I am delighted to be bestowing this award today, though I do regret that the Plague has meant it is being awarded in absentia.
Our modern medieval society has been built as the embodiment of the courtly ideals of honour and integrity, courtesy and Grace. We can live these ideals by being kind, sincere and genuine in Our interactions with the community around us. Too often, this means exemplifying a conduct that sometimes we feel is sadly lacking in Our modern lives. Even under the very easiest of circumstances, Our best selves can inadvertently be buried under the strain of modern and mundane commitments.
The ability to face adversity with grace, courtesy and honour is a an even more uncommon virtue. I wish to speak to you of one who has shown Us exactly that virtue.
During my previous reign, We encountered an extremely stressful and difficult situation where the confidentiality of a grievance procedure had been breached. Our procedures for complaints and grievances are by necessity, confidential – to protect the dignity and privacy of those who may find themselves victims of poor behaviour, and to protect the reputation of any being complained against from premature reputational harm. Are our procedures perfect? Certainty not… but We promise you, there are a team of hard working and well-intentioned Gentles charged with overseeing this less than pleasant aspect of Our Society. They are extremely diligent in their duties and take great care of each and every incident brought to their attention.
Unfortunately, this particular confidentiality breach led to widespread condemnation of an individual before to the facts and the minutiae of the investigations, or the formal outcomes of the complaint process were able to be released. The result saw one of Our populace widely and publicly criticized, and the administrative arm of the Society left somewhat powerless to take any action to rectify this. Given this happened under my previous tenure as Queen – I have felt a heavy responsibility for this situation.
The Gentle of whom I speak is the Honourable Lord Lokki Rekkr of Aneala. I did not know Lokki at all prior to travelling to Aneala in Nov AS54. When I did finally meet with him, I was and continue to be, impressed by the graciousness and the generosity of spirit that he has displayed throughout this situation. When faced with numerous slings and arrows, Lord Lokki expressed himself humbly and with uncommon grace and courtesy. His countenance at the time was one of sadness – not for himself and the attacks he was enduring, but for unknowingly having left such an impact on someone in his past. He had thought the apologies he had offered at the time, had been accepted and was visibly pained to discover that wasn’t the case.
To be completely honest, I think I expected to be met by a young man feeling aggrieved at being lambasted so publicly, but instead I was met with mature member of our populous who displayed an extraordinary grace, courtesy and empathy, even under the weight of this enormous stressor. Surprisingly, he repeatedly took pains to defend his detractor’s right to speak their version of events, and would not allow any within his earshot to speak a single bad word against them.
Ever since, I have been somewhat awed at the courtesy, grace, integrity, and honour that he displayed in the face of this adversity – I somewhat suspect that I might not have been able to face a situation such as this, with half so much of his grace, courtesy, or generosity. His conduct for the last decade in Our Kingdom has been exemplary – he is as chivalrous and gentlemanly as any Knight of Lochac. There is no doubt in my mind that he is a role model to his Barony and a positive influence in Our Society. I believe him to be a good man, with a good heart and would therefore see him awarded with one of the most precious gifts in my favour – the Lochac Order of Grace.
