The Magpie Lord by Charles K. J

Author:Charles, K. J. [Charles, K. J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy, Mystery, Romance, Historical, Suspense
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
Published: 2013-09-03T06:00:00+00:00

Stephen set off at a rapid, angry pace down the leafy lane. Crane, whose extra height was mostly leg, kept up effortlessly with long, casual strides. It was very hot now, but the trees above shed welcome green shade, and magpies cawed and chirruped overhead. Their feet echoed slightly on the dry packed earth.

“Do you want to talk about it?” asked Crane.

“No.”

They paced on for a moment.

“What’s a justiciar?”

Stephen stared ahead. “You asked who enforces the laws surrounding practitioners. Justiciars do.”

“And that’s what you are.”

“Yes.”

“A secret policeman.”

“It’s not a secret.”

“You didn’t tell me.”

“You’re not a practitioner.”

“Justiciar. Judge and jury?”

“If you like.”

“So what’s the penalty for killing someone with a Judas jack?”

“My job is to stop practitioners hurting people,” said Stephen irritably. “I’d have stopped Gammer Parrott by whatever means necessary.”

“You killed that warlock last winter,” Crane observed.

“That was necessary.”

“Judge, jury and executioner. What about Miss Bell? What’s the maximum sentence for aiding and abetting murder?”

“It doesn’t work like that. My job is to stop practitioners hurting people, and I do that however I have to.”

“So you left Miss Bell disinclined to hurt me, by bullying and threatening her.”

“If you want to put it like that,” said Stephen, tight-lipped.

“Until you forced me and her into alliance. So I stood up for her, more or less proving she was wrong about me as I did so, and left her far better disposed towards me. I can feel my local reputation improving as we speak.”

Stephen looked slowly round. Crane was grinning at him.

“Nicely played. Although when you’re relying on my intervention, I’d rather you warn me in advance.”

“I wasn’t relying on anything. You had every right to demand redress, and I’d have supported that. Though I did think—hope—you might react as you did,” Stephen added, slightly less stiffly. “It was…fair. And I’m glad of it. It’s best for everyone to get her back on the straight and narrow.”

“You’ve got that authority, to let her off?”

“Well, yes. Judge and jury.”

“That’s quite a responsibility.”

“It’s how your ancestor set it up,” Stephen said. “The Magpie Lord founded the justiciary, he made the rules. Of course, he thought it would be an appointment of honour, not a job you give the misfits and the ones who can’t pay for training.”

“Not a popular job, then.”

“No,” Stephen said, with some emphasis. “Nobody likes the justiciary, sticking our noses into other people’s business and telling our betters what to do. They can’t stand us, right up till the moment they come up against someone stronger and more ruthless, and then they start clamouring for help and asking why we haven’t done our jobs before.” He kicked a stone into the white-blossomed hedgerow. “It’s harder out here. In the cities, there’s more danger but that means people understand more. Here, they just do what they like and treat the law like it’s for other people.”

“That attitude seems fairly common round here. I take it your aunt wasn’t sympathetic.”

“My aunt,” said Stephen viciously. “Dear Aunt Annie. Apparently the fact that she’s my father’s sister gives her the right to decide what he’d have thought about any situation.

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