The Final Redemption Michael Manning (best motivational books of all time .TXT) 📖

The doublet was new, and rather thanthe usual felt or velvet, it had been made of soft doe-hide. It wasdone in black with generous amounts of carmine trim. The redsweren’t subtle either; they had been cut with aggressive patternsto edge the garment. The boots and other accessories all matchedthe theme as well.

“If they’re going to call you names,we can at least make them work for us,” offered Penny.

“The ‘Blood Lord’business?”

She nodded, “Wait ‘til you see whatI’m wearing.”

“This is a trial, not a costumeparty,” I complained.

“I discussed this already with Rose,”said Penny, as if that made it automatically correct.

On second thought, that’s probablyexactly what it meant. “Spell it out for me,” I requested, “I’m alittle slow sometimes.”

“They’re afraid of you, and today wehave two purposes. One, we want to help our new Queen by showingthat the dreaded ‘Blood Lord’ does still bow to the rule of law.Your reputation has sunk so low that your open support won’t helpher, but the other side of the coin, is that they fear you so muchit will help if the peers of the realm feel like the Queen is theonly thing protecting them from you,” she explained.

“That I can understand,” I said,before she could get to her second purpose. “But won’t antagonizingthem worsen my chances in court?”

“It may hurt your chances of adismissal, but it will remind them of your power, lowering yourchances of an overly severe penalty,” said Penny. “That was thesecond purpose, by the way.”

“Oh.”

She left after that and finished herown preparations away from my view. I was told not to ‘peek’, so Itried to keep my attention elsewhere.

When we rejoined an hour later, I wasshocked. Tradition and common expectation was that a noblewomanwould wear respectable attire when she might be seen by thepeerage. In general, that meant a nice dress and the moreextravagant the better.

Instead, my wife wore a matching setof black and red leathers. Her long hair had been styled into twolong braids, each with a thick metal cord intertwined, and the endswere capped with silver cylinders. She had dressed herself as aman.

Not that she looked even remotelymasculine. Let us not give false impressions here; rather the closefitting trousers and sleek doublet showcased her feminineattributes in an aggressive and deadly manner that was sure to makealmost every nobleman in the courtroom uncomfortable.

Unlike the currently fashionabledresses there was no décolletage, in fact very little of her skinshowed anywhere, aside from her hands and face. It was the shapeand close fit alone that would make the outfit a shocker. In fact,on closer inspection I realized that much of the doublet containedsquare metal inserts. The parts of her not covered by the armoredgarment were protected by heavy leather.

Even more surprising, most of heroutfit was enchanted. The leather had been laced with runes to keepit flexible, while making it more resistant to cuts and blows, andthe metal plates had been made nearly unbreakable. The silver cordsrunning through her hair were also infused with magic, although Icouldn’t tell what the purpose of it was. I’d need to remove themand study the rune-work to make sense of it.

“Is that brigandine?” I said when myvoice returned.

The hell-cat I was married to grinnedat me. The overall effect of her clothing was to appear assomething like a truly extravagant and overly expensive huntingoutfit, but with a much more martial air. In fact though, my wifehad arrayed herself for war.

“If they figure out what that is, itwill cause even more trouble,” I declared.

“There’s no rule against armor,” saidPenny stubbornly.

Weapons weren’t allowed in the Hall ofLords, probably because of a few unfortunate historical incidents.Consequently, armor was never worn either, although that might havebeen a matter of comfort alone.

“Some of those old men are going todie of apoplexy when they see you,” I told her.

That seemed to please her, “The worldwon’t miss them. Now, let’s fix your beard.”

“What’s wrong with it?” I protested.Since returning to my proper looks and features, I had forgotten mybeard. I had been growing it back over the last two weeks, not as agreat wooly abomination, which Gareth preferred, but as a tightlycontrolled goatee.

“Nothing,” she said. “The style suitsyou, but it hasn’t gotten long enough yet. It needs another halfinch so you can give it some jaunty points.”

“Jaunty points,” I snickered. “Are yousure that’s what they’re called?”

Penny glared at me, “I don’t care whatthey’re called. Make it a little longer and give me thatcomb.”

Unfocusing my eyes for a second, Ireimagined myself with a slightly longer beard. I could have doneit with normal wizardry, but in this case, using my ability as anarchmage was simpler. She proceeded to work on my chin with thecomb.

When she had finished, a quick look inthe mirror showed me the face of an arrogant man with a fiercegoatee. I had to admit, it suited me. So long as my goal was tofrighten children.

I liked it. While I had had my doubtsabout our plan, I couldn’t deny that it matched my personalitybetter than trying to pretend humility.

***

It never fails, even in dark times, orperhaps because of them, people love the excitement of seeingblood. Today I would be the main event and they had all gathered towitness the fall of the mighty Lord Cameron.

The Hall of Lords had an almostfestive air about it when we entered. Granted, the harvestcelebrations were in the offing, but given the terrible events oflate, they weren’t expected to be very good. For myself, I knew whythe lords were in such high spirits—they were expectingentertainment.

I determined not to disappointthem.

Rose entered ahead of us, resplendentin a flowing white dress. An azure belt with silver trim andbuckles complemented a silver and sapphire necklace. The generaleffect, combined with her elegantly coiffed dark hair, wasguaranteed to stun.

She would have been the star jewel ina crowd that was already brimming with opulence, the center ofattention, if it had not been for the two who entered behindher.

That was us of course.

While Penny and I were dressedexpensively, the main thrust of our attire was not wealth so muchas