to see if they were truly showing respect.’
‘Sounds stupid to me,’ I grumbled under my breath as I pulled myself up onto the black silk cushions. ‘Okay, what have we got?’
Lily approached with a document printed from one of the computers in the office. ‘Not many changes to the list I emailed you last week. Three disputes on the ownership of demon servants, as in the email. One new case, not previously mentioned: about the parentage of a particularly fine colt that was born over at the House of Ling only yesterday—’
‘The mare dropped?’ I cut in. ‘I must go have a look.’
‘It’s palomino, Emma,’ Martin said.
I hissed with amusement. ‘Somebody’s stallion’s been sneaking around! No way could that mating produce a palomino.’
Lily winced. ‘There is some suggestion that the colt was fathered by a horse demon.’
‘Do we have horse demons here?’ I said.
Both of them nodded.
‘You have a list, right?’ I said.
Lily nodded again. ‘On my desk, ma’am. There are three or four possible fathers.’
‘The owner of the mare is petitioning…for what?’ I said. ‘We just do a DNA test, establish the father, slap a fine on the owner of the demon stallion for failing to control the animal, end of story.’
‘The owner of the mare is petitioning that the owner of the stallion be reprimanded for not controlling his demons. She says the mare has been ruined by carrying a demon foal and she wants a very large sum in compensation.’
‘I see. When’s the hearing on that?’
‘It’s one of the last—I knew you’d want to see the files first,’ Lily said. ‘You must order the DNA test and then decide on how much to fine the owner of the stallion.’
‘It’s possible the owner of the sire may claim the colt as well,’ Martin said.
‘As soon as you provide me with all the details, and we establish the colt’s parentage, we’ll take it from there,’ I said. ‘What else?’
‘One other petition delivered just yesterday—Sang Shen—’
I hissed with frustration. ‘Sometimes I almost wish he had been executed!’
‘Sang Shen has raised the price of the leaves from his mulberry tree exponentially,’ Lily said. ‘The Blue Dragon has requested a mediation to discuss renegotiating the contract for provision of the leaves.’
‘He’s a tree, they’re his leaves, he can set the price. Tell the Dragon to get lost,’ I said.
‘He’s charging ten times the weight of the leaves in Celestial Jade.’
That stopped me. ‘That’s insane !’
‘The worst part is that the Dragon is prepared to pay something close to this, but he wants to squeal about it first.’
‘This is a bad precedent. Other leaf suppliers will raise their prices to match Sang Shen’s, and the rise in costs will drive up the price of silk,’ I said, lowering my head to think. I looked up at them. ‘Ensure that this is a completely closed court; this is an extremely private matter between Sang Shen and the Blue Dragon. Nobody must know that the Dragon’s silkworms eat the leaves from Sang Shen’s tree.’
‘I think part of this lawsuit is Sang Shen trying to make it known that he is the provider of the leaves,’ Martin said.
‘That sounds like him,’ I said. ‘He vowed to the Dragon that he wouldn’t reveal himself as the source of the leaves, but he’s been dropping heavy hints in the public domain ever since. He’s followed the letter of the agreement but definitely not the spirit.’
‘You could reprimand him for that and order him to fix the price of his leaves,’ Lily said.
‘That would not be fair to either of them. I must hear this in secret, and emerge with a judgement that’s fair to both of them.’
‘What if neither of them agrees with your decision?’ Martin said.
‘If both of them are upset about the decision, then I think I’ve succeeded in mediating it fairly,’ I said.
Three days later, on the evening before the final day of hearings, I was settling down
‘Sounds stupid to me,’ I grumbled under my breath as I pulled myself up onto the black silk cushions. ‘Okay, what have we got?’
Lily approached with a document printed from one of the computers in the office. ‘Not many changes to the list I emailed you last week. Three disputes on the ownership of demon servants, as in the email. One new case, not previously mentioned: about the parentage of a particularly fine colt that was born over at the House of Ling only yesterday—’
‘The mare dropped?’ I cut in. ‘I must go have a look.’
‘It’s palomino, Emma,’ Martin said.
I hissed with amusement. ‘Somebody’s stallion’s been sneaking around! No way could that mating produce a palomino.’
Lily winced. ‘There is some suggestion that the colt was fathered by a horse demon.’
‘Do we have horse demons here?’ I said.
Both of them nodded.
‘You have a list, right?’ I said.
Lily nodded again. ‘On my desk, ma’am. There are three or four possible fathers.’
‘The owner of the mare is petitioning…for what?’ I said. ‘We just do a DNA test, establish the father, slap a fine on the owner of the demon stallion for failing to control the animal, end of story.’
‘The owner of the mare is petitioning that the owner of the stallion be reprimanded for not controlling his demons. She says the mare has been ruined by carrying a demon foal and she wants a very large sum in compensation.’
‘I see. When’s the hearing on that?’
‘It’s one of the last—I knew you’d want to see the files first,’ Lily said. ‘You must order the DNA test and then decide on how much to fine the owner of the stallion.’
‘It’s possible the owner of the sire may claim the colt as well,’ Martin said.
‘As soon as you provide me with all the details, and we establish the colt’s parentage, we’ll take it from there,’ I said. ‘What else?’
‘One other petition delivered just yesterday—Sang Shen—’
I hissed with frustration. ‘Sometimes I almost wish he had been executed!’
‘Sang Shen has raised the price of the leaves from his mulberry tree exponentially,’ Lily said. ‘The Blue Dragon has requested a mediation to discuss renegotiating the contract for provision of the leaves.’
‘He’s a tree, they’re his leaves, he can set the price. Tell the Dragon to get lost,’ I said.
‘He’s charging ten times the weight of the leaves in Celestial Jade.’
That stopped me. ‘That’s insane !’
‘The worst part is that the Dragon is prepared to pay something close to this, but he wants to squeal about it first.’
‘This is a bad precedent. Other leaf suppliers will raise their prices to match Sang Shen’s, and the rise in costs will drive up the price of silk,’ I said, lowering my head to think. I looked up at them. ‘Ensure that this is a completely closed court; this is an extremely private matter between Sang Shen and the Blue Dragon. Nobody must know that the Dragon’s silkworms eat the leaves from Sang Shen’s tree.’
‘I think part of this lawsuit is Sang Shen trying to make it known that he is the provider of the leaves,’ Martin said.
‘That sounds like him,’ I said. ‘He vowed to the Dragon that he wouldn’t reveal himself as the source of the leaves, but he’s been dropping heavy hints in the public domain ever since. He’s followed the letter of the agreement but definitely not the spirit.’
‘You could reprimand him for that and order him to fix the price of his leaves,’ Lily said.
‘That would not be fair to either of them. I must hear this in secret, and emerge with a judgement that’s fair to both of them.’
‘What if neither of them agrees with your decision?’ Martin said.
‘If both of them are upset about the decision, then I think I’ve succeeded in mediating it fairly,’ I said.
Three days later, on the evening before the final day of hearings, I was settling down
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