did not speak loudly enough. Further along the line, men were straining to hear. “I am Great Lord of Valhanan. That title was granted to Family Tathys a hundred and three years ago by King Soros and has carried on to me from my father and grandfather before me. I rule Valhanan, Yuan Jaegar. Best that you recall.”
“No, you tax Valhanan!” Teriyan retorted from behind. “In these parts, we call someone who takes money whilst giving nothing in return a thief!”
A cheer went up. Jaegar held up a hand and the men quieted. “The king's law is quite explicit,” he said, very reasonably. “A provincial lord may levy a property tax, and no more, for the upkeep of provincial affairs. A provincial lord will deal with such local matters of law and order that do not concern the king…”
Some of the mounted nobles were laughing. “You think to lecture me on the king's law?” said Kumaryn, smiling coldly.
“No, well, I thought there might be some disagreement,” Jaegar said conversationally, “so I brought along a copy.” He waved to Teriyan, who stepped from the line with a scroll in one hand and sword in the other. The nobles’ smiles faded. Teriyan unravelled the scroll for Jaegar to read from. “Aye, here it is. The rights and responsibilities of the office of provincial lordship.”
“Aye, that'd be you then, wouldn't it?” Teriyan suggested to Kumaryn with an insolent grin. Kumaryn glared, fingering the hilt of his sword.
“The law of Lenayin shall be administered by the king,” Jaegar continued, reading easily from the scroll. Some of the nobles looked astonished. No doubt many had presumed that all Goeren-yai were illiterate. “On matters pertaining to the provincial lord's peace, said lord shall be considered an officer of the king, for the purpose of justice. Provincial affairs beneath the king's consideration shall include common theft, rape, affairs of marriage and all pertaining rights and properties, matters pertaining to contests of honour, disputes of land and boundaries…”
“Where does the scroll come from?” one of Kumaryn's party said suspiciously.
“A copy,” Jaegar said mildly. “Those among us learned in writing do make copies of such things and distribute them among the villages. You never know when they'll come in handy.”
“You can read Torovan?” another asked, with equal suspicion.
“It's a translation,” Jaegar admitted.
It was said that King Soros had barely spoken any Lenay when he had arrived in Lenayin all those years ago, Sasha knew. Raised in Petrodor from childhood, having been smuggled from Cherrovan-occupied Lenayin, he'd known mostly Torovan, and most official documents of the period remained in Torovan even now.
“Enough of this nonsense!” Kumaryn barked. His face was reddish now, partly from temper, and partly, Sasha suspected, from the heat. “You defy your lawful lord! The girl Sashandra is accused before the law! If you resist my lawful request, I shall take her by force and have Baerlyn declared a village of traitors!”
“If there is an accusation,” Jaegar retorted, his tone hardening, “then the law explicitly states that she is answerable to the king, and the king alone. You are the king's officer, my Lord. A servant. And the accused, may I remind you, is the king's daughter…”
“A title she renounced twelve years ago when she abandoned him to the service of that foreign cult!” Kumaryn glared straight at her for the first time, over the heads of armed Baerlyn men. “You shall yield, or you shall face the consequences!”
“Got a lot of gall, doesn't he?” Sasha suggested to Kessligh. Kumaryn was the greatest fool in Lenayin if he thought this pathetic bluff was going to work. Kessligh, however, looked grim.
“Hey look!” came a shout from a Baerlyn man. “There's Master Wensyl, he brews the finest ale in Cryliss! What are you doing with these damn fools, Wensyl?”
Wensyl, a Verenthane noble, looked uncomfortable.
“Have you nothing to say for yourself?” Kumaryn shouted at Sasha. “Will you not spare the lives of your so-called friends? Or shall you hide behind them like a coward?”
“I am a villager of Baerlyn, Lord Kumaryn,” Sasha replied calmly. “I obey my village council, like any villager. Should they wish me to leave with you, I would do so. However, I've heard opposite sentiment put to me, very strongly.” She shrugged. “It's out of my hands.”
A Goeren-yai man jostled his horse to the fore of Kumaryn's party. “I've heard enough!” he announced. He wore the good clothes of a wealthy city man, yet his bald head wore long hair at the back and his ears