Natural Magic

Chapter 25 - Testimony

Kairon had been watching the proceedings from the sidelines of the legal arena with polite interest, arms folded in front and hands cupping each elbow in a stately, statuesque pose. Penelope and Justafar had been grasping the concept of a court hearing with surprising skill, despite their primitive culture.

He frowned. Where had that condescending thought come from? There was always some intrusive point waiting in the wings when he thought about how the orcs were handling their social progression. Like that one, where he had thought of his people as “the orcs” instead of as his people.

It wasn’t something that intruded on his thoughts when he was in the middle of designing processes and tools. It only occurred when he thought about the people who would be applying them. He felt it was indicative of an inexplicable apart-ness, like he was cut off from other orcs, going back to when he was discovered in the wastes without memory.

Changing tack to a more pleasant line of thinking, he wondered again why no one had gathered the tribes together like this before. It was so easy, and the innovations were just there for the imagining. Sometimes his strokes of genius felt more like he was recalling a memory instead of exploring new territory.

There was no time to analyze the root of his condition. The brief intermission had ended and the players were returning to their places.

Kairon watched with a muted sense of pride as the judge climbed the podium. If he could find more orcs like that one, the empire could have a full court. The orcs could establish a written secular law system and handle matters of crime assessment in a more efficient manner. They could move away from the strictly religious principles and, more importantly, away from the shifting whims of a chieftain tyrant.

The judge looked down on the two teams from the podium through half-lidded eyes.

Kairon also regarded them from his place on the sidelines.

Justafar’s team crowded around their table, as if unable to escape its gravitational pull.

Kairon felt much promise from Justafar. Even more than from the smaller tribes he had bested earlier in his campaign for enlightenment. He not only had charisma, but cultivated it in ways more advanced than Kairon had seen thus far. He was smart and knew how to play at politics.

Kairon knew that while Justafar may be playing the humble underling now, it was actually to foster a carefully engineered false sense of security in Kairon himself.

It did not bother him. He wanted to see Justafar succeed. It was never his, Kairon’s, place to rule, but was only a role which had been thrust upon him. For his part, he intended to guide others in how to learn, but knew one day he would step out of the seat of command in favor of….of…..of someone like Justafar, perhaps.

But then there was Penelope.

He judged her to be quick witted, a rare trait among the orcs. Her mind seemed sharper than Justafar’s, almost rivaling his own. She wasn’t well-liked, a negative quality in competition for leadership, but this was largely due to this business about her potentially not being an orc.

This was a strange case to him, because he did not truly know what a changeling was. Her being accused of being one, he also felt unable to trust her information on the subject. However, the evidence provided only proved she was clever and compassionate. Rare traits, but ones she shared with Kairon himself, their ruler.

He did not intend to hold leadership forever, but this was because he understood the role of a leader. He knew a leader is intended to be a role model among those who he lead in addition to a major decision-maker for the good of the public body.