Peter Brett - The Desert Spear

Next to arrive was Mack Pasture, at the head of quite a few other farmers, including Jeph Bales. Jeph leaned in to Selia as they came onto the porch.

"Mack's come with no prejudice against Renna," he whispered, "and promised me to judge fair, no matter what the Fishers shout." Selia nodded, and Jeph went to stand with Ilain, Beni, and Lucik on the opposite side of the porch from Garric and Nomi Fisher.

As the morning wore on, a general buzz grew in the air, and it became clear that more than just Fishing Hole was out in force. Hundreds of folk walked the streets, trying to seem nonchalant as they glanced toward Selia's porch on their way to the tailor, or the cobbler, or any of the other shops about the Square.

Last to arrive were the Watches. Southwatch was the farthest borough, practically a town unto itself, with near three hundred inhabitants and their own Herb Gatherer and Holy House.

They came in neat procession, marked by their stark clothing. Watch men were all thickly bearded and wore black pants with black suspenders over a white shirt. A heavy black jacket, hat, and boots finished the outfit, even in the harsh heat of summer. The women all wore black dresses reaching from ankle to chin to wrist, as well as white aprons and bonnets, with white gloves and parasol when not working. Their heads were bowed, and they all drew wards in the air, over and over, to protect them from sin.

At their head was Jeorje Watch. Speaker and Tender both, Jeorje was the oldest man in Tibbet's Brook by two decades. There were children running around the Brook who hadn't been born when he celebrated his hundredth birthday. Still, his back was straight as he led the procession, his stride firm and his eyes hard. He stood in stark contrast with Coran Marsh, a quarter century his junior and ravaged by time.

With his years and his solid bloc of votes from the largest borough, Jeorje should have been Town Speaker, but he never got a single vote outside Southwatch, and he never would, not even from Tender Harral. Jeorje Watch was too strict.

Selia rose as tall as she was able, and that was very tall, as she went to greet him.

"Speaker," Jeorje said, biting back his displeasure at having to give that title to a woman, and an unmarried one at that.

"Tender," Selia said, refusing to be intimidated. They bowed respectfully to each other.

Jeorje's wives, some old and proud like him, others younger, including one great with child, flowed around them wordlessly and went into the house. They were heading for the kitchen, Selia knew. Watches always took over the kitchen, to ensure that their special eating needs were attended to. They kept to a strict diet of plain foods with no seasoning or sugar.

Selia signaled Jeph. "Go and pull Rusco from the store," she told him, and Jeph ran off.

Selia was always elected Speaker for Town Square, but on years when she was also elected Town Speaker, she appointed Rusco Hog to speak for the Square, so that it would keep an independent voice, as prescribed in town law. Few people were pleased by this, but Selia knew the general store was the heart of the Square, and when one prospered, the other most often would, as well. "Well come in, and let's have supper," Selia said when they'd had their ease a bit. "We'll handle standing council business over coffee, and then on to this last affair when the cups are cleared."

"If it's all the same, Speaker," Raddock Lawry said, "I'd just as soon dispense supper and the rest till the next council meeting and get on to the business of my dead kin."

"It is not all the same, Raddock Fisher," Jeorje Watch said, thumping his polished black walking stick. "We can't just take leave of our customs and civility because someone died. This is the time of Plague, when death comes often. Creator punishes those what sin in his own time. The Tanner girl will have her judgment when the Brook's standing business is done."

He spoke with the authority of one who is never questioned, though Selia was Speaker. She accepted the slight-a common one from Jeorje-because he argued to her favor. The later the hour grew, the less likely Renna's sentence, if death, would take place that very night.

"We could all use some supper," Tender Harral said, though he and Jeorje were often at odds themselves. "As the Canon says, There's no justice from a man with an empty stomach. "

Raddock looked around to the other Speakers for support, but apart from Hog, who was always the last to arrive and the first to leave, all were resolute to keep the council meeting in its traditional fashion. He scowled but gave no further protest. Garric started to open his mouth, but Raddock silenced him with a shake of his head.

They had supper, and discussed the business of each borough in turn over the coffee and cakes that followed.

"Reckon it's time to see the girl," Jeorje said when the business of his borough, always handled last, was complete. The closing of old business was the Speaker's to call, but again he spoke over Selia, thumping his stick like the Speaker's gavel. She sent the witnesses out onto the porch, then led the nine council members in to see Renna.

"Girl ent faking?" Jeorje asked.

"You can have your own Gatherer examine her, if you like," Selia said, and Jeorje nodded, calling for his wife Trena, the Herb Gatherer for Southwatch, who was near ninety herself. She left the kitchen and went to the girl's side.

"Men out," Jeorje ordered, and they all trooped back out to their seats at the table. Selia sat at the head, and Jeorje, as always, the foot.

Trena emerged some time later and looked to Jeorje, who nodded permission for her to speak. "Whatever she done, girl's shock is true," she said, and he nodded again, dismissing her.

"So you've seen the state of her," Selia said, taking up the gavel before Jeorje could try to take over protocol. "I move that any decision should be postponed until she comes back to herself and can speak her own defense."

"The Core it should!" Raddock shouted. He started to rise, but Jeorje cracked his walking stick on the table, checking him.

"Din't come all this way to glance at a sleeping girl and leave, Selia," he said. "Best we hear from the witnesses and accusers now, in proper fashion." Selia scowled, but no one dared to disagree. Speaker or no, if she went against Jeorje, she would be doing it alone. She called in Garric to make his accusation, and the witnesses, one by one, for the council to question.

"I don't pretend to know what happened that evening," Selia said in her closing. "There ent no witness but the girl herself, and she ought to get to speak in her own defense before we pass judgment on her."

"No witness?!" Raddock cried. "We just heard from Stam Tailor, who seen her heading toward the murder not a moment before!"

"Stam Tailor was rot drunk that night, Raddock," Selia said, looking to Rusco, who nodded in agreement.

"He sloshed up on my floor, and I threw him out and closed early after that," Rusco said.

"Blame the one who put the drink in his hand, I say," Jeorje said. Rusco's brow furrowed, but he was wise enough to bite his tongue.

"Either he saw the girl or he didn't, Selia," Coran Marsh said. Others nodded.

"He saw her in the vicinity, yes," Selia said, "but not where she went or what she did."

"You're suggesting she's not involved?" Jeorje asked, incredulous.

"Course she's involved," Selia snapped. "Any fool can see that. But ent none of us can swear by the sun at how. Maybe the men took to fighting and killed each other. Maybe she killed in her own defense. Coline and Trena both attest she was beat bad."

"How don't matter none, Selia," Raddock said. "Two men can't kill each other with the same knife. Does knowing which man she killed, if not both, make a difference?"

Jeorje nodded. "And let us not forget it was most likely by feminine wile that the men were taken to wrath. The girl's promiscuity led them to this path, and she should be held to account."