Missing Elements (The Lament Book 3) (15 page)

Tuvin called that out, even
though neither man moved or even made a disgruntled face.

"Stand fast, for
judgment!" It was a bit off, since that had clearly just happened, but no
one said anything about it. They got the idea, something was coming. It worked
well enough. He'd probably be corrected later however,
if
he hadn't
already caught the mistake. Anyone could get flustered on stage, especially if
they didn't practice enough first.

Pran wouldn't make that mistake.
It had both been part of her own training and a personal goal in life.
Always
prepare, whenever possible. That couldn't be assured all the time, so she'd
just have to make certain that her main skills were sharp and ready to be
brought out. Thinking of that helped her decide what her evening would be spent
doing, if nothing else came up that needed her attention worse.

Judge Tansy might have been only
eleven or so, but she didn't bat an eye at what Tuvin said, simply straightening
a little like Judges always did when commanding attention. It was a trained
thing, which wasn't too different than some parts of stage craft, Pran noticed.
Things could, and did, overlap that way.

"Gentlemen, as members of
this society, we all must hold to certain agreed upon rules and laws. By
breaking the peace, you have disturbed the minds and thoughts of those that
witnessed this action. By engaging in mutual combat, which is clear in both of
your descriptions, even if Councilor Exeter struck the first blow in anger, you
again damaged the structure of societal trust. This is known and given. For
these crimes, you are both sentenced to two weeks on a work crew, to begin
immediately."

That was a
bit
harsh, Pran
thought, but not outside her ability to command. After all, they were guilty
and knew it, so it would be hard for them to claim they were being wronged. Not
that they wouldn't try.

The girl, however, wasn't
finished. That caught everyone by surprise, except the High Judge, who gave a
single nod upon hearing the words.

"Worse, when asked by a
fellow citizen to not behave in an illegal fashion, you both struck at her.
Truly, this was not done with intent to harm, but neither of you sought to
protect her, leaving that task to a person who would naturally feel at risk
doing so, given your combined positions here and personal social power. For
that action, you are both sentenced to an additional two months of service, at
menial labor." She stepped back then, not smiling or even looking scared
about what she'd just ordered.

It... Actually made sense, given
the law, but a gasp still went up in the room, and Tuvin moved, without any
organization at all, to suddenly appear in front of the girl. Ready to kill
anyone that presented too great a threat for him to handle more peacefully.
Violence was the last resort for Guardians, but anyone attacking a little girl
over doing her job wasn't going to just give up when politely asked.

Clearing her throat and smiling
warmly, Judge Clair waved to the girl,
and
the High Judge, dwarfing them
both with her size. Not that she was a giant, being merely about Pran's own
height, if carrying about twenty more pounds. That made her thin still, which
was a comparison that Pran didn't really like much.
She
must look like a
stick to most people. That reminded her to eat when she got a chance.

She sort of had orders to, didn't
she?

Whatever was whispered in the
little huddle of happy yellow and clean white couldn't be heard, but after some
discussion, and a few nods and words from each of the three Judges, the older
two stepped away, allowing Tansy to change her sentence a little.

"Given that you are both
government officials, these acts should carry more weight, rather than less.
However, it appears that Bard Pran has requested you not be stripped away from
your families over the holidays. To that end you will be allowed to serve your
work responsibilities here in the city of Lincoln. For three months, from sun
up to sun down, you must both work at street cleaning. You may see to your
other duties after dark each night. If you fail to meet these responsibilities
for any reason other than injury or illness, you will serve the rest of your
time in a remote camp, where compliance can be assured." Then, before she
could step back again, the High Tax Councilor frowned.

"Wait, wasn't the original
sentence for two and a half months?" The tone wasn't pleased, but spoke of
negotiation, rather than demanding he be let out of his repayment to society.

The girl did smile then, and
nodded.

"It was. If you wish to
serve your sentence in a normal camp, that will still be allowed. This special
privilege has to come with a cost however, or all those serving away from their
homes and families would come to understand that mere political power places
one above the law. Even the appearance of that must be avoided. Don't you
agree?" The last bit was said like a little girl faking being an adult,
and nearly made Pran have to cover a smile. No one else did however, and High
Farm Councilor Exeter actually nodded.

"I agree, your honor. We
will, I am certain, both serve to the best of our ability."

She nodded back, even if the tax
fellow glared at both of them. No one wanted to serve at work that wasn't
theirs after all. On the good side they probably wouldn't have to work half as
hard, since the city didn't have a rock quarry that she knew of. It would be
street cleaning, most likely. That or road repair. Both were easier than
breaking rock.

They weren't taken away
immediately, but Tuvin did walk over to them, his face still and set. Saran
moved in behind him, but was clearly letting him take the lead on this one. It
had to be good practice. The other guardians all floated in that general
direction too, so Pran moved along as well, in case there was something worth
hearing about. No one else did however, but her dark clothing let her blend in
pretty well, she thought.

"Gentlemen. Your sentence
will begin first thing in the morning tomorrow. We'll meet in the lobby here
for your assignments. If you fail to show before six bells, then you'll be
collected to transfer to a work camp." There was oddly enough no threat to
the words. It had a flat, almost sing-song quality to it. Soothing, rather than
harsh or bullying toward the two men. That was prudent of course. They were
both powerful in their own right, and had friends that could get at nearly
anyone, she didn't doubt.

They could set people on Tuvin,
or even her, to see to their deaths, no doubt.

The trick there would be to
distract them from Tansy, who had only been doing her job. Pran readied
herself, planning to distract them with some bold and annoying proclamations if
she had to, when the big farmer cleared his throat.

"I acted foolishly, Bard
Pran. If I did any injury to you, or upset you, please know that I didn't mean
to." He looked a bit sheepish, but not slow, his slightly messy gray hair
having been swept to one side to keep it out of the way.

The tax man, Jamison, didn't let
her speak, muttering his own apologies. He even looked over to include Tims,
the floor boy. Tuvin nodded at them both, his head coming back up, so that his
chin was high.

"That's a good start. You're
both getting off
very
light for this. You'll be safe and snug in your
own beds each night, and no more than slightly chilly during the day. Winter in
the camps is brutal, I hear. Plus, the real sentence should have been closer to
two
years
. Judge Tansy clearly thought that your abrogation of duty was
all in the heat of the moment. If the High Judge had been doing it... Well,
that was probably why you got Tansy instead. Do you understand?" It looked
a bit funny, a sixteen year old boy taking two grown men to task like that,
until you realized that the men were surrounded by enough Guardians to ensure
that no one left the room alive, even if they didn't pull a weapon. It changed
the feeling of the whole thing. For the men at least.

Saran smiled however and then
patted Exeter on the back.

"Now, why don't you two,
without any hitting this time, explain what it was all about? We can probably
smooth some feathers in your individual sections, if we know what's going on
first."

That caused both men to try and
talk at one time, but the basic idea was that Jamison had found irregularities
in a regional tax, so had set his men to raid one of the government farm
depots, to collect the value of taxes that had been hidden under the guise of
barter.

That kind of thing was legal, but
no one liked it much, and Exeter viewed it as theft, since the other man hadn't
really proved that it needed to be taken. They were both representing the
government, and it didn't line their own pockets, but the stores had been meant
to go to some areas that needed a bit extra that winter, and now wouldn't.

Pran rolled her eyes.

"Fine. Jamison, see to
distributing that, in the correct area. You did your duty and got the taxes
taken in, now finish it and make sure they get to where they're needed. Or, you
know, have your people do that for you. I can't see why you let this get so out
of hand like that. Is one of you sleeping with the others wife, or
something?" It was a rude thing to say, but Exeter looked away. Not
guiltily either, but like he didn't want to engage in a conversation about it.

Clark cursed. It was a strange
and almost shocking thing to hear from him, but no one else seemed to think
that. Pran had seen him be taken prisoner and almost hooked into a download
machine once, and he hadn't used that kind of language however.

So she just nodded, remembering
that they were both supposed to be seen as out of place.

"Really? Well, stop that,
Jamison. If one of the Judges hears about it, you'll probably end up in a camp
for real. That kind of thing goes against social harmony." She growled the
words a bit, but smiled, showing that she really didn't care. It was a stupid
thing to do, become jealous like that. People did what they wanted, and acting
like you could control them was stupid. Unless you had a knife. That worked,
for a little while. Until their friends got there.

You really needed to make the
kill and move off, in that kind of situation. Not argue over it, using
flour
as an excuse to fight.

What kind of an idiot slept with
the wife of a High Councilor though? The man had probably thought that being
powerful himself the rules wouldn't apply, but the
second
he heard that
the man was put out by it, he
should
have tucked himself back in his
pants and walked away from the situation. It wasn't illegal to have an affair,
but it
was
to cause strife, knowing you were doing it.

Luckily that wasn't her
responsibility.

Saran seemed to agree with her
words, and Tuvin nodded along, which got the smaller man to make a hard face
and clench his jaw. It was pretty certain that the situation wasn't really
over, but again, it wasn't her job to take care of it. They were all let go
then, so Pran moved over to Judge Brown, and waved at the kids, while smiling.
A few did it back, which lacked decorum perhaps, but was friendly and made them
seem like real children.

Clair smiled and came over too,
her face beaming.

"Well, this was interesting.
I'd just come to find you Pran and make sure you were doing well. Things are a
bit boring for me, when we're in the city like this. Too many Judges, and not
enough to judge." She pulled on Pran's arm and linked her own through it,
like they were close friends. No one looked at them funny however. Not even
Brown, who just followed along when they started to walk away. "I hear
from First Mate Paul that you're playing at his wedding party? That's a coup
for him and Twyla, isn't it? The Apprentice of the High Bard playing for them
herself, like that."

Behind them Saran called out, her
voice actually very pleasant seeming, looking back it was clear that Clark and
Mara were right behind brown, looking around for attack or possible violence
already.

"
Bard
Pran.
Not
Apprentice. Clarice heard her play and promoted her on the spot. That's
incredibly rare, but allowed for their type, in special cases. Technically that
makes her the High Bard's official assistant, which pays better, I bet."
There was a chuckle to go with the words, but they didn't turn it into a joke.

It was a bit awkward then, since
she got a hug from Clair, who seemed happy to hear about it, and a knowing look
from Mara. Clark just nodded once, but smiled like he meant it.

Then he cleared his throat.

"The plan is to start a
sculpture now? We should be about that, don't you think?"

It was true, so she waved at the
people being left behind, and started to walk toward the stairs, not saying
much about anything until they got into the office on the third floor, a few
minutes later.

Clair turned and looked at Brown,
uncertain, but Pran nodded.

"I suspect that Tims the
floor boy is one of the downloads. There are a few others around that we need
to watch as well. This group here, plus High Councilors Saran and Clarice is
our team for this, I think. So, who's going to see about getting in good with
the floor boy?" She grinned, until everyone looked at her. It made sense
being they were near the same age, or at least looked like it. Tims could have
been a hundred, or even three hundred, years old really, but if Mara walked up
to him and suggested they be friends, he'd probably panic and run away,
suspecting a trap. Correctly.

"
Fine
. Clair, will
you find out if Doctor Millis will come and see me? Or... will he be at the
wedding? That trick with the drugs that Tims used was his, I think. Done better
this time. Poor Judge Tansy. She probably thought that all her skills were
failing her under pressure."