The Lost Star's Sea

by C. Litka

  05

  As march followed march, the pattern of lives became set. Magistrate LinPy heard the cases awaiting trial. Each March Master's tower would have a large room where he would patiently hear each side of a dispute, ask questions, view the subject in question - it was often cases of land rights and such - and then, he would seek a compromise solution. Failing that, he would study the law texts that each Master had copies of, after which he would issue his judgment. He was, with his youth and outlook, nearly incapable of looking dour or stern, and realizing the foolishness of even trying, did so only in the two capital crime cases he tried. He knew the people of the marches, and many of them knew him as well. So, despite his youthful appearance, he was respected, and widely loved from his previous visits, so his transition from assistant to magistrate was smooth, and welcomed. And being wise beyond his looks, knowledgeable, and kind, few left his court angry. Resigned, disappointed, perhaps, but not angry.

  Magistrate LinPy's two capital cases involved unresolved deaths. In those cases, Py did much of the field investigation and interrogation along with KaRaya, Hissi and me. Magistrate LinPy was uncharacteristically grave during these trials, feeling the great responsibility of determining life and death. While there was no death penalty, the usual penalty involved forced labor in the shadow land mines for what could be many thousands of rounds - often a death penalty in everything but name. Still, serious crimes trials seemed rare in the marches, though I gather from the gossip that many crimes, no matter how serious, that involve only one clan, were often tried by the clan's chief. It also seemed that the rival clans within a march tended to keep to themselves, or associate only with long allied clans, to avoid serious conflicts that could end up in court.

  Our job, as we grew into it under Py's direction, was to do much of the foot work. For example, we would visit the scene of land disputes, interview witnesses, and collect local gossip. In short, act as detectives. Py loved to do it himself - it was his old job - and at first, he did this work with us in tow, instructing us as he went along, until, over the course of several courts, he came to trust us to do this job. We would make our reports, stating the facts as we found them, but never offering our opinions unless asked. Py, despite his youth, was not insecure and felt that it was his duty to determine what was true.

  Hissi, however, wasn't afraid to offer hers to either Py or us - usually a low, very menacing growl whenever she detected a falsehood in a witness. I, of course, trusted her judgment, since I was convinced she was reading the falsehood directly from the speaker's mind. Magistrate LinPy, however, could not, and had to find the truth himself, though a dragon growling menacingly and staring at you with her bright black eyes had a way of sometimes getting to the truth quicker than Py's clever questions. He may have also benefited by the false rumor that KaRaya and I were ex-pirates. We certainly attracted a great deal of cautious attention wherever we went. I had the curious experience of seeing fear in the eyes of some of the people we interviewed as detectives, at least in the eyes of the guilty.

  In addition to acting as detectives, we acted as his clerks during the actual court hearings, taking notes, recording documents, and such. Sitting silently off to one side, we could observe Magistrate LinPy in court.

  Being illiterate in the written language of the Saraime, I had to learn to read and write it if I was to be a court clerk. I did so by the time we reached Linjyn with help from Py, KaRaya and my com link which made learning the written language easier - though it took time to master.

  Besides acting as magistrate, the Teachers of the Way were often advocates for the common people in the courts of those in power. The most powerful clans in each march, the ones with the towers, could take their cases directly to the Master of March, but at least half of the population were of clans without a great presence or power in the march, and would traditionally appeal to the Teachers of Laeza to make their appeals directly to the Masters of the Marches which Py gladly did.

  In court, we were Py's assistants, but on the road, we were just his friends and companions. There was usually at least one round spent on the road between the valleys of the marches, which we'd spend swapping tales. KaRaya was almost always cheerful, with plenty of stories to tell from her voyages through the Outward Islands, and the various ports of call. Yet for all her careless ways, she always seemed to land on her feet, if a little worse for wear. Which I think explains her easy adoption to this new life. Having escaped her fate as a slave ship captain, Vantra savages, and a crash landing, she had found good friends, an easy and rather interesting berth, so she was content to see where it led.

  I had all my "old spaceer" stories to tell, mine as well as ones I had heard - and though I had told both KaRaya and Py the truth in my origins, I fell into telling these tales Pela style - which is to say, the planets and drifts became islands and island groups, and the distinction between space and the Pela became blurred. It was how I was going to have to tell my stories anyway, so I thought I might as well get accustomed to it.

  Py had stories to tell of his own - stories of his youth and training in the order, as well as an endless supply of stories and fables of the Laezan Order. His parents worked on the Cloud Home Community's farms, and so he had grown up in the community. The Laezan's teaching had much in common with my Unity Standard mindset. They actively fought against unchecked greed and advocated that the wealth produced should be fairly shared by the people who produced it. Other than that, they taught kindness to all and a comfortable, but simple life. It was very easy to follow the Way, once you conquered the desire for wealth and power. Seeing that at one time I had both authority - a tin god of a tramp ship - and the wealth of a tiny salvage share of a gold ship, and still ended up as a slave, that is to say, an indentured laborer, the lessons of Laeza were not lost on me. Not that I had to change too much, since the Unity Standard society I had grown up in also emphasized fairness, tolerance, friendliness, safety, and limited ambitions.

  I took to dressing as a march-man. I packed away my spaceer uniform jacket, boots and cap, keeping only my trousers, shirt, and underwear for their advanced qualities - armor, ease of washing and quick drying. Over them I added belts, vests, the local boots and spats, and a tricorne hat with a Shadow Hawk feather. I remained, however, the only one in the marches of the margin who had pockets. I packed away my darter as directed, but kept my sissy in my trouser pocket. Just in case.

  Hissi grew to her full of 2 1/2 meters' length on our slow journey to Linjyn, the turnaround point of Py's circuit. She no longer bothered to fly, but bounded along upright on her hind legs or when she wanted speed, loped along on all four like a giant squirrel. For the most part, she seemed to consider herself human, abandoning hunting for her food, eating at our table and generally going about as one of us. She made it quite clear that she not only considered herself our equals (as she had since birth) but that she had no intention of being left out of our work.

  Most surprisingly though, was how she loved playing with children, and they with her. Perhaps it was the fact that their thoughts were simple and innocent that appealed to her. I would imagine anyone would get weary of the thoughts of grown-ups. Or perhaps she wasn't as mature as she appeared to act. What was even more surprising was how the children took to this feathered crocodile. Most were fearless around her. Perhaps the answer lay in stories and books - books I knew from reading them as I learned to read. Simla dragons, or very similar dragons are often characters in them - friendly, comical, and/or magical companions. Indeed, even in grown-up stories, they appeared as characters in their own right. In any event, whenever we were off duty, Hissi could be found playing with the children of the tower or town - playing tag, hide and seek, and, of course, card and board games - she loved to rattle the dice in her clawed hands and now could pick up and play cards with her claws so delicately that they never left a mark. She also loved to play dress up with the girls, who wrapped her in scarves and broaches and loved to arrange her crown feathers as the
y did theirs.

  The first half of Py's circuit ended at the Community of Little Steps outside of the city of Linjyn. This was my first introduction to a Laezan community. Set in a lush valley, it was composed of a rambling collection of dormitories, halls, classrooms, sheds and barns. Nearby was a village where the lay workers of the community lived, all of which was surrounded by farm fields, orchards, and woods. The centerpiece of many Laezan communities are their schools - universities, really - where youths to young men and women study not only the Way but the law, sciences, and the classic teachings of the Order. Py tells me that placement in their communities was eagerly sought after for the quality of the education to be had - which, I should add, serves the Order and the Way as well, since the elites send their sons and daughters to these communities where they are exposed to think in terms of the Way, hopefully to apply it when they reach positions of authority themselves. In this way, as with teaching in village schools and traveling teachers, the Laezans sought to spread the practice of the Way - of kindness to all.

  It must be admitted that by the time we reached Linjyn, Magistrate LinPy and his entourage had become quite famous, or perhaps more accurately, infamous, at least in the eyes of the sages of Little Steps. Our arrival in a march had taken on the appearance of something like the arrival of a circus. Magistrates are always welcomed, but a young, very popular one, with two ex-pirates and a Simla dragon, created, like any sort of traveling entertainment in these isolated valleys, quite a stir. Word of this preceded us, and we may have been met with a bit of wary coolness by the elders of the community.

  Py was unconcerned by this initial coolness, and told us not to worry, any blame would be his. I gathered from amused comments of the younger students of the Community of Little Steps outside of Linjyn, that Py had some pretty adept explaining to do upon our arrival. Indeed, KaRaya and I were interviewed as well, but gently. Still, young Py could charm his way out of any sort of official disapproval since it is nearly impossible not to like him, and did so easily. Later, I gathered from a quiet talk with the Senior Sage of Little Steps, that they recognized the seed of greatness in Py and so decided to overlook the flamboyance of his entourage. As she said, 'He's destined to be a legend in the Order.' I rather suspect she's right.

  To formalize our lieutenant status, KaRaya, I, and Hissi as well - at her insistence, (and since dragons have a special place in the Order of Laeza, the Laezans were delighted to welcome her) all took the minor vows of the novice in the order and were given the narrow yellow belt - Hissi got a yellow scarf - which allowed us to officially act as Magistrate LinPy's lieutenants.

  After that, we left the little valley that enclosed the pale golden stoned and moss stained buildings of Little Steps behind. We followed the Linjyn river, one valley to the next, that was leading us back to Cloud Home Community set high in the Horn Mountains, administering the law, taking up the causes of the people, and spreading, if only by example, the way of the Way.

  Chapter 16 The Bandits of Grimdar March