De Havilland examined the sorry-looking creature in front of him carefully. It appeared somewhat familiar but there was still a resounding sense of the “unrecognisable” about it. He shifted in his chair uneasily as a sudden sharp sense of dread came over him.
“Well...” he pondered, wriggling around in his seat like a child being fitted for a wedding outfit, “what would you recommend?”
The barber appeared to spasm momentarily and then very quickly recovered the moment up by coughing rather elaborately.
“Perhaps your lordship could explain perhaps the look he was going for at the time that this...natural disaster occurred?” he questioned pulling strands of De Havilland's hair outwards in all directions.
De Havilland stared at his reflection in the mirror in front of him. It had been a very long time since he had need or want to consider his outward appearance. He wasn't really sure he was qualified to make any sort of appropriate decision on the topic anymore.
“Perhaps just a trim?” he queried expectantly, which was sadly immediately followed by another coughing fit from the barber.
“Maybe your lordship could explain a little bit about his role, or perhaps whether he will be meeting people of purpose at all. I might then have more of an idea as to what might be required.”
De Havilland mulled over the words carefully. Eighty percent of him was wondering how appropriate it might be for him to be seen smashing a barber’s head through a plate glass window; the remaining 20% knew that he probably deserved to be treated like a barbarian. He was after all in the Known Worlds now and was expected to look just like everyone else, no matter how disappointing a thought that might be. The Marquis peered at himself again in the mirror.
“I’ll tell you what” he stated, “you fix me a large drink from your collection of spirits from over there and I’ll figure out what we are doing. I have the distinct impression that this is going to be a lot harder work than either of us anticipate.”
The barber picked up a pair of scissors and looked De Havilland in the eye.
“I very much doubt that…” he quipped.
About an hour and a half later a statelier if still imposing figure of The Marquis De Havilland stepped out of “Bryon’s Gentlemen Grooming Establishment”. The hair was now a socially acceptable shoulder length although in some places De Havilland had retained some of the Vuldrok warrior braiding and beading of his original look. He had thought it might add a touch of dramatic flair for the fashion conscious of the city who might (strangely as it might appear) want to imitate him. His beard had been a real trial. The wild bushiness of it had been cropped back, but he had chosen still to retain a neat and refined gentlemen’s beard. His moustache he kept longer than the beard as he had really missed the feeling of having one over the past years. His skin, beard and hair had all been treated with an astonishing assortment of various oils and potions and despite their own objections the grooming established had been tasked to spend some time attending to his hands and nails. Overall it had probably been one of the most uncomfortable periods De Havilland had ever spent in civilised space. He had of course refused eyebrow trims and a whole host of other fads, (some of which sounded more like Decados interrogation techniques) but he was satisfied that he had probably managed to capture the populist image of the dashing explorer Phoenix Knight. He was now wearing some of the new clothes that he had picked up earlier that day and felt ready now to make a first trip to the offices of the Phoenix Order.
Perhaps just one more drink would be advisable first though.
“You are Anton, Marquis De Havilland Hawkwood and your liege lord by estate is one Count Otto Kierkegaard Hawkwood of Ravenna. Is this correct?”
“Yes, your Lordship”
“You are a member of The Company of the Phoenix and have sworn to uphold the values and principles that our order espouses in active service to his Imperial Majesty, our Emperor Alexius.”
“Yes, your Lordship”
“You have forsworn all political ties and affiliations to your noble house for the period of your service and have been given the rights and freedoms to serve His Majesty without impediment by grace of your liege lord through his observance to the authority of the throne?”
“Yes, your Lordship”
“You have come here to this office today of your own free will in honourable service to His Majesty, and the words you speak here will be your own, and are not the views, testimony or instructions of another party?”
“Yes, your Lordship”
“For the benefit of the clerk the hearing panel today consists of myself - Baron Audley Mountbatten, Her Ladyship Ciera Li Halan and Her Ladyship Latha Saritha Akilla Al Malik who are all serving knights with the Company of the Phoenix.”
“Marquis De Havilland, can you confirm that you know and have been made aware of the reasons as to why you have been summonsed here today?”
““Yes, your Lordship”
“The panel are now providing The Marquis with a copy of his summons letter, which states the following:
From the desk of Baron Eviathan Hawkwood, leader of the knights of the Order of the Phoenix,
To the Marquis Anton Hawkwood De Havilland, Phoenix knight.
Sir,
You are summonsed to appear before your peers in the noble Order of the Phoenix, to which you swore your oath, to give account of the conduct of your sworn Cohort, the Ur-Obun known as Tonbei vo Khaan.
You are expected, at your earliest convenience, in the halls of the Order in the Imperial Palace, Galatea on Byzantium Secundus, when a meeting of a council of your peers will be convened.
By the light of the divine Pancreator.
Have you seen and read this letter before?”
“Yes, your Lordship”
“Have you read the notices concerning this process?”
“Yes, your Lordship”
“Do you have any other questions concerning either the summons or this process?”
“No, your Lordship”
“Before we start I will bring forward the written testimony of Sir Vim Militas-Djinn Al Malik, knight of the Company of the Phoenix who wrote to this office at the same time that your official notice concerning the events of this investigation were first brought to light. For the sake of the clerk, this letter provides positive character references concerning the Marquis De Havilland and his actions concerning threat of political unrest on Ravenna and beyond between the Justinian and Hawkwood Houses. We also received more recent notice regarding the Marquis’ foray into barbarian space in order to support the expansion of the Phoenix Empire, which is in fulfilment of his sworn duties; and if this is correct might be used in testimony on his behalf.”
The Baron puts his papers down and looks up at De Havilland.
“Marquis, can you share with the panel where and how you first met the Ur-Oban, Tonbei vo Khaan please?”
“I met Tonbei during the Emperor Wars. I can’t recall our very first meeting but certainly it was whilst my unit were on active duty in Velisamil …
“The Oban homeworld?”
“Yes, my lord. My unit were stationed there for a period during the war as a standing force and then, as the war progressed, we were moved on as needed. But certainly, it was whilst on Velisamil that I first came in to contact with Tonbei.”
“And how did you take him at that time?”
“As an individual or as a soldier?”
“Both”
“I found him to be a very quiet and dutiful character. I had no real experience of others of his race before but my time on Velisamil, but from what I could determine later he was fairly typical of his kin. Tonbei was picked out as an exceptional soldier and had made himself a strong candidate for the unit. I don’t know how we ended up working together but I know that at that time I liked working with him. It became apparent that together we offered the unit more tactical options than the usual standing troops. Certainly, I was more of your typical squad leader at that time and he was something of a specialist but together we were very successful at a number of the more covert operations, particularly in situations of close proximity to imperial citizens.”
“Can you explain that further please?”
“Certainly. Tonbei was an exceptional covert operator. He was able to get into situations without being seen and could deal with light security teams quite comfortably. I was more tactical in my training and could provide him with a clear plan of attack. In addition, I could provide a more traditional armed support on operations when a diversion or extraction was needed.”
“I see. We thank you for your service during the Emperor Wars Marquis, as we thank all those who served and died to bring about natural order. We note to the clerk that we are now reviewing the war record of Tonbei vo Khaan which I believe…[turns to the others] that we have all read?”
The others sat either side of Baron Audley both nod and respond positively.
“How would you regard his service during those years Marquis?”
“I’d have to say it was very good. It was a lot to do with our success during the wars that lead to us taking up the option of joining as Imperial servants within the Phoenix Order.”
“Yes, you both applied together, and you were his sponsor at the time?”
“Well…”
“Are you aware of the responsibilities and liabilities of the sponsorship of Imperial Cohorts Marquis?”
There was silence.
“I take it that you were made aware of those responsibilities at the time Tonbei vo Khaan was made an Imperial Cohort?” The question was made a little louder this time.
“…Yes…”
Ciera Li Halan stares at De Havilland studying him carefully. 5 years ago he would have cowered under that gaze. Today he felt surprisingly more able to hold it for reasons he didn’t fully understand.
“Let us move on for a moment. So, to summarise you were both offered service, you as an Imperial Phoenix Knight and Tonbei as your assigned Cohort.”
“Yes, your Lordship”
“And you provided that service in a number of campaigns [flicks through some pages] before arriving on Ravenna, which is where the focus of our session will rest.”
“Yes, your Lordship”
Some time was then spent analysing the career and actions of De Havilland and Tonbei during their various campaigns. It seemed to De Havilland that the panel went out of their way to belittle and demean any and all of their works and labours over those years. Learning your craft was a difficult challenge for a Phoenix Knight and very costly if mistakes were made as part of that process, but that certainly didn’t stop the panel from making it clear that they did not hold the pair’s accomplishments with any degree of respect. Quite the contrary in fact. To speak ill of the dead is one thing but De Havilland kept getting the feeling that his own name was being muddied in with Tonbei’s all too frequently. To him it didn’t feel like justice was being served. Until finally, after many hours of sneering commentary…
“…I take it the panel have read the full account leading to the event of Tonbei vo Khaan’s death?
The Baron turns to the knights either side of him; Ciera keeps her eyes firmly on De Havilland but both she and Latha nod their confirmation.
“Marquis, could you summarise your own statement on the matter please?”
The Marquis composed his thoughts, summoning up a series of words and names he hadn’t need to recall for many a year.
“Tonbei was killed by Sir Hasimir Fenrig Torenson and his aide, Virssu Lainis. He had attempted to attack Baron Christopher Hawkwood in the early hours of the morning, at a point when the Baron was retired to bed. Tonbei was killed as an unidentifiable assassin, and then immediately after his death he was identified by Sir Hasimir. As you would expect, I was approached the very next morning…”
“I expect the Baron supposed you were behind the attack?”
“Yes Your Lordship”
“And were you?”
The question seemed to puncture the very space between De Havilland and his peers.
“That would be absurd. I had absolutely nothing to gain from the death of the Baron”
“And yet according to our findings you personally believed the Barons presence in Deepcore 104 to be a significant political problem?”
“I thought his presence was deliberately provocative if that is what you mean? It seemed to me to be either a direct attempt to stir bitter reprisals by the Justinian’s or at the very least a deeply flawed decision.”
“So you feel you were more capable of making decisions regarding this matter?”
“I would not have sent a power hungry Hawkwood to nurse vulnerable Justinian adolescents in a sector already marred by considerable controversy.”
“You feel it your duty to make decisions concerning the management of domestic matters?”
“When those decisions threaten the very lives of the common people there, then I do have an obligation…”
“Did you tell the Planetary Duke that you did not feel him capable of managing his own affairs?”
De Havilland stopped. This was indeed surprising territory. Discussion of the Planetary Duke could have any number of unforeseen consequences. He had not expected an old warhorse like Audley to need to wander into this sort of territory at all. There was more going on here than he could fathom. De Havilland’s survival instincts suddenly kicked into life.
“No, of course not. On the contrary. The Duke is most definitely capable of managing his own affairs. I expect everything worked out exactly as he would have wished.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning I have every confidence the Duke is managing his political affairs…correctly. But then of course that would not be something I would ever have cause to be interested in myself”
“Do you resent being asked these questions Marquis?” interjected Ciera without warning. She leaned forward in her seat like an old school-master and seemingly peering into the very inner workings of his mind.
“No, of course not…”
“But you do. A great deal. Why?”
De Havilland looked at her without expression. He wondered how much she could read of his thoughts and feelings on the matter. He had heard that she was an expert at interrogation.
He certainly, was not.
“I would prefer to keep to the subject of Tonbei if it is all the same to the panel.”
“Are you offended about being asked your views here Marquis? Surely you would be pleased that we are showing an interest. We are just trying to put you at your ease?”
“No, I am not pleased. I would prefer to keep discussions to the subject matter in question.”
“What are you afraid of De Havilland?” she followed up again.
“I would prefer to keep to the subject matter in question” he repeated indignantly.
The room was quiet for a long time whilst the 3 members of the panel eyed De Havilland carefully. When the silence was broken it was Baron Audley who spoke first.
“Do you still claim that Tonbei was [refers to his reams of notes and reads directly from one page]…a member of an order you referred to as ‘The Slayers Guild’ and in the service of Count Innocence Decados?”
“Yes Your Lordship”
“Even though that group is well known to be a figment of myth; a superstition of the common people?”
De Havilland grew impatient.
“Is it…?” he responded with a slight tone of sarcasm.
“There is no credible proof that any group calling themselves ‘The Slayers Guild’ ever existed at all.”
“I suppose the Ukar knives with the non-existent sigil were as much of a sign as you are ever likely to expect.”
“A decorative drawing left at the scene of a crime is not exactly a completely unknown phenomenon.”
“No, indeed, that much is true. But the existence or not of this group is not significant to the outcome either. Tonbei was recruited to commit murder, and commit murder, he did.”
“But you can understand the challenge here Marquis. You suggest that the Count enlisted Tonbei through contact with this organisation. If this organisation does not exist then perhaps neither too does the Counts involvement here?”
“One does not necessarily preclude the other. We had testimony of the fact in front of witnesses.”
“Yes, so I note. Such credible witnesses as Sir Hassimir Fenrig Torenson who by all accounts is indeed a master of table etiquette and is now more popularly known within the empire as a self-confessed psychic, and Sir Hemlock Justinian, whose own family currently lie in a considerable state of disgrace concerning the trade of banned Second Age technologies. I won’t even bother to mention the other members of this crew who supposedly heard this same confession. Hardly a credible batch of witnesses, is it Marquis?”
“Yes, it is a shame some of the more acceptable members of society were not present but then I expect there was some really important work for them to be doing here that kept them away from… any personal liabilities.”
“You consider the work of senior nobles to be less important than the frontline work of real servants, such as yourself?”
“What is this really about?” responds an exasperated De Havilland.
“Sorry Marquis?”
“We’ve been sat here for a good while now and it’s pretty clear to me that you have poured scorn over the principles of my official statement and in general you seem to have been more interested in my general socio-political views than the facts of this case. Given the years that has passed since this event took place you would have had plenty of time to accrue facts from any other sources of interest. I don’t think you are really trying to assess the facts from my point of view here at all. Actually, from where I am sitting, you just appear to be trying your best to provoke me. You know, if I didn’t know better, I’d swear…”
De Havilland trailed off. The room was silent whilst his mind whirred into motion.
The Baron was making notes and looked up expectantly having noticed the pause.
“I’m sorry Marquis, you were saying?” he queried.
De Havilland looked at the Baron making his notes. ‘What on earth was he making notes on?’ he wondered. ‘We weren’t actively discussing the case at that moment. It was as if the Baron was more interested in his general response than the details within it. But why would he want to be doing that?’ Something just did not add up.
“Marquis, you were saying?” repeated the Baron.
“You aren’t interested in this case at all are you?” said a calm voice of realization. De Havilland laughed briefly.
“You aren’t here to question me on this case are you? You are assessing me. Why?!”
“I really have no idea what you are talking about” replied the Baron. He placed his quill down and pushed himself back into his chair.
“The purpose of this panel is to ascertain the facts concerning the betrayal of Tonbei vo Khaan and whether he ‘under your direct instruction’ committed attempted murder or not. Need I remind you Marquis that if you are found guilty of orchestrating attempted murder the consequences would be most profound.”
“Liar...” the words fell from De Havilland’s lips, but he didn’t know where they had come from or who had said them. The voice was certainly his though.
“I beg your pardon!” spat the Baron, clearly irritated by the response.
De Havilland leaned forwards to the edge of his desk, “That is a lie” he follows in a softened voice.
The Baron fixed a wily gaze on De Havilland.
“As a sponsor for Tonbei you have an official obligation in any capacity for his actions…”
“No...“ De Havilland cuts him off.
The Baron looks more even irritated and started to look a little red in the face.
“Do not question the authority of this court” he rages.
“I don’t, in fact I am relying upon it” responds De Havilland curtly.
“You’re babbling man, explain yourself!”
“I am not Tonbei’s sponsor” he answered simply.
“Impossible!” retorted the Baron, “Every Cohort has an official sponsor and it is always their allotted Phoenix Knight.” The Baron starts to flick through pages of documents and eventually finds the page he was looking for.
“Yes, here!” he finds and stabs at a section of writing on a document before him and starts reading from it.
“I Anton Hawkwood, Marquis De Havilland hereby swear that I hold the character of Tonbei vo Khaan to be of sufficient standing to allow him to serve in the assigned position of Imperial Cohort…. And so on and so on and so forth, signed Anton Hawkwood.”
“Yes” replies De Havilland calmly.
“It’s here in black and white!” exhorts the Baron.
“That…is a character reference” replied De Havilland, “I was not actually permitted to sponsor Tonbei.”
The room falls quiet.
The Baron looks at the documents again.
“I made the application, but I was turned down on the basis that Tonbei was not of suitable candidate material. When I protested it was suggested to me privately that perhaps an Ur-Oban was not a suitable field agent nor desirable face for the Phoenix Empire. However, contradictory to that view there was also at that time a push to sell the concept of Phoenix Knights to the general populace. The Town Crier ran a sensational story about how an Ur-Oban was making his Imperial Cohort application; the first non-human to do so. The story sold very well with a readership who lapped up the notion that under the emperor the common man now had more opportunities in life. The next I had heard, Tonbei’s application had been re-submitted and rather miraculously had been accepted…”
The Baron picked up his documentation and quickly began reading through it again.
“Your original request was indeed refused…A subsequent request was then sent through to this office from…[reads to himself] and then there is a note here to this office… with a final application signed and sponsored by……………………”
“…one Baron Eviathan Hawkwood in his capacity as a leading representative at the office of The Company of the Phoenix. An official stamp of approval from the office itself was a ringing endorsement, as good as anyone could have hoped for.”
The Baron looks down at the words in front of him and then back at De Havilland.
“I see...”
There was no sense of triumphalism about this moment at all. The room was surprisingly still. Oddly so. The tension that had been building in the room suddenly dissipated. De Havilland had expected the Baron to be annoyed given how much emphasis he had wanted to make of Tonbei’s sponsor but now, it just didn’t seem to matter to him at all. Things were very strange indeed.
“This session will now briefly adjourn. The court will be emptied and I will remain present with The Marquis” announced The Baron.
The others all left silently; Ciera gave De Havilland a curt nod.
Once they had left The Baron grabbed a decanter of water and some glasses and left his table to sit opposite De Havilland. He placed both glasses down, took a flask from inside his jacket pocket, tipped out a small measure of a thick green substance into both glasses and then topped them up with plenty of water. He pulled a small clear stick from another pocket, stirred both glasses with it and then picked up one glass and lifted it slightly next to the one opposite De Havilland. The Marquis reached out tentatively, lifted his glass and gently tapped the Baron’s glass with his own. Both men took a good sip of the strange concoction. The Baron let out a deep breath and allowed himself to rest back into his chair. He tipped his head back across the top of the chair, as if granting permission for any weariness he felt to leave him.
De Havilland just kept watching him. He really wasn’t sure if this was all part of some kind of elaborate rouse. He just had this sense that all the tension in the room that he had felt building up had left, but without any lasting sense of legacy.
The Baron broke the silence first, his eyes were now closed, and his head was still tilted back. “Do you know, I can picture perfectly the face of every young knight we have dispatched to do the Emperors bidding from this place Some of them looked bloody terrified at the prospect of being sent out into the Known Worlds. I can remember looking over to you and your cohort during the final evaluation stages. You both looked like you were so full of confidence. I was worried for you, I’ll be honest. I had no idea what sort of…prejudices… you might have to deal with during your service. It’s not like we need any extra complications in our line of duty, now is it? It just looked right to me though, for us to be sending you both out together like that. I’m…I’m not just saying it was just the right message…it felt goodly…righteous even. But blast that Ur-Oban if he didn’t blow a bloody great hole right through all that good work. The shitpile that I received concerning his betrayal from the Hawkwoods…well…you can just imagine it can’t you? We’ve had all manner to polite courtier’s queueing up outside Baron Eviathan’s office door to make appeals for him to ‘intervene’ directly. Slimy little bastards.
But, despite everything. I still think it was right.
I know some might not like me to say it, but the Empire is just too big and too damn full of nightmares for us not to be standing together. We can’t face every threat alone. I’ve seen too many battles fought over the years to think the future of mankind rests solely in the hands of a few very well-meaning nobles.” The Baron took a deep breath and tilted his head forward and opened his eyes to De Havilland.
“Recently, we’ve started seeing a rot enter the order. I don’t mean anything obviously orchestrated, just a general weakening of the values and principles that it began with. We started seeing knights coming back from long trips to new worlds with strange ideas about how the empire should be run, where it should prevail…and even…who should be running it?”
De Havilland gave the Baron a curious look.
The Baron nodded, “Yes, all sorts of ‘well-meaning’ ideas. In most cases it’s pretty simple to understand. Knights have been sent to the backend of nowhere and tasked with making our empire work there. To accomplish that task they integrate themselves fully with the local peoples, try to figure out how they all think, how they function. The problem is, this process causes the knights ideals to soften, just a little. They consider how they can deliver a vision of our empire to an existing and functioning society…without ever breaking it. Without re-making it.
The problem is, you can’t.”
The Baron takes another swig of the green drink and smacks his lips together. He examines the glass carefully.
“We had to be sure about you Anton. I’m sorry, but that’s the truth of it. We had to see how you would respond under pressure. We need to know whether knights are still working for us, or…”
“Whether they work for someone else…” finishes De Havilland, tipping his own glass back and taking a gulp.
“Right enough” replied The Baron.
The room sits perfectly still whilst both men eye each other carefully.
“So…how many fail the test then?” questions De Havilland.
“It’s worrying the Emperor” came the honest reply, “Too few of the longer-serving knights retain a proper sense of perspective.”
“And what about me?” comes the obvious question from the Marquis.
“Well I don’t think you have sold us out just yet, but, I don’t think it would do you any harm to know that we are watching, and why.”
De Havilland finished his drink, “I’ll keep it in mind” he answered
“And what about the panel, what is their decision regarding my culpability concerning Tonbei?”
“Acquitted of all direct responsibility for the assassination attempt on Baron Christopher Hawkwood” answered De Havilland. He sat himself down in a large comfortable chair opposite Ylanath and placed his arms on the armrests.
“Just…like that?” she asked.
“Just like that” came his response.
Ylanath shakes her head in disbelief, “It just sounds all very strange to me. You made it seem like this could be the end of the universe.”
“Well, it could have been. They could have sent me packing from the order, back home to serve my remaining days fighting in my brother’s army against my sister. But, thankfully they chose not to…”
“They could have done that?” she queries, “you didn’t tell me of this!”
“I...didn’t want to worry you unduly” came an abrupt answer.
“You are unbelievable” comes back an annoyed response.
“Probably why you love me so much” retorts a smiling De Havilland.
“Ha” smiles Ylanath sarcastically. “You don’t deserve me. I should leave you to marry one of those boring Hawkwood ladies of the court”, Ylanath pranced around the room pretending to walk like an elegant lady twirling a parasol.
De Havilland laughs for a moment and then his face starts to turn serious again.
Ylanath notices, stops playing for a moment and then comes over and sits across De Havilland’s lap. She puts one arm round him and the other on his face.
“What is it, what is wrong?” she asks.
“My order”, he replies, “I think it could be in trouble.”
She runs a finger across De Havillands furrowed brow.
“Is there something you can do about that?” she asks.
“I don’t know” came the honest reply.
After a few moments Ylanath smiles at De Havilland playfully,
“Did I forget to tell you how much I loved your dashing new haircut” she jokes, “Very handsome…”
“You…” mocks De Havilland, sitting forward suddenly to embrace Ylanath “are a total disgrace”.
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