She Came From The Sea

Andehar Tyrannous

"How do you remember it, pray tell?" Jarl Göttin asked, tilting his head expectantly.

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"I remember that he was trying to summarily execute the Christian without your consent or knowledge, and in front of your daughter, who then came and got me, crying. As you know, children's tears are my one weakness, especially Gia's."

He chuckled. "We all know this, yes. And then? What happened next?"

"Well Then, she ordered me, in your name, by the way, to save the priest. So I simply caught Ord's axe, and embarrassed him by making him walk away with a few words and a threat. Then I beat the priest, and sent him away as well. If Ord would like me to assault him, all he will have to do is get within arms reach." I completed, staring the warrior down.

His smug grin faded, and was replaced by a faulty, weak, wobbly copy of it. The Jarl hummed. "I see... Gia?" He asked the little girl, who sat where his wife would traditionally sit, in the second throne to his left.

"Yeah!! He was gonna kill the Priest, and I like him, 'cause he's nice, even if he's dumb, and doesn't know anything about the Ymir and Thor, and doesn't believe in Odin, and I don't want him to die, so I went and got Andy, and she helped him, but she was mean to him too, and-" he held up a hand, and she stopped talking.

"Gods above I wish I had that power..." I murmured, and several dozen people laughed. Even the Jarl smiled a little.

He looked between Ord and I, tapping his fingertips together in a rhythm only he could hear. Finally, he nodded. "Easy enough. Ord? Andehar? Swear on your Arm Rings you speak truth." He said simply.

I smirked and swore, staring Ord directly in the eyes. "I swear by my Ring, I speak truth." I said clearly.

He growled. "Fine. So she only spoke to me. But she had the audacity to question me, and then threaten me. Does this not require punishment?" He snapped at the Jarl.

I stepped back, pulling Gia into my arms, as the Jarl stood to his full, giant height. He wasn't as tall as me, only about six and a three quarters feet, but very few men were over that. He gripped Ord's throat, and squeezed, staring him down with icy eyes.

"Watch your tone." He said calmly, and tossed the man away like a wet rag. Then he looked at me. "What would you like his punishment to be? His false accusation was against you, after all."

"He also called Gia a Liar. Ask her. It may help teach her about passing judgment on criminals." I said softly, looking at him seriously.

He hummed, scratching his beard. "Truth... alright. Gia, come." I set her down, and she ran and jumped into his lap, looking at him expectantly. He smiled. "What should I do with him?" He asked.

She hummed, and mimicked his thinking pose, turning to face the room, her back against his chest, and even tapped her fingertips together slowly, perfectly serious. We held our laughter, just barely, after seeing she was truly serious, not playful at all.

"Well... the right thing, the lawful thing, would be to cut out his tongue and eyes, because he lied to the Jarl, and brought false witness... but he speaks many languages, and is an asset to this Jarldom... so I think he should lose an eye and a hand, because this all started with him trying to take your authority into his own hands, and he brought false witness, so without an eye, he can't do that again." She said seriously, looking up at her father.

He nodded. "Very wise, and correct. But. Just because he's useful doesn't mean we can bend the law, correct?" He asked.

"There is precedence. No harm came of it, so it's not like you already executed Andy, and found out he was lying, so I think a lesser punishment is justified." She said clearly.