Law and Magic

NaNo Part 1

Prologue

The clatter of bracelets alerted him to the presence of a woman in his solar that afternoon. He smiled to himself thinking that it could only be the woman that he had sent fro from the party the previous night. Imagine his surprise when the woman standing behind him was not a woman dressed in the pretty scaffolds of gauze that imitated cloth and barely covered her frame but was instead greeted by the face of a woman in a blue stole. The woman had a large neck ornament that covered most of her pale and swan like neck and was made out of what appeared to be a single piece of gold that was sealed in place with a large ruby. The ruby glinted in the hollow of her throat and her eyes stared at him with a great hunger. The hunger however, was not for the man's body as he had hoped though.

"Dam'man Sur Avellas; I hope you were not expecting anyone else?" the woman's voice was clear and forceful all at the same time. There was only a hint of malice in her tone when she spoke.

Sur smiled only slightly and then said, "I might have had some guests noble lady, but at this time, I am sure that they will understand the import of you and your retinue and will leave us to our needs." He motioned to the rest of the woman's party. Behind her stood six guards livered in the traditional iron and yellow and black livery and long capes. Their armor had been polished to an almost blinding shine and their helmets were fully in place. Each one of them was wearing the same exact helmet even. A small army of one cloned to impossible numbers...

Sur spoke. "To what do I owe this illustrious visit Judge Auralith?"

Judge Auralith frowned at Sur and then said, "I don't think that there is any true reason as to why you need a reason for why we are visiting. We are a part of the judge judiciate and there is no reason for you to feel in any way as if we are impeding on your space." The judge smiled slightly in a small way and then moved towards a small chair that was sitting against a rather large fern plant. The rest of the small group of men that had followed her was still standing by the door that they had come through. Auralith could be heard creaking as her own armor settled into place. Even though Sur heard it, he could only barely see the armor underneath the silks that she wore. The colors were bright reds patterned with the Golden crest of the Phoenix on it curled around the whole of the small space around her back.

Sur reached towards a small table that was right next to him that held a small decanter of a clear colored liquid. The small crystal goblets that were right next to it were stamped with a flowing pattern in gold and etched crystal and Sur poured himself a glass of the liquid into two of the glasses. As he picked up one and sipped at it, he offered the second one to the judge in front of him.

Judge Auralith made a small wince of distaste and then waved her hand in front of her. "I don't drink nectar anymore. I have since abstained from it since joining the Ministry of Law." He gloved hand brushed back a stray lock of brown hair from her face to be placed behind an ear with a complex ornament in it.

Sur looked at the ornament in her ear and a crease could be seen across his forehead as he tried to place where the ornament had come from. It was most certainly not one of his gifts to her and he was not happy about it. He placed the second glass back down on the small wooden and metal table and smiled, showing as much of his teeth as possible. "Ahh, I see. Where are my manners then? Perhaps I can offer you something else to drink then? I am sure I can have a servant deliver it as soon as possible..." Sur trailed off.

Auralith waved her hands once more and made a pointed stare at Sur and frowned again. "The Militant Order of Judges is not supposed to drink while they are working."

Sur continued to smile, but the strain of holding it could be seen at the corners of his mouth. "Working? Am I to assume that you are here under an official capacity then?"

Auralith pursed her lips and then crossed one of her legs over the other and then held out one of her gauntleted hands up in the air. A soldier from behind her walked up and then placed a scroll in her hands and she immediately placed it on her lap and began to peel of the seal and ribbons that held it closed. Sur noticed that the sigil of the Phoenix was seen in blood-and-gold colored wax that fell to the floor. She paused for a moment and then stood up and unfurled the small piece of parchment paper and then began to read out loud.

"Lord Sur Beldarin Avellas, under the statute laws and by the Order of Judges of the Imperial Tarsis Ministry of Law, by the hand of Judge Magister Gabelhardt, you are hereby placed under arrest."

Sur paused for a moment and then smiled cheerfully. "Are you serious Auralith?"

"You will call me 'Your Honor'. I will demand no less." Auralith smiled rather gleefully.

Sur raised an eyebrow and then said, "What on earth am I being arrested for?"

"You have been found guilty of harboring fugitives and then plotting against the Imperial Empire."

Sur frowned and then sarcastically said, "You even managed to get a Judge Magister to sign the arrest warrant? That is fantastic."

Judge Auralith made a motion with her gauntlet and the rest of the guards made up in a formation. "Please try not to be seditious about this. I really am sure that there is a wonderful explanation for everything."

"You mean that you believe this warrant? Who gave the order to have this drawn up? Judge Amintarth?" Sur smiled rather ingratiatingly.

A look from Auralith made Sur shudder before he frowned and then said, "Forgive me, I mean his Honor and holiness."

"It was not his Honor Amintarth who suggested it at all."

"Then tell me where it was that these allegations came from."

Auralith smiled and then said, "You know as well as I that the Ministry does not allow its sources to be known until court. In court you will have full access to be allowed to see your accusers."

Sur smirked and then looked over at the other guards in the room. "Let me guess, it will all be alright then? I will get a fair trial and no one will be able to say that justice was not done?"

Auralith nodded her head imperiously. "That is correct."

Sur frowned and then shook his head. "I don't think so Auralith."

Aralith snarled. "You will call me 'Your Honor' damnit!"

"I will do no such thing!" Sur's voice roared over everyone in the solar. He looked at Auralith with contempt. "I know what it is that you are up to and I know what this is about."

Judge Auralith frowned and then motioned with her hands. "Arrest him."

As the guards finally began to move forwards, Sur smiled. "Tell me your Honor; do you still captain the Lucient?"

Auralith frowned and then shook her head. "No, I have been promoted to flying the 12th fleet's Cruiser class ship known as Veritas."

Sur smiled and looked out the window. "Is that so? Well, we all have moved up in the world then haven't we?" He looked out the windows on the side of the solar and then ran right through it. Auralith yelled out in surprise at the guards.

"Catch him! Don't let him escape!"

The guards surged forwards, but from the vantage point high above the city of Tertius, the form of Sur fell with the winds buffeting him from behind, his coat flapping in the winds. Below him appeared a small cutter that caught him in mid flight. He smiled and waved up towards the Judge that was currently in his home.

"I'll see you all in Valhaldis!"

Judge Arualith screamed at his vanishing form.

Author's Note

This is in fact, the first bit that i wrote for NaNoWriMo in teh year of 2011. I will continue to place this years NaNo online and hope that you all will take a look at it and even enjoy what I write.