“My complaint is simple,” Lord Ridak began. “Marak is a soldier in the Situ Army and the son of a Situ slave. He was given the position of Lord of Fardale as a temporary measure until such time as I could find a suitable replacement for Lord Lashendo who died unexpectedly. He has taken the position under those arrangements and has since ignored all requests and pleas for communication and payments due to the Situ Clan. He has negotiated settlements with other Clans without informing me, the Head of the Situ Clan. He has made sworn members of the Situ Clan swear allegiance to him in violation of their Vows of Service to me. He has forcibly ejected my Lord Marshal from my Fardale estate. He has invaded my home and stolen a prisoner and killed two guards in the process. He has refused my direct order to relinquish control of Fardale and, finally, he has attempted to break ties with the Situ Clan and institute himself as the Lord of a new and fictitious Clan. I demand the Lords Council restore my property and deliver Marak to me for punishment.”
“Very well,” nodded the emissary. “These are very serious charges, Lord Marak. Unless you can refute these charges, the Lords Council will have to do as Lord Ridak requests. What do you have to say?”
Lord Marak looked down at the notes he had scribbled and addressed the emissary. “I was a soldier in the Situ Army when I was offered the position as Lord of Fardale,” he began. “My mother used to be a Situ slave here in Lituk Valley. She is no longer here and she is no longer a slave. The fact that she is not here is known to both Lord Ridak and Lord Marshal Grefon. While Lord Lashendo did die unexpectedly, my appointment was not temporary. If it was meant to be temporary, I was lied to because I was told that it was permanent.”
“That is not true,” interrupted Lord Ridak. “I never told him the position was permanent.”
“Lord Ridak,” scolded the emissary, “please hold your tongue. Lord Marak will refute your charges. You will get a chance to argue about his statements later. Continue, Lord Marak.”
“Thank you,” nodded Lord Marak to the emissary. “As for failing to make payments to the Situ Clan, none have yet become due. We are still harvesting and the crop has not been sold. I was given control over Fardale because Lord Lashendo had gotten himself into a position where he could not fulfill his contracts. I assume Lord Ridak expected me to fail and blame me for the embarrassment. I did not fail, however. Fardale is no longer unable to fulfill its contracts. In fact, we have a surplus of grain which has not yet been contracted for.”
Lord Marak paused to study the fury on Lord Ridak’s face as he sipped a glass of water. “As for communications,” continued Lord Marak, “there have been bandits in the hills between our two estates. We were not able to communicate with Lituk Valley and, I might add, Lituk Valley was unable to communicate with Fardale. We have not received one messenger from Lituk Valley since the day I assumed command of Fardale. In contrast, the one messenger we did manage to get to Lituk Valley was taken prisoner and tortured. I admit to breaking into Lord Ridak’s mansion and rescuing my Cortain from his dungeon. It was unfortunate that his jailer and torturer refused to yield peacefully and had to be killed. If I was intent on killing Situ Clansmen, I would have killed Lord Marshal Grefon. I spoke with him in his study during the rescue. I left him with no more than a bruise upon his head.”
Lord Marshal Grefon's face was a mask of rage and the Situ Lord Marshal’s fingers were white as he clenched the edge of the table. Lord Marak smiled at him and continued. “I did have some border disputes with my neighbors in Fardale. A Lords Council emissary was called in but we negotiated a settlement before his arrival. We had agreed to keep the settlement private and it did not involve a lessening of Fardale’s worth or value in any way. Lord Marshal Grefon attended the meeting with the emissary and tried to replace me as Lord of Fardale. I was polite to him, but firm in my resolve to maintain the confidentiality of the agreement with my neighbors. I ignored his attempt to replace me after the emissary from the Lords Council clarified that my pronouncement from Lord Ridak did not allow for me to be replaced as Lord of Fardale. He returned with me to Fardale and proceeded to make threats to me. When he threatened the life of my mother, whom I believed to be still in Lord Ridak’s possession, I ordered him to get off the Fardale estate immediately.”
“Wait a minute,” interrupted the emissary. “You stated that an emissary from the Lords Council proclaimed your pronouncement as irrevocable?”
Lord Marak withdrew the pronouncement and handed it to the emissary. “He did,” affirmed Lord Marak. “You will note that the pronouncement gives me absolute control over Fardale. As such, I have demanded that each of my subjects swear a Vow of Service directly to me. Not one of them owes any allegiance to Lord Ridak, and certainly not to Lord Marshal Grefon.”
The emissary held up his hand for silence as he read the pronouncement. He scribbled notes furiously while nodding occasionally. Finally, he frowned and looked up. “Lord Ridak,” he began, “this pronouncement gives Lord Marak absolute control. You have no authority over his dealings in Fardale and you can not replace him as Lord. Certainly, Lord Marshal Grefon has no right to be on the estate without the blessing and welcome of Lord Marak. The only control you have over Lord Marak is his Vows of Service and you will have to show that he has broken them to remove him as Lord of Fardale.”
“What are you talking about?” stormed Lord Ridak. “I do not give absolute control to anyone. I certainly would never give it to the son of a slave.”
The emissary showed Lord Ridak the clause and his signature. “It appears that you have done just that,” decreed the emissary.
Lord Ridak shot a killing glare at Lord Marshal Grefon and then returned his gaze to the emissary. “Even still,” he scowled, “this does not give him the right to seize my estate. If entering my home and killing my men does not constitute a violation of his Vows of Service, I can not imagine what does.”
“Two valid points,” agreed the emissary. “Lord Marak can you explain your reason for seizing Fardale and raising your own banner over it?”
“Certainly,” Lord Marak nodded. “The Cortain whom I was forced to rescue from Lord Ridak’s dungeon was sent here to ask for military help to ward off an attack on Fardale. Instead of supplying the military help which would keep Fardale safe from invasion, the messenger was jailed and tortured. Fardale was left to fend for itself like an abandoned estate.”
“Are you certain that Lord Ridak or Lord Marshal Grefon were aware of the attack?” questioned the emissary. “Perhaps the messenger never delivered his message.”
“I have since talked to my Cortain and he informed me that he did relay the message before he was tortured,” affirmed Lord Marak.
“But you did not possess that information when you seized the estate,” the emissary pointed out.
“That is true,” conceded Lord Marak, “but I did possess other information. Marshal Tingo of the Ragatha Clan informed me that Lord Marshal Grefon invited the Ragatha to attack Fardale in hopes of removing me from power. Lord Marshal Grefon assured Marshal Tingo that Lituk Valley would not raise a finger to defend me. As far as I am concerned, it was at that moment that the Situ Clan forfeited all rights and claims to the Fardale estate. If the Lord Marshal wishes to contradict my statement, I can produce Marshal Tingo for his testimony.”
“You can produce the Ragatha Marshal for testimony?” quizzed the emissary.
“Yes,” declared Lord Marak. “He is still the Marshal of Woodville, but he works for me now. The Ragatha Clan forfeited Woodville to me following their defeat.”
“What?” shouted Lord Ridak. “Are you trying to get us to believe that you defeated the entire Ragatha Clan Army? This is preposterous. I can not listen to any more of these lies.”