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this?
He had her in his shop. I knew that, ser. And he was making black oak
barrels. He was using her to use order to make his barrels better than he
could hisself.
How did you know that?
Everyone knew that.
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How did you know that?
Folks at the Tankard were talking about it, how he was workin late, no one
around, and they heard her chanting stuff.
Lord West s wizard has inspected those barrels, and there is no additional
order infused in them.
I was just tellin what I knew.
Did you tell everyone this so that you could take business from the cooper
Kharl?
Ser?
You heard the question, cooper.
Ser& I was just tellin what I heard&
Bailiff!
Lord Justicer. The bailiff stepped forward.
Have the cooper Mallamet taken into custody for false witness. Ten lashes.
Armsmen! To the fore!
Ser& no, ser. I was just tellin .
Silence!
Kharl just watched, totally puzzled, as two armsmen escorted Mallamet out of
the Hall of Justice. If the justicer and Lord West wanted to hang Kharl, why
were they arresting Mallamet? But why had the justicer not asked more
questions about what had happened?
The cooper Kharl.
Stand, hissed one of the armsmen behind Kharl.
Kharl lurched to his feet, unsteadily. Lord Justicer. He bowed his head,
then looked up, straight at the justicer.
Earlier, cooper, you had objected to the testimony of Captain Egen. Now, you
have a chance to tell what happened.
Honored justicer, Kharl began carefully, it all started when I was carrying
sealant back from Hyesal the apothecary s shop& He told the entire story as
it had happened, ending with, & and when the captain said I d killed her, I
tried to explain that I hadn t done anything. I didn t run. I didn t do
anything except I said I didn t do it, and then someone hit me over the head,
and I woke up in gaol.
How do you explain that the blackstaffer was killed with one of your drawing
knives?
There were lots of people around the front of the shop, ser. Anyone could
have walked in. Also, I m not a killer. I mean, I don t know how to use a
knife that way. I wouldn t know where to start.
Most crafters have a way to defend their shops. What is yours?
I keep a cudgel close by, ser. It s close enough to a forge hammer&
And you are a cooper, and that means using a forge. Had you unbanked your
forge that morning?
No, ser. Charee and I had to walk Jenevra-she was the blackstaffer- to Father
Jorum s. I didn t want to waste the charcoal.
Have you anything else to say?
I didn t do it, ser.
But you did try to get away from the armsmen, did you not?
No, ser. I said I didn t do it. I might have backed up one step, but I didn t
try to get away. They were saying I did something I didn t.
That will be all. Please be seated.
Kharl felt as though the justicer hadn t really paid any attention to his
words. But there was no way out of the Hall, not with his hands bound, and
armsmen behind him and all around the Hall.
Lord justicer! The bailiff in gold and blue rapped his staff on the stone
floor of the chamber.
The justicer looked at the functionary. Yes, bailiff?
Your honor& there is a witness. He has a pass from the Quad-rancy.
The frown of the justicer was so fleeting that Kharl would not have seen it
had he even blinked. Very well. Have him step forward and state his name.
There was a slight sound behind the justicer, and a slender, gray-haired man,
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clean-shaven and in blue velvet, his tunic trimmed in gold, slipped into the
seat at the higher dais behind the justicer, a seat that had been vacant
throughout the trial. Even from where he sat, Kharl could see that the
newcomer was old, and that there were dark circles ringing his deep-set eyes.
The figure who stepped forward from beside the bailiff as a witness was
Tyrbel, wearing the black robe that he had told Kharl was for appearances
before the justicers.
State your name.
I am Tyrbel, scrivener of Brysta, your honor of justice. The scrivener bowed
deeply.
What have you to say to what has been offered as evidence, master scrivener?
What I have to say, your honor of justice, is most plain. Tyrbel looked
squarely at the justicer. Kharl could not have killed the black-staffer. He
is a good man, but there is another reason why he could not have killed her.
She was still alive when he left his cooperage to fight the fire, and he was
still with me and the others using the buckets when his consort came out to
tell him that something terrible had happened.
How do you know the blackstaffer was still alive? The justicer s face bore
more curiosity than anger.
I saw her leaning on his workbench through the window when I called for help.
She was still standing there when Kharl came out.
So your scriptorium was burning, and you had time to watch? The justicer s
sarcasm was scarcely veiled.
Kharl looked at Tyrbel. The scrivener was perfectly calm. What Tyrbel said was
true. Jenevra had been alive. But Tyrbel had not actually seen that, and Kharl
had not talked to Tyrbel since the murder.
I only watched for a moment. It was long enough to see that Kharl had heard
and was coming to help.
Justicer? interjected the clean-shaven and elderly man in the high seat,
before another word could be said.
Yes, Lord West?
Lord West looked squarely at the scrivener. Are you absolutely certain that
the cooper could not have turned back and killed the black-staffer?
Yes, Lord. I had barely reached the fire barrel when Kharl was beside me.
And he had no blood on him? asked the lord.
No, ser.
Does he wear the same garments now as then?
Tyrbel turned and studied Kharl. Yes, ser. They are more soiled, but they are
the same.
I would note, Lord Justicer, that while there is filth on his tunic, there
does not seem to be any blood.
It is so noted, replied Reynol.
Lord West sat back, an amused expression on his face.
Kharl didn t know what to think. One moment, he was convinced he would be
hanged, and the next Lord West was suggesting that he could not have killed
Jenevra.
Jorum, priest of the Sovereign, please come forward.
Father Jorum rose from one of the benches to the left and walked forward, past
Kharl.
I will not trouble you with reminders, Jorum. Just answer directly.
Yes, Lord Justicer.
What did the woman Charee say to you about the blackstaffer?
Very little, ser. She said that someone had been hurt and that she wanted
them to finish recovering away from the cooperage.
Away from the cooperage? Did she say why?
She only said that she didn t want the person to stay at the cooperage.
She gave no reason?
No, ser. Except she said that she was having trouble with Kharl over it. She
said that she might ask me to talk to the cooper.
Did you?
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