Lord of the Changing Winds by Rachel Neumeier Page B

said, his manner somewhat pedantic, “Your majesty, this man is Enned son of Lakas. He was brought before me on charges of mayhem and murder. He has not denied guilt—indeed, his guilt is not in question. The circumstances are these: A Linularinan merchant—a dealer in salt, linen, and metals, who has traded in Tihannad every spring for the past seven years, a respected and wealthy man—offended against the father of this young man, Lakas son of Timiad. This Lakas is a tradesman of Tihannad. He makes goods out of linen, buying the linen from Linularinum, of course.”
    “Of course,” agreed the king. “An equitable arrangement, I expect. And?”
    The judge tilted his head to one side. “In fact, the Linularinan merchant, one Mihenian son of Mihenian, had for several years been going to some effort to ensure that the arrangement was
not
equitable. Indeed, due to certain contracts drawn up by a Linularinan legist, Mihenian’s fortunes had risen substantially, whereas Lakas son of Timiad was very close to being ruined.”
    “Ah.”
    “On this fact being discovered—having exhaustively investigated the matter, your majesty, I am satisfied that it is a fact—Lakas went to the merchant Mihenian and attempted to gain satisfaction. However, confident that Lakas would not be able to collect monies owed him legally, due to an interesting principle of Linularinan law, which—well, your majesty, to be brief, Mihenian refused to regularize his dealings with Lakas son of Timiad. He was, in fact, directly insulting. He went so far as to strike Lakas in the face.”
    Iaor nodded, interested but also a little impatient.
    “It being clear that the monies would be impossible to collect, and severely offended at Mihenian’s callous disregard of his father’s ruin, this young man then laid an ambush for the merchant and killed him. Due to an exceptionally alert guardsman, whose name, my king, I have given to the captain of your guard for commendation, he did not succeed in doing so secretly. When this young man was approached by the guard, he surrendered without resistance and cast himself on the mercy of the court; that is to say, my mercy.”
    “Yes?” said the king.
    Ferris inclined his head. “Well, your majesty, I would be inclined to grant it, except of course I have no way to do so, legally. The Linularinan merchant behaved in a most offensive manner. It’s true, of course, that Lakas son of Timiad might have brought charges against Mihenian for assault, only the witnesses to the act were all employees of Mihenian. And, legally, Lakas had no recourse for the business dealings that Mihenian had employed against him. Evidently, he was prepared to accept his losses and the blow to his pride, but his son was not.”
    “Nevertheless, despite the lack of disinterested witnesses, you are satisfied as to what occurred.”
    “Yes, your majesty.”
    “Then I, too, am satisfied.”
    Ferris inclined his head, gratified, and continued. “In the strictest legal sense, Mihenian son of Mihenian was not at fault. The contract was, to even the closest reading, legally unassailable. However, from the standpoint of disinterested justice, Mihenian clearly acted without regard for just and proper dealing. On the other hand, he was a citizen of Linularinum, which broadens the scope of this matter in a most unfortunate way.”
    “Yes,” agreed the king, with distaste. Linularinan opinion was often too inflexible for his taste, but impossible to take lightly. As the people of Feierabiand frequently held an affinity to one animal or another, as the people of Casmantium were famous for their making and building, so the people of Linularinum were well known for the magic many of them could weave with quill and ink. “When you sign a Linularinan contract,” the saying went, “count your fingers afterward—and remember as the years pass to count the fingers of your children and grandchildren.”
    When a Linularinan legist set the magic of