sleep. At most she’d catnapped, and then only for a few minutes at a time. Constant fear is exhausting, but it also refuses to let its victim rest. When Jovvi was finally taken out of the cell with five of the other children she knew, she was close to complete collapse.
Before that day Jovvi had never been in a courtroom, but she had no difficulty recognizing it when she and the others were dragged inside. They were made to sit down on a bench at the front of the wood-paneled room, and a man seated at a nearby table had risen to address the panel of judges. He recited the list of crimes they were accused of, and the first of Jovvi’s group, a boy she knew and disliked, was pulled off the bench to stand in front of the judges’ dais. One of the judges asked if there was anyone in the courtroom who was willing to be responsible for the boy, and when no one spoke up to volunteer, the boy was told he’d been found guilty and was then sent away to work off his sentence.
The fact that they weren’t told what the sentence was only made things worse for Jovvi and the others. She sat there in pure terror as one by one the other children were done the same as the first, and finally it was her turn. She waited numbly for her fate to be sealed—but suddenly a voice spoke out, saying
it
would be responsible for her. The voice belonged to the father of the family which had invited her to live with them, and Jovvi never understood why she hadn’t fainted with relief.
The man had been required to pay three silver dins in reparation for her crimes, just about every penny the family had. After feeling dizzying relief Jovvi had felt guilty, but Nolin, the man, had just told her she could pay him back when she grew up. He took her home, his wife Minara had helped her to bathe before giving her an old but clean dress to wear, and then they’d fed her. By then it had been impossible to keep her eyes open, and she’d ended up sleeping for a full day. And she’d never gone back to the streets again…
But now she was going back to a courtroom, and the thought of it threatened to make her throw up all over again.
CHAPTER SEVEN
It took some doing, but by the time the coach stopped in front of the large stone building, Jovvi was projecting outward calm. Inward was another matter entirely, but she refused to let herself think about that.
“This whole neighborhood looks like a ghost town,” Vallant commented as he helped her out of the coach. “I haven’t even seen anybody walkin’ in the street for two or three blocks.”
“This is supposed to be the second rest day,” Jovvi reminded him with a brief smile of thanks for his help. “It’s odd that they didn’t wait until tomorrow to hold this trial, and I’m tempted to think that there’s an ulterior motive involved. But the whole thing might just be standard practice, and I’m simply being overly suspicious.”
“In our position, overly suspicious is the safest thing to be,” Vallant murmured as they started up the wide stone steps. “Don’t forget that I’ll be actin’ superior and insufferable, and maybe you ought to be actin’ more than a little upset. If they’re doin’ this just to ruin your balance, it would be a shame to make them think they wasted the effort.”
Jovvi considered that an excellent idea, especially since it would be easy to arrange. Showing her true feelings rather than hiding them would do it, and that way even another Spirit magic practitioner would be convinced. Yes, that was definitely the way to play it, and the realization made her even more glad that Vallant was there. Normally she would probably have come up with the idea herself, but where courtrooms were concerned there was nothing normal about her reactions.
The heavy wooden front doors of the building were unlocked, and just inside was a guardsman standing a post. He directed them to the room where the trial was being held, on the second floor and in the daylight
Before that day Jovvi had never been in a courtroom, but she had no difficulty recognizing it when she and the others were dragged inside. They were made to sit down on a bench at the front of the wood-paneled room, and a man seated at a nearby table had risen to address the panel of judges. He recited the list of crimes they were accused of, and the first of Jovvi’s group, a boy she knew and disliked, was pulled off the bench to stand in front of the judges’ dais. One of the judges asked if there was anyone in the courtroom who was willing to be responsible for the boy, and when no one spoke up to volunteer, the boy was told he’d been found guilty and was then sent away to work off his sentence.
The fact that they weren’t told what the sentence was only made things worse for Jovvi and the others. She sat there in pure terror as one by one the other children were done the same as the first, and finally it was her turn. She waited numbly for her fate to be sealed—but suddenly a voice spoke out, saying
it
would be responsible for her. The voice belonged to the father of the family which had invited her to live with them, and Jovvi never understood why she hadn’t fainted with relief.
The man had been required to pay three silver dins in reparation for her crimes, just about every penny the family had. After feeling dizzying relief Jovvi had felt guilty, but Nolin, the man, had just told her she could pay him back when she grew up. He took her home, his wife Minara had helped her to bathe before giving her an old but clean dress to wear, and then they’d fed her. By then it had been impossible to keep her eyes open, and she’d ended up sleeping for a full day. And she’d never gone back to the streets again…
But now she was going back to a courtroom, and the thought of it threatened to make her throw up all over again.
CHAPTER SEVEN
It took some doing, but by the time the coach stopped in front of the large stone building, Jovvi was projecting outward calm. Inward was another matter entirely, but she refused to let herself think about that.
“This whole neighborhood looks like a ghost town,” Vallant commented as he helped her out of the coach. “I haven’t even seen anybody walkin’ in the street for two or three blocks.”
“This is supposed to be the second rest day,” Jovvi reminded him with a brief smile of thanks for his help. “It’s odd that they didn’t wait until tomorrow to hold this trial, and I’m tempted to think that there’s an ulterior motive involved. But the whole thing might just be standard practice, and I’m simply being overly suspicious.”
“In our position, overly suspicious is the safest thing to be,” Vallant murmured as they started up the wide stone steps. “Don’t forget that I’ll be actin’ superior and insufferable, and maybe you ought to be actin’ more than a little upset. If they’re doin’ this just to ruin your balance, it would be a shame to make them think they wasted the effort.”
Jovvi considered that an excellent idea, especially since it would be easy to arrange. Showing her true feelings rather than hiding them would do it, and that way even another Spirit magic practitioner would be convinced. Yes, that was definitely the way to play it, and the realization made her even more glad that Vallant was there. Normally she would probably have come up with the idea herself, but where courtrooms were concerned there was nothing normal about her reactions.
The heavy wooden front doors of the building were unlocked, and just inside was a guardsman standing a post. He directed them to the room where the trial was being held, on the second floor and in the daylight
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