A second offence led to death by beheading. Killers were taken back to the scenes of their crimes and executed there. Embezzlers and fraudsters were stripped of all assets. In the first year of her reign more than eight hundred people had been put to death in the capital alone. Askelus was not in favour of such extreme practices, even though the numbers of reported crimes plummeted.
Jianna listened to his arguments about the need for a compassionate society, about understanding the complexities of the causes of crime.
Jianna had been dismissive of his reasoning.
‘A man breaks into a house, and kills the owner to steal a few valuables.
How many people are affected? The owner may.be dead, but he might have a wife and children. He will certainly have relatives, neighbours and friends. His relatives have neighbours and friends. Perhaps a hundred people in all. Like a rock hitting the surface of a still lake the ripples of this crime spread out. People become worried about their own homes and their own lives. When then the murderer is dragged back to the house and killed there people relax. Justice has been done.’
‘And what if the wrong man has been killed for the crime?’
‘It makes no difference, Askelus. A crime has been punished. A hundred people are satisfied that society will avenge crime.’
‘Does the man unjustly killed not have family and friends and neighbours, Majesty?’
‘And that is the curse of intelligence, Askelus. Intelligent people always seek to see the other side of the problem. They look for cause and effect, balance and harmony. They focus on the poor man who steals a loaf of bread to feed his family. Oh woe, they cry, that we live in a society where a man can be reduced to such a state. Let us therefore give free food to all, so that no-one will ever steal bread again.’
‘I do not see a problem with that, Majesty. There is food enough.’
‘There is now, Askelus. But travel a little further down this road and what do you see? Men and women who no longer have to work for food.
They breed and they multiply, producing more and more people who do not have to work for food. Where do they then live, these people who do not work? Ah, then we give them free houses perhaps, and horses so that they may travel. What of clothes to wear? How can they afford them, these people who do not work? And who pays for this road to madness, Askelus?’
He had not been convinced and had spoken of building more schools, and the training of the poor to give them new skills. This idea
As time passed Jianna continued to use the secret passageway, travelling more and more through the city. Shopkeepers and tavern owners came to know her, and she built a new identity. She was Sashan, the wife of a travelling merchant. She even bought a cheap silver wedding band, which she wore on her right wrist. This kept most of the single men from bothering her as she moved through the city. The ones untroubled by the band she sent on their way with harsh words and a flash of her eyes.
An area a mile south of the palace became a favourite haunt for her.
There was a square here, and a marketplace. Women would often gather round the well at the centre of the square. There were benches and seats and the women would chat to one another about life and love and the raising of children. It was rare that politics entered the discussion. Even so Jianna found sitting among them hugely enjoyable.
It was there that she met Samias, the wife of a local builder. Often she would have three young children with her, and would watch them run around the square, peeping at items on the stalls. They would squabble good-naturedly, or play. Samias would open her bag and remove parcels of food, and the children would sit by her feet, munching on pies, or cake, or fruit. Samias was a tall woman, heavy around the hips. She constantly smiled as she watched her children. Only on the days when she was alone did her smile fade, and then Jianna saw the sadness in her eyes.
They spoke often. Mostly Jianna listened. Samias was contentedly married. Her husband was ‘a good man, sound and caring’ and her children were a constant delight. ‘Life is good, so I mustn’t complain,’ she said one day.
‘Why do you talk of complaining?’
Samias seemed surprised. ‘Did I? Oh, it’s just a phrase.’
‘You love your husband?’
‘Of course. What a silly question. Wonderful man. Very good with the children. What about your man? Is he kind?’
‘He’s pleasant enough,’ said Jianna, suddenly unwilling to create more lies.
‘That’s good. I expect you miss him when he’s away. Travelling merchant, isn’t he?’
‘Yes. I don’t love him, though.’
‘Oh, you shouldn’t say that. Best to try to love him. Makes life more bearable if you can convince yourself.’
‘The man I truly loved went away,’ Jianna found herself saying. ‘I wanted him more than anyone else I have ever met. He is in my mind constantly.’
‘Ah, we all have someone like that,’ said Samias. ‘What was he like?’
‘Handsome, with eyes of sapphire blue.’
‘Why did he go away?’
‘I wouldn’t marry him. I had other plans. We travelled together once, through a forest. Looking back I think it was the happiest time of my life. I can remember every day.’ Jianna laughed. ‘We were hungry and we came across a rabbit with its leg caught in a trapper’s noose. He went to it and knelt beside it. The little thing was trembling, so he stroked it. Then he carefully cut the noose. I looked at him and said: 'Well, are you going to kill it and cook it?' He picked the rabbit up and stroked it again. 'It has such beautiful eyes,' he said, then put the rabbit down and walked away from it.’
‘Soft-hearted then? Some men are.’
‘In some ways he was. In others he was ruthless. We were attacked in the woods.’ Jianna fell silent. ‘Ah well, long ago now,’ she said at last, realizing she was coming too close to the truth.
‘Who attacked you?’
‘Robbers,’ said Jianna swiftly.
‘How awful!’ said Samias. ‘What happened? Did your lover fight them off?’
‘Yes, he fought. He was a fine fighter. I must go now. My… husband will be waiting for me.’ Jianna rose from her seat.
‘Try not to dwell upon the past, dear,’ said Samias. ‘We can’t change it, you know. We can only live with what we have now. Once I loved a man with all my heart. He was the sun and moon of all my desires. He was a soldier of the King. You know, the old King, Bokram. He was sent out into the forest of Delian after a murderer. We were due to be wed within the month. He was killed there. And that was it for me. My life all but ended.’
‘I am so sorry,’ said Jianna, surprised that she meant it.
‘A long time ago now, Sashan. And my husband is a good man. Oh, yes.
Very kind.’
‘Did they catch the murderer?’
‘No. He was an awful man. He murdered the people who raised him after his father died. Cut them up, he did. Tortured them. Can you believe that? Then he fled the city with a young whore. My Jeranon and a group of soldiers almost caught them. That’s what I was told. There was a fight and Jeranon was killed. Some others too. And the evil pair escaped. They were never found.’
Jianna felt a sudden chill touch her heart. ‘Did he have a name, this murderer?’
‘Aye. His name was Skilgannon. I never heard the whore’s name.’
Samias shrugged. ‘The Source will punish them, though. If there is any justice.’
‘Perhaps the Source already has,’ said Jianna.
As Jianna made her way back to the royal park she thought of how Askelus would have enjoyed listening to her conversation with Samias.
Never before had Jianna considered the lives of those soldiers who had almost trapped her in the forest of
