he can undermine obligated service to Grayson in a time of war?”
“Sir, it was just my cousin and, well, a churchman who seems to be telling him what to do. The steadholder wasn't involved at all.”
“They're his laws.” Mayhew said with the set of his jaw implying he held the steadholder personally responsible for their legal application. He looked at her for another moment, then inhaled sharply. “Would you be good enough to accompany me to the wardroom, Ensign?”
Claire was so dumbfounded—not to mention flustered—as she was ushered up to the wardroom that she almost missed the introduction that the silver-haired woman trailing Mayhew was Elsabeta Greentree, the commander's wife and a member of Michael Mayhew's legal counsel. It seemed ridiculous that the Protector's own brother could worry himself with her problems, especially at a time like this, but Mayhew and Elsabeta proceeded to pepper her with questions about Noah, the Bedlam family, and the Burdette Steading legal system.
Claire had answers about the first two and didn't want to share them. For the third, she didn't know, but it hardly mattered. Michael Mayhew and Elsabeta between them drew statutes and rulings from their legal libraries quite without needing any input or encouragement from Claire.
Cecelie Rustin's curly blond head popped around the corner of the wardroom just long enough to see the group, smile beatifically, and vanish. Claire nailed her roommate as the tattler. The Navy was quite as bad as a family at planning your life without consulting you.
Claire rubbed her eyes to block out images of Lucy's and Mary's faces, superimposed on the corpses found by her shuttle team and ghosting around the wardroom, as Elsabeta plotted stratagems to not only cut off Noah but to charge the family to repay Claire's past wages under some loose historical claim that an officer was legally a gentleman. Gentlemen were not dependents of one another under Burdette law, and thus the withdrawals from Claire's bank account were invalid.
Mayhew looked skeptical.
The other members of the diplomatic party had arrayed themselves around the wardroom, likely doing the work actually needed for the visit to Manticore.
Claire coughed and drew the whole room's attention. “Excuse me, I'm sure that my own little problems aren't worth, I mean, the alliance with Manticore and all is so much more important.” Claire swallowed, and, uncertain of quite the right address, stuck with military courtesies. “Sir, Ma'am, I would like to try to reach Lord Burdette, if I might.” Commander Greentree had taken care of Lockhart well enough once he was actually told. What if her Lord Steadholder just didn't really know what his laws were doing? Claire crushed the small part of her mind that insisted that if Lord Burdette didn't know then he was too much of an idiot to respond to reason.
Mayhew rubbed his lips concealing a small smile as his eyes lit. Claire rather wondered if she had totally botched the honorific for the Protector's brother. “Sir” was such a useful catchall for military people whose titles you didn't quite know.
“Master Mayhew,” she tried again, “My Lord Steadholder did nominate me to Saganami Island and all. It seems only fair to, well, give him a chance to fix things. I mean, it's his job.”
The small smile broken loose, flickering around the corners of Mayhew's mouth.
This time the conversation actually expanded to include Claire. Elsabeta wanted to see Noah served with papers first, but Mayhew recommended the legal suit be held in reserve. Claire held out for a call to Burdette Steading to request to be put on Lord Burdette's schedule once the Manasseh returned from Manticore. Claire ruthlessly planned to borrow the cost of the call from Rustin. It was the least her roommate could do after airing Bedlam dirty laundry so publicly.
Commander Greentree offered his office for an immediate call. Elsabeta offered to write a script of legal talking points for it.
Thankfully the space was too small for the whole staff to follow along. Only Claire and Mayhew sat in front of the screen, with Commander Greentree and Elsabeta to the side off-screen watching as Michael Mayhew typed in a private code and reached the Burdette Steading without a single one of the usual screeners or automated recordings asking the nature of their business with Lord Burdette.
Steadholder Burdette's third wife answered immediately. She looked surprised to see Michael Mayhew but smiled broadly at Claire chattering about how nice proper skirts looked on a woman in uniform.