Old Korivian stepped back into the barrels of liquor. He put his knuckle into his mouth. She tried to imagine what he was seeing, flesh and bone bent to fill a machine made for another species. Her muscles and organs, forced to fuse with foreign fibers until nothing of just her remained. To have him see her was an intrusion, a portrait of her nakedness that she just wanted to erase.
Commander Korivian came out of the cellar. Two of his guards awaited him. He wiped his brow and tucked the bag of stones into his robe. "That thing was no lady. It didn't go easy. There is a barrel standing upright on the floor, take it out to the garden and bury it near the sunrise wall."
The lord went to his chamber and did not come out until the first light.
His son shut cabinets and drawers with too much force. The girl's last day alive seemed to be ruining his mood. Old Korivian stood at the broken front door to intercept him. "I hope that the intruder did not interfere with your sleep."
"Do you think I could sleep? How can I sleep when so much is at stake? I am going to lose her. If I was more eloquent, if my words had more force, more weight; I might be able to keep her alive." The young man pushed past his father out the open door. Two men turned the corner of the hedge with shovels. The son turned around. "What happened to the intruder, father?"
"He threatened your life. I could not let that stand."
"Sirena is going to be punished because of accusations of what you just routinely commanded."
Old Korivian reached out and grabbed his son's upper arm. "Do not lose your head today. No matter what happens. We are at the edge of an abyss. It will consume us both. Our only hope is to find a place for it to reside within us."
"I need your influence and all you give me is your words."
Old Korivian took his place in the chamber of lords, trying to ignore the chatter and gossip of his enemies. Full attendance did not usually happen, some rural dukes did not attend at all. This case seemed to be different. They were here to see him ruined. His son opened them up to this when he lobbied the council to take up the affair. His son claimed the girl as property, so the case landed on the docket.
He could hear someone whisper behind him. "The boy has all his father's self-assurance, but none of his ruthlessness. He is an empty glove."
"Can you believe a lord could demean himself with such a wretch? To take her flesh is understandable. To get so hung up because it is your first? The boy has no shame."
The wretch made her appearance. The living cage walked up out of the tunnel of sequestration. The tree's bowed branches were evenly spaced to prevent escape. Its roots were bound in the large eight legged carapace that moved at an attendant's command. The girl did not look well, pale face, sunken eyes, sweaty brow. The way she closed her eyes when she swayed, a clear sign of extreme nausea. It was common for criminals to feign such things. The court seemed to be ignoring the ruse. The arachnids that escorted her stopped at the Lord of Defense's station. The girl looked into the young Korivian's eyes for a long time, lovers pushed to their limits.
The song of devotion ended. The Old Lord played the synthesized call to summary with an intentional stutter effect. "Ca, Ca, Call To Summary." The over rich reverb filled the chamber.
The Lord of Accusation took his cue. He used the old traditional poses in his arguments, a callback to the time when poise counted for just as much as evidence and argument. The modern peers were not supposed to give points for these forms, but they had an effect. The dukes in the chamber applauded at each of his displays. His presence could not be denied. He pounded the desk at his station and lifted his hands over his head holding an appeal to the heavens. The lords applauded. He closed his eyes and looked serene, a penitent unaffected by the adulation around him. He opened his eyes, refreshed and fully in control.
