The next few days went by in a flurry of meetings and pomp and circumstance if that's what you called it, all of which seemed to signify nothing. Nothing had been decided on either Bogdan's territory loss or the Sobeck attacks in Emil's domain. The only good part was that with the burning of new areas, there hadn't been any further attacks.
One day a week, Lord Regent Grigore and Lady Nicoleta would hold court. Those who had complaints...cavaliers or above—the commoners had some different court system...would come to court with their grievances to air these out in front of the Regent.
Of course, Ellie and I were invited, and unlike those airing their grievances, we wore our weaponry, Ellie annoying resplendent with her sword and dagger on her weapons belt, plus her newly acquired bow and arrows. She made sure everyone there saw them.
At least we didn't have to judge. We sat behind and offset the thrones, I sitting behind Grigore's right shoulder and Ellie at Nicoleta's left. Two men-at-arms stood well away from the dais at the two main entrances from the wings. Other than the Regency, ourselves, and the two guards, weapons were not allowed. It seemed that sometimes the discussions and the judgments became heated.
There was a certain lack of grandeur with these proceedings. The frontentrance to the hall was the main entrance to the building and wings, so peoplewould come in and out, mainly going to the Regency wing rather than the Realm. Ostensibly,Grigore gave the judgments, though Nicoleta seemed to have her say, and fromthe whispered discussions I heard between them, she seemed to have the betterhead for this. I wondered if she was the power behind the Regency. Grigore'sdecisions generally came at the start of the meeting about items discussed in aprevious session. Emil smiled blandly at me during one of these non sequiturannouncements, giving me the impression that this was the norm. We needed toget a better feel for Nicoleta.
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Wherever I Am
Science FictionCollege-age Kevin Covali and his family have lived on his uncle's estate for the last year instead of in the city. When he and his sister Allie are attacked on the road home from school, he finds out that there is more to his family than he ever sus...
