A Brother's Price Part 7

Chapter 5.

Mayfair first appeared in the distance as a haze on what had been a perfect summer morning sky. Great billowing plumes coughed up from the smokestacks of a score of steamboats joined with hundreds of smaller smudges from the kitchen chimneys and businesses ranging from bakeries to wheelwrights. Later in the summer, when the heat would trap in what the winter winds scoured away, the smoke would hang like a permanent fog over the city.

Ren's ancestors built their summer palace on fairgrounds located at the confluence of rivers. For a hundred years or more, the area remained fairly bucolic, a royal park reserved for ambles through groves of live oaks and foxhunts over the downs. The sprawling city of Portsmouth was the capital at that time, and the royal family spent three seasons at the badly named winter palace. During the War of the False Eldest, though, Portsmouth proved vulnerable to enemy s.h.i.+ps, and swamp fever outbreaks spread from the poor to the n.o.ble families. Ren's mothers were sent to the summer palace when they were young; when they became Queens, they moved the capital to them.

Unfortunately, much of the surrounding land had been sold to finance the war. The groves of live oaks were leveled for sprawling city blocks. Soon factories and mills hugged the riverbanks, gathered to Mayfair by the gravity of power. The irony being, of course, that the capital had been moved to a healthier clime, only to have squalor close in around it.

The royal stern-wheeler had stopped at Annaboro the night before to let off a messenger. Because the river made numerous lazy turns, a woman on a fast horse could reach Mayfair before the s.h.i.+p traveling at night speeds. As the s.h.i.+p docked at Mayfair, the princesses' court uniforms and royal carriage would be waiting.

The city bells were ringing seven when the royal stern-wheeler steamed up to the landing. As usual, s.h.i.+ps jockeyed for the limited docking s.p.a.ce. Raven got the princesses' uniforms...o...b..ard somehow, then went off to see to the boat's docking. Ren dressed quickly; Summer Court would open within the hour.

As she stepped out of her cabin, a large stern-wheeler crawling upriver toward them let out a series of quick, urgent-sounding blasts on its steam whistle.

"Hoy!" the pilot of the stern-wheeler shouted. "Sister!"

Ren tensed until she recognized it as her sisters-in-law's Destiny Destiny. Cotton bales stacked the Destiny's Destiny's decks, clear evidence it was returning to Mayfair from the south. The whistle tooted again, and Kij Porter waved from the pilothouse. Seeing that Ren spotted her, she turned the stern-wheeler over to a younger sister and hurried to the railing as the s.h.i.+p came along Ren's. decks, clear evidence it was returning to Mayfair from the south. The whistle tooted again, and Kij Porter waved from the pilothouse. Seeing that Ren spotted her, she turned the stern-wheeler over to a younger sister and hurried to the railing as the s.h.i.+p came along Ren's.

Like herself, Kij hadn't been born Eldest of her family. The blast that killed Ren's sisters and husband also killed several of Kij's oldest mothers, and her Eldest. That common point formed a bond of friends.h.i.+p between Ren and the older woman, much stronger than it could have been if their sisters had survived.

s.h.a.ggy and rumpled, Kij didn't look like the d.u.c.h.ess of Avonar. Apparently returning from a long difficult trip, Kij suddenly no longer seemed young, as if she had crossed over to middle age since Ren last saw her. Dark smudges underlined her vivid blue eyes, and her ash-blonde bangs hung down almost to the tip of her nose.

Still, the Porter beauty that had made her brother, Keifer, exquisite remained. Kij leaned her lanky frame over the railing to better show Ren the headlines of the newspaper she held out.

Well, that answered the question of whether the type size was as large as Ren had feared.

"I saw the Herald Herald yesterday!" Kij shouted. "How is Odelia?" yesterday!" Kij shouted. "How is Odelia?"

"She's fine!" Ren shouted back. "She's with me, getting dressed, late as usual!"

Kij glanced ash.o.r.e and saw the royal coaches waiting there. "You're not planning to make the opening of Summer Court after what you've been through?"

"Good G.o.ds, yes!" Ren said. "If we don't show, the rumors will have another day to run rampant. Will you be there?"

Ren asked out of courtesy. Any n.o.ble house could attend, but usually only those involved in the current case made an appearance.

Kij scrubbed wearily at her face and then shook her head, laughing. "No! No. We aren't interested in anything scheduled for today. Besides, I'm bone tired. You've got more fort.i.tude than I do, sister!"

A flash of gold hair streaked along the rail of Destiny's Destiny's top deck, and a moment later little Eldest Porter scrambled up beside Kij. She squealed at the sight of Ren. top deck, and a moment later little Eldest Porter scrambled up beside Kij. She squealed at the sight of Ren.

"Auntie Ren!"

"Hoy, Eldie," Ren called to her only niece. The girl was living testament to how badly Kij had taken the loss of her mothers, sister, and brother. In a grief-borne panic, Kij had visited a crib the day after the bombing. Luckily, all she came away with was a child.

Still, it had been enough to ruin an offering months in the planning, and it had been the stated reason for many rejections since then, despite Kij being able to produce medical records proving she was clean. Ren suspected that the truth was that many families were jockeying for a royal match of their own, and only used Kij's possible infection as a cruel, convenient snub.

When we marry Jerin , Ren thought, , Ren thought, those families will be regretting their heartless rebuffs those families will be regretting their heartless rebuffs.

"Auntie Ren!" Eldie shouted again, bouncing up and down on the railing in excitement. "Look, I lost my top teeth!" She grinned, showing off the gap between her canine teeth.

"I see! You're bigger every time I see you! Look at you. How old are you now? Ten?"

"No, five!" her niece giggled. "I'll be six at summer's peak! Auntie Ren, can I come and see the youngest today?"

Kij's youngest sisters were in their teens, leaving Eldie without anyone to play with except her slightly older aunts. A sad way to grow up; Kij must have been crazy with grief.

"Summer Court opens today!" Ren called back. "Zelie and the others have to attend. Tomorrow?"

"Perhaps." Kij told them both. "We're scheduled to continue upriver to home tomorrow-if today goes smoothly."

Odelia came out of her cabin, wondering whom Ren was shouting at. There were greetings exchanged at full volume, the missing teeth were displayed, and then the two great s.h.i.+ps parted. Ren's tucked in close to the landing, while Kij's-with Eldie blowing a farewell on the steam whistle-moved on upriver to find a berth.

"We could have missed the morning session and bathed like civilized women at the palace," Odelia complained as the carriage pulled away from the docks.

Ren glowered, picking up the case binder. "Focus, Odelia, focus."

Odelia ignored her binder, choosing instead to rest her head, eyes closed, against the padded wall of the carriage. "I'm focused on a hot bath and a meal prepared by Cook."

Ren shook her head, scanning the cases they were to judge. The first one made her curse, startling her sister. "Raven!" At her call, her captain pulled her horse alongside of the carriage window. "Someone has shuffled the caseload. I left instructions that the Wakecliff inheritance wasn't to be tried until we returned home. We weren't expected to make this morning, so it shouldn't be first case up."

"I'll look into it while you're in court." Raven's look turned dark.

Ren slumped back in the carriage, raging at this new miscarriage of justice. The opening day's schedule would have been posted in the Herald Herald a week ago. By the laws protecting civil rights, once made public, a hearing time couldn't be changed, even by the royal judges. This guaranteed that a hearing couldn't be moved to a time unknown to the claimants. a week ago. By the laws protecting civil rights, once made public, a hearing time couldn't be changed, even by the royal judges. This guaranteed that a hearing couldn't be moved to a time unknown to the claimants.

The Baroness Wakecliff family had managed the impossible this winter: fifty-eight members, from great-grandmothers down to infant granddaughters, had all died within one season. Not all at once, which actually would have been more understandable, but here and there in escalating tragedy. The first ten or so had been drowned in a midwinter s.h.i.+pwreck. Then a fire ripped through the nursery wing late at night; twenty-three mothers and sisters, all under the age of ten, died in their beds. A half-dozen adults, one of them a beloved newly wedded husband, died of burns and smoke inhalation suffered while trying to reach the children. Rev Wakecliff had died trying to give birth to a dead baby boy. Kareem Wakecliff committed suicide when she learned of all four tragedies in a single day. Eldest Wakecliff took to drinking heavily, and died of alcohol poisoning after a carriage accident, claiming another six Wakecliffs, triggered a binge.

Ren wasn't sure how the other ten had died. It little mattered; by then all the women of childbearing years and younger had already been killed. The Wakecliff family was dead long before the last member took her final breath. Had any member survived, however. Ren would have been spared trying to determine who received the inheritance today.

While there were no clear heirs to the great Wakecliff fortunes, three powerful families had issued nebulous claims. Ren had planned to carefully study all claims prior to hearing the case. Someone, however, had juggled the docket.

The royal carriage pulled up to the front of the courthouse. They were last to arrive, the normal confusion of coaches already cleared. As usual. Raven entered the building at a stride that was nearly a run, four of Ren's traveling guard half a pace behind their captain. The rest of the guard stood anxious for a signal that the foyer was clear, and then opened the carriage door.

They swept into the courthouse, flanked all around by the guards, through the foyers. Raven was at the courtroom doors, waiting. Just as Ren and Odelia reached them. Raven swung open the double doors.

Normally the room seemed to be built on too ponderous a scale, as if the plan of the architect had been to crush the handful of partic.i.p.ants by sheer height and breadth of marble. This was the first time Ren had seen a sea of humanity reduce the room to almost claustrophobic size. Almost every n.o.ble house-Mother Elder, Eldest, elder sisters-sat in attendance, completely screening the ma.s.sive marble columns and walls.

Trini sat in Elder Judge position, her mouth moving, but her voice, which barely carried to the back of the room when it was empty, couldn't be heard. Lylia perched on the edge of her throne beside Trim's, eyes eager. In the royal box overlooking the judges' thrones and the speaker's floor, their youngest sisters, Zelie, Quin, Nora, Mira, and Selina, watched over what someday would be their duty to uphold.

Trini spoke again, whatever she was saying lost in the surflike roar of voices.

Lylia nearly quivered with the tension in her, and then shouted, "Silence! The court is now in session! Bailiff! Call the first case!"

"That's it, Lylia," Odelia murmured fondly as silence fell. "Give them h.e.l.l."

The bailiff came from her alcove to the center of the speaker's floor. She cleared her throat, opened her mouth to call the first case, and then caught sight of Ren and Odelia.

"All rise for Their Royal Highnesses, Princess Rennsellaer and Princess Odelia!"

They started forward into stunned silence. Then with a renewed roar, the observers came to their feet, clapping.

Clap , Ren thought, , Ren thought, but some of you b.i.t.c.hes are very unhappy to see us but some of you b.i.t.c.hes are very unhappy to see us.

Trini and Lylia stood too, not applauding, but their relief plain to read. Trini sidestepped to her normal position and Ren took the throne of the Elder Judge. She made no signal to silence the crowd, taking the opportunity to scan the gathered n.o.bles, wondering which of them had changed the docket and why.

There were three n.o.ble families, all baronesses with ma.s.sive estates of their own, who had semivalid claims: Dunwood, Lethridge, and Stonevale. The network of marriages, however, extended those three by five or sixfold, evidenced by the number of women crammed into the courtroom. Whichever family snared the vast estate would need trusted adults to immediately take control of the far-flung s.h.i.+pping fleet, manage the extensive vineyards, oversee the tenant farms, and repair the half-burnt Wakecliff Manor. The heirs would turn to their sisters-in-law, who would in turn lean on their sisters-in-law.

Most likely, every woman present had a vested interest in the outcome. Any one of them could have moved the case forward.

Slowly the cheering of Ren and Odelia's appearance lessened and then died to a soft murmur of whispered comments between family members.

Ren nodded to the bailiff.

"This court is now in session." In her clear, carrying alto, the bailiff announced the first case. "Now judging on the orphaned estate of family Wakecliff, all lands, furnis.h.i.+ngs, and moneys herein. All pet.i.tioned claimants, make yourself be known."

There was a brief, undignified scramble as claimants made unseemly haste to be first to make their case. Ren motioned the bailiff to her and set the pet.i.tions in alphabetical order. Judging by the smiles on the Dunwoods and the frowns on the Stonevales, "first" was being construed as "favored."

"The family of Dunwood claims the orphaned estate!" Eldest Dunwood spoke for her family, even though her mother was present, most likely because their claim was through her brother. "Our beloved brother, Cedric, had been married to Eldest Wakecliff and her sisters for five months. Perhaps a short period of time, but the law does not set a time limit. We're the only clear heirs here."

That triggered a howl of protest from the other two families and their various sisters-in-law. Ren scanned the room quickly, trying to get a feel of who supported whom. The Dunwood sisters were the youngest claimants, but came from a vigorous line. Their mothers and aunts numbered in the sixties, with two uncles, a husband, and a younger brother to bring the number of possible families directly involved to five. Indeed, the elder Pilot sisters sat sprinkled among their Dunwood sisters-in-law, heads together in conference. Ren tried to recall the name of the family that married the Dunwood boy, then remembered he was Lylia's age, and would be coming out this season.

Eldest Lethridge waved to be recognized, and reluctantly, Ren gave her the floor. "Your Highnesses, yes, the law states that the sisters-in-law are the favored heirs of an orphaned estate, but that favoritism is based on children. Cedric Dunwood Wakecliff fathered no living children! The child that killed Rev Wakecliff was the only throw that made it to term, and it was dead before her contractions started. The Dunwood claim is thus void."

Eldest Dunwood frowned. "It would be void if there was anyone with a better claim, but there isn't. It's well known that the Wakecliffs were strongly traditionalist. In the three hundred years of its recorded line, the Wakecliff family has never split. They have no cousins."

"Not true!" Lethridge cried. "Our mothers' brother married Mother Elder Wakecliff and her sisters. Our uncle was producing children up to his death. We are Eldest Wakecliff and her sisters' first cousin."

"Our claim of sister-in-law overrides yours!" Dunwood shouted.

Eldest Stonevale waved to be recognized. Ren motioned to the bailiff to silence the others and give the floor to Stonevale. As the woman moved to the speaker floor with pointed looks at the others, Ren flipped through her case binder, studying the extensive properties listed. She wished she had been given time to research it at length. In the past hundred years, through a series of desperate measures and bad judgment, vast tracts of land originally owned by the crown had been sold, some of them belatedly proving to be vital to security. Unfortunately, the new owners were rarely interested in selling back the properties. Only orphaned estates such as this one provided a chance to recover them.

Stonevale announced her dubious claim. "The family of Stonevale claims the orphaned estate. Our grandfather was Grandmother Elder Wakecliffs brother. The blood of Wakecliff flows in our veins. We have the strongest claim here."

"Men are property," Dunwood snapped. "They can't inherit an estate any more than that chair can."

"We're not men. We're women!" Stonevale hissed.

Dunwood said, "The daughters of a brother cannot lay claim to aunts' property!"

"Don't be dense!" Stonevale snapped. "The law states that descendants through the female line inherit before sisters-in-law, but there are none in this case, and it doesn't state which sisters-in-law inherit first. Living blood is stronger than a dead brother, especially one who didn't father any children! We're comparing a living Wakecliff descendant versus a-a-a burned chair!"

"How dare you say that in our hour of grief?" Dunwood howled in rage, and leaped at the older woman. Court guards moved in, setting up a barrier between the scuffling women and the princesses first, and then breaking up the ensuing fistfight.

Ren winced, trying to ignore the scuffle and focus on the properties at stake: One of the names suddenly leaped out at her: Tuck Landing. She'd forgotten about the notorious anchorage point located within the Elpern Bank holding. In truth, Ren didn't care which family received the money. Tuck Landing, though, she would be loath to hand over to any of them. A hundred years before, in what was tantamount to outright theft, the owners.h.i.+p of Elpern Bank and its anchorage had changed from the crown to the Wakecliffs. Since that time, it had become a major weakness. Both invasion forces that landed on Queensland soil had originated at Tuck Landing. Collusion was suspected but never proved in both cases.

"We are the current sisters-in-law!" Dunwood was shouting. "Listen to the words! By law, we are Eldest Wakecliffs sisters."

Lethridge was not to be outdone. "My family is sisters-in-law to Mother Elder, which makes us your mother, and mothers inherit before daughters."

"We are the blood of Wakecliff!" Stonevale shouted, shedding some of that blood from a broken nose.

Even as Ren realized that this squabble over the estate provided the crown a chance to take back Elpern Bank, it dawned on her that she might have stumbled onto the true reason the docket had been changed. Lylia certainly wouldn't have the experience to spot the inclusion of vital real estate. Trini might have missed it. They would have judged the case, and the chance of regaining Tuck Landing would be lost.

Still, she couldn't act without her sisters' agreement, and she didn't want to discuss it in front of the a.s.sembled n.o.bles. "Have we heard enough?"

Her sisters nodded.

"Well, I haven't had breakfast." Ren announced to the courtroom. "Bailiff, recess the court for an early lunch. We'll announce our decision after lunch."

"All rise!" the bailiff shouted.

The crowd came to their feet, respectfully silent. Ren led the way to the judges' chambers. As the door closed behind Lylia, she heard the bailiff shout, "This court is in recess! Court will adjourn in one hour!"

Out of the public eye, Trini and Lylia greeted their sisters with hugs along with cheeky remarks on Lylia's part. The far hallway door opened, and Raven entered the chambers, escorting the lunch servers. "I thought you might want to discuss this in private." The lunch table was wheeled in, and then the servers bowed out. "I hurried the kitchen for you."

"You're a true gem," Ren said, the smell of food making her suddenly ravenous. "Did you find out who tampered with the docket?"

Raven shook her head. "In a few more days, I might be able to question the clerk staff closely enough to crack it, but not in this short time. There are several families serving as clerks, and quite a bit of bickering between them. I've got a surplus of suspects."

"I want whoever took the bribe and made the changes found," Ren said. "I want them out. I will not have my court manipulated like this."

"Yes, Your Highness." Raven bowed and left them to deliberate.

"Wow, Ren, that was so queenly," Lylia breathed.

Odelia grunted, settling down to lunch. "Why is that when I talk like that, people call me b.i.t.c.hy?"

"Because you only talk about your supper and baths in that tone," Trini chided quietly. "Ren is demanding respect for higher causes."

Odelia stuck out her tongue, ate a bite of lunch, and then asked, "So, what made you go to point like a bird dog?"

Ren opened her binder and tapped at the property list. "Tuck Landing. It's part and parcel of Elpern Bank. Wakecliff tore down the watchtower and built their manor with the stone. This is the crown's chance to get the landing back. Once we recover it, we can build a garrison and a war harbor, and we protect the whole southeast as it was protected for a thousand years."

They nodded in understanding, and ate in silence, each to her own thoughts.

"How do we do it?" Lylia pushed her empty plate away and leaned against the table.

"The combined inheritance taxes of all the estates are quite sizable." Trini murmured, eyeing her binder. "The moneys in escrow will not cover it all. We can declare that the crown has chosen to handle the reckoning. We seize the entire estate, do an accounting of debts and taxes, and deduct Elpern Bank as payment, then release the rest of the estate to the heirs."

Ren winced. It seemed like a perfect plan, except the numbers would not balance. "I doubt if the taxes are that sizable."

Trini shrugged. "We can figure a reasonable price for the sale of Elpern to the crown. Deduct the taxes from the sale price, and add the difference to the estate."

"They're not going to like it," Odelia half sang. "Elpern's yearly income, in the long run, would outstrip any price you set on it. They'd probably rather pay the tax from their pocket than have it taken out beforehand in the form of prime land."