Chương 105: Trial-Joust

A trial-joust? I tilted my head, but I kept my lips sealed. I could pester someone with questions later. For now, I just needed to listen. Lord Ceonwin picked up the letter from the desk, then cut through the wax seal with a dagger and pulled out a sheet from within. His eyes flitted side-to-side, expression darkening, but either he was excellent at hiding his shock, or the letter was exactly what he'd been expecting. Finally, he set it down, and said, "I see."

"I will officiate the joust according to the Western Guide," the messenger said.

"Once all is said and done, I will return to my master to bring him the results. Though he will likely learn of them before through passing rumours."

"This is punishment for Oschester?" Lord Ceonwin asked.

"You slew one of the Warlord's appointed portreeves. You stained the Warlord's honour, violated his will, and questioned his judgement. Be thankful the reeve was a traitor, or you would already be dead." I glanced at Anchor, and the archer shook his head. Brawl was staring forward, maybe taking all of it in, or maybe just internally cringing with all of the politics and lying and maneuvering. I couldn't read Sage's expression, either, except for a faint glimmer of concern.

Maybe it was for her father, but chances were, if something happened to him, she'd be dead next, too. I'd be equally concerned for myself. None of this was fair. The portreeve had been a traitor, and he'd been punished accordingly. Maybe if the Warlord didn't want to look bad, he shouldn't have appointed someone like that as a portreeve. But rarely were things fair. Lord Ceonwin nodded.

"No adjustments to these terms is allowed? He will accept nothing else?"

"None," the messenger said.

"The Warlord has put your Domain up for trial. Defend it on the lists."

"Very well. I will have Sir Sidal house you and your guards in the castle, and we will prepare at once."

"The trial-joust begins on the first day of next month. You will face contenders from many other Domains. Best of luck, my lord, and once again, you have my utmost gratitude for saving my life."

"Gratitude accepted," he said.

"But it was my men who saved you from the orcs." As he said orcs, he looked directly at me pointedly.

"They deserve the accolades." Since Sage had removed the arrow from the messenger's neck before he could see, and they hadn't had time to examine the other fallen guard who'd also taken an arrow, the messenger really had no way of knowing who attacked him. It was best if Lord Ceonwin pretended orcs did it. If we changed our story later, we could brush it off as an early assumption.

"Sir Sidal will show you to your quarters," Lord Ceonwin told the messenger and motioned to the door—a polite dismissal—but looked at us, telling us to stay. We did. After a few seconds of silence, Lord Ceonwin pushed the door closed behind the messenger. I turned to him and said, "Sir, I'm not sure I understand. Why wouldn't they want you to receive this message?"

"The message is unimportant," Lord Ceonwin replied.

"They were looking for an excuse to depose me, remove me from my Domain, and replace me with a different, more pliable Ealdorman. I'm too well-connected and well liked to remove with a baseless decree—the Warlord would have an uprising on his hands. But if it looked like I had ordered the assassination of the messenger and rejected the Warlord's terms, he'd have his excuse to remove me. Branding me a traitor would turn my people against me."

"And the joust?"

"It's the Warlord's backup plan," Ceonwin said.

"A trial-joust is a challenge. If enough members of the Warlord's council question my fitness to rule my Domain, then it is tradition to issue a trial joust. I must compete against other ambitious up-and-coming thegns from all across Gate. The victor will take my title and rule my Domain."

"You're a Gold, aren't you?" I asked.

"I doubt many thegns could defeat you on the…uh, the jousting aisle?"

"The lists," Lord Ceonwin replied.

"Yes, it is unlikely, but not impossible. There are many thegns who have reached Silver or Gold, and would be willing to try it. All it takes is one lucky man to unhorse me." I glanced at my squad.

"So we're not out of the woods yet." This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"You four have done your job well," he said.

"If the messenger had died, I would've stood no chance at all. Now, assuming all continues on its current trajectory, the odds of me holding my lands are high."

"That's a big assumption, sir," Anchor said.

"There will be more underhanded attempts to get you to drop out of the tournament and forfeit your lands, I guarantee it." Lord Ceonwin nodded.

"Yes, and I will be wary."

"Sir, there's something else that's been bothering me," I said.

"Yes?"

"In order to pull off this deception—the business with the 294th, I mean—they needed to control the orcs. We saw an orc shaman wearing a suppression collar." I'd mentioned this in our initial explanation to him, but I thought it was worth mentioning again.

"Yes," Ceonwin said, stroking his chin.

"It seems likely that the Warlord and his forces have made agreements with some orcs, thinking they can control them and use them to their benefit."

"It never works out," Sage muttered.

"They think they can control the orcs, but they can't," Lord Ceonwin said.

"It's a slippery slope, and soon, it will stab them in the back as well. But until we find out who up the chain of command is responsible for this, there's little we can do." I raised my eyebrows.

"Nothing we can do? The Warlord is trying to kill you. We should—""We're not strong enough to face him. You aren't strong enough to face him. You think you can overthrow a thousand years of tradition on a whim?" I gulped.

"No, sir."

"This is dangerous to even discuss. Levi, I want you to stay behind. The others are dismissed." I hung my head, but waited as my squadmates shuffled out of the room.

"I know you want to change the world," Lord Ceonwin whispered once they left.

"Maybe one day, you will be strong enough. Maybe one day, you'll get around the old heads like me, and accomplish something wondrous. But until then, there's no sense in throwing away your life."

"I understand, sir. But are we going to do nothing? We got lucky this time, really. If we'd been any slower, we'd all be branded traitors right now. Are you telling me to do nothing, just take everything I'm given and shut up, let them do this to us again? It's not just you that will be hurt."

"That's up to you. If you wish to rebel, then you will need men and land. You're on your way, but you need to form a proper faction. You cannot just be a soldier." Again, I nodded.

"If I grant you thegnage right now, it would be a purely political act. It may not stick," Lord Ceonwin said.

"But you will need land and titles regardless. The good news for you is that there are going to be many powerful men attending this joust who could help you." He paused.

"They aren't going to be your only trouble. The Subtle Men will come, and they will interrogate you. Naive innocence won't be enough to get you through this. As soon as they realize you killed a Subtle Man and took his Presence, your head will be on the chopping block." I nodded.

"How do I resist their probing? There has to be a way to stop them from looking into my mind, correct?"

"Your Focus attribute," Lord Ceonwin said.

"It is a Dupe's greatest strength against the Subtle Men. They look into your recent memories and use their maegen to make predictions about what you said. They use it to assess whether you're telling the truth or not, and it can show them hints of what you're going to do next."

"Alright," I said.

"And if they see my memories, they'll see that I killed that Subtle Man who was responsible for this scheme."

"I wouldn't say he was responsible. He was a pawn, like many others." I inhaled sharply.

"Sorry, sir. A bad assumption." Lord Ceonwin stood up, then placed his hands on the edge of their desk.

"Regardless, the Subtle Men's Art is similar to the nested effect of your gravity manipulation, if I understand correctly, though far more advanced. Their Art doesn't scale with Focus, though. It relies on the victim's Focus. There are many memories, many thoughts all at once, and consciously or not, your Focus will always gravitate toward one. They'll ask you a prompting question, and you will draw an answer, usually the truth, to the front of your mind."

"But I can manipulate my Focus."

"Precisely. You can feed them incorrect information, or completely useless information."

"Won't they realize I'm hiding something? And having something to hide would be just as bad?" Lord Ceonwin lowered his gaze.

"Yes, right now, they may see through it. Which is why you must practice. Tomorrow morning, wake up early, and meet me in my office. I will teach you to resist their probing."

"Yes, sir."

"You are dismissed as well. Be careful, Levi. I'm sure the Subtle Men are already on their way, and we won't have much time." ~ ~ ~ We spent the rest of the day preparing the castle. As soon as the news of the trial-joust spread, the castle leapt to action. It was to be hosted here, and that meant we had to prepare the castle grounds and build a jousting strip.

Instead of sparring, the rest of the afternoon became a slog of preparing equipment, gathering carpenters, and preparing the infrastructure for the joust—all while our backpacks were stuffed full of riftrocks. As we worked, I glanced at my squadmates. I told them what Lord Ceonwin had told me after he dismissed them, even if he had intended for me to keep it to myself, and they took it with quiet acceptance.

Anchor whispered, "If the Warlord has turned against his own nation, I suppose we have no choice but to resist him."

"I know you want Gate to stand no matter what," I replied.

"I'm with you there. But the Warlord doesn't make Gate what it is, right?"

"No, it doesn't."

"This is our chance to start building a faction bigger than ourselves," I told all three of them.

"Something to oppose the Warlord. We can't waste it."