Challenges (8 page)

“I see,” the judge on the right responded stiffly, vastly annoyed with Allestine’s inner amusement. “You came all the way from Rincammon just to change your mind once you got here. Would you now like to explain how a woman with High ability in Spirit magic can possibly make an unpopular courtesan? Or how such a woman could possibly prefer the life of an unpopular courtesan to the chance of becoming one of the new Seated Blending? Those points are still rather unclear.”

“Not to me they aren’t,” Allestine all but snapped, resenting the fact that the prosecuting judge had brought up the very same argument that Jovvi had. “The girl just isn’t very bright, and she never seemed to realize that my patrons didn’t like her. She would boast about having first standing in the residence, and never noticed that the other girls were laughing at her. That, Your Honor, was the way it was.”

“That, Dama, is a crock,” the prosecuting judge countered, completely out of patience. “A High practitioner in Spirit magic would have to be dead not to notice unpopularity and laughter at her expense. You leave me no choice but to ask for an unbiased accounting.”

He looked at the other two judges then, and the defense judge simply shrugged and nodded. It seemed to Jovvi that he couldn’t think of a reason to counter the request, and therefore was forced to agree to it. The presiding judge nodded when he saw that, and then raised his arm.

“It’s the unanimous decision of this court that the defendant be required to give an unbiased accounting,” he announced to everyone in general. “The chief court clerk is authorized to make the necessary preparations.”

People got up and began to move around and talk to each other then, leaving Allestine feeling confused and vaguely worried. Jovvi was also confused, so she took the opportunity to turn to the friendly bailiff.

“Can you tell me what that’s all about?” she asked in a soft voice, looking up at him. “I’ve never heard that phrase before.”

“It’s only used when the defendant denies all the charges lodged,” the bailiff replied just as softly after bending to her. “The court wants to know the truth, and the only one here who can give it to them without question is the defendant herself. She’ll be given the drink, and once it starts workin’ on her she’ll tell the court everythin’ it wants to know.”

“What drink is that?” Jovvi asked with a frown. “Is it a truth drug of some kind?”

“Better than those phony truth drugs,” the man replied with a smile. “It’s called Puredan, and when it’s inside somebody they have to do as they’re told. They keep a careful eye on the stuff, because once somebody under its influence is told somethin’, they’ll still obey the command once the Puredan wears off. And since it’s supposed to taste like funny water, people could have it fed to them without knowin’ about it. That’s why they’re so careful about who can use it.”

Jovvi nodded her thanks, and turned back to what was going on in the courtroom again. Allestine was in the process of drinking a glass of clear liquid which one of the men in the room had brought to her, and the judges were watching carefully as she drank. Her mind said she didn’t know what it was that she drank, but had accepted it despite her annoyance over the delay in her release.

And then Jovvi started, as an unexpectedly swift reaction began in Allestine. The woman hadn’t even finished the entire glass of liquid when her thought processes came to a sudden halt. All voluntary cogitation seemed to be gone, and she paused in the drinking until the court clerk quietly urged her to finish the liquid. She did so immediately, then stood in docile thoughtlessness, waiting patiently for the next thing she would be told.

There was something of a stir over near where Ark and Bar sat, and Jovvi suddenly noticed how agitated their minds were. It had taken them a moment to realize what Allestine was being given, and by the time they tried to interfere it was too late to stop her from drinking. The guardsmen got the two bullies quieted down again, and by then Jovvi had noticed the two men seated a few rows behind the squad of guardsmen. They weren’t at all happy about what was going on, but the frustration level inside them said there was nothing they could do to stop it.

“Why don’t we start with a simple but obvious point,” the prosecuting judge said suddenly, quieting all other conversation in the room. “In your initial statement, Dama, you said that your two male companions didn’t realize at first that they were resisting arrest. You claimed that they thought they were protecting you from some sort of attack, and now I ask if that statement was true.”

“Of course not,” Allestine responded at once, her voice soft and entirely free of reluctance. “They knew the guardsmen were there to arrest us, so they tried to prevent that from happening. It was what they were supposed to do.”

A not-quite ripple went through the people in the room, a voiceless reaction to the easy and damning admission. Jovvi could tell she wasn’t the only one who had never seen the results of Puredan use, and the others seemed as shaken as Jovvi felt.

“That sounds more like it,” the prosecuting judge said with satisfaction. “And now you may tell us about the reason for your presence in Gan Garee. Did you really come here to see about expanding your business?”

“It would be rather impractical for me to expand all the way here,” Allestine replied calmly. “The residence at home requires my close personal supervision, and so would any other residence I opened. I might be able to divide my time if the two were in the same city, but not with them being so far apart. No, the only reason I came here was to see what Jovvi was doing.”

“Didn’t you know what she was doing?” the judge asked next. “She came here to test for High practitioner, didn’t she?”

“Certainly, and that’s why I had to follow,” Allestine agreed. “She’s always been so quick to do just the right thing for herself, that I knew she would choose to stay here if she passed those tests. And maybe even if she didn’t, since any residence in the city would have accepted her gladly. But she brings in more gold than all the rest of my ladies combined, so I simply couldn’t afford to let her go. I made up my mind to come after her and bring her back, knowing no one would notice the absence of one single girl.”

“Didn’t you realize that she’s more than just another girl?” the judge pursued. “How could you think that no one would notice the disappearance of a competitions entrant?”

“Everyone knows that competition business is nonsense,” Allestine said, almost adding a small laugh. “Real people never bother about it, so why should I? Besides, I
wanted
her back in my residence, and I usually get what I want. Ark and Bar make sure of that, so why shouldn’t I have tried to kidnap her? It didn’t even matter that she said she would report me to the authorities. I
wanted
her back.”

“Is that why you didn’t leave the city when your attempt failed?” the judge asked next. “You had all your possessions with you and you’d paid your inn charges in full, our investigators told us, but then you went back to the inn. Were you going to try again?”

“Of course, but that isn’t why I didn’t leave,” Allestine answered, her hands folded comfortably in front of her. “It wasn’t possible to leave, it just wasn’t, and that’s why I decided to try again. We would have made sure she was unconscious that second time, but I’m not certain about what I would have done with her. It wasn’t possible to leave…”

Allestine’s voice trailed off as though she were confused about something, but she really had nothing in her mind that could
be
confusing. Jovvi, however, wasn’t in the same position, and she was both confused and disturbed. Something wasn’t right here, she knew, but before she found it possible to figure out what, the defense judge spoke.

“Did you regret your actions at all?” he asked, his mind weary with the necessity. “Weren’t you the least bit sorry that you tried what you did? Wasn’t there the smallest chance that you would have changed your mind about trying again?”

“No, I wasn’t sorry,” Allestine admitted quickly and easily. “Why would I be sorry about taking back what’s mine? She belongs to me, you know, and always will. Just like the other girls in the residence, only she’s much more valuable than them. When I get her back, she’ll make my fortune even larger than it already is.”

“I think that’s clear enough,” the presiding judge said while Jovvi’s insides twisted and knotted. Allestine really did consider her a slave, and would not have hesitated to keep her a prisoner if she’d gotten her back to the residence. “I now direct the senior court clerk to bring the defendant out of it, so that she’ll be fully aware when sentence is pronounced.”

As the clerk approached Allestine again, the three judges began to speak softly among themselves. The prosecuting and defending judges seemed to be making suggestions, and the presiding judge listened and asked an occasional question. Jovvi could feel his effort to keep an open mind, but it wasn’t possible to deny completely that he’d already made a decision. In the interim the clerk had been speaking to Allestine, and now her thoughts had returned as quickly as they’d previously disappeared. When the clerk walked away from her, she looked up at the three judges with faint puzzlement.

“Does the defendant have anything she’d like to add?” the presiding judge asked, sounding downright solemn. “This, Dama, will be your last opportunity to do so.”

“How many times can I repeat that the silly little chit is lying?” Allestine asked sleekly, as though she had no idea about what she’d said only a few moments ago. “I’m completely innocent, and I think I’ve shown that no one can prove differently.”

Once again she didn’t quite smirk, but that was only on the outside. The presiding judge saw the same thing Jovvi did, but wasn’t nearly as upset by it.

“But the opposite of your claims
has
been proven, and in a way no one can doubt or discredit,” the presiding judge said in a ponderous voice. “Allestine Tromin, stand forward and hear the penalty for your crimes.”

“What are you talking about?” Allestine tried to shrill, suddenly frightened by what she’d heard. “Who could have—”

“Allestine Tromin, you have been found guilty of a terrible crime through the testimony of your own words,” the judge plowed on, overriding Allestine’s protests. “Kidnapping with the intent to enslave is vile enough, but to take as your victim a rare resource of the empire is unforgivable.”

Allestine now stood with her mouth opening and closing, but no sound emerged. Her face had gone completely pale, and her mind clanged with shock. No one had ever challenged her word before, and not only challenged it but declared it a lie. Jovvi could see that she began to believe the scene unreal, as though it were nothing but a nightmare.

“For those reasons I shall pronounce an equally monstrous sentence,” the presiding judge continued, his talent closed down to separate him from the woman he spoke to. “You are hereby remanded to the department of justice, which will transport you to one of the empire’s deep mines. There you will remain, performing hard labor, for five full years. And those two men, who accompanied you in perfidy, will also accompany you in your sentence. They will suffer the same fate, but at two other mines, to exclude the possibility of continuing your mutual support. Take them all away.”

The final ritual words seemed to release everyone, meaning Ark and Bar began to fight being taken out. A guardsman went and wrapped a big hand around Allestine’s arm, but she refused his urging to go with him. She simply stood there and shook her head, denying everything she couldn’t accept, and the guardsman had to call someone to help him with her. When the two men began to drag her out she started to scream and struggle, and the screaming didn’t stop until a door closed to cut off the sound.

“Jovvi, are you all right?” Vallant asked, somehow from a long distance off. “Just hold on, it’s all over with now. Would you mind fetchin’ her some water?”

The last was to the bailiff, Jovvi knew in a dreamy, distant way, and then she became aware of how Vallant had begun to rub her hand and wrist. The brisk action brought her back a short way, and that was when deep shock moved aside for extreme pain.

“No, it’s all right,” Vallant said quickly and softly when she started to sob. “That sentence was terrible, but no one can say she didn’t earn it. She was the one who came after
you
, and no one was makin’ her do it. She went ahead and acted as she pleased because she refused to believe she’d ever be caught and punished. This is all
her
fault, not yours.”

“I … should have … looked harder for … a way to … stop her,” Jovvi sobbed, dizzy with guilt and horror. “It’s all … my fault, and … now she’ll die just … like my father did.”

That part was the hardest for Jovvi to bear, the knowledge that Allestine had been sent to the deep mines. They were a hundred times worse than the mine her father had died in, and all the workers were prisoners. Allestine was a hundred times more likely to die, and Jovvi knew it was all
her
fault.

“That witch won’t die,” Vallant said as Jovvi cried against him, holding her tight in his arms. “Once she comes out of the shock, she’ll start hatin’. She’ll hate the man who made her pay for what she did, she’ll hate the law that let him do it, and she’ll hate you for bein’ the cause of it all. It won’t be her own greed and stupidity that caused her downfall, it’ll be all
your
fault. So you see you don’t have to blame yourself, because she’ll be doin’ it for you.”

That line of reasoning was so absurd that it got Jovvi’s attention, and after a moment she was forced to admit that Vallant was probably right. It took away only a very small amount of the pain, but enough of it that she was able to sit straight and accept the water the bailiff brought. After sipping at it she noticed that they were the last ones left in the room, everyone else having gone without her seeing it.

“As soon as you feel a bit stronger, we’ll start to take you home,” Vallant said, and oddly enough his tone had shifted to pomposity again. “I knew a weak little thing like you couldn’t handle somethin’ like this alone, and I mean to tell Mardimil I was right as soon as we get back to the residence.”