What makes Vlad's trial get the Imperial attention it does is that he allegedly killed a Duke of the Jhereg, and when peers get murdered, the Orb and trials get involved. I think he mentions it at some point, although I searched for every instance of the word Duke in the book search and can't seem to locate the right (Vladiad) book. Unlike in the Paarfiad, there aren't too many Dukes mentioned in the Vladiad and Tagichatn is one of them. Mellar, they weren't sure if he was a Count or a Duke, the Dzurlord in Jhereg was a Duke, and Paresh in Teckla refers to a Duke twice! Time for a mass re-read, to see if I can spot it. ----- I was about to make this exact point, except that I remember that T. as a Count rather than a Duke. In either case, the issue is that it was a Peer who was killed, which is why the Orb was involved... David A Rodemaker