I awoke early in the morning in my bedroom at castle Heart. I had moved back into my childhood quarters after my belting. They were preparing the next batch of recruits for training and it was improper to have squires boarded with recruits. Many of the squires, my childhood friends, had already set off with their Knights - most of whom held domains enfeoffed to Agile Valley - to begin their training which would include a wide variety of tasks and instruction from combat to dancing to survival skills and beyond. Since I was to squire with Roderick, I was basically just staying home and pursuing a more scheduled training. In the mornings I would ride to the Training Sands and receive combat instruction from Roderick. In the afternoons I would meet with Tika at the Scriptorium for formal education, and during the evenings I would meet with my father and learn from him how to manage domains.

I sat up and cleared my blearily eyes, glancing around the room at all my childhood toys and memento's, most of which would have to get cleared out. I figured I would likely donate much of my clothing and toys to the orphans around Castle Heart. Today I would be meeting with Roderick here at Castle Heart, and so I was able to sleep in a little more. It was nice to be able to rest, but I felt a little guilty for my laziness and rolled out of bed to start my own morning warm up and workout routine. Since it was just designed to start my bodily processes it was quick and easy to accomplish. Several sets of pushups, jumping jacks, and sit-ups got me warmed up and finished flushing the sleep out of my body.

I then got dressed in my usual affair, stockings and loose cotton pants with a white linen shirt followed by my armor, no longer leather but half-plate and chain mail. Finally, I attached my two most precious possessions. My plain red leather squire belt, and my cavalry blade given to me as a gift for completing recruit training by my father. It was a handsome folded-steel blade with a slide curve to enhance it's slicing potential when wielded from horseback, and had a beautiful blued-steel cross-guard. It's balance in my hands was perfect, the balance point resting right roughly two-and-a-quarter inches above the cross guard.

With my ensemble completed, I stepped out of my room and headed for the great hall where breakfast for those in the inner walls of heart-castle were served. As the heir to the domain - not to mention the duchy, apparently - I rated a seat at the head table where my father and his most important retainers sat. The great hall was a modest affair as far as castle's go and this one had a simple hall with banners hung on the walls and six massive oak tables placed in two rows of three with benches at them. A fourth smaller mahogany table took up the head of the hall and was slightly elevated due to the raised stonework. This was where a throne would normally go, and father employed one of the castle mages to efficiently move the tables and benches when official business was conducted, making room for rows of benches, a banister, four court tables, and several additional chairs should a trial by jury be called for. This was in addition to the actual throne my father sat in when conducting court.

Like he was later today.

I sat next to him and broke my fast on eggs, bacon, and soft bread fresh from the kitchens ovens. Dad always had the best food, naturally.

"Have you managed to quell the teenage angst?" Gerald asked me with a wry smile. It pissed me off and amused me at the same time.

"Sadly, Father, I have scheduled another four and one fifth's day of teenage angst, to be followed by two hours of sullen silence, and finally a lifetime of resentment," I shot back with my own grin. Dad just chuckled and stuffed another bite of egg in his face.

We made small talk about what I would be seeing in the official court held later today before Roderick tromped in and dropped into a chair next to Dad.

"Lord, Squire," he greeted us congenially - as congenially as he could with that ghastly voice - and was served his own trencher of food that he demolished with a soldier's professional speed while managing to maintain a knights professional grace. Amazing. I had so much to learn from the man, and he was wasting his time teaching me sword play when I could be learning valuable skills like how to stuff an entire hog into my stomach faster than a bowshot!

I took a little more time eating my food, since I was enjoying my morning and judging by the light, we still had a few more minutes before Roderick dragged me outside to beat me senseless. All too soon I received a glance from Dad and Roderick, basically at the same time - eerie - and knew that the metaphorical bells were tolling. With reluctance I stood and began to make my way out of the hall. Another interesting note, ever since I had been outed as the ducal heir, no one made me bow to the masters or lords anymore. Fancy that.

Castle Heart Training Yard

"Up and over with the tip, pivot on the heel to drive the back hip forward and give more strength to the stab - just so - and viola!" Roderick demonstrated the over-the-guard stab perfectly against the wooden dummy who held it's own wooden sword horizontally as if to block a heavy overhead strike. Roderick was teaching me how to feint such a heavy overhead strike only to suddenly raise my arms and push my fists towards the sky, planting my feet and pivoting my heel and hips to drive the point of the sword straight into the face-plate opening of the dummy.

It was an interesting maneuver which required me to basically pretend to commit everything I had to an overhead strike - really just performing a fast overhead but sometimes in the heat of the moment it might get confused for a double-handed strike - before halting that fake momentum I was building and directing it all up my arms and into the tip of the blade. It was an awesome maneuver to see performed so neatly, and I knew it would take me many many hours of practicing the maneuver before I even came close to the ease and grace that Roderick displayed.

But Roderick's mastery with sharp tools was old news. The more interesting development was the defrosting happening daily. Outside of training the task master was gone, replaced by an affable - if gruff - man. During training he would reintroduce me to the bastard hidden inside, but outside of formal combat training he presented himself as a perfect gentleman, showcasing the hallmarks of chivalric grace and thoughtfulness with every action. It surprised me to learn he was well regarded by nearly everyone who had interactions with him. They must not have had to crawl through a mile of mud wearing heavy plate... bastards.

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After our practice had ended - nearly four hours of it - we sat and drank cool water while watching another knight drill men-at-arms for the upcoming war with Aurelia. The castle was in a massive tizzy, as instead of bringing me to the ducal capital my biological mother and father - Duchess Minerva and Duke Hexenguard - had decided to perform a tour of the County of Murdet - the county that held the Agile Domain.

Everyone was in a tizzy, and even I felt a nervousness that grew by the day. What if I didn't like them? What if they were cruel? Stupid? Ugly? To my chargin, I found myself worrying that they wouldn't like me. These people had given me up damn it, and no matter the reason I was still angry. It could've been - and probably was I admitted to myself - the best reason in the world. Rational thoughts and arguments did little to affect the emotional turmoil I felt.

I wasn't even opposed to meeting them. I was excited, actually. What really caused me dread was the thought of leaving my home in Agile, and gaining all the responsibility of an heir to the realm and eventually becoming it's duke. Dad - Gerald - had pointed out that the Duke and Duchess were still really young, and if thing's went well for them they would likely live to their seventies. A rarity and luxury usually only afforded the most wealthy and protected of individuals. That would mean I wouldn't have to be a duke until they hit the age of forced-retirement at sixty, almost thirty years from now. I would be 43, practically ancient by then!

Still... The thoughts bothered me. It was a responsibility as unwelcome as it was unasked for. Sure, I was spoiled. There are so many people - peasants namely - who had it so much worse than I did. Hell, there are landed nobility out there who would kill off their own family for a shot at taking over the duchy. There were some knights and nobles who barely lived above the level of the peasantry.

Such a bother...

Castle Heart Grand Hall

"RISE TO YOUR FEET," Bellowed a man paid for his ability to scream louder than Roderick, apparently. Dad came in and quickly took his place on the throne with little fanfare before idly waving his hand. Everyone sat and I took my place at his side, with Roderick standing imposingly before him, acting as the bailiff for today's proceedings.

"THE COURT OF THE HEART NOW CALLS GOODMAN JELLES AND FREEDMAN HORATIO TO THE STAND," Screamed the mighty screamer.

The two in question stood up from their respective places at the front benches and took to two tables positioned on either side of the Bannister entryway. It did not surprise me that they both elected to represent themselves considering the cost of your average lawyer was astronomical and could even beggar some noblemen. Oh, and if you're wondering what the difference between a Goodman and a Freeman is, it's simple. A Goodman in the Murdet County was someone who lived as a free peasant within a province while a Freeman was a free man who lived outside of regular holdings. That's it. So complicated, but the peasantry held onto their rights and status as tenaciously as a nobleman, sometimes.

"Scribe, please inform the court as to the reason for this appearance," Dad said in a practiced voice. In actuality, Dad had already gone over every case to be presented today with his steward and a law-brother, which was like a lawyer but religious in nature. The Kingdom had two complicated law systems. One was divine law, the other constitutional law. They interacted about as well as religion and reason usually do, but I liked law-brothers more. They were usually more affable, and typically their services were utilized by the poorer nobles and citizens of the Kingdom. Nine times out of ten Dad would go with whatever the law-brother recommended, but sometimes hearing the case itself revealed that a more personal intervention was necessary.

"Your Lordship, Freedman Horatio is accusing Goodman Jelles of nonpayment upon delivery. It seems Jelles had ordered a shipment of soap for his general store from Horatio. However now Horatio is claiming that Jelles refused to pay for the goods, citing a late delivery and poor-quality of good," the scribe called loud enough for the court to hear after consulting one of several lists laid out before him.

"I see. Goodman Jelles, is it true that you refused to pay for the goods provided by Freedman Horatio?"

"Aye M'lord," Jelles said while bowing, "Horatio claims that the soap 'e produces has a superior feel, cleaning ability, and smell. T'was not the case of the soap he delivered M'lord," Jelles finished and bowed again.

"Hm. Freedman Horatio," Gerald looked at the other side and gestured for Horatio to tell his side.

Horatio bowed as well "My lord, I have provided Jelles with exactly the soap he requested. If there is an error, then it is his ability to judge quality good's that is in question, not the actual quality of my soap's," Horatio stated respectfully. He fished around in his pocket and brought out a bar of soap, placing it on the table-top. "I have brought a sample from the batch I provided Jelles so that the court may judge the accuracy of my product," he said simply.

Jelles quickly brought out a bar of soap of his own and placed it on the table. "Here is a sample from what I received, M'lord" he was hasty to say.

As I sat and watched my father dispense justice over the course of the day I saw that he was generally fair. When both parties were at fault, either nothing happened and the case was dismissed, or if one was at more fault than the other then they were issued punitive fines as well as ordered to fix the issue, if it could be fixed. If it could not be fixed, they were ordered to pay a monetary compensation to the aggrieved party.

In addition to regular civil court, my father also proceeded over contract and criminal courts that day. The criminal court's were easy for him to dispense with, as the perpetrator had been caught with plenty of witnesses to verify his guilt. One ended up in stocks, and the other was to be executed for the crime of rape, carried out by Father himself at the end of the day. The man would be offered a priest to shrive his soul before passing, and all possessions were awarded to the girl's family as compensation for her lost purity.

The contract law's took the majority of the time, as they were between business men and artisans, sometimes involving multiple parties.

I learned a lot about the law that day, how to deal with it, dispense it, read between the lines, and exercise good judgement. I learned that presiding over a docket is actually very healthy for the domain, as it cleared out a backlog of court cases and gave everyone a feeling of justice and peace with the rulers of the land. We also earned a fair bit of money from every case except the criminal trials.

I also learned that wood hurt my ass and the court room was boring as hell.