Tortallan Nobility

The following four are the titles that Tamora Pierce uses, and they’re all dependent upon the inheritance of a title, which is usually bound to the inheritance of property: Lord and Count are actually pretty much equal–you see Lords in the southern half of Tortall where the title would be Count in the north, which is why there’s a Lord in charge of Port Legann. Part of the reason for this is that the southern half of what we know as Tortall was originally a separate country with its own way of doing things.
 * 1) Duke
 * 2) Count
 * 3) Lord [*]
 * 4) Baron

Sir and Lady Knight are titles granted to individuals by the crown and aren’t passed on. Alanna prefered “Sir” because she was making a point. Kel prefered “Lady Knight” because she’s making a different point.

[*]Tamora Pierce didn't use Viscount because it’s French-based. You'll have to ask her about this bit of reasoning.

If you are not sure how to address these folk (and other uppity types, for that matter,) go ahead and take a peeksies at the Addressing Nobility page.