'Gentleman Guildmaster Urzo, of the Dreadwood Loggers' Guild,' he introduced himselfin full.

'Bearing in mind that this trial’s remit is limited to Baron Steib's actions during the recent Tokuan invasion, please describe what occurred on the night that the first longboats arrived in the Trackford quays.'

As Urzo spoke, I faded out in a manner reminiscent of Father's own civil hearings, half-listening and nodding when it seemed appropriate. I let my mind wander on the question of Steib's punishment in the case that he did manage to argue that his offence was less serious than pure, unadulterated treason. Keeping a man in the dungeons could be an expensive affair, costing the Crown both economically and with the possibility that the prisoner could become a liability in the future. An alternative was to strip him of his land and title, and this was appealing to me in light of Ebonreach's financial woes. It would not resolve the potential for Steib to become a liability, but perhaps exile could mitigate it.

Urzo was only just describing the first approach of the longboats. I began to reappraise my reappraisal, judging that the time commitment to this endeavour might be counted in weeks. Perhaps I had made a mistake in clearing out the market hall for the trial. If commerce stopped for such a long time then I would be blamed for the subsequent economic woes. I could have the court moved in future days, but that would create confusion and make it seem as if I’d made a mistake. I would simply have to make the best of the situation by delivering a popular verdict as quickly as possible.

Soon enough it was time to adjourn. The guards were permitted to feed Steib, and Urzo and I traded some coppers for some fish which the vendor was only too happy to prepare for our immediate consumption. Urzo had not even finished his testimony, and I made sure to tell another bureaucrat that the market hall would be the sole province of the trial until Steib's punishment was decided. By giving the merchants more warning, I hoped that they would be better able to offset the difficulties related to the loss of their trading space. Then I turned to Urzo and told him to call a meeting of the Merchant’s Council that evening.

He nodded swiftly. 'I will see to it,' he said before disappearing into the throng of people. Many of the market stalls had relocated only a few dozen feet and now littered the street outside of the hall, and it was into this ad hoc marketplace that he vanished.

When the trial resumed it was all I could do to prevent myself from falling asleep, despite the long rest I'd enjoyed the previous day. Urzo eventually finished his tale with a discussion of the battle in the Dreadwood Forest, and I tuned in when the crowd began clapping. I rewound my memory and played back Urzo's last words, and realised that he had spoken of the incident with the bodyguard I had killed in my portal. I appreciated the praise of the people but quickly suppressed my reaction it in a fit of professionalism. It was nice to be loved as I was not in Haelling Cove, but the longer they applauded me, the later the trial would run.

'Quiet please,' I implored them and the clapping died away. The sun was already setting outside due to the shortness of the winter days, and I had little choice but to call an adjournment. The small progress we'd made left a sour taste in my mouth, one I hoped to remedy presently through the appointment of Steib's replacement at the Merchant’s Council meeting.

With that in mind, Urzo and I ascended the stairs to the floor of the market hall in which the powerful men of Trackford were often to be found. Many of them had been watching the trial over the railing, while others were content to let the trial be as a mere soundtrack to their mundane paperwork. Some had come purely for the meeting and stood idly until I addressed them.

'It is time to elect a new baron,' I began, but even that was opposed by one of the burghers.

'Baron Steib has not been found guilty of any crime yet!'

I pursed my lips and stared the agitated-looking man dead in his eyes. 'Even if, by some miracle of Cha, Steib is not found guilty of any treason, he will no longer be baron. I will see to it.'

'You meddle in affairs which are not the province of the Crown!'

'You are mistaken. The Baron of Trackford may be elected by the Merchant's Council but his power extends over the entire town. I would prefer not to interfere, but matters cannot be permitted to continue as they are,' I explained. This time none opposed me so I continued. 'I warn you that if Trackford suffers from the same abuses of power under the next baron, I will replace the position with one appointed by the crown.'

The men were all quiet, and I suddenly realised that they were in awe of my presence. Not in the same manner of the young man who had found the scribe for the trial, but such that they had quietly delegated control of their meeting to me. Though I had called it, I had not expected to be such an active part of it. Nonetheless, I was tired from the trial and wanted nothing more than to go back to the Flea Monkey and relax with a glass of bloodberry wine, so I pushed on.

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'So, who wants to be baron?'

'That is not how it's done,' one of the merchants helpfully said. There were nods of agreement from several of his peers.

'That is how it is done - today. This council is to elect a new mayor. My time is limited, and I will not waste it on bureaucratic technicalities and merchant class niceties. I demand that those who wish to stand for baron nominate themselves presently.'

'I nominate myself.' Urzo declared without hesitation.

I was not surprised by that: one did not become a Guildmaster at such a young age without some ambition. I turned back to the assembled Council and awaited the next nomination, but none came.

'You wish to elect Urzo unopposed?' I asked in surprise, hoping that it didn't sound like I disapproved of their choice.

'You have demonstrated your backing of him,' one of them murmured snidely, but I did not see which. I ignored his tone and spoke.

'I care not who is elected, as long as they discharge their duties with more care than their predecessor. This is the same vote that this council has been making for generations,' I said. Were the rulers of Trackford really so apathetic?

I waited for almost a minute in the hopes that someone else would step up to be nominated. True, I was happy to support Urzo as we had developed a rapport, but I did not want it so be said that my presence had cowed the Merchant's Council into choosing my preferred nominee.

Still, no one else was nominated. I sighed. 'Let the records show that Guildmaster Urzo has been elected unopposed for the position of baron.'

There was some half-hearted applause. I stood back to let Urzo give a brief address, but all he said was, 'Thank you, Countess.' I restrained a frown as the other attendees departed. I turned to Urzo in dismay.

'Is this how things usually are?'

He shrugged. 'Baron Steib's long tenure has suppressed most political discussion. It will take time for it to rekindle.'

Urzo's words were wise, but as I farewelled him and returned to the Flea Monkey I felt a wall of frustration within me. The completion of Timoth's task had been going so well when I’d managed to arrest Steib on the night of my arrival in Trackford, but it was now my third night in the city and the trial was still in its earliest stage. I found myself drinking more than just the one glass of bloodberry wine that night.

The rest of my witnesses took several additional days to give their testimonies, but none of them were as lengthy as Baron Urzo's. In the interest of my sanity – ostensibly due to a desire to disrupt the city's normal functioning for as short a time as possible – I decided not to pursue testimonies from a number of parties, including those entrusted with transporting the coin to the Tokuans, and those who had seen the burning of the riverside properties. My witnesses included those entrusted with negotating with the raiders – for Steib had been too cowardly to present himself directly to them – as well as military men who gave their opinion that the Tokuans would not keep their part of the bargain, as Timoth had foreseen. I felt that my case was strong, but as I was also the judge the main purpose of my witnesses was to ensure the support of the townsfolk.

On the morning of Steib’s first witness testimony, proceedings began late due to the arrival of a messenger from the Borderlands. He had ridden from Mattrath with word that the only other Free County had all but fallen to the desert nomads. I demanded to know how it could have happened considering that King Degron and Prince Milos had pulled out half of the men typically stationed at Haelling Cove and sent them and others to the Borderlands, but the response was more than disheartening. It was devastating.

'Count Khad Djiron was assassinated. A man snuck into his bedchambers and waited there, out of sight, until the castle was asleep. He slit Count Khad’s throat silently in his sleep.'

I was horrified. I had known Khad only briefly, and we had not seen eye to eye on all things, but the news was horrific. I asked him if Countess Ayaar had taken the throne of the Borderlands, and was not filled with confidence by the messenger's subsequent wince.

'She is next in line, as Count Khad's sister, however many refuse to follow her on account of her being a woman,' the messenger replied.

I scowled at that: the Borderlands were barely civilised, and though they could be dashing and romantic, they were also primitive and barbaric. The messenger detailed how even the Duchy of Mattrath was at risk from the desert nomad raids. In combination with the sacking of almost every major city in Trent, the Kingdom was left in a dire state. Of the six free realms within the Kingdom, only the Mountain Duchy and the northern Duchy of Hollintay had emerged from recent events unscathed.

I flicked the messenger a silver coin and told him to spend the night in Trackford. I sent a fresh messenger to Timoth so that he could receive the news with all possible haste. I was already considering the timeline. The messenge would have left the Borderlands when I was in the Duchy of Trent being waylaid by highwaymen. Timoth had asked what the odds were that our parents and sister had been killed at the same time that we’d been attacked, and now I was forced to ask how likely it was that Khad had also been assassinated at that time by chance.