The Benfradine Duel

The Benfradine Duel is the most theatrical move of the Hedgemage civil war and the one piece of it that the Gilmoran chivalry could not directly condemn, because it was a duel and they were committed to the institution of duels.

The setup

Baron Maynard of Benfradine was an aging Gilmoran lord famously loyal to the Alshari cause (the Anchor and Antlers flag had flown over Benfradine in his grandfather's time, before the Narasi reorganisation), the holder of a prosperous barony, and the prospective father-in-law of Baron Astyral of Losara through his daughter Lady Maithieran. He had watched the Astyral and Gydion regrant in the previous week with interest. He wanted Benfradine to make the same transfer. He could not simply surrender, however, without inviting accusations of cowardice or sedition from his Castali peers.

The mechanism

The solution was a formal judicial duel under Gilmoran customary law. Maynard sent a herald to Viscount Terleman challenging him to single combat over "the disposition of Benfradine." Terleman accepted. The terms were standard: three passes with lances, judged by three knights, three lawbrothers (canon lawyers), and three warbrothers (Duin's clergy). Victor takes the fief by right of conquest, identical legal effect to a battlefield surrender.

The outcome was agreed in advance. Maynard wanted to lose. He participated, in Pentandra's words, "largely to see the Anchor and Antlers raised over his castle once again." The three passes were performed with proper ceremony in front of the assembled witnesses; the judges deliberated honestly on the merits of each pass; Terleman was declared victor on the legitimate count of three.

The grant-back feast

Terleman immediately gifted Benfradine back to Maynard and his wife under Alshari sovereignty and took their pledges of homage on the spot. The grand feast that followed served simultaneously as Maynard's re-investiture, the formal welcome of Benfradine into the Alshari fold, and a recruiting event for the surrounding Gilmoran lords who were quietly watching to see whether the procedure was real. Several houses around Benfradine and Losara began making discreet enquiries about a similar arrangement before the feast was over.

Consequences

Benfradine was the third Castali / Gilmoran barony to switch sides without a casualty in the war. The combination of conquest, defection, and now staged duel gave the pro-Alshari Gilmorans of the province three legally distinct templates, any of which a wavering house could use depending on which suited its political circumstances best. The Gilmoran rising against Tavard that followed was at least partly a function of the perception that no one needed to choose dishonour to switch sides any more.

The duel was also Astyral's personal moment of triumph in the campaign. His future father-in-law had just become his future father-in-law on his own duke's side of the line. The Anchor and Antlers flew over his bride's family castle. Maithieran, when she heard about it back in Vanador, was reported to have laughed for ten minutes.