Princeps

“Governor, I’m surprised to see you.”

Quaeryt managed a laugh. “Unfortunately, that’s not good. You shouldn’t be. I thought you might be expecting me.”

Aramyn frowned. “Oh?”

“I received a brief, a complaint this morning. It concerns you.” Quaeryt handed the sheets to the High Holder. “Have you seen this?”

“A brief? Would you mind if I took a moment and read through this?”

“Not at all. That’s why I’m here.”

“Let us go to the study, then.”

Quaeryt followed the High Holder down the corridor and then into the chamber he only vaguely remembered, and mainly for the expanse of goldenwood bookshelves. Aramyn gestured to the chairs before the desk, taking one himself.

Quaeryt took another.

Aramyn read the first page slowly, the second page less so, and then skimmed through the remaining pages. “Would you wait just a moment, Governor?”

“Certainly.”

Aramyn stood, set the brief on the desk, and walked to a wall cabinet, which he opened. There he looked through several stacks of paper before extracting a sheaf of papers before closing the cabinet and moving to the desk. Standing there, he glanced at the first page of the papers Quaeryt had provided, then studied those he had taken from the cabinet. He repeated the process with each page before finishing and looking at Quaeryt.

“This complaint against me is almost identical to one filed by Caesyt two years ago, with one exception. There might be other little changes, but it looks to be the same. The only significant difference I see immediately is a clause alleging that the eruption has resulted in measurable and significant effects on water runoff and stream flows. He’s using that as a basis for petitioning for a change in the decision handed down in Solis.”

Quaeryt managed not to swallow. He hadn’t caught that. He wondered if that were buried somewhere or so carefully disguised that he hadn’t recognized it. “Could you point out that clause?”

Aramyn did-near the top of the second page.

Quaeryt read part of the wordage.

Insomuch as recent geological events have impacted precipitation events and prevailing riverine flow patterns, the party of the second part asserts that any and all past judgments made on the distribution of such riverine allocations be reviewed in light of such recent impacts …

That was it. There was no direct mention of a previous hearing, or conflict or any sort of judgment.

“He wanted to sneak that by you, and he didn’t send me a copy. He thought you might not inform me. That way he might get a favorable recommendation from you, and a reversal of the earlier decision. Even if he didn’t, he could argue that your failure to follow procedures biased his claim.” Aramyn snorted.

“I’ll need your rebuttal.”

“You’ll have it in the next day or so. I have to travel to Montagne on a family matter, but I’ll get it to you before I depart.” He shook his head. “Thank you for letting me know. I do appreciate it.”

“Do you need a copy…”

Aramyn shook his head. “But let me compare this to the original. Except for that one section, they look to be word for word. I will copy that one part.”

In the end, Aramyn had to copy three paragraphs where matters changed, and it was close to fourth glass before Quaeryt left the holding, headed back to Extela and the villa. He was well away from Aramyn’s before he realized that he’d meant to ask the High Holder about Lysienk, and it was late enough in the day that he wasn’t about to ride back. Besides, he’d have other opportunities.

44

Quaeryt was quietly busy on Mardi, and he managed to deal with a number of minor problems, including straightening out the bookkeeping on payments to Gahlen, High Holder Wystgahl, the younger, and making sure that the offerings from the anomen were tracked in a separate ledger, as well as kept in a separate chest in the strong room so that they would be there when Vaelora had time to deal with the next distribution of them to the poor women of Extela. Major Dhaeryn offered a quick report on the ongoing repairs to the east river bridge-which was taking longer than the head engineer had planned, in part because of the difficulty in extracting the red volcanic clay needed for the underwater concrete used to repair the bridge pylons.

Without having to hold hearings at the Civic Patrol station, for which he was grateful, Quaeryt could also take time to reread the dense document from Caesyt several times, until he thought he had a better understanding of the issues.

Although it was two days past the fifteenth of Avryl, no message had arrived from Bhayar ordering Third Regiment to depart for Ferravyl, but Quaeryt was aware such an order could now arrive at any time. He hoped it would not come soon, given how much he was still relying on Skarpa and Third Regiment, especially the engineers.

The rest of the day was as quietly busy as the beginning, and Quaeryt was more than ready to retreat from the post to the villa, where Vaelora was pleased to inform him that she had located a matching settee and chair for the salon-which would, of course, require the use of a wagon to transport from the shop in Extela to the villa.

Still … it was pleasant to eat with just Vaelora and to linger over the evening meal that was neither bland nor overcooked … and the quiet of the villa was welcome as well. He also had to admit, if only to himself, that he was definitely enjoying the larger bed and the privacy of their own dwelling, governor’s residence or not.

Shortly after eighth glass on Meredi morning a messenger arrived at the post and delivered Aramyn’s rebuttal to Ceasyt’s petition, and Quaeryt immediately read it. He ended up going through both the original petition and the rebuttal several times before he began to write his recommendation to the High Justicer in Solis, a recommendation he suspected Aextyl would have to rewrite considerably.

By just before the third glass of the afternoon, he had finished his final draft and was riding back out to Aextyl’s dwelling. Several men and women on the avenue waved to him, and he inclined his head in return.

Even Aextyl’s daughter greeted him with a cheerful, “Good afternoon,” when she opened the door to let him into the justicer’s dwelling.

The old justicer smiled warmly, as well, when Quaeryt entered the small study. “It’s good to see you, Governor.”

“It’s even better to see you.” Quaeryt set the stack of three papers on the study desk. “The short document on top is my draft recommendation. Beneath that is Aramyn’s rebuttal, and beneath that is Caesyt’s petition. Caesyt did not inform Aramyn. I did not put that in my draft, because I didn’t know whether that was legally applicable, based on what you told me on Lundi.”

“It’s a common courtesy, but it’s not required. It is required that you assure that Aramyn is notified, which his brief will substantiate that you have done. You will need copies of both the brief and the rebuttal to be sent to Solis with your recommendation.”

“I hope asking you to redraft my recommendation isn’t too much of an imposition.”

“Nonsense. It’s good to have something productive and useful to do.”

Quaeryt eased the two golds onto the desk. “If you think your work is worth more…”

Aextyl laughed. “You’re overpaying me, but I’m glad to take it. I would judge I’ll be finished by midday tomorrow, but give me until third glass, just in case.”

“I can do that. If I schedule a hearing for eighth glass next Mardi, would you be willing to come an advise me?”

“If I’m feeling well … and I should be.”

“I would appreciate it. You know how I feel about Advocate Caesyt.”

“I felt the same way when I was high justicer. I can’t imagine his presence is any more pleasant these days.”

Quaeryt stepped back and inclined his head. “Then … here, tomorrow afternoon?”