Thirty minutes ended all too soon and the black-robed Advisors had reconvened within the Grand Hall.
Their uniformed black robes reminded Mira of a murder of crows on electric power lines sitting in evenly spaced rows on each side of the main aisle. There were two sets of crows seated on both sides of the Great Hall separated by a wide royal blue rug that ended at her feet.
Each black-robed Ashryan had a color insignia on his or her lapel corresponding with the area that they were representing. Since all the cities were named according to gemstones, the insignias mostly matched the gems.
The Advisors also took advantage of this fact to drip themselves in the stones of their kingdoms. Some were more obnoxious about it than others. The Topazians were most ostentatious, whereas those from Diamond were much more muted and conservative.
There was even an Advisor from the Kingdom of Mer. She was one of the few Advisors who did not come from a gemstone kingdom. She wore the famous dark purple pearls of Mer around her neck and in her hair.
Within minutes, everyone had taken their assigned seats.
The King's Court was back in session.
Since the first case of the day, 'Amber vs Panthera' was still ongoing, the two opponents were back on the floor for the second round.
This time, Jana was no longer unclothed.
Around her shoulders was a cape made from the skin of some animal with thick black fur. She stood there, regal, like a queen of the savannas.
Beside her, the blue-haired wizard looked downright drab and tired.
Good move on the part of the catwoman. Mira looked on with mild amusement. The already stunning catwoman looked even more dazzling and seductive while the Advisor, garbed in his black, looked like a crow among crows.
"Before the two of you begin, I have a question for the both of you." Mira leaned back against the blue cushion. "Amber is far south of Ashrya. Why are you both in Diamond?"
Jana threw back her head and laughed. "Ask that blue man. He was the one who insisted on holding this hearing way up here for a very simple reason." Her eyes turned hard. "He knows how difficult it would be for me to get to Diamond."
"Do not flatter yourself," Orville Torrence sneered. "Everyone knows that the King's Court in Diamond is the highest court in the land."
Mira struggled to contain her astonishment. Why would Diamond be considered the highest court in the land when Jade was the capital of Ashrya? Wouldn't the Emperor's Court be the superior court?
She made a mental note to ask Daran when she got the chance. Right now, the show must go on.
"Why was it difficult for you to get here?" Mira ignored Orville Torrence and turned her attention on Jana.
"I had to travel at night on foot, because for a chimera like me, running around during daylight outside of my savanna is seeking death." She gazed at Mira with bright grateful eyes. "Had it not been for your delay in returning to the palace which caused a postponement the court session, I would not have made it in time. The horrible blizzard delayed me for two days."
Mira sighed and shifted in her seat. Damn this hard uncomfortable chair.
What seemed to her like an amazing fantasyland at first glance was actually just as racially biased as any place she'd ever seen on Earth. In fact, the more she dug, the more she realized that it was even more biased for one simple reason.
The various races of humans on Ashrya were actually 'different races' that were genetically divergent enough that they were unable to procreate to produce viable, fertile offspring.
They didn't just have slight differences in skin color within the same human race, as was the case on Earth. They actually had different genetic patterns and numbers of chromosomes. They were as divergent as horses and donkeys or foxes and dogs.
The issues that the Ashryans were grappling with had roots that went much deeper than just trespassing poachers. It had to do with the definition of what it took to be considered a human being. It also had to do with living peaceably within an environment that was limited in size and resources.
Orville Torrence addressed this very same concern that Mira had just mulled over. He crossed his arms over his chest and stood back on his widely spaced heels. "We all have to live within the bounds of the laws of Ashrya. How is it my fault that you found it difficult to get here?"
"That is the crux of the problem, isn't it? You have treated us chimera as legal half-humans throughout the ages. We are not allowed anywhere outside our designated areas. When we dare to wander beyond our set borders, we are persecuted as wild uncaged animals."
Jana turned back to Mira. "Your Royal Highness, how is it fair that the only people who are considered wholly human within the laws of the land are those that look like you?"
"It is fair because you TRULY ARE only half human!" Orville Torrence bellowed, veins bulging from his neck, blue energy crackling from his fingers.
The murder of black-robed crows around him stirred and murmured to each other. The noise was rising in crescendo.
The High Wizard Griswold Toblerone banged his scepter on the floor to regain control of the court.
Mira chuckled silently to herself. The first one who gets mad, loses. Wasn't this a famous saying by someone on Earth?
"We are NOT half-humans." Jana retorted through gritted teeth.
"That's what the definition of a chimera is---a HALF-HUMAN, HALF-BEAST." He enunciated each word with heavy emphasis. "There is no denying this truth."
More buzzing rumblings among the seated advisors. More banging of the scepter from the High Wizard.
Orville Torrence turned back to Mira. "Insofar as traveling is concerned, Your Royal Highness, I do not make the rules in that regard either. The dwarves themselves do not allow chimera to travel on their underground trains. Not even the Ashryans are allowed much access unless they've been given papers and permission."
Mira's chest felt tight. The incident at Sapphire junction still reverberated in her mind. Her little Felix had been treated far worse than an animal, and that had affected her very strongly. He was, in her eyes, no less human than any other human baby in the world. For him to be treated so cruelly pained her heart.
She leveled a cool stare at the wizard. "Don't you wizards just use portals for transport?"
"Of course, but that's besides the point." He sputtered. "The point is that I was not the one who made it difficult for this little kitty cat to travel. If you have a problem with that, take it up with the dwarves."
Jana threw back her head and laughed. "I have news for you, old blue one. The dwarves may not be considered half-human but they are hardly first class citizens. They don't make the rules either. They can only live with what they've been offered."
Mira had to admit. Jana spoke the truth.
The panthera waved her hand around the Court. "Take a look around you. This is where the rules of the land are created and upheld. Do you see any dwarf in this room other than the one that's standing next to the Princess Consort as her personal bodyguard?" She pointed a red fingertip at the highly decorated Commandant General Alfric Hobart.
Mira did not need to look around. She could feel Alfric stiffen next to her.
Of course there were no dwarves in the King's Court. The ruling class were the Ashryans. In fact, the Empire was called Ashrya and not Dwarvia, or Panthera, or Celadonia.
The dwarves, though full-human by designation, were hardly in the same socio-economic class as the Ashryans. They were allowed second-class human status due to the sheer size of their population and their willingness to work the jobs that the Ashryans did not want to take on.
The crux of the issue lay in the magik powers that Ashryans held. That power difference between the Ashryans and everyone else was just way too big. The only dwarf that Mira had seen who could wield magik was Daran who had been trained by Zander personally.
Jana turned and looked at everyone in the room with piercing haughty eyes. "But let's not stop there. Why are the tall green-skinned celadons not as good as the tall blue-haired Ashryans?"
She paused for effect, as the black robes shifted and looked everywhere else but at Jana. "Celadons are considered half-human too, even though they have ZERO beast blood in them."
Orville Torrence coughed. "I don't make the designations and the rules here. Our job is to follow the rules as laid out ages ago, by our forefathers who created this paradise for us."
"Why do you follow ancient rules that are so arbitrary and make no sense?" Jana argued. "The only difference between the celadons and the Ashryans is the color of your skin! They are green with green hair and green eyes, and you are white with blue hair and blue eyes."
Jana laughed with derision. "And why are the short squat dwarf with brown hair considered a whole person while the short squat dolmian with no hair is considered half animal?"
Orville Torrence was about to open his mouth to say something when Jana lifted up a long scarlet claw. "No no. Don't you dare say that the dolmians are half-mole. We all know that's a lie that has been perpetuated by powerful people here in Diamond to deny the dolmians the rights of full humans and to keep them working in the dolmian mines for slave wages."
She turned her golden flecked eyes and stared at Mira. "And while we're at it, pray tell---why is your Princess Consort a sterile hybrid human? Does that make her half an Ashryan, or half a dwarf?"