A few of the court members shared uncomfortable looks, shifting in their seats. A few more look at him with outright hostility.
Kai Low ignored them all. What did he care? The only one he cared about was frozen next to Chenzhou, too stunned by the fact that Kai Low would willingly disrupt another one of his lands' beloved processes.
"Unfortunately, Ambassador, the law is clear in cases like this." Counsel Margrave shook her head. "I cannot be set aside simply because the accused is well-liked."
"The accused stated he was approached before the legal age of majority? What do you call an adult who targets a child like that? Do you not have laws against that?" He scoffed. "You cannot call yourselves some great civilization if you fail to protect your children."
More uneasy murmurs, but Counsel Margrave gave a small smile. "You are correct. And we do. The Yangs will be held accountable for that as well. I can promise that." She gave Lord Ye a firm nod, as if to reassure him. "But that does not change the actions Lord Zhao took as an adult and the responsibility he has to answer for those."
"If he was taught as a child to take those actions, does the responsibility not lie with the teacher?" He paused. "Among the Bandri, we have a saying. The first poison apple allowed to grow rots the rest. Do Lady Yang's peers not hold some responsibility for allowing her to come this far?"
Several of the lords bristled, hissed in outrage at the idea they could be responsible.
But Lord Yin, who'd known Lady Yang the longest, held up a hand, and they quickly fell silent, cowed.
"You are again correct. Hopefully, we will discover to what extent as we continue our investigations into the Yangs. Lord Ye would be well within his rights to censure the entire court for its failure." She casts a hard look around the room. "But also himself."
Counter to his court, Lord Ye did not seem upset by the idea. He nodded, face hard. "Those who stay silent and blind in hard times bear blame as much as those who create the hard times."
Counsel Margrave nodded. "The High Court understands that. We will include that in the trial of the Yangs. But even if we were to forgive everything that Lord Zhao confessed to before his age of majority, what he has done as an adult is still punishable by death and nothing less. The ambush at the northern outposts alone…Such actions cannot go unpunished."
"I am not saying he should be unpunished," Kai Low frowned. "But I find it surprising that a land that claims to be as enlightened as yours does not have some understanding of the power an adult has over a child's mind. Who is to say that Lord Zhao would have ever done any of this if he had not been approached by Lady Yang?"
Counsel Margrave shook her head, but she didn't seem upset by Kai Low's questions. "We do take that into account, Ambassador. And we frequently lessen our charges when those investigated are younger. However, Lord Zhao has been an adult by our laws for a decade, which is more than long enough to realize that what he was told and what he was being asked to do were wrong. All adults have the ability to learn that what they were taught as children is not always true, and while I will admit that at times that is far harder than it should be, it does not change the fact that at any point Lord Zhao could have also come to us, gone to Lord Ye or the regents, even the capital or his own family, to ask. If he had done that, then perhaps I could offer a less grievous punishment, but the fact remains that he did not step forward until the investigation was already underway."
***
Kai Low threw himself on the sofa in his rooms with a defeated sigh. Ran Orlo hovered anxiously.
"For rock's sake, go make tea or something." Kai Low's nerves were shot, his temper short after losing an argument he wasn't even sure why he was so invested in. Counsel Margrave hadn't even been cruel about it. If anything, he admired the poise she'd maintained the entire time.
"Did something happen?" Ran Orlo sniffed the tea leaves before scooping them into the pot.
Kai Low sighed. "Nothing shocking."
The door burst open, making both of them jolt.
Yuze stepped inside and didn't bother closing the door behind him as he strode over to Kai Low.
His face was dark, intense. The hair on the back of Kai Low's neck stood up. He'd left his sword by the bed, and before he could think about getting it, Yuze was on him.
Kai Low stumbled back into the couch as Yuze's arms came around him and wrapped him in a crushing hug.
Unsure what to do, he froze. Ran Orlo watched them, wide-eyed as the teapot steamed in front of him.
"Thank you." Yuze's voice was muffled, tucked into Kai Low's neck, and his breath sent a shiver down the Bandri's spine.
It took Kai Low a second to realize what was happening. "But it didn't work?"
Yuze shook his head without removing it from Kai Low's neck. "You tried.
"Oh." Kai Low relaxed a bit. Yuze didn't seem in any hurry to let go, and he was rarely so physically affectionate out of bed.
Ran Orlo eyed the door. "Should I go?"
Whatever Yuze said was muffled, but Kai Low rolled his eyes and jerked his head towards the door, letting his nephew escape. "Close the door behind you."
Once he was gone and the room was silent, Kai Low let himself relax into Yuze's grip. The spy didn't seem to be in any hurry to move, and Kai Low found he wasn't either.
It was nice to be held in someone else's arms like you were the only thing they wanted to hold.
~ tbc