Free The Dragon Lord by Connie Mason Page B

summons.
    “You sent for me, my lord?” she asked curtly.
    “Aye. You are lady of the manor and should sit beside me during the manor court. You know your people better than I and may be of some help in resolving the cases.”
    Dominic seated Rose, then settled himself in the ornately carved lord’s chair beside her. The doors were opened, and a crowd of petitioners and their witnesses flowed into the great hall. One by one the vassals presented their cases. Dominic fined a man who stole his neighbor’s pig, ordered another to marry a young woman who was expecting his child and negotiated a peaceful settlement between two freemen feuding over a land boundary. And so the morning went.
    Rose listened with growing amazement as Dragon handled the minor and major infractions with a fairness and finesse she could scarcely credit. Not even her father could have done so well. But that did not mean she approved of Dragon. No indeed, there was very little Dragon could do to make her like him or convince her to let him bed her. He was the king’s man, and the king had killed her father.
    “What think you, my lady?” Dominic said, pulling Rose from her silent musings.
    “About what, my lord?”
    “Were you not listening? One of our villeins begs permission to wed a freeman’s daughter. As you know, such unions are frowned upon.”
    “Do you love one another?” Rose asked the couple standing before them.
    The woman, no more than a girl really, nodded shyly, but the man said loudly, “Aye, my lady.”
    “What think you, my lady?” Dominic asked Rose. “If I allow them to wed, the freeman’s daughter will lose her status.”
    “Your name is Vella, is it not?“Rose asked the girl.
    “Aye, my lady.”
    “Well, Vella, are you willing to accept the consequences of wedding a villein?”
    “Aye, my lady. My station in life matters not to me.”
    “It matters to me,” an older man said, stepping forward. “I did not raise my daughter to wed a villein.”
    “You are the girl’s father?” Dominic asked.
    “Aye, my lord. My name is Algar, and I have chosen another husband for Vella—a freeman who can give her a better life. He can afford to give me the pig I’m asking as a bride’s price.”
    “I do not want to marry David,“Vella protested. She clutched the young villein’s arm.“I will have no one but Piers.”
    “I have no pig to give your father,” Piers said sadly, “nor a cottage as fine as the one David owns.”
    Dominic stroked his chin, regarding the couple through narrowed lids. At length he said, “I am inclined to rule in the father’s favor.”
    Vella looked so disheartened that Rose felt obliged to speak up. “You could free Piers, my Lord Dragon.”
    Dominic looked at her as if she had lost her mind. That would set a precedent that could have disastrous results. Every villein of marriageable age would begin courting daughters of freemen in order to raise their status.”
    Rose knew Dragon was being practical, but the couple looked so much in love she could not bear to see them separated.“Master Algar, would you allow your daughter to wed Piers if he had Lord Dragon’s permission and offered a pig
and
a cow for her?”
    “Careful, Rose,” Dominic warned.
    “A pig
and
a cow, my lady?” Algar asked, his eyes bulging greedily. “Piers has neither a pig nor a cow.”
    “Just answer my question, Algar, and let me worry about the rest.”
    “You are treading on dangerous ground, Rose,” Dominic growled. “The decision is mine to make.”
    “I am mistress here,” Rose argued, “and I have a pig and a cow I wish to present to Piers.”
    “My lady!”Piers gasped, clearly startled. Truly?”
    Dominic’s mouth flattened.“My lady wife speaks out of turn.”
    “Look at them, my lord. They are in love,” Rose argued.
    “I am surprised you hold love in such high esteem, madam.” He searched her face. “Has someone claimed your heart?”
    Rose met his penetrating glance with raised