Lady Therese De Beauharnais of Roche

1 October, Year 32 of King Frederick V of Monrique's reign

Court of the Lady Justice, Bordeux

Monrique

Holding a stack of parchments with one arm, and clutching my black skirts with the other, I hurried down the aisle as quickly as I could, heedless of all others present in my way, except for my mentor.

Her Honour Lady Helene, one of the Ladies of Justice of Monrique, was attired like me in a black velvet gown, and an opaque veil that covered her whole body from head to toe, except for her eyes. She gazed down at her timepiece as I made my way up the raised platform to her side.

"Right on time, child," her aged, mellowed voice tinkled, "I am sorry for summoning you mere hours after your arrival in Bordeux, but I thought it imperative that you observe this particular hearing. Now come, take a seat and get ready quickly." She made some space for me beside her, and sat me down.

As I struggled to catch my breath, and pull out the scores of my handwritten notes, she continued speaking in my ear. "By all means, it is a simple case," she whispered, "the prosecution has accused the defendant of stealing his money. The defendant insists that she did not steal, and that the money is hers."

I paused in my tracks. Cases of this sort never escalated to the Court of the Lady Justice. The accuser and the accused usually approached the Earl or Duke who owned their lands to settle the matter, or for more serious cases, the courts of justice in their own dukedoms.

Lady Helene's hand covered my own. "I know it is unusual for this Court to deal with petty theft," she agreed, "but not impossible. This is a unique case, and I would like you to keep an open mind when you observe today's proceedings."

I nodded calmly, picking up my quill and a fresh piece of parchment to take notes. When I had first decided to train in Bordeux to become a Lady Justice, I had known well that objectivity was an essential trait I needed to possess in order to judge a situation solely based on facts and evidence.

Emotions had no room in court, and they always clouded one's judgement.

"I will, Your Honour."

Nodding at me in approval, she cleared her throat to obtain the silence that she required. "This Court is gathered here today for the first, confidential hearing pending the case filed by the Prosecution, Lord Bertrand De La Tours of Auvenge, against the Defence, Lady Madeleine De La Tours, Countess of Auvenge for a theft of 100 000 Crowns from the Treasury of Auvenge. This Court is reminded to abide by the laws and customs it is bound by, and maintain order during the full course of today's proceedings."

Complete silence.

Lady Helene crossed her fingers on the table. "Now, Prosecution," she stated, "please identify yourself, and present your case."

I glanced up from my notes, and turned my gaze towards the Prosecution stand. On it stood a greying man in his mid-fifties, his head held up high and his pale blue eyes cold and hard.

Chills ran down my spine upon the very sight of him, and I sought to still my suddenly trembling hands.

Emotions had no room at court.

With a determined countenance, he took an oath to tell nothing but the truth upon the Bible, before he turned towards us to speak.

"Your Honour," he cleared his throat, "I am Lord Bertrand Brian De La Tours of Auvenge, and I have come here to seek justice on behalf of myself and the people of Auvenge. The Defence, in broad day light, stole a sum of 100 000 Crowns from the Treasury of Auvenge - "

"I have a name, Papa," a gentle voice drawled at that moment, "and I do believe it is not 'The Defence'."

All heads turned at once to the defence stand, where the voice had come from. Perched on it was a petite young woman, who was leaning casually against the barrister with her arms crossed across her stomach. Her round blue eyes, an exact copy of his, were twinkling with plain amusement.

Lord Bertrand, on the other hand, flushed in anger. "You complete wretch," he hissed, "dare not interrupt me when – "

" – when you are narrating your tale of tragedy?" she mocked him, "oh, certainly, go ahead. Would you like me to help you add some extra details on exactly how I took my money from my treasury?"

I stared at this woman, very much amused as she stood there, completely at ease, without a care for her father's ire or the appalled looks of the jury.

Considering this particular theft case involved the aristocracy, I understood why it had been brought to this court. What surprised me, however, was the fact that a father had dragged his own daughter to court over an issue that could have been resolved within the privacy of their own home.

What confused me even more was the fact that a Countess regnant of Auvenge was being accused of thieving from the Treasury of Auvenge, when the money in it was legally hers to use for the benefit of her earldom -

Lady Helene banged the mallet on the table. "Silence!" she called out sharply, "Lord Bertrand, that kind of language will not be tolerated at this court. Lady Madeleine, please do not speak when you have not been asked to. Am I clear?"

Lord Bertrand was subdued, while Lady Madeleine rolled her eyes. "Aye, Your Honour."

"Lord Bertrand, please continue presenting your case."

Lord Bertrand drew himself up to speak again. "As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted," he glared at his daughter, "on the morning of 1 October this year, the Defence walked into the treasury chamber, and stole a sum of 100 000 Crowns from the Treasury of Auvenge. This criminal act was witnessed by myself, and my scribe, who had been in the chamber at that time keeping accounts. I believe she has spent it elsewhere, although she refuses to divulge the nature of her purchases."

"And you did not attempt to stop Lady Madeleine from leaving with the money?"

"Nay, we could not," he was shame-faced, "the Defence and her Corporals were...strong enough to overpower the both of us."

As Lady Helene continued to deal with the case, I watched Lady Madeleine. Every time her father answered Lady Helene's questions, or spoke of her with contempt, the careless smirk on her countenance merely twitched in humour. It was clear that Lord Bertrand was attempting to irritate her into losing her temper as he had earlier, but she kept her calm – which angered him further.

Once Lady Helene had finished questioning Lord Bertrand, she turned to Lady Madeleine. "We have heard the Prosecution's side of the case," she remarked quietly, "Defence, you may now present your case."

There was pin drop silence in the courtroom. From the scowls on their faces, I could tell that the jury was already predisposed to regard Lady Madeleine with some dislike, after hearing her father's scornful account of her actions mere moments ago.

I frowned in disapproval. Such an attitude did not belong at court, where we believed in considering two sides of the story, always, before coming to any judgement.

In the meanwhile, Lady Madeleine simply shrugged. "There is nothing for me to say, Your Honour," she spread her hands, "I indeed walked into the treasury chamber on the morning of 1 October with my Corporals, took out 100 000 Crowns, fought the men who tried to stop me, and walked out. My father, the former Earl Consort of Auvenge, speaks the truth."

"Earl of Auvenge," Lord Bertrand corrected her with venom, "current Earl of Auvenge."

Lady Madeleine burst into laughter. "You swore upon the holy Bible to tell the truth, Papa," her blue eyes glinted, "the truth is that I have been the Countess regnant of Auvenge since Mama, the former Countess regnant, perished in July this year. The truth is that being a mere Earl Consort had never seated well with you even when she had lived. The truth is that you seized Mama's lands and titles for yourself now that she is gone from this world – lands and titles that are now rightfully mine, as her heiress presumptive."

Lord Bertrand looked ready to murder her there and then. "You – "

Lady Helene held up a hand. "Jury, please check if her claim is valid," she commanded.

The Jury sat upright at once, and began to move feverishly, as they pulled out various books and pieces of parchment from under their round table to search for the ancestry records of Auvenge. After several minutes, one of them stood up on his feet.

"Aye, Your Honour," he reluctantly conceded, "Lady Madeleine is the current Countess regnant of Auvenge."

Lady Helene nodded. "As a Countess, you already have considerable wealth of your own," she pointed out, "then why did you steal those 100 000 Crowns from the treasury?"

"I said I took out 100 000 from the treasury," Lady Madeleine answered quietly, "I never said I stole the amount."

"Are they not one and the same?" I could hear the faint smile in her voice.

"Nay, Your Honour. As a Countess of Auvenge, I have the authority to use the money in the treasury for the welfare of my people," she explained, "and I took out 100 000 Crowns from it precisely for that reason."

"Then why did you lead your father to believe that you stole it?"

A wry smile spread across her lips. "He may believe whatever he wishes to believe," she answered softly, "on my part, I have no need to discuss with him – or anyone else, for that matter - what I do or do not do with the money in the Treasury of Auvenge. Except for His Majesty King Frederick V of Monrique, of course." She added as an afterthought.

Lady Helene turned to Lord Bertrand, who was bursting to speak. "Prosecution?"

"She is neither married nor engaged!" he pointed out heatedly, "and until she has a fiancé or a husband, I have the right to manage her lands and rule in her stead – and in all but in name, I am the current Earl of Auvenge."

At long last, I understood the problem.

There was a long-standing opinion in our great nation that women were not mentally or physically capable of wielding power. As such, our ancestors had created all kinds of laws to ensure that only their male heirs would inherit their titles, and or rule over their lands at any given time.

One such law insisted that if there were none but a female heiress to inherit those lands, she would be required to find a suitor, be engaged and get married within one year of her inheritance to keep her title. Even in that one year, her eldest living male relative – mostly her father, or her uncle – was allowed to declare himself a regent, and rule her lands on her behalf.

This was to ensure that the reins to the lands were always in the ever-capable hands of a man, be it a father, husband, or son.

At the moment, Lady Madeleine, barely three months into ruling her earldom, was neither married nor engaged. As a result, her father had all rights to rule her lands for the next one year.

Why, it was even expected of him.

In light of such a law, Lady Madeleine was not allowed to even walk into the Treasury Chamber of Auvenge that October morning, let alone walk out with those 100 000 Crowns. She would be tried as a thief, and sentenced as such.

"Is this true, Lady Madeleine?" Lady Helene queried quietly, "you are neither married nor engaged?"

A sad smile crossed her face. "'Tis true, Your Honour," she answered, "but why does that matter at all?"

And it was from this moment that everything went downhill for her.

One of the jury members stood up, rolling his eyes at her insolently. Everyone knew now that this case was not so much about petty theft as it was about rights. Everyone knew who was in the right in this squabble, and no man present in this court was going to bother listening to the rest of the argument.

"The law states – "

"I know what the law states," Lady Madeleine interrupted, defiant, "which is precisely why I am asking: why does it matter whether I am married or engaged to a man who can make my decisions for me? Do I not have a mind of my own to think? Do I not have my own dreams for my people that I wish to fulfil? Why would the man I take for a husband – a man who hardly knows me, let alone my earldom – know how to rule Auvenge better than me, who has been living there all my life?"

The whole courtroom was silenced by the intense fervour in her voice, even Lord Bertrand.

She turned to Lady Helene. "Your Honour, I am young, and I have much to see, experience and learn," she went on passionately, "I want to visit each and every village in Auvenge. I want to talk to my people. I want to understand all their sorrows, and I want to participate in their joys. I want them to trust me to protect them, and never hesitate to come to me when they need anything at all. I want to serve them well, and make a better life for them. I want to be the best Countess I can be, just as my mother had been in her lifetime. And I know I can. I believe my mother has taught me well."

She looked around at the whole court. There were a few that eyed her with grudging respect, but most of them merely gazed at her in scornful disbelief.

She smirked at them all in derision, especially so at her father. "But you fear me," she continued softly, "you fear that I will wield my power more effectively than you. You fear that I will achieve the goals for Auvenge you were never able to along my mother's side. You fear that I will make you feel less of a man with my achievements. You would rather have me safely married off, under the thumb of a man, than even consider the possibility of allowing me to rule in my own right, as I was born to do."

She raised her wrists. "So arrest me, ye merry gentlemen," her strong, scornful voice rang throughout the courtroom, "but never forget that one day, the people of Auvenge will rise in my name. And God forbid that day be remembered as the first time a male pretender was overthrown in favour of a female ruler."

***

The hearing had ended almost right after Lady Madeleine of Auvenge had made that profound proclamation. The Corporals on duty in the courtroom had apprehended her with all haste before she could say any more, and brought her back to Bordeux Dungeons, where she had already been held in for a fortnight.

That should have been the end of it. However, try as hard as I might, I could not forget how her blue eyes had remained fixed on Lady Helene and me, even as she was being dragged away out of the courtroom.

"Who is it that wishes to enter?"

Shaking myself out of my reverie, I drew myself up to my full height. I lifted my black veil to reveal my countenance to the Corporals at the door, and handed them a piece of parchment.

"I am Lady Therese De Beauharnais of Roche," I identified myself, "and I am a Lady Justice in training. I have special permission from Her Honour Lady Helene to speak with the accused in private."

The Corporals barely even looked at the parchment that I gave them. Their eyes seemed to drink in my countenance, before they proceeded to roam the rest of my body, lingering a touch too long on my chest.

Merde -

I cleared my throat sharply. "Is there a problem, Corporals?"

The Corporals' gaze averted from me at once, and their ears grew bright red. They looked young, hardly a day more than seventeen - which would explain why they were struggling to give me an answer in the present.

Had they been seasoned rogues, as a few of their superiors were, they would have simply given me an insolent smirk in answer, as if it was their God-given right to stare at, and fantasise about my body.

"I...well, we were simply checking if you had brought with you any weapons," one of them attempted to hastily justify.

"Well, you could have simply asked me that," I raised an eyebrow, "now that we have established that I have brought no weapons, may I speak with the accused?"

They nodded, before they pounded the door they were guarding. "Oi!" they barked, "you have a visitor!"

A few moments later, a familiar figure emerged from the dark depths of the chamber. Her blue eyes, still blazing with the determination she had displayed at the courtroom earlier, searched mine in curiosity.

In turn, I glanced at the two Corporals watching my every move. "Do you mind?" my voice was ice cold, "I said I need to speak to the accused in private."

The duo exchanged looks, before they nodded. "We will not be far, my Lady," they threatened, "do not attempt any mischief." With that, they stationed themselves a few steps out of our earshot.

The moment they left, Lady Madeleine turned to me. "Who are you?"

"Hazard a guess."

She sized me up for a moment. "Dare I assume that you are my fairy godmother?" she teased, "who has come to break me out of my imprisonment?" In spite of her light tone, I was sharp enough to detect an underlying sheen of hope in her words.

And I was not at all sympathetic.

"Break you out of your imprisonment?" I snorted, "after what you did in the courtroom today, that is the last thing I would be allowed to do for you."

Her smile vanished at once. "Why not?" she demanded, "I thought I argued my case very well indeed."

"Well, you thought terribly wrong," I answered shortly, "threatening to overthrow your father in front of the whole court today was nothing short of foolishness on your part."

She raised an eyebrow at my honesty. "I cannot threaten to overthrow my father if he does not legally hold my title in the first place."

"No one denies that you are the Countess of Auvenge," I pointed out, "however, as long as you remain single, you are nothing but a poppet whose strings are pulled by your father. You have no true power, neither in the eyes of the law nor your people."

Her temple flared. "I am not my father's poppet."

"Then prove it to me, Countess," I crossed my arms, "open your eyes, and see that this case will get you nowhere. Use your mind, and realise that the law is fully against you."

Her eyes bulged in fury. "You have no right," her voice was chilly, "you, a nobody, do not have the right to stand here before me like an equal, and lecture me on what I must and must not do."

I rolled my eyes. She was a little more than a child, but a child nonetheless, with a child's sense of pride and naïve confidence.

"You are a nobody as well," I told her bluntly, "a titled nobody, mayhap, but a nobody nonetheless. Your opinions do not matter. You do not matter. As we speak, your father is still ruling Auvenge in your name, in luxury and comfort, without a thought to how you are rotting here in cold and hunger."

They were cruel, hard words, and as I expected, her eyes filled with furious tears she was too proud to shed. "You – "

"I do not care what you think of me," I interrupted her, "I am merely telling you the truth - and the truth is that no one is going to sympathise with your cause if you continue down this path."

She firmly turned away from me in stoic silence, trembling violently. It was a clear gesture that demanded my immediate departure from her presence.

Raising my eyes to the heavens above in exasperation, I turned around to walk away, when I heard her speak behind me.

"He has never loved me."

Against my better judgement, I stopped to listen.

"Papa considered me a curse from the moment he learned of my gender at my birth," she admitted tiredly, "a disappointment when it became clear no male siblings would follow me. An utter nuisance when I did not grow up to be the demure, obedient woman he wanted me to become. A complete failure when I began to try and claim my inheritance in my own right after my mother's demise this year." Her eyes filled with tears.

I nodded. This was a common tale among nobility households with nothing but female heiresses. It was nothing new.

Lady Madeleine clutched the bars that bound her. "I know I can escape my father's tyranny if I find a man who would be willing to rule with me as equals after our marriage," she whispered, "but I am not ready to marry yet. Lord, I turned sixteen only a couple of months ago."

Only when she said that, did I truly look at her.

Her blue eyes, which had held strength and obstinacy for the short time I had known her, now displayed her true uncertainty. Her countenance was pale, haggard, and genuinely frightened for the future she so badly wanted.

She was sixteen, and a Countess. She was sixteen, and defending her rights. She was sixteen, and imprisoned for claiming what was hers.

And what had I done when I had been sixteen?

I had bought gowns. I had fretted and fretted over my appearance. I had attended more balls than I could count. I had ruined several lives, so that I could become the most attractive bride on the marriage market.

It had been a colossal waste of my youth. At four and twenty now, with immeasurable beauty and wealth, I was still unmarried.

"I want to prove to my father that I am equal to any man on all terms," she continued quietly in the meanwhile, "but more importantly, I want my chance to serve the people of Auvenge. To make a difference in their lives."

"And do you believe you can do that by going forward with this case?"

A bark of humourless laughter left her lips. "I am hardly here by choice. Papa was already itching for a reason to drag me to court over the issue of my inheritance, even before I took the money," she shrugged, "and now that I am here, I will fight, and keep fighting, until I win."

She sounded almost eager, despite her fear. I realised then that she truly wanted to take up this battle against her father, that she believed she could possibly even win if she worked hard enough.

I did not blame her. Life had yet to make her a pessimist, as it had made me.

"Have you not realised yet?" I enunciated each of my words, "your father has dragged you to court precisely because he knows that the jury – mostly made up of prideful, hot-blooded men who believe firmly in their superiority over women – will definitely find a decision in his favour instead of yours. They would rather a man ruled over Auvenge, any day."

"But – "

"You saw how they treated you today at the hearing. Do you still believe they will assess this case in an unbiased manner, even if Her Honour does?"

Uncertainty flashed through her eyes. "I know, but – "

"Countess, in the highly unlikely event that you win, you will give every female heiress in Monrique the hope that she can claim her inheritance in her own right if she wishes to," I crossed my arms over my stomach, "and that, in the eyes of any man, is absolutely inconceivable. The jury will do anything to prevent it from happening, starting with making sure you lose this case."

Mayhap the weight of my words had hit her at last, for her shoulders slumped instead of trembling with rage as they had earlier. For a long while, the silence between us solidified like ice, as she contemplated my words.

When she raised her gaze to meet mine at long last, her blue eyes were utterly grieved.

"So what do you expect me to do now?" her voice cracked, "throw away my dreams, submit to my father's will and accept the turn of events as destiny?"

A small, bitter smile broke across my face. There was a reason why I took an especial interest in her case. There was a reason why I had sacrificed my precious time this evening to come down to her dungeon, and talk to her.

I did nothing without ensuring that I could claim some benefit from it. Lady Madeleine's victory in this case was as crucial to her as it was to me, however unlikely it seemed.

But then again, nothing was impossible when one put her mind to it.

"Nay, Countess," I answered grimly, "I expect you to shape your own destiny by holding on tightly your dreams, and outsmarting your father and the court into submitting to your will."

***