A Kiss of Fire (A Kiss of Magic #2)(28)

He was silent again for a little while as they rode out over the sprawling fields.

“I moved the temple to a prime piece of acreage, near a water source, the land flat and easy to build on. I claimed forty acres for the temple and the city that is being built around it. One day our city will be as grand as your Capitol City. I have vowed that to myself.”

“You long to be so civilized?” she asked.

“We are civilized. It was just that…the overcrowding made for an aura of desperation and it was easy to get on each other’s nerves.”

“I can imagine. I can only wonder how you did not kill each other.”

“Believe me, we had our share of murders and capital crimes. Our system of laws is extremely strict. It had to be. The punishment had to be a good deterrent for future crimes.”

“What was that punishment?”

“For many crimes? Death. We did not have room for a prison. Thieves and the like were forced into indentured servitude in the mines. It was not a perfect system, but it worked for the most part.”

“And now that you have room for a prison?”

“Perhaps. Why mess with a good system now? I would not want to have the crown being required to feed and house miscreants. It seems more like a reward then a punishment.”

“I see. But wouldn’t it be better than taking a life?”

“Why if that life only served to bring evil to the world? A murderer should be given the exact sentence he gave to his victim. Nothing less will do.”

“That is very cold-blooded.”

“As is murder.”

“Then what makes you any better than the killer?”

“He chose his path. He knew what the punishment was when he decided to commit his crime.”

“And…you are careful, are you not, to make certain the crime is a true one. That there are no false witnesses?”

“It is not a perfect system. I have said this. But we do our due diligence. We do our best. My marshals are well trained.”

“And it is the marshals who pronounce sentence on the criminal?”

“Yes.”

“And what keeps the marshal from being corrupt or a bully?” she asked.

“Again, it is not a perfect system, but we do our best to keep the marshals in check where needed. A man has to prove himself worthy to me before being given an area to marshal.”

“I see.”

“How do you manage your wrongdoers?” he asked.

“Capital punishment is reserved for only the worst offenders. There is prison for the rest. The loss of one’s freedom is no small thing. People will want to avoid that at all costs. Our prisons are not pleasure palaces.”

Each sentence she spoke reminded them both that she was being kept in a prison. That her freedom was gone, traded for a room in a pleasure palace.

“You can afford the room to do that,” he said with the shrug of a shoulder.

“As can you now.”

“I would much rather give the land to those deserving of it than those undeserving.”

He kicked the horse into a faster gait and they loped across the fields, leaping over the colorful strings of claims when they appeared. It wasn’t long before they were riding into the courtyard. He brought the horse right to the stable, ignoring the groom who ran out to meet him so he could do so. The groom caught up to him and he handed Ariana down to him. He dismounted immediately after.

“Brush him down good, Fulvio,” he told the groom, giving the horse an affectionate rub on his muzzle. “Feed him well.”

“Of course, sire.”

He took her elbow and this time she let him guide her into the stable. The building was enormous and there was a roomy stall for each horse.

“Before the horses were packed into corrals. Now they are given their own space.”

He introduced her to each horse by name and she saw that he, too, was a connoisseur of fine horses. He had many kinds of horses there. He also had many cross breeds from distinctively different lines of horses.

“This is a Kiltianan dappled combined with a Ferenic bay. The dappling is bay colored and not grey you see.”

“I do! How pretty she is.”

“She will have many fine sons.”

“Who will you breed with her?”

“The possibilities are endless. I am trying to create my own breed of horses. She is among the first of this cross breeding. I have a fine stallion with similar coloring and the same sleek build. Speed with stoutness. A wonderful combination.”

“I have four Kiltianan dappled. They pull my carriage.”

“Really?” He was surprised. “And here I thought you hated all things Kiltian.”

“I find these beasts easier to bear,” she said primly.

He laughed at that and she found herself marveling at the sound. She had never heard him laugh like that before. Oh, he’d chuckled here and there, but nothing so carefree as what she was hearing now. It seemed to change him. Made him seem somehow more…approachable.

“Thank you for showing me your world,” she said softly. “You have opened my eyes to many things. And, while I cannot agree with all of your methods, I do see the desperation that led you to do what you did.”

“Well, that is some progress I suppose.” He took her hand, feeling her chilled fingers. “Why do you not warm yourself?” he asked her upon feeling them.