• February 28, 2012 /  Uncategorized

    In the absence of justice, what is sovereignty but organized robbery? ~Saint Augustine

     

    The bells tolled Prime as I stepped into the office, which smelled curiously of flowers – I blame the previous occupants. It was nothing that wasn’t fixed with a bit of ingenuity. From the tiny window, high up on the western wall, sunlight streamed down between the steel bars. The room filled me with nostalgia, as I reclaimed it for my own.

    The cherrywood desk still held up, under the tremendous weight of the law placed on it. I ran my fingers along one of the ornate engravings that made it so unique. How often had I sat there, at that desk, pondering matters high and low? How often had I sat there, finding things to occupy my time, while my wife waited for me? Perhaps, had I known everything that would transpire, I’d have picked differently.

    I was the consummate Proconsul of Lithmore, once more. Even-handed, intelligent, determined. Willing to sacrifice long hours and miss parties, so that the law may be upheld. It was a choice I made, but a choice that, in some ways, was always going to be made, whether I wanted it or not.

    My man-at-arms entered with the paintings; one of the Battle of Queen’s Landing, the other of Tobin ab Samael. Fine paintings, both, and I thought they nicely rounded out the office. Perhaps I thought His Painted Majesty would keep me company, the first time Complina rang and I was still slaving over evidence. Perhaps I wanted a constant reminder of the new Sovereign, the man who was, effectively, at the top of the chain, when it came to law. It would be his decisions that shaped the realm, not mine as Proconsul.

    I had my man go for whiskey, next. The administrative offices were well stocked, in those days, and for good reason. I had work to do, letters to write and people to see. As I sat down in that monstrous chair, once more, and set my case files down in front of me, I was reminded that most of my old problems were gone, by one way or another: Amethyst Beadle slain, my brother-in-law reported to be inhabiting the bottom of the sea and the Daravi war now in the hands of others.

    If only I’d seen, in advance, the new ones I would encounter.

    -Lord Amdair ab Lassider, Sixteenth Baron and First Count of Casterlay, son of Baron Erick ab Lassider, Fifteenth Baron of Casterlay

    Posted by Amdair Lassider @ 1:22 pm