behavior with Gwyn? To expect that I would sit on the dais near you and laugh at your jokes and pretend nothing is amiss when I know how you treated that girl? You’re an ass, Braedan.”

He stepped closer to her and forced himself to speak in measured tones. “I am asking a favor of you, my lady. There is an expectation that I will wed, and soon. At least two Taurin lords will be there to parade their daughters in front of me tomorrow night. If I could count on having you at my side for the evening, I could graciously put off a conversation with these lords.”
And perhaps charm my way into your graces again.

She folded her arms. “Do not become accustomed to receiving favors from me.”

“I swear I will not.”

Her mouth tightened. “I suppose there is no harm in playing this little game. Very well. I’ll prepare myself appropriately.”

He lifted her hand to his lips. “I owe you, Igraine.”

“Rest assured that I will insist you pay that debt.”

“It would likely be the easiest debt I’ll ever pay.”

“Do not be so certain.” She removed her hand from his. “If you’ll excuse me, majesty, I have work. I’ll prepare an argument in favor of changing the inheritance laws for your review.”

He inclined his head. “I look forward to reading it, your highness.” He left her chambers and let out a long breath in the corridor. “Logan—walk with me.”

Logan inclined his head and fell in step with Braedan. “Where are we going, sire?”

“Surprise inspection. Assemble your men.”

“Of course, sire.” Logan was silent for a moment. “The princess is a complicated lady.”

Braedan stopped walking. “Why do you say that?”