The Travels of Anadrasata Nearabhigan: Day 19 in Places That Aren't the Pearlish Queen
So, a lot happened back in Amnestri yesterday. There are consequences in many places....
This piece runs to 2,893 words. I hope you enjoy it.
Index Page.
29 OCHD 1893 CE
TO: CAITUS DH LHONG EMPRESS MHAIHILD
FROM: HILARAID DH LHONG LHONG HALL LHONGFUIRDH
GRANDFATHER WANTS TO KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON STOP IMPERIAL AUDITORS ARRIVED AT DAWN STOP INVITATIONS AND ACCEPTANCES BEING RESCINDED STOP YOUR NAME IS ALL OVER EVERYTHING STOP REPLY SOONEST STOP
(undeliverable - addressee no longer at stated address)
*********************
29 OCHD 1893 CE
TO: CAITUS DH LHONG EMPRESS MHAIHILD
FROM: GHREIG AIGHAIGN GHAITHRIAL
IMPERIAL AUDITORS AT ALL MINES AND FACTORIES STOP IMPERIAL ADJUTANT AND INSPECTORATE BOTH INVOLVED STOP ALL MANAGERS WOKEN BY AUDITORS AT HOME AND ESCORTED TO WORK EARLY STOP AUDITORS ALSO IN GOVERNMENT OFFICES IN GHAITHRIAL STOP USUAL CONTACTS NOT RESPONDING STOP INSTRUCTIONS REQUIRED STOP
(undeliverable - addressee no longer at stated address)
***************************
In Amnestri.
"I told him not to speak in public until I got here," said Horais Jhaihaild, almost spluttering in frustration.
The Line's local manager in Amnestri handed him a hot mug of coffee and then pushed a bag of savoury pastries fresh from a bakery down the block towards him. "I don't want to be fair to him, but he was summonsed to attend the Board of Inquiry immediately. Probably because we told them we thought we knew where he got the bridge key he used from, and that he probably had a set of the master keys for all the passenger accommodations on the Empress Mahihild."
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Northern Stars Lines looked at his subordinate in horror. "Mhainhil, what are you talking about?"
"I'm sorry, sir. I thought you might have picked up a newspaper on your way from the port," replied the manager as he passed the chairman a copy the morning edition of the Imperial Clarion. "The front page. Fortunately for us, the part about the master keys isn't in there but I did have him charged with their theft - they and the bridge key were found after Warrants for searches based on our information were executed. We've also kicked him off the Empress Mhaihild, so that's a risk decreased."
Mr Jhaihaild took a swig of the sweetened coffee, and asked, "Where is he now?"
"We're not entirely sure," replied Mr Mhainhil, the manager. "He was in the city lockup, awaiting the magistrate's pleasure, but he somehow got connected to a solicitor, TTeyetteye Ameyettair, whose usual clients are professional criminals. Ameyettair got him in front of a magistrate, got conditions for bail set, and they managed to make them. One condition is that dh'Lhong has to have a permanent address here in the city, but we have no idea where he's staying. I do expect though that he'll be around sometime this morning to complain that we didn't help him yesterday."
"I can talk to him then," replied Mr Jhaihaild. "I'll enjoy it - the Board made a few decisions without him, and that was before this all blew up."
"And we can tell him about the telegraph messages that arrived at the Empress Mhaihild for him this morning," replied Mr Mhainhil, pouring his own mug of coffee. "The ones they refused to accept because he's no longer one of their passengers."
**********************************
Local office of the Imperial Department of Industrial Regulation and Safety, Ghaithrial
The auditor from the Inspectorate had commandeered room in the local office of the Department of Industrial Regulation and Safety. Because the rented space had always been just a little larger than the department's local needs this particular office had always been kept ready for use by any visiting superior, auditor, or other Imperial functionary who needed a workspace with a locking door and a desk. The man hadn't arrived alone, his two associates were filing clerks, although their tasks were all file-finding. Now, only a few hours into his audit of the office, he'd called the office manager, a career bureaucrat named Haidail Khadras, into the borrowed space to discuss a file they'd found.
"Please, Mr Khadras, sit down." The auditor indicated the seat in front of the office's desk and took the seat behind it. On the desk was a ledger that Mr Khadras knew very well. When they were both seated, the auditor went on, "This is a very interesting ledger, Mr Khadras. I can understand why you keep it hidden." In a secret recess in the back of a bookcase that had an abnormally thick back, with a full set of the current regulations in front of it so that no-one would remark on the lack of dust on that section of shelf.
Haidail Khadras' face was carefully passive. "Indeed, sir."
"Would you be prepared to sign a witnessed affidavit as to its truth and accuracy?" The auditor kept his own face passive.
Mr Khadras considered his options and said, "Yes."
"Is this the only copy?" The auditor indicated the ledger in front of him as he asked the question.
Mr Khadras considered his options again, and replied, "No. There are two other copies, both two provinces away. One is with a solicitor who also has my posthumous petition for justice, and instructions to submit it in the event of my death."
The auditor looked at him for a moment and remarked, "You're not going to tell me where they are, are you?"
"I don't know you and I don't trust you." Mr Khadras was still keeping his expression tightly controlled.
"Fair," the auditor conceded. "What made you start this ledger?"
"The first time I tried to enforce regulations Mr Caitus dh'Lhong didn't want to follow, he had one of my clerks killed as a warning and example. Lhukhais Bhairrai was run down by a runaway cart in the street on his way to work, just out there." Mr Khadras pointed in the direction of the street at the front of the building. "Thing was, one of our other clerks just missed being hit by a cart earlier that morning. Mr dh'Lhong came and gloated at me later that day." Mr Khadras looked into the distance at a decade-old memory. "Bhairrai had a wife and two children. They had to move away to live with her family."
"Why didn't you take this to the provincial governor? Part of his job is to have your back when it comes to the local power brokers." The ledger was fascinating, and now Khadras was giving him the context to help him formulate the questions he was going to send off to the rest of his team.
"Mr dh'Lhong's father and uncle regularly socialise with our governor. They're friends. However, I believe that my reports never get to the governor - I've certainly never been able to get a meeting or interview with him. A dh'Lhong cousin is married to one of the governor's undersecretaries. It just so happens that he is the undersecretary that my reports to the governor go through."
"Why do think that is relevant?"
"Because every time I submit a report, even just my regular quarterly reports, dh'Lhong comes to see me, just to rub in that I can't do anything to him without endangering my staff and their families." He added quietly, "I truly hate that man."
**********************************
In Amnestri.
"Have there been any consequences of dh'Lhong having the master keys?" Jhaihaild and Mhainhil had already discussed the injuries to passengers and crew that had resulted from Caitus dh'Lhong's attempt to excite the carnal urges of the lady who had been the focus of his own urges that morning. No deaths, so far, but several kitchen staff members had been badly burnt and two passengers plus a steward had been badly injured when thrown down staircases by the sudden dive.
"Three unsolved incidents since the ship left Mhaiphrial, that become readily explainable if there's an extra master key in play. Two in second class and one in third," replied Mr Mhainhil. "Three young women assaulted. Intimately assaulted. The third one was asleep in her darkened, locked cabin, and had been given laudanum to help her sleep off a sick headache - she's sixteen, travelling with her parents, and her father is a solicitor."
Mr Jhaihaild looked a little ill. "You think he-?"
"All three of them were given or were left a newly minted gold merk, from the mint in Ghaithrial. So, they were not only assaulted but insulted. Our legal representative is making a report of facts known to the Imperial Adjutant's Office this morning." Mr Mhainhil sighed, "After that, it's not our responsibility to pursue the matter."
**********************************
At Lhongfuirdh Park, Lhongfuirdh.
"The mail's arrived," said Lord Maikhas dh'Lhong as he walked into the parlor where his wife was crocheting something with a fine needle. He had the mail addressed to the family members in the household in his hands and was sorting it as he spoke. "Today's papers are being ironed and Ghaifhdair will bring them along when they're done. Hopefully there'll be something in them, or the mail that explains what is going on. What I want to know is, why do I have Imperial auditors in my study?"
"And in both your brothers' studies, your brother's land steward's office, and down at the home farm here," his wife reminded him as she put down her handiwork and accepted the mail that he was handing to her. "Thank you."
Ghaifhdair, their butler, entered with four newspapers on a silver salver. Instead of quietly putting the salver down on one of the side tables in the room he said apologetically, "If I might be so bold, my lord and my lady, perusal of the front page of any of today's issues would likely be extremely illuminating. Also, the groom who fetch the mail and papers up from the village told me that a groom from the Hall was collecting their mail and papers at the same time. I have taken the liberty of advising Cook that there are likely to be callers from the Hall this afternoon." He bowed and withdrew.
Husband and wife looked at each other and picked up a newspaper each. Ghaifhdair had been right, the front page stories were very illuminating.
When they'd both finished reading neither of them knew quite what to say. Both of them were shocked, horrified, and disappointed. Lady Maikhas spoke first. "I knew he could be several sorts of trouble when he was young, but I thought we'd taught him to behave better."
"Looks a lot like it didn't take," snorted his father, "or he learnt to hide it from us. He wouldn't be the first one. Caitus is a younger son of a younger son, and he wouldn't be the first man in that position to misjudge what he can get away with."
Caitus dh'Lhong's mother asked, "But what do we do?"
"Not sure we can do anything ourselves," answered Caitus dh'Lhong's father. "Make sure he has a good lawyer, and that the man is paid.
**********************************
The Pale Moon Line dining and retiring rooms, adjacent to Tettamri Airship Port, Tettamri.
Imlaidhuh, Dowager Countess dh'Ironaith, her daughter, companion, and their maids were changing airships in Tettamri to avoid the issues that arose out of passing through the Kerajaa, and because they wanted a faster passage to Akatoil that the ship they had disembarked from that morning would provide. There was some family crisis brewing back home and the current Count dh'Ironaith wanted his mother and remaining single sister there as fast as possible. The Dowager Countess was taking the opportunity to get up to date on the latest news before they boarded another airship, and the front page of the Imperial Clarion was very interesting.
"Well," said the Dowager Countess. "It seems that the Empress Mhaihild is still in Amnestri - yesterday was the second day of the public hearings for the Inquiry." She read a little more, got a peculiar expression on her face, and then asked in a gentler tone than she usually used, "Miss Ghaighain, while we were on the Empress Mhaihild, did Mr Caitus dh'Lhong offer you any verbal or physical insult?"
Miss Ghaighain looked up from the notes she was making in her pocketbook with a pencil. "No, my lady. I was lucky that I got nothing more than a few leers from him. After Miss Emhlaign, Mrs Nainhaikhar's companion if you recall, interrupted his assault on Miss Rhaimain, who is Miss Mhipainphy's companion, I made sure to stay close to you or Lady Saidhelait. If I couldn't do that, I made sure to be in company with one of the other companions in first class."
"Why didn't you think to mention this to me?" The Dowager Countess was bewildered.
"I believed that you and Lady Saidhelait were safe from him because of your status compared to his. After he specifically threatened Miss Rhaimain's position to keep her quiet, it seemed unkind to spread the news of what he tried to do to her beyond the group she allowed to be told of it."
Lady Saidhelait asked, "Is she alright? Will she need help in the future?"
"Miss Emhlaign said that he was still inside his breeches when she intervened," replied Miss Ghaighain. "She also said that she was almost sorry for that because if he hadn't been, she might have gotten in a blow on his trouble making member when she was hitting him with her parasol to dissuade him from his actions."
"I did wonder why she carried that parasol all the time," commented the Dowager Countess. "It seems that she has reason."
"When we were...discussing matters," replied Miss Ghaighain with a small smile, "she recommended steel ribs and shaft with a pointy end. Not so sharp as to be an incidental danger, but sharp enough to hurt in extremis. She pointed out that no-one is surprised when a fair skinned lady tries to limit her sun exposure."
"Very true." The Dowager Countess continued reading. Then she reread a section again. "Oh, my. Mr dh'Lhong admitted in the Inquiry hearing, under oath, that he caused the diving incident." She looked up and added, "I think we made the right move, changing over to the Pearlish Queen. The management appears to be a better class of people, if nothing else. I will think twice before booking tickets with the Northern Stars Line again."
**********************************
29 OCHD 1893 CE
TO: CAITUS DH LHONG AMNESTRI
FROM: FHAIVAIUS LHAIDHEMHAIGN GHAITHRIAL
SIR I REGRET I CAN NO LONGER REPRESENT YOU IN ANY LEGAL MATTERS STOP PLEASE ADVISE SOONEST WHICH LEGAL PRACTITIONER YOUR CONFIDENTIAL LEGAL FILES SHOULD BE SENT TO STOP FINAL INVOICE FOR SERVICES WILL BE FORWARDED TO THE USUAL ADDRESS STOP
Caitus dh'Lhong put the day's latest telegraph down in front of his new, local lawyer - now apparently his only lawyer. "What does this mean? Can he even do that to me?" he demanded.
TTeyetteye Ameyettair picked the telegraph up off his desk and read it. Then he indicated the seat on the other side of the desk, the one Caitus dh'Lhong was standing in front of and said, "Please, take a seat, Mr dh'Long." When his new client was seated, he went on, "Yes, Mr Lhaidhemhaign can decide to release you as a client. However, the work he did for you, the confidences you may have made to him in his professional capacity, remain confidential information that professional ethics prevent him from divulging. Given the content of the other telegraphs you have received today, and which you have shared with me, I believe that Mr Lhaidhemhaign has Imperial auditors in his office and going through his ledgers and other non-privileged documents. Mr Lhaidhemhaign may be concerned that a conflict between his interests and yours is about to arise, so he is severing the client/solicitor connection."
Caitus dh'Lhong didn't remark that he had found Fhaivaius Lhaidhemhaign's professional ethics conveniently malleable over the years, but instead asked, "Can you take over the rest of my legal work?"
"I thank you for the confidence in my abilities, Ms dh'Lhong, but I do very little, if any, commercial work. The majority of my practice is in criminal law. I would suggest that you find someone in your home province to take on your business. The differences in relevant laws and regulations between provinces can be significant, if apparently small."
His client pouted, there was no other description for the expression. "How am I supposed to find another solicitor over there while I'm over here?"
"I can borrow a copy of your province's current list of registered legal practioners in the morning, and you can peruse that before contacting possibilities by telegraph," suggested Mr Ameyettair.
"That's a reasonable plan," conceded Caitus dh'Lhong. "No point in doing it now because the time difference means they'd be closed by the time I even have a list of names. What happens here next?"
"I convince the courts not to charge you with malicious injury for each individual injured crewmember or passenger," replied Mr Ameyettair. "We want them to go with the multiple malicious injuries charge instead."
"Why do we want that?" demanded his client. "That's a maximum of twenty years!"
"Yes," replied his solicitor, "which is better than the cumulative minimum sentences for individual malicious injury charges at this point. I believe the injury total was revised to thirty-six, wasn't it? Mind you, if any of them die of their injuries, we will need to reconsider the options."